Day 6

Last night, after dinner Erin continued her strong stats, and seemed happy and comfortable. She fell asleep and I was able to get out of here around 9. It was a good thing, as I think both Sheila and I hit the wall emotionally yesterday.

I arrived at the hospital at 7 am to find that Erin had a very good night. Her oxygen sat levels were consistently 100, so they elected to reduce her supplemental oxygen down to 30%. She still has bouts with fever from the PGE, but that is just the unfortunate side effect of the drug. She was sound asleep when I arrived, sleeping on her side, sucking away on Mr. Binky, all snuggled in. She likes to be wrapped under a blanket when she sleeps. She also likes to have her eyes shielded from the light, so the night nurse Amber had built her a little tent with a blanket.

During the night, they removed the old picc lines that were sutured into her umbilical cord stump. The report I got said that she was great through the procedure, and was kept very happy with yet another helping of the Sweetie sucrose/water combo. The good news is that by removing those lines, it will make it far easier for us to hold her.

Erin awoke soon after I arrived, and we spent some quality time staring at each other. Her nurse today is Janet, who was also her nurse yesterday. Janet wanted to change the dressing on her new picc line that was surgically implanted into her arm yesterday before Sheila arrived so spare Sheila having to see Erin in distress. Three of us donned masks and gloves, and I kept Erin busy with a Sweetie fix while the dressing was changed. The issue is that the dressing basically consists of tape that looks like saran wrap covering the line. Taking it off is challenging and pulls at the skin. Add to that the fact that Erin hates to be restrained in any way and you have all the ingredients for a rip roaring good time. She is a pretty tough little cookie, and managed it better than we all expected.

Today is also a banner day as Erin is going to graduate from the large bed surrounded by plexiglass walls to more of a crib. It is metal with metal bars all around it and looks like a jail. It also signals that she can hold her body temperature on her own, and doesn't need the warming bed that she is in. One tiny step at a time....