Monday, October 27, 2008

Cough and cry prayers please!

Okay so here is the scoop. Ava was extubated today at about 12 noon. I was very nervous, worse than ever before.

She is very sleepy. This is not a good thing. We need her to cough and cry to get all the junk out of her throat nose and especially her lungs. Her stats are hanging in there. Her O2's were from 94-100. Her heart rate varies quite a bit from 125-180. Her respitory rate is between 17-48. I know. Her blood gases have been good so we pray so hard that she coughs and gets this out. We don't want to go back on the vent. This would be devastating.

After the tube was taken out the musical therapy guy came in and sang her songs very quietly and played his guitar. It was the best. It made me cry but then I sang along. Very fun. I can't wait until he comes again.

Ava also went on a wagon ride around the PICU. One of our favorite nurses Erin decided Ava needed to get out. It took a good half an hour to get ready but it was so worth it! Thanks Erin for caring so much for our baby! Her O2 levels stayed at 100% almost the entire wagon ride!We also saw another favorite nurse Brenna on our ride.







Her cry is so precious. It is so small and so course. It breaks my heart. My poor baby. I did give her back her pacifier. She needs it to feel secure.

So please pray that Ava stays strong and keeps breathing and doesn't get tired out. She was starting to breath faster but now is getting more regulated. I am optimistic BUT at the same time I am very concerned. I think her throat is raw from the breathing tube and it hurts her bad to cough or cry so she just avoids doing it. She has to get it up. They have been suctioning her with a soft long flexible hose. It is working but it would work better if she was able to do this on her own.

Can anything ever be easy? I am thankful that she doesn't have that darn old tube. She also got her Blake drain removed along with her stomach dressing changed. Wow is that hole big! Mercy me can I handle all of this? Lord please help us!

~Terri

4 comments:

Pam said...

Oh hooray she is extubated!! I know your fears, oh how I know your fears.

I wrote a post today about me wondering if I am strong enough to be Rhett's mom.

She looks beautiful, and you are right her head is perfectly round and she is perfect in every way. We are praying that she stables w/her breathing tube out.

It's rough momma, give her a day and I bet you will see her doing much much better.

We are praying for coughs and lots of cries!!

((HUGS))

Pam and Rhett

Anonymous said...

I pray that things settle down now. She's a trooper, your little girl will be back to normal in no time. Well wishes, breathing prayers, and coughing chants are heading your way from your friends in KS.
Janet

My Three Sons said...

She just looks great on the wagon ride. I think that probably did her lots of good. It is so nice to have those great nurses. Sometimes that in itself is the power of God telling you that everything is going just as planned. Keep your faith. Ava is doing awesome.

Fer said...

My prayers are with her.
Fer Cherubs mexican Rep.