Has it really been a week already?
9:50 PM Posted In gabby , open heart surgery 16 Comments »
Well, here we are! We're home and, for the most part, doing very well! I am so grateful that Gabby's surgery was a success and we were able to take her home after only five days! WOW!
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They discharged us on Wednesday and I have never been more happy. Gabby was all smiles once we loaded her into her carseat. She was like "peace out suckas!!"
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After we got home, I felt a little lost in regards to how I was supposed to be caring for her and her incision. They seemed so rushed and I was just so eager to get out of there, that the lack of information didn't seem like a big deal at the time. Really, the only instructions I was given were to not let her swim for three weeks, to avoid picking her up under her arms, and to make sure all of the bandages have fallen off by two weeks post-op. Luckily, I know I should be looking out for signs of infection as well, but it would have been nice to have a print out or something. Oh well.
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Here are some pics of the princess shortly before her discharge. She was soooo happy to have all of her IV's and wires removed.
They took the gauze off and told me this is how her incision will remain until those bandages fall off. It's actually not as gruesome as I thought it would be.
When we got home, Gabby was surprised with a new wagon from her daddy. He must have been reading the blog ;) We weren't sure how much strength she would have but we made the wagon super-soft and let her take it for a spin.
I think she enjoyed it. She actually stayed in the wagon for over two hours. We even went outside and got the mail that was overflowing from our mailbox.
I watched it for a couple of hours and then decided I should be a little concerned. She had no fever and I was pretty sure it wasn't from the meds because she had been on them all week. I quickly googled my heart out and was convinced it was a heat rash. I called the advice nurse, who then called our doctor, and the told me to "keep my eye on it." About five minutes after I hung up, I decided to ask my doctor-in-training friend and soon-to-be-doctor-in-training friend what they thought. Both suspected it could be an infection and as soon as my friend Kyla saw these pictures, she was pretty sure it looked like Staph. Ugh. So I called back and set up an appointment.
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They discharged us on Wednesday and I have never been more happy. Gabby was all smiles once we loaded her into her carseat. She was like "peace out suckas!!"
.
After we got home, I felt a little lost in regards to how I was supposed to be caring for her and her incision. They seemed so rushed and I was just so eager to get out of there, that the lack of information didn't seem like a big deal at the time. Really, the only instructions I was given were to not let her swim for three weeks, to avoid picking her up under her arms, and to make sure all of the bandages have fallen off by two weeks post-op. Luckily, I know I should be looking out for signs of infection as well, but it would have been nice to have a print out or something. Oh well.
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Here are some pics of the princess shortly before her discharge. She was soooo happy to have all of her IV's and wires removed.
They took the gauze off and told me this is how her incision will remain until those bandages fall off. It's actually not as gruesome as I thought it would be.
When we got home, Gabby was surprised with a new wagon from her daddy. He must have been reading the blog ;) We weren't sure how much strength she would have but we made the wagon super-soft and let her take it for a spin.
I think she enjoyed it. She actually stayed in the wagon for over two hours. We even went outside and got the mail that was overflowing from our mailbox.
I can't lie...being home has been T.O.U.G.H. I thought we would come home and everything would go a lot smoother than it has. During the day, Gabby is happy and content but when night falls and it is time for bed (which is waaayyyy later than it used to be) she turns into a different child. I can't figure out what is going on but I can tell you it is wearing Nguyen and I out.
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I think I figured that during our hospital stay I slept a total of maybe ten hours. The last two nights at the hospital were rough but I knew Gabs was just so much more alert and had absolutely had it with the nurses and that HARD hospital bed. I was expecting her to fall fast asleep once I laid her in her own crib but NOOOOOO. She throws an absolute fit. She has learned to growl at me and it's getting a little old. Both Wednesday and Thursday night ended with me in tears around 3-4 am because I just could not get her to sleep. I tried everything. She was fed, given pain meds, wearing comfy pajamas, and lulled softly to sleep only to awake suddenly and violently EVERY.SINGLE.TIME I put her down.
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Tonight is a little better but I am not counting my lucky stars yet. I tried the crib twice and that didn't work so after two hours of walking, rocking, and singing, I was able to transfer her into her swing. We'll see how long it lasts. I truly think she is just so traumatized by everything that's gone on...I'm not sure I'll ever get my good sleeper back.
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That being said, last night after my breakdown, Nguyen took over and was able to get her to sleep next to him on a makeshift bed on the floor. I passed out within 8 seconds after handing her off. This morning, feeling fully recharged after five hours of sleep, I went to change Gabs diaper and noticed this:
I watched it for a couple of hours and then decided I should be a little concerned. She had no fever and I was pretty sure it wasn't from the meds because she had been on them all week. I quickly googled my heart out and was convinced it was a heat rash. I called the advice nurse, who then called our doctor, and the told me to "keep my eye on it." About five minutes after I hung up, I decided to ask my doctor-in-training friend and soon-to-be-doctor-in-training friend what they thought. Both suspected it could be an infection and as soon as my friend Kyla saw these pictures, she was pretty sure it looked like Staph. Ugh. So I called back and set up an appointment.
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I left the doctors office with a precription for Bactrim, an antibiotic used to treat Staph infections such as MRSA. The doctor said that since Gabs had such a large incision site, we didn't want to risk the staph getting inside so we were going to treat it as if it were MRSA even though she wasn't sure it was.
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So that's where we are as of today. It is now midnight and I am going to try and get a few hours in on the couch next to Gabby. I'll continue to keep you all updated!
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PS- Thank you Jenny and Kyla for your medical opinions today! ;)
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16 comments:
So glad to hear Gaby is home...love the picture of her beaming, what a sweetheart! I hope the rash gets better soon, my daughter had something very very similar and it kind of dried up in 5 days, still got all the red dots on her legs and hands. We used something called Uriage Emolient, not sure if thats what helped it dry up though. I really pray that Gaby gets stronger everyday and that there are no hiccups along the way to her complete recovery. Hope her sleeping improves too..for your sake!! Gaby is a beautiful little girl.
Wow. So glad you are home! Gabby looks great in all of the pictures. Sounds like you are tired. I was tired to when I got home from the hospital. Just to let you know Wysdom didn't settle into his old routine for about a week and a half. He was really clingy and crying a lot a of the time. I was freaked out a bit and kept thinking "where is my baby?". He got back to himself after about 2 weeks and the crying stopped. I think it was him dealing with all the hospital stuff. Anyways hope the infection calms down.
Take care
ps. I am up at night feeding Wysdom, so I love you night posts:)
Hi Sheree,
Lillian...actually all of us are so happy that you guys are home! The pics are so cute and she seems to be happy.
So, sorry to hear that she is having troubles at night. I hope your good sleeper comes back soon!
Praying for you!
I've been so happy that you guys are home but I'm sorry to hear that the nights weren't going well...hopefully the worst of that is behind you. And hooray for medical pals who pals who directed you to go to the doctor for that infection.
Get all the way better SOON, Princess!
To me it does look like a heat rash or an allergic reaction to something. Its hard when they come home from the hospital because of what they've gone through. She should settle down in a few days getting back into a normal routine. As for the incision, Jax was always in the hospital so long that his steri strips came off before we came home. But I know they will come off themselve's and you'll have a nice straight line :)
Hope today is better for yall and I am glad that the doctors are being proactive with treating her rash s MRSA instead of waiting. Gabby is such a beautiful little girl! That first picture of her smiling totally makes me a puddle:)
Soon-to-be-doctor-in-training friend. I like the sound of that. LOL. I was glad to help!
I hope she is back to her old, good sleeping, no staph infection self soon!
I was on Bactrim for my bacterial meningitis back in October and it worked wonders! It should be getting better in no time. I agree with you that Gabby is probably just out of sorts given all that's happened and she wants to feel close to someone as much as possible. You will get your good sleeper back, don't worry! I love her in the wagon!
That smile is just AWESOME!!!
What a sweet Daddy! :)
Cam looks pretty happy to have sister back home too!
She looks great and before long,sooner then you think,life will fall back into a new normal and this difficult part will fall to the way side.As for the scar.You will not believe what it will look like a year from now.Yes a reminder but the healing a redness go completely away and all you will be left with is a another reminder of the courage your tiny little girl has shouldered and overcome.Have a great weekend.
So glad you guys are home. The first few weeks after surgery were rough for us sleep wise also...but it does go back to normal eventually! I was exhausted...it felt like having a newborn all over again. Sorry to hear about the infection. Madi's was in her incision so it looked a lot different...hopefully it will clear up soon. Take care!
Aww I'm so glad you guys are home already, wow, that's way faster than I thought you would be, amazing!!! That's too bad that the Princess is having such a rough time at night (and you guys too obviously), hopefully it startst to get better, and thank god for the Mommy Dr's diagnosis on the staph, or quasi staph, you so don't need that right now! *Hugs*
Oh hugs to you. I so know what you are going through, to a lesser degree. When Zoe had her surgery she turned into a different, non-sleeping, restless, crying baby. Exactly like a newborn, sleeping only two hours at a time at best. We did lots of holding and walking and co-sleeping too. It took about a month to get her back to normal, although everyday it got a little bit better. This part too will be behind you soon. Hang in there and try to get some backup to help you take a nap or something.
Oh Sheree!!! I hope you can get some sleep and I hope Gabby can too. I'm up late tonight too. Joaquin has had a fever and isn't sleeping 3rd night in a row and it is ROUGH! I hope her infection goes away- so scary! You are doing an awesome job Mommy!!! Big hugs!!!
I don't know how I missed this update earlier in the week.
Oh Sheree, I am so sorry that the transition to home has been so hard. I'm sure it's leaps and bounds better than being in the hospital, but I hate to hear that sleeping has been so hard for Gabby and for you. I just cannot imagine the levels of stress and exhaustion you've had these past couple of weeks.
I hope Gab's rash is getting better and better and that you and Nguyen can work out a system to let both of you get some sleep. And hopefully Gabby will be sleeping better on her own very, very soon!
HUGS!!!
Hello! It's been more than a week and I need an update on the princess. I'm sure with an active 4year old and a baby fresh out of the hospital you have plenty of time on your hands! Just kidding, but I would like to hear how you all are doing.
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