Life As We Know It...: Day 18

We are still in the hospital! Before surgery I had several doctors tell me we would be here for 7-14 days and I would laugh every time. I was confident that we would be out of here in less than 7 days. Well, here I am 18 days after surgery and I am wishing the doctor's estimates would have been right!! We are still in the step down unit, which in all honesty is awful. I have probably slept about 10 hours total over the past three nights. It is SO hard to share a (tiny) room with a stranger and her three week old baby, and have nurses and techs coming in and out of the room all night. As hard as it is, I am thankful that Isabella is doing well enough to be over here. I know we are just one step closer to getting home.

Originally the plan was for us to go home TOMORROW!! Unfortunately we had a couple of set backs today so I don't think that will happen any more. They are still weaning her off the oxygen, which is the only thing keeping us here now. Yesterday she was down to room air (21%) and 1 liter (air blowing in her nose). They were going to turn if off today but ended up having to turn it UP. Her pulse ox started to drop into the 80s, (they want it 93 or above), and they didn't know why. They did a chest x-ray which showed a little haziness in her lungs but nothing too worrisome. They turned her oxygen up from 21% to 25%. Which did help bring her stats up. Later on this evening I was waking her up for a bottle and I noticed she was breathing extremely fast, her nostrils were flaring, and her stomach was retracting. I counted 100 breaths per minute - she was literally panting. She was also swollen and her eyes were puffy. I had them call the dr. who ordered another chest x-ray which showed a little more haziness than before. They upped her oxygen again to 2 liters & 30%, and gave her an extra dose of lasix - which should help get rid of some of that fluid. I have been so discouraged all day. I am so ready to get home.

There is good news though... Isabella no longer has a feeding tube! She has been doing so well taking her bottles, and I am so thankful we do not have to worry about that anymore! She is still on Methadone and Ativan - which she will go home on. They are going to give me a schedule so I can continue to wean her off, and it should take about 10 days. I am a little nervous about this! I am scared of narcotics, and I really hope I don't mess anything up. I would hate to see her go through withdrawals.

I will let you know what they decide tomorrow! I am pretty sure they are going to have to start weaning the oxygen again, so hopefully we can come home Wednesday! Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. God is so Good. Even though I am discouraged that we will be here a little longer than I would like I am praising the Lord for continuing to heal our baby girl and I am still trusting in Him and His timing. My friend Meredith posted this verse on FB this morning and it has stuck with me all day:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 -