I have a secret... :o)



You want to know what it is? I can't contain it much longer. Anya's doctor said the "H" word the other day!!! No date set yet, but if all continues to go well, Anya could be HOME sometime next week!!!! Crazy happy dance!! Last week I felt like it would be another month... but it doesn't look like it now! It's the question I've been afraid to ask, and they answered it for me :) She still has a few steps to go, however.

Step #1: Weaning her off of oxygen. Simply, she needs to be able to keep her sats up without oxygen. She is on a low flow nasal cannulla at 30% oxygen currently.

Step #2: These pesky chest tubes! Luckily, one was taken out yesterday. She still has nemothorax (sp?) which is an air pocket under her left lung, and interventional radiology is working on it again today, they are unsure if they will have to replace the tube or just move it around to try and get to the air pocket. They also don't know why it is there, or if it ever went away (and came back) in the first place. Either way, I'm really hoping we overcome this step TODAY. It doesn't seem to phase her though, other than it could be the possible reason for her high respiratory rate.

Step #3: Feeding. This is a tricky one. Speech therapy tried working with her yesterday on bottle feeding, and her respiratory rate was too high for them to try and bottle feed her. HOWEVER, this morning, she took 10ml by bottle for them, yay!!! They will also try again with her this evening. Here is that "h" word again... I talked to her surgeon the other night and he is comfortable with her coming home with an ng tube (the feeding tube in her nose), and I told him I was comfortable with learning how to use it as well. Which means, we will try feeds by bottle first, and whatever she doesn't finish will go into her feeding tube (because her gaining weight is the most important thing for her to get her next surgery at 4-6 months).

I'm a little nervous, as I should be, but BEYOND excited. I want her to continue to do well and for the next week to fly by. I installed her car seat in my car this week:

It's so nice to see 2 car seats in my back seat, now I can't wait until both my kiddos are in them :) (BTW, This pic is mirror image, because Emoree's seat is behind the driver's seat and Anya's is behind the passenger seat). I also have an outfit picked out for Anya to wear the day she comes home, but you can wait to see that later :)

This one is pretty special, 20 days old and Anya smiled for the first time :) This made my entire week!



Just a few more Anya pics (since I take pics of her everyday):

Playing play-doh with Emoree, I made a CHD heart <3

 

This is posted on the side of Anya's bed, her sternal precautions (which I believe apply for at least 8 weeks after Open Heart Surgery).


I am still pumping breastmilk for Anya, and freezing it since she can't have it for 6 weeks (due to her fat free diet). I saw my OB on Monday and she gave me a script for Reglan, so that maybe I can produce an adequate amount of milk! 5-10ml just doesn't cut it. Waiting to see if it works!