Goodbye Chest Drain!

As I mentioned yesterday, Ryan went and spent the day in Wichita, to take care of some things, and Lia and I spent the afternoon here in the hospital with my mom!  We had a good time!  We got Lia's one month pictures taken (Thanks Grandma Sue!), spent a lot of time loving on Lia, and then my mom and I went out for some dinner to get me out of the hospital for a while.  Even if only for a few hours, being with my mom really made me feel better.  Not to mention all the support I received from all of you after my melt down the other night (Thank you, Jessie, for the BEAUTIFUL flowers!  They really brightened up our room).

We have some good news to report on Lia!  Her oral feeds are going a lot better.  Yesterday she took 20 MLs in one session, and then this morning, she took another 18! (To put that in perspective, 30 MLs is 1 oz.) So, she doesn't take a whole lot on her own, but what she is taking is a lot more than what she was!  Shes still working on coordinating her sucking, swallowing, and breathing (which is hard for her because she breathes so fast and it takes a minute to catch her breath).  OT is still working with us during her feeds.  They come and monitor how we're doing, which we're thankful for.  They always seem to have some good advice to give.

She is being weaned off her withdrawal meds more and more each day, and today will hopefully be her last day on her steroid!  Yay!

And even more good news: CHEST DRAIN IS OUT!  They removed that yesterday morning!  One less chord, and a lot more comfort for Lia.  They gave her morphine before they pulled it out, put a little stitch where it was and covered it.  She will get that stitch out in the next couple of days.  The nurses tell me that babies often do feed better once their drain is out, so hopefully that will remain true for us! 

She is still doing breathing treatments every 6 hours to help keep her lungs open, but hopefully we still start spreading those out again soon as well.

Ryan and I are taking a CPR class today (required before discharge with a heart baby), and then we will bring Lia's carseat up here, as she will have to sit in her carseat for 3 hours (time it takes to get home) with none of her monitors going off!  We're going to start that test today or tomorrow just in case it takes her several times to pass.

Thank you again for the continued support and prayer!  I am feeling much better and positive today.  Just needed to get a few "bad" days out of my system.  I could never get through all of this without the support of my amazing husband, family, and friends.  Even those of you who read this and don't know us, and are praying for us. It really means the world.  I love the comments, texts, emails, you all send.  Even though I cannot reply to all of them, know that I read them, and they help get me through each minute, each hour, each day. 

Smiley girl!  One month old!

Thanks for the new pink outfit and blanket, Aunt Sheri! It kept me toasty warm until I pooped on it!  (We can put outfits with snaps on her, because her chords can come between the snaps)

This is what a breathing treatment looks like.  The respiratory therapist squeezes that green bag over and over to put air in her lungs.  These treatments last 10-15 minutes.

Having a heart-to-heart with Grandma Sue

Just had to put this one on here because it's so cute!

Lia's pink boxing gloves.  These hang from her crib to remind everyone who comes in here what a fighter she is! Love them! Grandma Sue got her those too.