Friday, April 11, 2008

A Smile for Mommy's Birthday

Oh what a joy today! Little Allie is BACK! This afternoon she delivered me the very best birthday present ever... a huge smile and the first giggle I've heard! What a wonderful sight and sound!!!




Things are progressing here in our room. You would think that it would be big enough to not go stir crazy, but from the looks of this picture, you can tell both Allie and I are a bit crazy. She was so much fun this afternoon. I could tell our little fighter was back into gear around 1am when she reached up with both hands and grabbed hold of her oxygen tube (that thing in her nose) and pulled! All day we fixed it for her. It was often between her eyes, in her mouth, on her chin. You name it. Swaddling works best, but she loves to move those hands, so it is hard to keep her bound. We also did more today... sat in the carrier and looked at toys, sat in the vibrating bouncy seat and looked at the way too many toys and then fell asleep... took a bath... cuddled with several of Mommy's friends, watched Mommy eat yummy chocolate birthday cake and open presents... and the not so fun things... took lots of yucky medicine, made funny faces to show how disgusting the medicines are and spit up a few just for good measure. On the other hand, eating is becoming much easier and much more interesting. Allie is increasing the amount she takes, but we still are starting with a 2 ounce bottle and not pushing her too much. Her belly is still small after all. There was talk of us going home either Saturday and Sunday. And, technically, it is still feasible. But, the last doctor to visit today thought Tuesday was a more practical day for returning to our humble home. Allie does still have some fluid in her lungs. This is common for everyone of every age to have after being put on the heart bypass machine. They added another diuretic to help Allie reduce the amount of fluid. We will do another x-ray at around 7am (ugh) and get a better idea of how the weekend will look for us. We did an echo of her chest today and could see the fluid much better. Good news is that she does seem to be doing much better. She is eating better and although her breathing is labored, she is acting normal and the doctors are saying she looks good (as if I didn't know that).



Perhaps we will be home soon and past this chapter in her life. What will I write about then? Oh... I'm sure she will help me think of something.





4 comments:

Unknown said...

Allie it is so good to see you smile! I can't wait til I can see it in person!

I love you and stay strong!

Love, Auntie Trisha

Anonymous said...

Allie, You have surpassed all of us in your strength and courage. If you only knew how wonderful it is to see you, bright eyed and smiling and playing with your Mommie.

Keep up the great work and much Love,

Granma

Katie said...

I absolutely love the pictures. Allie is precious. I cannot wait to meet her!

Katie

Jenny G said...

What a precious smile! I love the picture of mommy & daughter!