Today was a very busy day for little Miss Brea. She got her oxygen tube and the NG tube (going to her tummy) removed first thing this morning. Soon afterwards she had a bottle and a jar of bananas. She was so excited to see the baby food jar that she started clapping for the nurse when she came in with it. It was so cute. Later in the day she had apricots, sweet peas and peaches. Needless to say, her appetite is back in full force!
Brea
has been flashing her beautiful smile at all the nurses and doctors today. I kept telling them that when she finally had all those tubes, wires and tape off of her they were going to fall head over heels in love with her and her personality and they have. Throughout the day the nurses that have taken care of her over the past weeks will stop by and wave through the window at her and they are all shocked when she waves back and blows them a kiss. Many of them have walked away smiling but with big tears in their eyes because they know what a tough battle this little one has had to fight in her short life. We have been blessed with an incredible team of nurses and doctors here in Little Rock and back home in
Baton Rouge
.
We’ve been battling blood pressure problems since Saturday when she had her transplant but today has been a much better day. Her blood pressure has stayed pretty steady and they were able to turn off her Nipride (a BP medicine). They increased her dose of Captopril to 6 mgs every 8 hours and it seems to be doing the trick. Having high blood pressure is quite common after a transplant and will remain an issue until
Brea
and her new heart get to know each other. She may always be on blood pressure medicine but that will just be part of her everyday life for the rest of her life along with the many other drugs that she will be taking.
Brea
did physical therapy today and had a blast putting puzzle pieces together and snapping beads together. She sat in a Bumbo for quite some time and we were all surprised at how much stronger her neck muscles seemed today compared to yesterday. During the nurses shift change (7-8 am and pm) we are required to leave the unit. Well, tonight when I returned I found
Brea
sitting up in the Bumbo looking in the mirror and combing her hair. She had just had a bath and she looked better than she has in 7 weeks! It was so good to see her looking like her old self again.
On Thursday or Friday of this week
Brea
will be getting a PIC line in her arm. This will take the place of the CVL in her neck. The transplant team wants to protect her neck because it is where they will go in for the biopsies of her heart. The PIC line will also allow them to draw blood and give medicines without poking her. It will also give her more freedom of movement. Please keep her in your prayers while this procedure is done. It is simple but for transplant patients nothing is ever as simple as it might sound and every new line is another risk for infection.
I must admit that having a sense of humor has been a real asset during this ordeal. Yesterday the transplant coordinator came in and gave me and Danny each a set of paperwork to study. It seems that there will be a test that we must pass before we can take
Brea
home. I found this so funny because anyone can have a baby without a test but for us adoptive parents out there we have to pass a home study, background checks, police clearances, etc. and now we have to pass another test before we can take her home from the hospital with her new heart. I don’t mind the test, I just wish they could give all new parents one before they left the hospital with their newborns.
Tonight I will go to bed with a silly smile plastered across my face. I feel like a kid at Christmas who just got the doll that they had been asking for. The only thing that could be better is if Brooke, Baker and Danny were here and the FIVE of us were spending the night together under the same roof. Thank you God for your abundant blessings!
Goodnight from the Ronald McDonald House in
Little Rock, AR
