Day 2: more recovering, lots of wiggling!

** some images might be kinda disturbing **

just a heads up.

So today was a pretty long day in the ICU.

Not too much happened really, but progress all the same. The day started off pretty nice, with cinnamon buns and a full nights sleep for me! I woke up to the birds singing... not a baby crying. That part was nice. I felt pretty rested.

I did feel anxious to get to the hospital. I didn't feel worried, i just wanted to be there and see my baby. The hospital never called during the night, so I assumed all was well.

And it was :)

Piper had a great night, full of rest and no surprises. We arrived and took a look at her, and then I promptly went to go and pump some more milk for her. At that point, they hadn't fed her anything yet.

It was long into the morning when Piper sorta started waking up on her own a bit. It was just a slight wiggle and then her eyelids kinda fluttered a bit. She was stirring all on her own. It was so nice to see my baby wiggle. But she really needed to stay still, and they soon had to put restraints on her arm so that she didn't grab at her air tube.

She has always been a pro-wiggler.

The meds they were using the sedate her would work for hardly any time at all and then she would be wiggling again, and the nurses were all surprised with how strong she was! Anyways, they used some things to keep her calm and they seemed to work on and off. She had a good few rests during the day, which was good.

They decided to wait until tomorrow (Saturday) to extubate her (take her breathing tube out). Her breathing isn't quite strong enough, and she hasn't peed quite enough, which means she still has some fluid retained in her body and in her lungs. It doesn't hurt to keep the breathing tube in, it just might be a little uncomfy for her as she is waking up more.

Her temperature has been a little higher today, hopefully not a real fever, maybe just something low-grade from surgery- totally normal. They have kept her cold with some ice-packs and some Tylenol.

Her saturation levels have been lower than normal. Sometimes at 80% when they are normally at 97%+, which might just be due to her breathing not getting enough oxygen. But they aren't worried.

Her heart rate has been a little lower than yesterday, but a little on the high side, like 140-150.

Her chest tubes are still draining, but hardly anymore, which is good. That means all the blood is almost drained away. The chest tubes look the scariest, but they really aren't.

I laughed a little, during one of Piper's wiggling's, as she was all over the place, and one of the nurses just came up to her saying "monkey!" and tickled her belly, right below her chest tube spot and right above her belly button. She was so comfortable with it. I still feel a little frightened to touch her so casually. You know how babies feel when they are newbown, and you seriously worried that if you handle them not quite right, they will actually break? That is sorta what it feels like with Piper right now. And I haven't even held her! I think she will be a little more touchable when she is not so plugged in.

Otherwise, I try to touch her as much as I can, stroking her head and talking to her. At some point today, she had my finger in her little fist. It was nice to feel her strength :)

Here are a few new friends for her hospital adventures.

This guy is Twinkle Mouse (though Matt is convinced he looks like a rat... ) He came from some great friends, the night before surgery. He is perfect for babies to grab, and just so cute :)

And this guy was from our friend who is a physiotherapist here at BCCH. She said she's seen kids with these guys hanging from their IV poles and they are just so cute. How thoughtful. He is so soft and pink :) Piper will love getting her paws on this buddy.

Otherwise, we've had a pretty slow day here, not bad, just long. We were initially a little bummed that Piper had to remain intubated for the rest of the day, but we expected it I guess. She will be all that much stronger in the morning.

A few more kids have been admitted to the ICU now, so it is not quite as quiet, but still nice. It was interesting to see people who were just one day behind us: antsy in the waiting room and hesitantly coming into the ICU, wringing their hands, looking for their baby. Did we look that like? I already feel like a seasoned pro in here, I feel like I should be giving those parents some advice, from my wealth of experience. Ha. All of our experiences are pretty unique.

Our experience here has been great, as usual. We got a good diagram from the cardiology nurse about what actually happened in Piper's heart, and I will have to share that at some point. But not right now. Right now, this laptop is burning my legs, and my baby is sleeping so soundly and I am getting a little sleepy, too. We might have a bit of an early night, sticking around until the new nurse is here and then maybe take off.

Then tomorrow we'll get here when we get here and hope for some more improvements tomorrow!