Need to vent

But I won't. Not here. Not now. But frustrations, they are a plenty. I just don't want to waste my time away from my girl posting about how frustrating, and sometimes annoying, life can be in a children's hospital.

So, on with the important stuff. Abby. She's doing well. Much, much better than before. We had some very scary moments late Thursday night and into Friday morning. She was in a lot of pain and we couldn't seem to get it under control. Her oxygen levels were not good, and she seemed to be laboring just to breathe. At one point, at some ridiculous hour of the morning (3am-ish, I think), me, her Daddy and about 5 or 6 nurses were all at her bedside trying to help her get comfortable. It was very scary. Ultimately they decided she was refluxing badly (thanks to the NG tube), so they ended up putting a small tube in the back of her throat to suction out whatever was back there choking her. It helped a little.

Friday was a little better. We did a better job of managing her pain. I was even able to take her out of the crib and snuggle with her a bit. She became incredibly bloated and puffy. Her little face was almost unrecognizable because she was so swollen. And when she would open her eyes, they were empty inside. Her sparkle was gone. It was like she was looking right through you when she looked your way. I know it's just the morphine, but it is so hard to see your little one like that. She started running a very slight fever in the early afternoon, and had a little bit of junkiness in her lungs, but they said these are both typical things that happen post-op. So we took the blankets off to cool her down and that seemed to do the trick. Her fever went away and eventually she coughed out the junky stuff.



And just for the record, we are not trying to make a fashion statement of any kind with that bow on her head. It is there to hold the NG tube against her head. Otherwise her skin gets pulled.

Last night was a million times better than the previous. She fussed a little, right around the time she was due for the morphine, but she quickly went back to sleep. She did not have any desats, and her breathing was good. Her Daddy and I were both actually able to get a little sleep. Not a lot, but more than we have had all week.

And today? Today has been really good. A lot of the bloating has gone away. She spends more time awake. When she cries now, it actually sounds like the old Abby cry. Not some drug-induced, hoarse, whimper of a whine. She even spent about an hour sleeping on her tummy, on me. In the old, familiar way. It was so nice...for both of us, I think. We have increased the time between pain meds to 2.5 hours, instead of every 2 hours. We even propped her up and put her favorite show on...Baby Beethoven. I think she really enjoyed that.





I had to put socks on her hands (I don't have any mittens), because she wants to pull that NG tube right on out of her nose. And we know from our NICU days, she'll do it! They are also on because the morphine makes her very itchy. She keeps trying to rub her nose and eyes. You can probably see the redness where she keeps scratching.

So that brings us to now. She is resting quietly back in her crib so I snuck away to Starbucks for a minute. Daddy is with her though. I better go for now, but not before I put up a few more pictures from today.

Oh crap...I almost forgot...we've got gas!!! We are starting to hear bowel sounds and she has passed a little gas! Tushie-sneezes, if you will. There was even a little somethin' somethin' in her diaper today. I won't post it, but you better believe I took a picture of it! And her catheter came out this morning. Doc says we may start clear liquids Monday. Fingers crossed...









Thanks again for continuing to pray for Abby. She still has a ways to go, but each day we get closer and closer to ending this chapter for good. I can't wait to see what excitement the next chapter has in store for her.