Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a busy night with Sam! Mostly all good-she got to lose her breathing tubes, stomach tube, one of her central lines, and her urinary catheter. She did take her time to wake up enough for the breathing tube to come out, but once she was ready, we couldn't get it out fast enough. Once that was out she started acting pretty painful, so they gave some Tylenol and a half dose of Morphine. It didn't take long for her to relax and go to sleep in her sea of morphine, which was good since Mommy did not like to her her whimper in pain! Her vital signs and blood work all remained stable so she did not need any additional treatment other than more Tylenol through this morning. She got to have some Pedialyte around 1am and then milk at 6:30am, which she was more than happy to eat. At 1, just before eating, they moved her into a bigger bed and she gets a fun fuzzy fleece blanket that she can take home. Dana spent the night in our sleeping room and got a good nights sleep. I stayed in with Sam and got a little sleep. At least with her doing well, I am ok to take a big nap at some point today!

I woke up about 6, fed Sam her bottle and then had to leave the ICU while they do their shift change. So I went and got Dana up, showered and ate some breakfast. Very shortly after we got back to the ICU, Dr. Jaggers (the surgeon) came in to check on her. He was happy with how she was doing. Or at least for a man who shows little expression, I think he was pleased! He pulled out her heart wire and chest tube. Since those tend to hurt, he had them give more Morphine before he did it. So Sam is back in her sea and sleeping nicely now. Apparently Sam had also managed to kick out her small IV catheter from her foot while we were gone! She is so ornery sometimes! The nurses then removed her arterial line, leaving only one (her jugular central line) out of the original 10 tubes/wires/IV lines. They have to replace her small IV line, which Sam is so not a fan of. She will keep her central line in until early tomorrow morning. She has some fluid in the chest that requires a diuretic to get rid of-it is an expected amount of fluid following surgery. The diuretic causes her to lose Potassium and the best way to replace the Potassium is via the central line. So as long as her lungs clear up and she doesn't lose too much Potassium, the central line will be gone soon. It is absolutely amazing how fast they are moving along and how well she is doing! They had originally told us she would be in the ICU until Saturday at least. Now, as long as nothing changes, she will be out of ICU first thing tomorrow morning-less than 48 hours from being out of surgery!

So we wait eagerly to see how she continues to amaze them and us. I have tried to express to as many people as I can here that we truly believe that she is doing so well because of all the prayers. God is a God who answers the requests of his people! On this day of thanksgiving, we find ourselves overwhelmed with gratitude-for the love of our Lord, for our family and friends, and for the gift that is little Samantha! We pray you are able to reflect upon every aspect of your life with thanks to the Lord-the good things and the hard things. He is good, all the time! And His love never fails. We love you!

Before Morphine...

After Morphine...