Friday, September 2, 2011

Friday Mid-Afternoon Update

It's been a rough night/morning, mainly due to Selah's gut pains, but she's finally sleeping, so I wanted to take a few minutes to update. 

Selah's temp is hanging around 99, so they're just keeping an eye on things for now.

Her croupy cough warranted a breathing treatment to try to break things up and reduce inflammation.  I've never heard of putting Lidocaine in the nebulizer, but the doctor ordered it because she thinks Selah's throat is irritated from the breathing tube that she had.  Her hope with the Lidocaine treatment was that Selah would then want to drink her bottle.  Didn't work.

Selah is aggressively pushing everything away that comes near her face/mouth, including the stethoscope, the nebulizer mask, and, of course, her bottle.  She cannot trust anyone now after being intubated, extubated, then having a feeding tube shoved down her nose, so she's actively protecting herself from anything near her face.  So sad.

We gave Selah a Dulcolax suppository around 10AM, then I held her to try to calm her and soothe some of the stomach cramping and pain.  She finally pooped, but it was an extremely hard/compact stool, and she wasn't able to get very much out, so I know she's still extremely constipated.  She continues to receive Colase and Miralax, but her whole regime has changed in terms of diet and activity, plus narcotics are constipating, too.  So, for a girl who always battles constipation, even with a diligent daily home routine/diet/meds to reduce constipation, this hospitalization has really thrown things out of whack.

Selah's scar/incision is healing nicely.  She still has two drainage tubes sewn into her scalp.  The tubes are draining blood from inside her skull, but the bleeding has slown down tremendously, and there's been talk of pulling the tubes today.  (That would be awesome because that lessens the risk of infection, plus makes her a little easier to pick up and hold without having to worry about the extra tubes.)

Selah was so uncomfortable this morning, and since neither of us got much sleep last night, I knew she had to be exhausted.  (I was!)  A super nice staff person brought me in a big comfy chair to hold Selah in next to her crib.  (I can't go too far from the crib because of all the lines Selah is still connected to.)  Selah snuggled into my arms, nestled her head on my chest, and slept like a little angel for about an hour and a half.  She coughed quite a bit (being upright) and cleared her chest a little more, which was good.  Plus, it was awesome to have some snuggle time, even if it was awkward to try to protect her head/skull, make sure her drainage tubes were held close enough to her head to not tear the stitches out, keep all of the other lines safe, and keep myself awake since I was so sleepy.  I truly treasured that time of having my sweet baby girls resting so peacefully in my arms.  Oh how I love God's good gifts.  There's nothing better than having a baby completely trust you, nestle into you with a deep security, and lay all fears aside as she slumbers so peacefully.

That's what our Abba Father wants us to do with Him.  Speaking of that, I need to go spend some time with my Daddy.  Looking forward to crawling into His arms, nestling into His strength, casting all my fears aside, and slumbering peacefully in His protection.

Thank you for praying!

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