Day 3 Recovery Update

I'll start with a quick recap of her first 48 hours. The first night, as expected, was very hard.  She was obviously in a lot of pain, so they had to find the right amount a of sedation and pain relief. They were able to up both her sedation and pain meds to keep her somewhat comfortable, but it was overall a really rough and sleepless night for her.  

Yesterday they took her off the sedation medicine so she he started waking up on purpose, but was usually very angry and crying when she did. It is just so tough when she stares at you with her red, tear soaked eyes with a very confused emotion on her face like she's asking why we did this to her or to please help her! Her bowels were still deep asleep at this point so she wasn't allowed anything besides some pedialyte and apple juice. She was also working on coughing to clear her lungs after being extubated. The best part about yesterday besides making huge progress was that I was able to hold her for a really long time. What a huge relief that was to have my baby once again in my arms. 

This morning has been really rough for her. She was really struggling hard to breathe all night so her doctors, after seeing this mornings x-ray, decided to perform a procedure to insert another drain that would help the fluid that is caught outside of her lungs to escape so that she could breathe better. Now her respiratory rate is much lower and she's not working so hard each breath. We've started trying to feed her breast milk, but she just swats it away right now. I know she'll eat when she's ready. She has been alert while not fussing at times today, which feels so good. She especially likes when Charlie or I hold her. Still no smiles, but I'll take spurts of no crying at this point. Overall she IS doing great, but today was really tough for me for some reason. I suppose all of her pain is really getting to me now. I thought she would be steadily comfortable by now, but she's so aware of her awful situation that it makes it even worse this time around. The nurses and doctors are mainly watching her respiratory functions and feedings, and as if right now she's doing ok. This new drain will probably add a few days to her stay in the ICU, but it was something we were told upfront might happen. Each day seems to be so much better than the day before as she starts to look and act a teeny tiny bit more like our feisty little girl. We absolutely can't wait for that first smile. Hopefully we'll get it tomorrow?! And hopefully we'll be able to start shedding some lines soon, rather than adding them. It's a tangled mess and it'll be so much easier to hold her without some of them!

On a totally different note, Audrey gained a cousin today! Precious Harrison Thomas Spencer was born to our sweet sister and brother in law just this morning. We can't wait for a play date with him!! Congrats Carrie & Erik!!

XOXO,

Christie & Charlie