Introduction

Hello Friends and Family,

Welcome to the new Kneifl family blog! A personal place we carved out from the digital world for photos and stories of our little Warrior Princess. Everlee Rose has had a rough start to her life, but she continues to fight her way closer to a full recovery and finally coming home to Mom and Dad.

There are a few important numbers that we look at to judge how well Everlee is doing.

1) Nitric Oxide: This is a gas that goes into her breathing tube and helps relax the lungs and attach the oxygen to the red blood cells. This is the main ingredient to help her recover from PPH (Persistant Pulmonary Hypertension) that was brought on by meconium aspirtaion. The max % they use on infants is 20% and that's what she started at when she was born. The Dr's strategy is to slowly decrease that number and allow Everlee's body to take over. As of yesterday evening they had dropped to 16, and will continue to drop in increments of 4, until she gets to 0.

2) Oxygen: This is an obvious necessity for recovery. When she entered the NICU, the machine was supplying a 50% mix of oxygen to her body, and taking 35 breaths per minute for her. As of yesterday, the machine had been turned down to 28% and Everlee was taking every other breath by herself. The air we breath at home or outside is 21%, so as we get closer to that number, there's a good chance they'll be able to remove that machine.

3) Mean Blood Pressure: This is a number that they like to have at or above her Gestational age in weeks, which is 41. A perfect number would be her Gestational Age in weeks + 15. When she got to the NICU, her blood pressure was 28 and starting to get closer to the danger zone. They currently use 8 mg of dopamine to regulate her blood pressure (which is still considered a small dose), and she showed some stability yesterday with an mean blood pressure average of 46.

They take samples of her blood twice a day to make sure she has the correct levels of oxygen absorption and the Doctor said those have been coming back outstanding lately. They plan to lower her machines very slowly and her body will let us know when that time should be. She's running the show now, and we are on her time.

We pray for her every day, and we know our friends and family are doing the same. We cannot express how much appreciation we have for our support system. You have helped us through this process tremendously

A special thanks to Hollie, Jason, Chloe and Copper Smith for supplying Everlee with a crib medallion. This hangs next to her as she recovers as a reminder of the strength and faith that encompasses her at all times.