WATCH: Baby Ruaché’s weight has more than doubled since May
Johan and Mari heard their daughter's voice for the first time since the ventilator had been removed.
It has been a troubling few weeks for Glen Marais’ premature baby Ruaché Botha as her condition had been fluctuating.
Her right lung collapsed on August 4 and an infection had been lingering for weeks. But things are going better now.
Her mother Mari told Express on Monday she and her baby were doing better every day.
“Ruaché now weighs 1.2kg. She is frustrated by constantly lying in the incubator, which makes her cry a lot. This results in her saturation levels to drop, making breathing difficult.”
Doctors are giving her a sedative to keep her calm and get her saturation levels stable again.
Ruaché is on five antibiotics to fight the infection and help her lungs clear up.
As for her own condition, Mari said: “I am doing better every day. The doctor said there was a 50/50 per cent chance that my kidneys would repair itself. The damage cannot be determined now.”
Mari continues with dialysis and will hopefully know in six months’ time what the future holds.
Although doctors were reluctant to, they were forced to intubate Ruaché again when her lung collapsed. The infection also made it difficult to keep her oxygen levels stable.
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She also had to receive blood and platelets to build her strength against the infection.
Ruaché was born prematurely on May 15 at 26 weeks, weighing only 440g.
Doctors told her mother, who suffers from a chronic condition called lupus, they had to act quickly in order to save her baby girl’s life.
The premature birth occurred as a result of alternative medication that was prescribed to Mari for her lupus during the pregnancy. It resulted in blood clots forming in the umbilical chord that restricted Ruaché’s nutrition in the womb.
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