January 22nd, 2010 -- Day 2 Post-Op

Morning

We arrive at the hospital at 8am to a nice surprise. Another baby that we have heard so much about from her parents has been moved into Lily's room. Her name is Janelle and Tracy and I enjoy our conversations with her parents very much.

When Dr. Satyan comes by for rounds, he notes that Lily is breathing deeply and he hears her whine that sounds like a little dinosaur. He listens to her chest sounds using his stethoscope and orders a chest X-Ray. He says she's "pulling" a little bit when she breathes. Her saturation levels are great, but it is possible that her lung still has not inflated all the way since the surgery. Don't forget, when the surgeons opened her chest, her lung deflated (this is normal).

When the X-Ray comes back, Dr. Satyan confirms that she is still a little light in her right lung. He recommends a nasal cannula with a flow of oxygen to help strengthen it. As Tracy and I have said many times in these past weeks, "Whatever she needs!"

Dr. Walker and Dr. Sonny also visit Lily. They confirm that Lily can begin feeding today. Sweet!! A day early!! She will get 1cc of formula every hour (30 cc's equals 1 ounce). It will be slow going, but it's a start. If everything goes like last time, she will be up to 3 or 4 cc's by Sunday. This is great news and will go a long way towards getting her ready for bottle feeding (hopefully next week!).

Lily is awake most of the morning. A whine here and there, but otherwise a happy baby. She stares at us with her big bright eyes and we just love it. After a little while Lily started to become a little fussy. It seemed no matter how we tried to soothe her she just would not settle. I asked if Lily was still able to have the Versed to calm her. The order was written by Dr Satyan to give her the Versed if needed and at this time Lily needed it. Her nurse Donna went to get the meds. It took only minutes for Lily to head off to dreamland. Scott and I both agree that sleep is the best recovery for Lily. I know having her awake and staring into her beautiful eyes is what I rather do, but seeing Lily in any discomfort is just heart wrenching.

Afternoon

Around 2pm Donna hooked up Lily's feed and started the 1 cc an hour. Yay !!! Lily just continued to sleep s0 peacefully. Daddy left around 2:45pm to go hang with Grace. Again a much needed date with Dad. They were going to hang out while Papa C and Mommy stayed with Lily. Then Grace was going to sleep at Papa and Gramma C's house. Grace was psyched.
Lily had a great restful day. She woke up around 4:30pm.

Evening

Donna went to flush the IV in Lily's head and she said that it was time to come out. Yay !!! I called the IV her barrett. Lily was so angry to have the IV removed she cried so hard. It was awful to watch but I kept telling her that she was OK and we didn't want that IV anymore. The IV was taped to her head so Donna was so careful not to pull Lily's hair out. As sad as this sounds but Lily needed to have that cry, because it opened her airway and helped inflate her right lung. Her breathing and saturation levels were now great!!!! Once Donna removed the IV Lily was happy again.

Lily had a great night! She was so calm and looking around at everything. Papa and Gramma C sang to her, Papa said prayers with Lily. About 8:30pm Daddy came back to the hospital, Papa and Gramma had just left and I wasn't ready to leave yet. Lily was still awake. I really don't like leaving the hospital when Lily is awake. I much rather her be off in dreamland sleeping. Once Scott got there he told Lily that Daddy was there and he put his hands on her head and she fell a sleep very quickly. Lily needed Daddy's touch. We stayed until about 9:30pm. Lily was definitely off in dreamland.