I spent the night at the hospital last night and stayed until about 2:00 today. I was back in time to pick up Katie from pre-school. They had a fun day with Grandma and I was happy that I could be back home with them.
Natalie was taken off the respirator today. They did it right before I had to head back home so I was happy to be there for it and to see her cute little face without the tubes. They dropped her morphine slightly but she is still very sedated. The nurses said she was alert a couple of times in the night but never long enough to call me. I was okay with that because I actually slept pretty good and I really need it. I only saw her eyelids flutter a couple of times while I was there and she moved her arms and feet a little. I'm realizing that her recovery is a longer and slower process than we had anticipated. I guess it's beginning to sink in that this was major surgery. They had to make two cuts in her pelvis and pull it together. Don't worry if that doesn't make sense. The doctors had to draw a picture for me to get it and I still don't think I understand it completely. Anyway, besides all the surgery on the soft tissue, those bones need time to heal as well. As anxious as we are to have her home with us I am more than happy to let her take her time to recover. She is sedated and comfortable and I want her to be well enough before we start moving her around. They said it will be a "few more days" before we can pick her up. As nice as it would be to have a specific timetable we are realizing that it is a day to day process. One of the NICU docs said she'd be surprised if Natalie came home in a week....more like 1 1/2 to 2 weeks from now. We'll see.......
I plan on staying at home with the girls tomorrow. It did me good to see Natalie so I can hold off another day or so. While she is still heavily sedated I want to be here as much as I can for my older girls since I will most likely need to be gone more later when Natalie is alert and feeding.
Ben and I are going to relax to a Laverne & Shirley and then I am going to bed early.
2 comments:
Hang in there! Still praying for you!
Glad it's more good news, besides having to wait longer to bring Natalie home. You're sounding in good spirits still which is great!
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