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July 27, 2013

day 17.

Eventually I'll start to think of better titles for these posts. But for now, numbering the days is just easier. It may also be a little confusing, though. I started numbering right away, so day 1 was her actual day-of-birth, but she was technically zero days old. That's why day 8 and day 15 were her one- and two-week milestones. Make sense?! Good.

Today was pretty great. Last night I got to stay in Ruthe's room ALL NIGHT. And while I didn't get the best night's sleep, I didn't get the worst night's sleep either. I was pretty cold, so I'll have to remember to bundle up tonight!

I woke up a couple times during the night, mostly just to roll over. At around 2am the x-ray tech came in to get a new picture of Ruthe's chest and make sure that all her lines are still where they're supposed to be.

Sometime during the night, Ruthe's right leg went a little bit dead. That's the leg she has an arterial line going into, and I guess it got cold and the nurse couldn't fine a pulse on it. She adjusted it and put a blanket over Ruthe to warm her up, and everything seemed to fix itself.


And then I woke up "for real" at about 6. I spent most of my time just watching Ruthe sleep and trying to keep her awake whenever she did open her eyes. The doctors said that once she was waking up for a good chunk of time and if all her blood levels looked good they would take out her breathing tube! We were definitely rooting for that to happen... I may have tried pinching Ruthe a couple times to keep her awake but it didn't really work.

John stopped by at about 6:30ish to see Ruthe, give us both a kiss, and grab his sunglasses from the diaper bag before going to work. He's kind of the best husband ever.

I knew it was going to be a long day, so I sat down on my chair-bed to relax a little while the nurses changed shifts and Ruthe slept. I was apparently not done sleeping, because I zonked out all scrunched up on the chair for about an hour... twice. Even after open-heart surgery Ruthe is boring. [No complaints about that!!]

Around 10, after I finally got around to changing out of my pajamas, a couple of her cardiologists came in to do an ultrasound/echo on her chest to double-check the bands and stent and get readings of the rates/pressure/velocities/whatever. Everything looked great!! Just what we wanted to hear. :)

My mom came by at about 11 to see Ruthe. And to check on me, too. I told her everything the doctor's had told me after her ultrasound, and the thing with her leg, and about taking her tube out. We decided I needed some fresh air, so when the Deans came by to visit Ruthe and go with my mom to a new home decor shop, I tagged along. It was nice to get a little fresh air and change of scenery, and I knew I'd have been bored to death at the hospital by myself, but I always feel guilty leaving Ruthe alone.

Just not quite guilty enough not to leave again a little bit later so I could get in a quick nap and shower before John got home and brought me back.

When we came in we saw Ruthe just hangin' out in her little bed, WITHOUT A BREATHING TUBE!!! That was the best. They also took the dressing off her incision, so we saw for the first time how big it is. It just hurts my momma-soul to see that big, red scar where there should be soft, perfect, peach-fuzzy baby skin. :(


Ruthe is handling this whole thing like a little champion. I am so proud of her. And even though she won't remember any of this, I always will, and I'll know how much she's capable of.


Since her breathing tube is out, she can cry!! For the first little while she was only making tiny little gremlin-sounds. But after a while we got to hear a couple good cries. That is the most wonderful sound in the world. I know that I'll eventually start to really dislike her crying, but after two weeks of silence, this girl can cry her heart out for days and I'll enjoy every second of it.




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