We knew from talking to her nurses earlier that she had a few episodes of abnormal heart rhythms on Sunday. Preemies often have heart decelerations called bradycardia or "brady" spells, which they usually outgrow by the time they are full-term. But hers were a little different than a typical brady episode. At first they thought that perhaps her central IV line had been inserted too deep, so they pulled it back out a tiny bit. Unfortunately, she had a few more episodes afterwards, so it hadn't solved the problem.
The neonatologist was calling to let me know they wanted to transfer Elyse to the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) to be assessed by the cardiology team. Fortunately the two hospitals are located side by side, so they were able to just walk her isolette over. Maybe I need more sleep, but I kept picturing her being rolled down the hall in slow motion, surrounded by her entourage like something out of a movie, or the pope. It made me giggle.
settling into her new digs at CHEO
Once she arrived at CHEO, they hooked her up to a Holter monitor to get a more detailed reading of her heart activity over the next 24 hours. Unfortunately all the extra electrodes and wires meant no cuddles last night, but we were able to visit and help with her care routine. The NICU at CHEO has a really nice setup whereby each patient has their own private area, so it's nice and quiet for visiting.
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getting her blankets changed
The good news is that really nothing else has changed. She is still stable and comfortable and at this point there is no reason to panic. The monitoring will finish later today but we won't hear anything until the cardiologist has a chance to review all the data and analyze the arrhythmias, so probably another day or so. From the sounds of it, she will most likely spend a couple days at CHEO, and then depending on the findings may stay longer or be transferred back to the General.
outfitted in a Holter monitor to record heart activity
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