Monday, October 29

8:45a.m.

I called the NICU this morning at 6am as I was getting ready for work (yes, work...until 11am, anyway...paychecks will be needed), and Aubrey had a good night.  Her feedings are going well--lots of pee and poo (lots for her, anyway).  The nurse working with her today is going to try and call me before the broviac procedure happens, if she gets enough notice.  She said sometimes they call 15 minutes before they come up to do the surgery.  Dr. Sharpe told us yesterday that with surgery, we are pretty much at the mercy of the surgeon as to when it gets done...he said, "we tell people 11am, give or take 6 hours." *sigh*

Adam was going to try to go back to work tonight, but when we got home from the hospital last night he changed his mind.  He's pretty worried about the procedure, and he just doesn't feel comfortable going back yet...maybe tomorrow night, he says.  That's fine by me; I don't want him so preoccupied with worrying about Aubrey that he doesn't have his mind on his job.  I don't think I can handle worrying about both loves of my life at once.

One of us will update when we hear news about the surgery.  Thanks for all the love and prayers--we need it and appreciate it!

Keli


9a.m.

Just got the call that the surgery is about to start.  She will have to go back on the ventilator since they have to sedate her, so please pray the surgery is successful and that she will go back off the ventilator quickly and easily after the sedation wears off.   My sweet baby...I hate to think of her having to be cut on, even if it is a tiny cut and completely necessary.  *deep breaths*


1243 hours (12:43 pm)

The procedure went well. We were notified at 9 that it was about to happen and by 9:15 the surgeon had cleared. Aubrey was x-rayed to confirm the line was in the correct spot and it was.

 During the night, little miss wiggle pants undid the iv in her leg and it had to be repositioned into her scalp. It sounds worse then it really is. They have to have it in there in case they need to give her blood. It will come out in couple of days and they won't put another one in unless they have to.

The blue light has been turned back on due to skin color, and the breathing tube has been re-installed. She is receiving 21% oxygen, which is the same amount we breathe in the air, so it isn't like she is getting straight oxygen which could damage organs at her age. They will go ahead and keep the breathing machine on her probably throughout the day whether or not she can breathe on her own so that a bruise can heal on her nose bridge. That bruise is from the Cpap machine. Its ok, they are just letting it heal a little.

Keli and I are doing much better now.


-Adam

I was able to take a picture before her eyes were covered and the light turned back on. You can see the neck iv going in, and it is well secured. She is laying there peacefully due to sedation.

The iv in her scalp looks bad, but it isn't. The orange line isn't attached to the iv, in fact, nothing is attached to it at this time, but the orange line is her food line. Her hair is still dark, but her eyebrows are blond like her mother's. You can see a little bruising on her nose bridge, but it is ok. They will either put the cpap on again if it has healed a little, or put another device on her nose that has little plugs going up into her nostrils. First they have to find a device small enough. 

1720 hours  (5:20 pm

She is having breathing episodes, or more accurately, lack of breathing episodes. These are normal they say due to her coming off the medications from this morning. She gets all mad about something, wiggling around and using up all her energy and then forgets to breathe. The last episode two nurses were hovering over her and making sure tubes were clear of water and saliva, and probes were all tight. Her party lights were still going off and the nurse turned to Keli and asked her to touch Aubrey. Keli of course obliged and encouraged her to start breathing again. The nurse was steady adjusting the manual breathing and oxygen level and I could see the shallow breaths Aubrey was taking due to the ventilator pushing in the air. Then after a minute, or maybe less, seemed like an eternity, Aubrey was breathing on her own again. Whew.

Oh the ups and downs of a roller coaster.  She will probably have more of these episodes for the next few hours until the medicine wears off.

-Adam




Dear God,
Help me to be brave while I am in this machine to help me grow.
- Aubrey