Saturday, November 13, 2010

What we've been up to

On Wednesday we got up and ready for the day and walked over to the hospital. We got to Alexa's room and found this:

Apparently Alexa had had a seizure during the night so they had taken her to get an x-ray of her head. We just happen to come while they were gone. You can imagine the immediate shock that went through Bruce and I's head to see this. They found that she has some bleeding in the head but not enough to be concerning. The body will absorb the blood but it becomes very irritating to the brain which can cause seizures.
Thursday was my birthday. Bruce went down to the lobby to get me some breakfast so that we could have breakfast in bed. Then we skyped with the Sienna and G&G at home. We came to the hospital to find out that our little stinker had another seizure episode. They gave her an anti-seizure medicine which makes them very sleepy. I was able to hold her that morning which was ever so precious and long awaited. Bruce also had a chance to hold her as well. Later in the afternoon when I got back from pumping I sat in the rocker chair to hold Alexa again when the nurses came in signing Happy Birthday with a piece of cake and a card that all the Doctors and Nurses had signed. It was awesome. Like I've said before the staff here is amazing. Bruce took me to Tomato Street and Italian restaurant for my birthday dinner. It was really good. We came back to the hospital to have some 'baby' dessert and called it a night around 9pm.


On Friday we got up early since Bruce was flying out that day so that we could have quality time with Alexa. Thankfully no seizure episodes during the night this time. We both took turned holding her throughout the day. We left around 1pm to go back to the room to pack things up and head to the airport. After I dropped off the rental car and got back to the hotel all the emotions of everything and my loneliness sunk in. I couldn't help but cry. You don't realize how much you depend on your spouse for the extra support until it's gone. I knew he had to get back to the girls because they needed him more than I did. I did a load of laundry then headed back to the hospital. I held Alexa again for about an hour until I was almost falling asleep. The nurse asked if I was OK and I told her I was getting very tired so I put her back on her bed. She become very agitated and cried off and on for the next 2 hours. Crying is good because it makes them use their lungs and take deep breaths BUT it is also hard to watch because I couldn't do much to comfort her. She finally got some morphine shortly after 7pm and calmed down a bit. They had to take her off breast milk early that morning because her fats where draining into her chest cavity. So she is back on IV feeding. I don't know if her crankiness was due to being hungry or pain. I hated leaving but I also hated seeing her in pain. I left the hospital around 8pm after she had settled down. I didn't have a good feeling the night would go very well from how she had just been the last 2 1/2 hours. Mentally and physically I was exhausted so I went straight to bed.
When I got up this morning I almost dreaded coming to the hospital. I didn't want to hear anymore bad news. I skyped with Bruce and the girls then finally decided to get ready. When I got here I was happy to hear she had had a good night. The Docs made their rounds and I was told she looks great except for the chest tube fluid output. It was still really high which it shouldn't be at this point. Especially due to the fact that they have taken her off feeds (milk). So she has to go another day with just IV feeding and see if her output dries up some. If it does then they will start up on a formula that already has the fats broken down. If that doesn't increase the chest fluid output or have any milky substance in the fluid then we can begin feeding with a bottle. This is part of the checklist to come home. She needs to be off oxygen, chest tubes out with no drainage and feeding from a bottle. So at this point it looks like later in the week before we can come home. Please keep praying that she will make a full and strong recovery so that we can get home soon.

1 comment:

Sarah said...

What a scary time. We're all still here prayin for you guys. Loves!!