Rebekah found her fingers yesterday afternoon, but just briefly. She does have an IV in that wrist, so it makes getting her fingers into her mouth a little challenging. Plus, she doesn't have too much coordination back yet, so keeping her fingers in her mouth has also been a bit of a challenge.
We came in this morning just as the doctors were rounding, so it was nice to get the quick rundown of today's plan from them. Basically, the plan is to get Rebekah moving a bit more - not necessarily walking, but at least sitting up straighter. The head of her bed is elevated, so she's sleeping in a semi-sitting up position, but she tends to slide downward into a little ball. Rebekah has several pockets of atelectasis (collapsing) throughout both lungs, so the doctors are working on getting her lungs to expand more and open up. The best ways to do that are movement, not lying down flat, and coughing. If Rebekah knew how to blow, she would also be blowing bubbles to help. :)
As you can see from the above picture, Rebekah was less than pleased to be up and out of the bed. After about five minutes, she was asking to get back in the bed. I think she lasted on Drew's lap about 15 or 20 minutes total, which is a good start. She is resting in bed right now and we will probably get her up again after lunch.
Rebekah tried her best to sleep in Daddy's lap, but she was very restless. It seems to be hard for her to find any type of comfortable position right now. She says "no" if we ask if she hurts, but she is whimpering some and just overall feels yucky. The nurses are keeping up with her pain protocol, but recovery from open heart surgery is just plain miserable even with pain meds.
Bek finally decided that sleeping across Daddy's arm was the best she was going to get, so that's how she finally settled down. But only for a few minutes and then we let her get back into her bed. The doctors did order chest PT to be started today, so that should help open her lungs up as well. Rebekah loves the vibration of the percussor, and she actually dozed off while the respiratory therapist was working on her. :)
Rebekah's throat seems to be very sore still (and I'm sure it is!!). Her cry sounds like a small kitten meowing, and her voice is very soft and high-pitched. It will improve over time, but for now it is very pitiful sounding.
It seems like Rebekah's stomach has begun to wake up just a little bit. She tolerated the Pedialyte last night pretty well. It ran it at just a dribble, really, so there was not much in her stomach at once. This morning she did have some apple juice and Pedialyte left in her stomach, so we're kind of watching to see how that progresses during the day.
I think that's about all the updates for now. We will certainly update again if anything changes, or this evening if all remains quiet today. Oh, and as of this morning Rebekah's temp was just slightly elevated, so it is coming down much closer to normal! :)
Nancy
2 comments:
Still praying! THANKS for the updates! Your little girl is soooo precious!
Oh Nancy, my heart just breaks seeing her pictures. I know she is doing remarkably well, and for that we are all so thankful. We are lifting you up before our Heavenly Father, and we are asking for continued grace. I just can't imagine. I love you all, and thank you so much for the detailed updates!
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