The Calm After the Storm

Wednesday night, and all is well. Amelia is resting comfortably on her belly tonight - her favorite position, as you've been told. Her waste output was great tonight, her stats are good - for her - and consistent. They've weaned her down a tad on breaths per minute while keeping her pressure consistent throughout the day. She had an x-ray earlier this morning and it showed her left lung - the one they needed to collapse to get to the PDA - was not fully recovered, but looked fine. Both lungs still have a good qty of fluid in them, but that is to be expected and will likely be the case for a couple of weeks while she continues to absorb the fluid and get rid of it. She appears much less puffy and she has lost 20 grams since yesterday - which is actually another good thing, since they believed she was holding some 50grams+ of excess fluid in her. Hopefully, we're out of the honeymoon stage, which occurs directly after surgery, and into the normal crash/roller coaster ride we have been told to expect; because so far, she's been doing great and her heart seems to have taken on its extra work without major shock. We still have another 48 hours to be nervous, and I probably just jinxed it by stating it aloud. But she's as stable and peaceful as she has been since her birth.

She's down on the dopamine a little, which is used for both for balancing her blood pressure and her helping her waste output; so that is a good sign. She'll get some more steroids through the next couple of days to enhance her strength and endurance while the heart continues to adjust to its new workload. And the morphine will be used until the weekend to keep her calm so she can't fight the machine or her healing process. But she did open her eye at me as I sat down a few minutes ago, so she wanders in and out of consciousness - but calmly right now. I can't say more about the instinctual strength of this little child, Amelia.

Lastly, our doctor was been very happy this morning and seemingly surprised by her quick recovery and her heart's adaptation to the closure of the PDA. In his poker faced manner, he said he was thrilled - and though it resembles his poker faced concerned look - we take it to be a good sign. I believe that Amelia has created the best possible outcome for her condition.

So the three of us feel like H-town in general today, I think. The day of her surgery it was a mess outside, with water flooding everywhere because the roads couldn't get rid of it fast enough, and it seemed a mess in a lot of different areas. But today, the waters have receded and the temperature and the sky were nice enough to relax within. There's still a little recovery needed, but we're on the right track.

Enough medical talk. I would like to give a shout out to Xina's Aunt/Uncle/Cuz/Cuz's spouse travelling through Italy who made a stop at the Vatican on Monday and made sure they appealed to the highest mortal authority they could think of for Amelia. And I hope they enjoyed their private tour - we're jealous.

Also, a note to the Wimberlys, who have taken the time to follow Amelia's progress and offer their support. I have tried my best to emulate yours and Sam's strength, resolve and courage since Amelia's birth. I thank you for sharing your story and lives with us. You have made a large impact on my own perspective and frame of mind. You three are amazing and always in our prayers.

And one more thank you to HC (her son was born at the same gestation period), who stops at my desk - when I drag myself to the office - and listens to me and offers her own experience as a hope that things will get better. Heather's own determination and continued proactive approach are a model for life after NICU.

Finally, Amelia turns 4 weeks tonight. She's doubled her weight and grown 2 1/4" inches over that time and her hair has gone from black/dark brown to auburn and now appears to be heading into the blonde spectrum. So I know she's a typical woman... just can't make up her mind, even before she was supposed to be born.