Another incredibly good day today! 🙂
After an evening of not sleeping due to way too many noises and goings-on in the Ped.Ward (ending off with a weird-ass hallucinatory dream this morning), it was a really great day.
As I mentioned previously, I spent the night in the ward sleeping by Charlize’s bedside. I gave her a bottle of breast milk at regular intervals which worked out great as she drank very well. This morning I decided to up the amount and held her in my arms as I fed her. It felt great and she ate a lot more than she had overnight! Everything was going great (her taking her meds, eating, interacting, and we even took off her Oxygen Saturation monitor after removing her feeding tube!!!!) up until 930am. After her valium, her heartbeat got very erratic and her pacemaker kept going off but it wouldn’t really resolve what we saw on the monitors. I was sure the leads needed to be changed but the nurse didn’t think so. She knew there was an issue as she checked Charlize’s heartbeat and it was what was registering but couldn’t understand what the pacemaker was doing.
A call down to Cardiology and soon enough the head of the department herself (the woman who had discharged us last time as well as help us get the bloodwork done quicker) shows up and reviews the situation. Sure enough, she states that the pacemaker is acting weird and pacing whenever it felt like it. Since the sensors weren’t working well and Charlize “doesn’t really need it” she disconnected it!!
So there we were, heading into noon and Charlize suddenly had ONLY her regular monitor “stickies” on, plus the IV line in her left hand, and the pacer wires taped to her tummy! A lot freer to hold her! 🙂
The Doctor did confirm that the Holter test would take place on Monday with an Echo on Tuesday meaning we could potentially be leaving on Wednesday! This, of course, as long as there are no complications with the weaning off of the pain meds! Great news! 🙂
In the afternoon, Chantale showed up with my mom who immediately teared up at seeing Charlize. Tears of relief and joy to be certain as I know how difficult this ordeal has been for my parents. My dad didn’t come along today because he was not feeling well (plus being somewhat stressed about his own upcoming operation). James and Melyssa couldn’t make it today either because James ended up catching some kind of cough that hurt his chest and made him spit out phlegm. Sorry, can’t come and be around sick kids if you’re that sick. He felt really, really bad about it – especially after wanting to come see her from the moment she went into the hospital!
Anyhow, it was quite an emotional moment watching my mom stand by Charlize, watching her sleep while she held onto her finger. I told Chantale that she was thinking of my sister and Chantale answered that she didn’t think so – it was too long ago and why would she be thinking of that now? Sure enough, within 2 minutes, my mom started talking about how she wished they were as advanced in Italy as they are here so that I would today have another sister. I looked at Chantale and said, “told you”.
It’s hard not to think about it. My mother gave birth to her first daughter after 7 months of pregnancy. The baby looked fine except she slept a lot. A doctor came to their village and told her that the baby was a preemie and should be taken up to the city for care. They made their way there and put her in an incubator and for the next month and a half, my mother would trek to the city to see her baby. In those 90 days, my sister did grow and put on weight. However, every morning she was taken out of that incubator to be weighed. One day, she caught a fever which turned into bronchitis, and soon after… my sister was dead. My mother, today, staring down at her 2 month old granddaughter, could not help to remember seeing her own child at that age and losing her. Definitely something that scars a person.
Charlize was wonderful, though. Very much all smiles and bubbles for her Nonna which made it a very nice visit. Afterwards, I drove my mother home, spoke with my dad a bit, and then came back to the hospital. Chantale and I chatted, worked on a crossword puzzle together, and took care of Charlize when she was awake. Chantale even got a couple of chances of breastfeeding Charlize and it was a really special moment to see. (Go ahead and shed a tear, Alex, I know you will 🙂 ). Yes, there will be pictures one day.
Like I said, it was a really good day. To top it off, our favorite ward nurse, Alissa, was our nurse tonight so I know Chantale will be well taken care of 🙂
I got home and within minutes my sister-in-law showed up. Once her dad left, we cracked open some Coronas and talked for hours 🙂 It’s so great having her here that when she’s not around, it seems a little strange! Of course, as you can see, the time was getting late and we do have to head to the hospital tomorrow so it was time for me to post this and get some shut-eye!
It’ll be great to have my family home again! Soon!!