Erin is doing better, which is a big change. Through the rest of the afternoon and early evening, she was really struggling and even the nurses and doctors were concerned. We had to leave the ward at 6:45, as they were bringing in a new baby. When they do that, they kick you out for confidentiality reasons, as they want to openly discuss the baby's situation with the entire staff. It was also time for the 7 pm shift change, when they also kick you out so that they can openly discuss your child with the incoming staff. For the fourth straight night, we had dinner next door at John Barleycorn. One of the cardiologists that did so many of Sheila's pre-birth echo cardiograms was having dinner next to us, and she knew all of the current details of Erin's condition, even though Erin is not her patient. These people are so amazing. Every doctor that we have seen throughout the course of this has either made a trip to the hospital to see how Erin is doing personally, or has called periodically for an update. We feel so incredibly supported by the entire medical community.
I convinced Sheila to go home and rest, which is no easy task. She refuses to consider the fact that she just had a relatively major trauma to her body called childbirth. I think she still thinks she is in marathon shape. It is so hard on her not being able to spend the amount of time at the hospital that she wants to, but it is equally important for her to be getting her rest to get her strength and stamina back.
When I walked into the ward, Erin was fussing slightly, but was doing better. Our wonderful nurse Melissa, who had taken care of Erin for the previous two nights, discovered that gently patting Erin on her butt is very calming for her, and was having a young nursing intern do it. I took over, and patted Erin for the next hour and one-half straight. She was awake for most of it, seeming to spend her time intently trying to alternatively figure out her bear Rusty and me. She is such a laid back baby, but you can see that she is alert and tracking very well. We spent our time in deep discussion over the vagaries of the Chicago Cubs and why it has been 100 years since they won the World Series. Maybe it's just me, but I am sure that she was fascinated, and more importantly, agreed with all of my points. :-)
Before I left, I changed her diaper (who knew...I actually like doing this. The staff loves us because we insist on doing it ourselves) and put her into a comfortable position with Mr. Binky (Melissa's name for her pacifier). She fell asleep happily sucking away.
I called at 5 this morning and found that she slept from 10 until 3, which is really good. Her fever is back up, but they now feel it is clearly a reaction to the PGE. PGE was explained as the opposite of aspirin. Aspirin reduces fever and pain. PGE can cause both. The good news is that her oxygen sat was in the mid 90's all night, and her pulse was down to 150 while sleeping.
Never a dull moment.
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