Lynn is the day nurse again today. We love and trust her very much. Yesterday, Lynn and Rebecca encouraged us to sleep in. "We'll take care of Lily. You two need to take care of yourselves too." So Tracy and I took their advice and slept in until 7:30am. Ha, I know it doesn't sound much like sleeping in, but the extra hour was nice. We also took our time in the morning and didn't get to the hospital until about 10am. Just as Lynn promised, Lily was fine. She woke up at about 8am and decided she wanted to stay up to see us.
We found out today that the surgery team came to do rounds first thing in the morning and found Lily on her belly. Apparently, they weren't too happy about this. They immediately ordered a chest X-ray and made Lynn put up a sign that reads, "Please Keep Me Supine." We didn't know this, but the chest tube is very far in her, almost in between her lungs, up near her throat. The surgeons want to be extra sure that the chest tube doesn't move at all.
It was nice to watch her eyes search the room and then lock onto ours. She is so observant and always seems to want to know what is going on. When one of the other baby's machines beep, she turns to see what's going on. When someone new enters the room, she immediately wants to know who it is. I can't wait until we can take her to restaurants so Lily can stare at all the passersby just like Mommy does!
At about 11:30 Lily started to cry. Such strong lungs (considering the chest tube). Again, Tracy knew just what to do to calm her down. She props her up just a little and puts her chin on Lily's chest and says, "Shhhhhhhh." In moments, Lily stops crying and calms down.
At about noon, Lily started to cry again. This time, she was pretty inconsolable. Poor peanut must be so hungry. She takes to the binky well, but when she realizes there's no food in there, she freaks out even more.
To calm her, Lynn decided to give Lily a tylenol suppository (eeeew). Unfortunately it didn't work. A little later, she gave her some more fentonol. It kept her calm for a little while but she still didn't fall asleep. The little stinker has been awake for about 5 hours now and there's no sign that she wants to go to sleep any time soon.
Afternoon
Still awake. I'm thinking my horrible singing voice might be keeping her awake. To her tiny ears, it probably sounds like the screeching of car tires just before an accident.
Crying again. It's tough to watch. Even tougher to not be able to pick her up and comfort her. Especially since there are other babies in the room, and their parents seem to be able to hold them whenever they want. Yes, I'm jealous, but I know it is best for Lily. But all you parents out there, just try to imagine your child crying just a few inches from you, but no matter what you do or how hard you try, he or she remains out of reach. You can see your reflection in their moist eyes, but you can't hold them or hug them. Yeah, we can still put our hands under her, and we can still comfort her with words. We can rub her head so she knows we are there for her. But nothing will be better and more satisfying when we can hold our baby again. Rock her gently, pat her bottom, kiss her without worrying that we might jostle the wrong tube or chord. It will be so amazing!
4:00pm
Lily was approved for Chest PT!! The nurse takes this blue little suction shaped foam thing and pounds on Lily's chest to clear away phlegm and strengthen her lung. It looks and sounds like it would hurt a tiny baby like Lily, but for some reason it doesn't, and she just LOVED it....She was actually getting quite cranky and fussy and was crying quite a bit for about an hour. Yes, she was still up since this morning. Other than a ten minute nap after lunch, she still has been awake all day! Well, after Lynn started the PT, Lily's eyes started to roll into the back of her head and her lids drooped. She found it very comforting. Lynn continued this for about 10 minutes. By the time she was finished, Lily was fast asleep.
For the next few hours, she slept peacefully. Every time she stirred, Tracy or I would lightly tap her chest with our fingers to give her that sensation again. Soon enough, she would fall back into a nice sleep.
7:30pm
Just before going home, Lily had another "episode." She must have gotten some secretions stuck in her throat and had a hard time clearing it. Her Oxygen level dropped to 70%, which is not very good. Luckily it was during shift change and Lynn, Rebecca, and Andrea were all here to see it. It was a simple fix this time, just a little shift of her head to a new position, a little cough (and an increase in the flow of her Oxygen), and her levels went back up.
She seems to be good for these episodes once a shift. "Just keeping you on your toes!" she's telling the nurses!
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