Day 2

I want to start off by saying that we learned today that a little CDH baby grew his wings today, one we had been following on our Blogs We Love.  Little baby Parker said both hello and goodbye today.  He has a special place in our thoughts and our hearts today.

In regards to Payton, she's had a good day thus far and has settled into life on the outside.  The nurses are learning her quirks and what her triggers are and trying to minimize those triggers.

I managed to listen in to this mornings rounds with the doctors as they had their 1st morning meeting regarding Payton.  They discussed everything with particular attention to her vent settings (set at 45 and room air), her NG tube and her sedation.  These were the items they were working to tweak today.

Her vent settings it was determined would be reduced to allow her to breath a bit on her own.  By the time I went to see her at 4:30 pm she was down to 40 (yesterday 50) and was breathing 43 (so a bit above the vent).  He CO2 levels were good, not great but good enough to continue letting her figure it out on her own at this point.

I know they did another x-ray to determine if her NG tube was placed right.  Though used for a number of things, this morning I learned that at this stage for Payton the NG tube is draining fluid from her stomach to keep it out of her bowels.  They want to ensure to keep her stomach and bowels depleted so they don't put added pressure on her lungs.

She's becoming more sensitive to sound, lights and touch so the concensus was to minimize those irritants in her environment to minimize her reaction to them (rather than up her sedation).  Still, when we went to see her at 4:30 pm she was fussy enough that they decided to up her sedation in order to keep her calm.  One thing they want to avoid is having her get too upset since babies will swallow air when upset which could put air in her stomach and bowels and put too much pressure on her heart and lungs.

Dwayne went to see Payton around 1pm today and got a treat.  He got to take part in some of her care, cleaning her eyes and mouth out with a gentle wet swab.  When I arrived at 4:30pm I too got to be a part of her care and did the same. 

She continues to do well and we're so very happy that she's holding on so strong.  Its likely she's past her Honeymoon stage so we're hopeful that this is an accurate reflection of her current situation and if things continue, Monday will look likely for her surgery.

I just learned that Grandma Val got to see her after they upped her sedation and Payton did well, tolerating touch and sound a bit better.  Even had her eyes open and was looking around so the higher sedation is complimenting her well.

I took a few photos of her today (even got an opportunity when her tanning booth lights were on to take one with a bit more light). 

These are ones where she's been intubated so this is what our precious little one looks like now and will likely look like until well after surgery.

Her spinnly little toes - looking like Grandpa Daves.

She's looking tired here with her bags under her eyes

 but we can see her whole head and face despite the vent.

Her cute little face and makeshift irritant suppressor to keep out light and sound.

Suntanning under the heat light - she's going to be a sun seeker like her mom.