Moving Along

Farrah got a new PICC line in the early hours of Tuesday morning. They were able to get the PICC line in without any trouble, so we are thankful for that. Ray and I headed over to the hospital around 11 am today and Ray had a chance to change Farrah's diaper, take her temperature, and wipe her eyes and mouth. She did not open her eyes while he was there, but the lights in her new room are pretty bright because she is the closest bed to the hall with the big, bright lights. Later today, I asked Farrah's nurse if there was a way to block some of the light coming in from the hallway, such as putting a screen or blanket in the doorway. The nurse asked her manager if that would be ok, and we got approval to put up a blanket to block the light coming in. Farrah's bed is a lot darker now, which is what she prefers. I even saw her open her eyes a little once this change was made.

In terms of feeds, Farrah has been able to tolerate her feeds thus far. Farrah is still quite puffy from the edema, and they have switched her diueretic to more of a maintenance med. Tonight Farrah's weight went down by more than 100 grams, which is great when the goal is to get the extra fluid off ASAP.

Ray and I went over to the Women's Health department to pick up some of my medical records to pass along to the disability company. I have been getting a little push back with extending my short term disability and the current approved dates only cover until this Thursday. My physician signed off on 6 weeks of recovery after my c section, and I would really like to take an additional 2 weeks since a typically c section recovery takes around 8 weeks without any other complications. Hopefully the disability company will review my medical records and realize that pre-existing hypertension, kidney disease, superimposed pre-eclampsia, and 3 weeks of hospital bed rest is enough to extend my leave just a little longer as my body continues to heal. It is inevitable that I will be going back to work soon, and I am so thankful for the time I have now to be at the hospital all day with Farrah as she gets over this hurdle.

During Farrah's afternoon rounds, a physical therapist stopped by. We were told early on that physical therapists and occupational therapists work with the babies starting with their first week or two in the NICU, but up until now, we had not met any of the therapists. The therapists move the babies into the positions that will support calming and limit stress signs. Today's therapist walked me through what they are currently working on with Farrah. They want her to keep her hands by her face whenever possible, and they make sure that the babies have boundaries in their beds just like they would still have inside their moms. Farrah exhibits many of the habits that they want the babies to develop from an early age, but she still shows the stress signs that alert us that she is not happy about something. The therapist also gave me a packet of materials for future reference about milestones for babies when they leave the NICU and how to look at the milestones in terms of a preemie's adjusted age.

Farrah's primary night nurse, Sherri, wanted me to understand just how hard Farrah's lungs were hit with the combination of pnuemonia and MRSA. She explains this simply by saying "She has a long way to go, Mom." The NICU nurses often refer to all of us as Mom and Dad and not our first names. I was saying to her that as soon as Farrah gets all the excess fluid off she should be able to start breathing a lot easier. She did not want to mislead me by agreeing with my thought process and just reiterated that getting sick has really knocked Farrah down and it will take a while for her to get back up to where she was before getting sick. MRSA is a big complication and it has added another element of the unknown into the mix. We cannot sit and wonder what is going to happen. We just need to stay positive and focus on Farrah who is doing better and getting stronger each day.