Belated Update!

I will preface this post with a disclaimer: Mommies do not get sick days! :) Yes, I have been fighting a bad head cold for a couple of days now and feel absolutely miserable. Daddy has done a great job this morning so I could have a few hours to rest. Now for the update!

Rebekah was released from the hospital late Wednesday afternoon. She showed quite a bit of improvement in both her fever and disposition after being on the antibiotic for her ear infection. She will be on the antibiotic for another week or so.

Rebekah has also had an increase in the amount of Zantac she takes to control her GERD (reflux). One thought is that the reflux has been contributing to the retching and gagging we have seen for the last week or so. So far today we have not seen any episodes of gagging, so we are hoping that the increase in Zantac is actually working. It would be nice if that is all it takes to solve that problem! :)

On the respiratory front, Rebekah seems to be good somewhere between a half liter and a liter of oxygen. All of the doctors involved agree that she will probably be on some amount of oxygen until her heart repair. We have a follow-up visit with the pulmonologist on Tuesday.

Now for the GI issues. We have seen some decrease in the amount and frequency of diarrhea that Rebekah has been having. The pancreatic enzyme test that she had was normal, so that ruled out several things, including Crohn's disease. Yeah! We were excited to cross that off the list! We are repeating some other tests this week to try to determine whether or not the dairy protein allergy is the culprit that we are dealing with. It is possible that Tuesday or Wednesday we will get clearance to begin feeding Rebekah breast milk again (the dairy-free variety! :). Then the tests will be repeated on Thursday and Friday to see if she is tolerating the new dairy-free diet. If so, we will be able to keep on with the dairy-free breastmilk. If her symptoms get worse or other symptoms develop, Rebekah will probably have an endoscopy next week while we are in Charleston for her heart catheterization.

The boys are thrilled to have Mommy and Rebekah at home. They love to play with Rebekah and try to get her to smile for them. Zachary is becoming very safety conscious with Rebekah. He makes sure to keep the rails up on her crib, watches that Rebekah is not chewing or choking on her tubing and enjoys taking care of Rebekah in general.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I have some, just don't have the energy to get them posted today. Hopefully I will be back to feeling better soon! Thanks for all of your prayers!

Nancy