Wednesday, March 14, 2012

5-17 unedited

I love it when I call the nurses and they say "she's doing sooo good!"  Penny is doing so well that they're even surprised with how quickly she's progressing! Penny?  Moving quickly?  This is new!  Her tummy is showing the signs that they look for to start giving her some pedialite and see how she handles it.  If that goes well they'll start with small amounts of formula and increase from there.  I'm sure she'll love that because I'm pretty sure she's not liking her tummy being empty.  She's also doing really well on her oxygen and the goal is to get her weaned from the 2 liters she's on now back to her .5 liters she was on pre surgery.  She's satting beautifully so this shouldn't be a problem.  She's also only needing her pain medicine every 6 hours rather than the 4 hours it's ordered for.  She's so tough!!  I'm just so proud of our little Penny and so grateful for the team she had working with her yesterday that let her do the best she could without pushing her too hard.  It was exactly what I prayed for!  One thing I forgot to mention yesterday was that out of one of her hernias it wasn't just her bowel that was coming through but her ovary too!  It's not unheard of for that to happen and the surgeon said that it shouldn't cause any damage, but it sure is not common.  Again with the not common things.  That's my girl!

Lydia would like you all to know that she's found her voice and has something to say.  We're not sure what it is, but she's saying something! Usually it's happy things, sometimes I think she's cussing, but either way it's so fun to hear her express herself.  She's started reaching for toys that she likes and even laughing if you talk to her just the right way.  Yesterday, Aunt Linda was keeping her while we were at the hospital and she was alternating between fussy and happy.  At a moment of fussiness, she asked Lydia if she had a split personality and Lydia laughed at her.  We may be in trouble.

Specific Prayer

  • Continued quick healing for Penny
  • Healthy handling of the feeds for Penny
  • Continued protection from issues for both girls
  • Safety in traveling for Jonathan (he left again this morning)

After a tense morning of not being sure we were going to see Penny before her surgery (thank you President Obama for visiting our city but the traffic you created was inconvenient), we got to have some sweet time with her in the pre-op area.  The Lord even provided a nurse there who was a friend of a friend. Another little comfort for us.  Jonathan loved on Penny and then went with the nurse to pick out her toy she gets for having surgery.  He picked out a little blanket with a cat on it.  We named her G-G (short for g-tube gato) and I held her the whole time Penny was in surgery.  It's a strange drive I have.  I did the same thing when the girls had they're heart surgeries. Waiting while someone cuts holes in your child is one of the least comfortable things I've ever done.
 So after the wait, she came back to the room and things were exciting.  She was still on the vent but looked really good.  The RT worked with the anesthesiologist to get her settings just right on her ventilator.  There was a nurse anesthetist, 3 nurses, an RT, a mommy, a daddy, and a Penny.  It was a party in there!  Even G-G was watching (she's on the right side of the picture laying on the wall above Penny's bed)
 She stayed on the vent for a while but she just looked to me like it was annoying her and causing her to move more.  Anyone who's had abdominal surgery will know that moving more is more painful and I wanted to reduce her pain as much as possible.  So, Lani (the RT) and I conspired and got her off the vent as soon as possible.  Her co2s were a little higher than the doctors like to see but they were in her normal range.  So with a little pushing from me and a little sweet talking from Lani, Penny got off of the vent.  The picture below is us right after they told us that she was being taken off of it!  Hopefully this is the last picture of Penny and me where she is on a ventilator.
 This is Lani becoming my best friend.  She's switching Penny to the regular bi-nasal canula.
 When you're on the vent, you can't use your voice.  Well you can try, but nothing comes out.  So when Penny got back on the bi-nasal canula, her little cry was hoarse and pitiful.  But a crying baby is a breathing baby (they always say) so it was beautiful to me!  She was in a bit of pain so she would move a little, cry a little, calm down a little, and repeat. Not the easiest thing to watch.

 She got plenty of loving from her Daddy. 
 And she got plenty of loving from her Mommy. 
 And her sister was so happy that things went well!

Jonathan and I went home about 12 hours after we got there.  We are so grateful to have Aunt Linda and all the other family that have made this hard road much easier.  Jonathan had to pack to leave this morning early.  He tried to get a little sneaky with his packing but I caught him on video tape so there's no denying it!

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