Friday, April 3

It's been kind of a big day for us here.


This morning I went with Natalie to have a little square cut in the back of her cast. Yes, more of the buzz saw. There won't be any cast left if we keep this up. When they put the cast on they covered up the epidural site but the pain management people need to be able to see it and eventually take it out. Don't ask me why they covered it up when they knew it would have to come out.


From there we didn't go back to the PICU but got put in a room on the regular floor. That's good because it means Natalie is very stable and is one step closer to going home. However, it also means she doesn't get the constant monitoring from the nurses like before so I feel like I pretty much need to be here all the time. Having wireless Internet helps and I can order up food from the patient menu and pay for it so that's nice too. It's not like I *can't* leave but I just feel like I need to keep it brief and get back as quickly as I can.


I've been able to try to feed her a couple of times. She had a little but needs to get back to more regular feedings before they take out the IV line. They will probably keep the epidural in until Monday or so and then go to oral pain meds. When that happens she'll be able to come off all the monitors and won't have any wires or tubes. Well, she has catheters in but they drain right into her diaper so it doesn't really affect being able to move her. She has a catheter coming from each kidney, through the bladder and down and out. Then she has a catheter that goes from the bladder out through the belly button. Yeah, weird I know. These take all the pressure off her urinary tract to let it recover from surgery. The two that come from the kidneys will only be in for a few days but she'll come home with the other one.


With all the hustle and bustle in the morning she got pretty worn out and has been sleeping hard most of the afternoon. I'm anxious for her to get back to normal feedings. It seems like that's my main focus. Must be motherly instinct. That's what we do. We feed our babies. I know it's normal to take a little time to get back to that but I want to see her with a full tummy and a smile on her face. No smiles yet. I told her when she smiles I'll put a bow in her hair that I brought.


Good news: I got into the Ronald McDonald house. I went over briefly this afternoon while Natalie was sleeping to get checked in. I drove over and walked back. It's really not too far to walk but you have to go outside and cross a fairly busy street so it makes is seem kind of far from Natalie's room. I don't really see myself going over there for the night until I feel like I can count on Natalie sleeping for several hours in a row. Since we are barely getting back into eating again I want to be immediately available for her. Her days and nights are all messed up too so we'll see. But I can still go shower and do laundry anytime I need to so that's nice. There's a pull out couch type bed here in her room so hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep on that.


I think the next few days should be fairly quiet. So far I haven't had a chance to be bored. I haven't even opened any books or magazines since the day of her surgery.


From the homefront: Ben took the girls up to Iowa City to mini golf today. He said they are doing well. Annabelle is a little clingy. I try not to think about that too much. There's nothing I can do about it and it just makes it hard if I dwell on the fact that I'm not with them.

Thanks for all your comments and e-mails and your continued prayers for Natalie. I guess I didn't explicitly say it but things are still looking good with her. No news is good news, right? We really appreciate all the love and support.

One day closer...