Still Truckin'

Last night was a little better than the first night. She slept really well until midnight. Then the nurse came and checked her vital signs (which all look good) so Ada woke up. I fed her a bottle and we gave her some Tylenol. I laid her back down and she didn't go back to sleep. She was antsy and fussy. That was how it was the rest of the night. She would cough and wake herself up. Now the diarrhea has started. (OH NO!) I would have to hold her standing up and bouncing to get her to calm down. Her chest xray this morning showed that she has a pleural effusion which is fluid around her right lung. So they have put her back on lasix iv. Hopefully that will pull off the fluid, if not then they will have to put in a chest tube. I pray that IT WORKS! Last night when she would cry she would say, "mmmommm." It was so sad! But I will say, that she wants to play with her blankets, which she has always done at home. So one small step back will hopefully lead to one GIANT leap forward.

Rough Night

Ada had a hard time last night; she took her bottle, but threw up twice. She just couldn't get comfortable. She would come close to settling down, only to wake again in pain and thrashing. We think maybe the Lortab didn't agree with her stomach. The nurses came in around 4 AM and her blood had a high PH level so they thought maybe she would go back to the PICU. The next blood had a higher PH so they kept her and we are using ibuprofen for pain control. She just isn't comfortable but she is resting. We just got back from an ultrasound; her arm is mottled and they wanted to check for clots; they found none. Things are looking up, the ibuprofen is working better and they are taking her chest tube out here in a few minutes.

Day 2 continued....

We now have transfer orders to move out of the ICU. She will be going to the third floor for the rest of her hospital stay. Everyone has complimented on how well she has done. The nurse just removed her arterial line. She has eaten two bottles, (very quickly I might add) so now we are just waiting for a room to move her upstairs. The nurse practitioner even mentioned the possibility of going home tomorrow. (Wouldn't that be something?) Oh and by the way, I got to hold her for a few minutes during her first bottle and it was amazing!!!

Day 2

Ada did really well throughout the night. She was breathing really slow so they waited to remove her breathing tube until morning. We had to wait until after 8:00 am to see her because of shift change, but when we came in she looked like this. They had extubated her and she was so happy!! The nurse gave her some more morphine and Tylenol and now she is resting. The doctors came and rounded on her. They said that she is doing so well. She is on lasix which is a diuretic to pull off fluid. They turned off the mironone which is a drug that makes the heart squeeze better. If she does well with this off then they can take out her iv in her neck. Her urinary catheter also gets to come out. She still has a chest tube which is draining blood from her chest. As soon as the bleeding slows down that can come out. She might can be transferred out of ICU later tonight. She is so dang strong. We should be able to feed her around 12:00pm today. So we will see how she does.

Surgery Day

Ada went for surgery to repair her ASD and VSD. Dr. Burch did the surgery. We had to be up to Primary Children's at 10:30 am on Monday. Her surgery was scheduled for 12:00pm. She was very well behaved even though she was STARVING. We talked with the doctor and he told us about the procedure. I was so nervous. Then the anesthesiologist came and talked with us. We walked with him down a large hallway. He then told us to give her a kiss and say goodbye. I started to cry, thinking "Here stranger take my baby and make sure you take good care of her." And he took her away. About an hour and a half later we got the update that the surgery was starting. She did so well. The actual surgery was shorter than expected. When I finally got to see her for the first time she looked great! The doctor put a stitch in her asd and a patch in her vsd. These links best describe what they did. www.pted.org/?id=ventricularseptal1 and http://www.pted.org/?id=atrialseptal1. We are so greatful for all the prayers for Ada. We have felt the Lord's presence through all of this.

It's on Like Donkey Kong!

I just got word today, Ada's surgery is going to be on July 7th. That is this coming Monday. Finally! Now I totally have major anxiety. I was fighting for this now that I have a date, I'm not so sure I want to go through with it. I know that she needs it and will be so much better off, it just scares me to death. I pray that the Lord will bless Ada, and I pray that he will give me the strength to bear the stress. It will be so good to get this surgery behind us. Thank you to all that have been there for me and my family. Thank you to those who have listened to me complain. I am a big boob. We could not have gotten this far without good support from family and friends! Woo hoo! It's on like Donkey Kong!

Just to keep everyone informed, I finally talked to Ada's cardiologist today. He had informed me that he had talked to the surgeon to get her back on the surgical schedule. (Did she get lost in the shuffel? who knows) He gave me a number to reach him directly, which I greatly appreciated. He told me to call if I had any questions or concerns. I also called the surgical coordinator. She said that she had faxed a schedule to Dr Hawkins (the surgeon) and he was supposed to get back to her. So all in all, I should hopefully hear by Friday. Wow! I still don't feel like I can breathe. Last night I got so overwhelmed that Andy and I decided to go to the temple. We did initiatories. I have never felt so loved in my entire life. The spirit was amazing. I had forgotten all that we are promised by our Heavenly Father. He loves us so much. He loves me! I walked out of the temple feeling renewed. Maybe I needed to go to give me a jump start for today. I think that I got a lot accomplished today. A lot of phone calls were made and I hope that the ball is now rolling. Oh by the way Torie Christofferson did Ada's and my family's pictures. Her blog is toriejanephotography.blogspot.com if you are interested.