Sprinting For The Finish Line - Sort Of

Zoe's sprints are going so so.  She has her good sprints and not so good sprints through out the day.  B and I find ourselves on edge and struggling with this phase of Zoe's recovery.  It is hard to watch her fight with breathing, we want her to be comfortable, however she must do this to get off the vent.  It is just rough on us and her.  We are looking forward to overcoming this big hurdle and moving on to the next hurdle which is graduating to the 'floor' and feeds.

Tuesday's early morning sprint didn't go so well and lasted 15 minutes because she struggled too hard.  The mid afternoon sprint went very well lasting 45 minutes but the hard work caused her to vomit her milk.  The evening sprint was great and lasted about 55 minutes, 5 minutes shy of her hour goal.

This morning's sprint at 2 am ended around 15 minutes when Zoe's heart rate dropped and her sats hit the 40s.  The RT bagged her to get some quick breaths (we still are waiting to talk to the doctor about this, but there wasn't any alarmed concern during the rounds).  Much to our delight, Zoe recovered very well.  She did need a blood transfusion since her hematocrit was low and more potassium (nothing new) but they stopped her breast milk feeds since she vomited again.

We arrived during Zoe's sprint that started at 9:45 am this morning.  Shortly thereafter she started flaring her nostrils, a sign of struggling, and they ended the sprint at about 30 minutes.  We are pleased that they did not push her too hard, some staff tend to push causing her to really struggle with recovery.

Zoe's game plan was revised this morning during the doctor's rounds.  She is still battling the edema and they are increasing her Lasix for the day to help relieve the excess fluids.  This excess fluid is causing the haziness in her lungs, which is causing her to struggle with her sprints.  She will continue with her sprints 3 times in a 24 hour period but at a maximum of 30 minutes.  They are also restarting her feeds at a lower intake and working her way up to full feeds again through out the day.

A few exciting things that have happened over the course of yesterday and today!

Yesterday they removed her art line! :)  Today they removed the IV in her noggin.  Her christmas tree (the iv poles) only have two running and those are for nutrition and her Atavin, which is an anti-anxiety medication to help keep her calm.

Look Ma!  No IV in my noggin!  

Yesterday was the first time in over two weeks since her surgery that both of us were able to hold our little peanut.  We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Mommy and Me

Baby Bliss

Daddy and Me

And lunch.... yum yum!  We went to Umami Burger.  A few weeks ago I saw a food show featuring their delicious burgers and really wanted to go there.  Little did we know that one was just around the corner from the hospital.  These are by far the best burgers we have ever eaten.  We ordered the Ahi Tuna Burger, an amazing and very refreshing sushi like burger, the Hatch Burger, a perfectly grilled beef burger with four types of green chilis and homemade cheese, and their Truffle Cheese Fries.  OK,  we cannot say enough about the truffle cheese fries, if you love truffles and fries these are a must!  The fries are lightly bathed in truffle oil and drizzled with their homemade truffle cheese.  I must have these now!!! I topped my taste buds off with two glasses (yes, two and I needed it) of a clean and crisp Sauvignon Blanc and B had dark heffe.  We highly suggest you visit Umami Burger if you are ever in the area.

*****

Zoe has a BFF already!  Her BFF is right next door, but I am not going to elaborate for privacy.  I will just say we have met a wonderful family on the same journey at the same time.  We hope that our two adorable little girls will grow up to be great friends.