NICU Glossary: Re-post

This is the post Ben wrote back when Ellie was in the NICU...although he needs to add Bubble CPAP I see...he did tell me he has a Tech Spotlight brewing, for all those faithful blog followers through Ellie's Journey.

Be forewarned: this is not a medical dictionary. This is a Gramkow Glossary. Some of the definitions may only be valid in the confines of my imagination. Oh, and just because the entry sounds like it came straight from a dictionary doesn't mean it did. It may not have even had a layover at a dictionary. A word on the format: Word - Definition. (aka synonyms) ex: Word used in a sentence. Feel free to comment about any words I missed. A/B - Apnea and Bradicardia episode (aka A&B, A and B) Apnea - a disruption in breathing often consisting of holding of the breath or shallow breathing Auto syringe - A machine that slowly pushes in a syringe to deliver the contents of said syringe at a slow, consistent rate. Binky - pacifier (aka sucky, pacy) ex: I know "binky" sounds weird, but apparently you get used to it. Bradicardia - A drop in the heart rate Brady - A bradicardia episode (plural: bradies or bradys) Gramkow Glossary - A thoroughly researched, well edited, comprehensive list of definitions of all the big words that I can think of at the moment. (Complete with shaky definitions and ample sarcasm) Isolette - A closed bed used to keep premature babies warm and hydrated by controlling temperature and humidity. Ellie's first isolette was a $50,000 bed. (aka Incubator) Lipids - Fat based nutrients that are not soluble in water. Nasal Cannula - A breathing aid that uses a tube with two prongs to push air up your nose. This doesn't force you to breath, it just encourages breathing. NG Tube - a feeding tube running from the nose down to the stomach (aka Nasal Gastric tube) NIC - Neonatal Intensive Care NICU - Neonatal Intensive Care Unit OG Tube - a feeding tube running from the mouth down to the stomach (aka Oral Gastric tube) Pulse Oximeter - A device that measures oxygen levels in the blood. (aka Pulse Ox) ex: Ellie's pulse ox creates the red glowing light seen in many of her photos. Sucky - pacifier (aka Binky, pacy) TPN - Stands for Total Parenteral Nutrition which is a fancy term for delivering nutrients directly to the bloodstream. ex: Ellie's water soluble nutrients are delivered through her TPN. Ventilator - A breathing aid that forces the patient to take set number of breaths per minute. Generally the patient can take more breaths if they choose.