Should be Out of Here Soon

Well the day is winding down, and here I am only now logging onto the computer.  Since I've had a few texts and messages asking about Miss Cora I figured I'd be remiss not to give you all a little update.

She did get to the pediatric floor yesterday afternoon and has done pretty well.  She had some trouble with her IV last night that caused us all a bit of distress, so that's been out since then.  Which meant that she has to take all her fluids by mouth.

Today Nick actually went in to work, so it's just been me and Cora, although we enjoyed a visit from a good friend and have been visiting with nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists and a speech therapist.

Her oxygen levels are good, although she did need a small amount of low-flow oxygen overnight.  Her lungs still sound good.

But she's still trying to clear a lot of icky stuff from her airway and it seems to be collecting around her voicebox.  So she sounds a bit like Darth Vadar at times, a bit like a percolator other times, and the rest of the time like she's snoring while awake.  It was making me very nervous this morning, but seems to have waned a bit, so that is reassuring.  The RTs (respiratory therapists) assure me that her lungs sound good and that it's best if she can clear it herself.  So she's working on that, but it's not an easy thing to do.

She has been eating well and today has had enough wet diapers to show she is not dehydrated, but she was also choking quite a bit while nursing this afternoon, so I was worried about aspiration.  Enter the speech therapist who gave some tips (although not much I hadn't already thought of.)

But overall I feel pretty good about things.  We probably could have gone home today, but I didn't want to be worried and second guessing myself and thinking about an E.R. trip, so we decided to feel more confident that she is, in fact, ready to go home.

Is all this way too much information?  If so, oh well.  It's nice to have a record, although I am hoping that the finer details of this week start to fade from my memory all too soon.  Even though this is her third hospitalization after a NICU stay and open heart surgery, I'd have to say it's been the scariest and the most stressful.  Thank God it is coming to an end soon.

I really should have taken pictures today, because Cora has finally started to act like herself again: smiling and playing.  She's still in a bit of pain, which sneaks up on her occasionally, but we're managing it pretty well.

But her sweet little pudgy baby rolls and chubby cheeks have certainly whittled down.  She almost looks like a different little girl.  I am definitely looking forward to getting to fatten her up again very soon.