Feisty Girl

Maggie is doing AMAZING and we got some very good news today! Maggie slept through most of the night and even slept through the nurses coming in every hour (or more) to check vitals, give meds, change IV’s, etc. I however did not sleep through it all and only ended up with about 3 hours of sleep…and not all at once. Maggie had an early morning with labs done at 4:45 am and a chest x-ray done at 6:00 am. After screaming about being woken up by a needle being jabbed in her arm she actually calmed down and talked to me and even gave me a half smile and a courtesy laugh. When the doctors came around at 8:00 they said her chest x-ray this morning looked good and they could pull her chest tube (for draining fluid) and remove her pacer wires (they hook up to a pace maker in an emergency) and she could come off the oxygen, AND…here comes the good news…she may possibly go home TOMORROW!!!! We were told to plan on 7 to 10 days, which I realized was probably on the long end, but even optimistically I thought the soonest would be the beginning of next week…not Saturday! In order for that to happen she really needs to start eating and preferably have a bowel movement. Unfortunately she has only eaten a few crackers and one bite of eggs this morning and that has been it. The chest x-ray did show a lot of gas build up which is probably why she doesn’t feel hungry. They gave her a suppository (which has not yet worked) and she has been up and walking a little bit (which should help).

After a good nap this morning she was desperate to get out of her bed. I was able to put her in a wagon and go for a long walk. We made several laps around the hospital, spent some time in the playroom and went outside to get some fresh air. Maggie LOVED it and was so mad when I brought her back to her room. After a pitiful little sponge bath by her nurse she looked like she was falling asleep but she fought it until I finally sat her up and we looked at her kitty book and blew bubbles for a very long time.  She finally zonked out around 1:30 and has been fast asleep for the last 2 hours. I’m hoping once she wakes up we can get her to eat and get up for another walk.

Update: Maggie woke up before I was able to finish this post and she has been awake ever since.  We went back to the playroom and she actually wandered around and played for awhile. The first time she just sat on the floor with one toy for just a minute and then wanted back into her wagon. She was also sturdier on her feet this time and I didn’t have to keep a hand on her at all times. She really, really didn’t want to get back in her bed this time but she is so just so exhausted that I made her. I know, I am a mean mom. She is currently rocking herself to sleep right now (Maggie rocks her whole body back and forth to put herself to sleep). That is another sign that she is doing better because she has not done that yet since being out of surgery. In fact, I am surprised that it isn’t painful still.

Yet another update: Okay so Maggie did not go to sleep and insisted that I stand next to her crib…not sit next to her…stand. Her aunt Beth came for a visit and brought me a Cafe Rio salad (YUM, so much better than cafeteria food) and I am sooooo grateful. Maggie just barely went to sleep and I never would have gotten dinner if it hadn’t been for Beth. Maggie has been up and running around the room for quite sometime. Even when it was about time for her pain medication she still did not want to get in bed. She just touched her chest and said, “Ow”. Just this afternoon she woke up crying hard because she was in so much pain. She has been running around acting like herself…almost. Now that she is so active it would be so much easier to be at home. This girl hates to be confined. I’ll be honest, it scares me a little to go home so soon, but I also can’t wait to get there.

I’m sorry this is all kind of rambling. I am extremely tired and this was written so sporadically that I’m not even sure what I said, but at this point I don’t care. If I don’t hurry and post it, it may never get posted!!!

Pictures from many adventures today.