The longest day...

It's 9pm and I have finally made it to Starbucks for a few minutes to post an update. First of all, Abby is well. More on that in a moment.

We didn't sleep a wink last night. They had to move a little girl into our room at
3am. We were up anyways, so it wasn't that big of a deal, but it certainly didn't help matters. Then at 4am, Abby's bag leaked. We had to change it one last time. At 6am, x-ray came to take a picture of her chest, and right on time at 6:30, they came to take us to surgery. I was able to carry her the whole way down and they wheeled the crib along side. We signed some paperwork, met with the doctors, and then had to hand her off to the nurse to be taken away. Probably the hardest moment of my life...so far.

She was in surgery for 4 hours and 7 minutes (but who's counting?). Longer than expected, but she did well. She has a central line placed in her chest, but was able to be extubated immediately after surgery. Brian saw her in recovery for a few minutes, then they kicked him out and I stayed with her for about an hour and a half.



We were finally taken back to our room at about 1pm. Abby has an NG tube in her nose. It is collecting all the "stuff" in her belly, since her intestines are not yet working at all. Her central line in her chest will stay there until we are discharged. She was getting morphine every 3 hours, but they have upped that to every 2 hours now. She has been on and off the nasal cannula, but seems to be doing better with her oxygen saturation now that we have gotten a little further in the day. She also has a catheter right now. And unfortunately, she lost a little more blood than was expected, so she is in the middle of a transfusion. Her red blood cell count was a little too low for the doctor's liking. And to be honest, she was looking very pale. Her transfusion should be done at about 2am, and her color has already started to improve.

Now we just wait, and manage her pain. The fluid coming out of the NG tube has to turn to clear, then we will know the intestines have started functioning again. After that, they will listen for bowel sounds. Once that happens, we should start to see some poop, or at least something, coming out of her little tushie. Once the poop starts, they will slowly start her on clear liquids. As long as there are no unforeseen obstacles, we expect the whole process to take another 5-7 days.

I am not going to lie...this has been a very difficult day, for everyone. We are a little worried about her desats, but as long as they are fewer and farther between, it is a good thing. She is clearly in a lot of pain and she is very, very hungry. She has been constantly making a little sucking motion with her mouth. She must be dreaming about her bottle.

Again, thank you all for the support and love that is pouring in. And thanks to the visitors that stopped by to wish Abby well. I am sorry if I didn't respond to all of the test messages and voicemails, but service in the hospital is spotty, at best. I have to get back now, but I will end with a few pictures from this afternoon, taken once she was back in her room.













And yes, that is a heart-shaped dressing made especially for Abby by Dr. German...in honor of Valentine's Day. And yes, that little C in the middle does represent the Chicago Cubs...also by Dr. German, to match the sweatshirt her Daddy was wearing today.

More tomorrow, but for now I have to get back to my girl...