What should I monitor for my child with heart disease?
There are 6 fundamental points to which you as a caregiver or responsible for the infant must be very aware every day:
- Food or amount of milk ingested.
- daily weight gain.
- Oximetry levels every 12 hours.
- Warning signs or red flags.
- Compliance with medical appointments and procedures.
- Adherence or compliance in the administration of the medication.
monitor the child's evolution:
And so that you can supervise and be attentive to each of these parameters, the PROMESA project provides caregivers with the appropriate tools so that you can monitor the child's evolution and detect any alteration that may occur early.
Let's remember that as the baby gains weight, it gains strength to respond better to surgeries and acquire "defenses" or strength in its immune system, which will also be of great help to have a better prognosis. So it is a good sign that the baby is fed and receives food properly.
You can check on page 64 how much milk your child should take per day, take this amount into account and monitor how much your child takes and how much you stop drinking, normally it is estimated that each child should take 100 mg per kilogram of weight on a daily basis, distributed in 8 shots.
The optimal weight gain for child:
The optimal weight gain for a child during the interstage period is to gain 20 to 30 grams of weight each day and the ideal oximetry levels for children with complex congenital heart disease is between 75% and 90%, this is an important point, because children without disease always have oximetry greater than 90%, but for a child with heart disease, having oximetry values greater than 90% may be indicative of a complication.
