Did I Say Feisty?

Kate spent a sleepless night with Ingrid in the PICU. The Pain Team was called frequently to adjust and administer medications. Early this morning, after several increasing doses of morphine, they tried some anti-anxiety medication to calm down our raging redhead. During the night she managed to pull her NG tube out of her nose twice and the IV out of her hand once. The last while Kate struggled to hold her down! Kate finally made the doctors understand that the problem wasn't pain but that Ingrid was pissed off! Shortly after I arrived this morning they gave her a dose of Adavan (sp?) which did the trick and she slept for about three hours straight.

When she wakes up a little she wants to roll over and move about. She has been up on her hands and knees several times. She is obviously in some discomfort and periodically flails about. This is a problem mostly because she has a bunch of tubes and wires that get hopelessly tangled. And a nasal cannula was added this afternoon because her blood-oxygen level kept dipping. The doctor said that she's not taking deep breaths because it hurts too much. So, the main issue still is pain management.

Kate held Ingrid for a little while this afternoon while her nurses changed the sheets on the bed. And late this afternoon Anna and Grandma came by for a short visit. Here's hoping that everyone can maintain for the duration: Ingrid needs to rest and recover, Kate needs strength to make it through on hospital catnaps, Anna needs strength to deal without her mother around, and Grandma needs strength to deal with a wild 4-year-old! (Me? I'm fine. I get to go home a sleep at night.)

The Big Day

Well, Ingrid did a great job yesterday and slept soundly through the night.

We arrived at the hospital at 6am and were in the surgery prep area by 6:30. Ingrid was relatively peaceful and quiet while various doctors and nurses asked us the same questions about allergies, etc. And then, with everything ready, she was whisked away in the arms of a young anesthesiologist on her way to her very big day!

Our pager beeped around 8:30 with the message that Ingrid's surgery was beginning. And then, every hour after with encouraging news of her progress. Around 11:30 we got the call that she was done and we met with Dr. Barksdale, her surgeon. He said they we able to close her "primarily" which meant that she now has skin and muscle going across her belly with a biodegradable patch added for support (rather than to help fill in any gaps.) And he gave us a before-and-after picture so we could see the suture and her brand new bellybutton!

We were finally able to be with Ingrid in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) around 12:30. Her nurse said she had already woken up and had pulled off her nasal cannula (supplemental oxygen). She has plenty of other tubes to yank at: an NG tube to get rid of fluid in her stomach, a catheter, an IV, an epidural, a pulse-ox, and a blood pressure cuff. She's a feisty one - she's rolled herself over a few times already!

Right now the main issue is pain management. We've been told (and Kate has read before) that redheads process pain medication faster than other folks and, therefore, need more! There have been a few adjustments this afternoon to her pain meds so that, hopefully, she will sleep off the worst discomfort.

Kate is spending the night at her side. She's a little worried because the PICU nurse said she'd be in for a rough couple of days! My girls are strong, though!!

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers these past few days.

The Countdown

Everyone made it to Cleveland safely; The girls flew and Daddy drove the minivan.
We are 3 hours in to the 24 hour liquid diet before Ingrid's 7am surgery tomorrow (June 20).
Hopefully today won't be as stressful as we're anticipating. Hopefully Ingrid will be happy with jello and popsicles all day.
Thank you, everyone, for prayers and good thoughts.
Check back tomorrow and in coming days for news of the surgery and recovery.

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ingrid!!

Ingrid celebrated her 1st birthday today! Yay!!

She is cruising and scooting all over the place and she is working on growing in her front teeth.

We are all anxiously awaiting our big trip to Cleveland for Ingrid's surgery in 2 weeks. The girls are flying on June 18 and Dad is driving.

But, for now, all is normal and happy!


Happy Birthday, Miggs!

The Date is Set!

We are home safe from a short trip to Cleveland to see Ingrid's surgeon there. He was happy with her size and development (and smitten by her beauty) and is ready to proceed with her closure surgery!! We have scheduled her surgery for June 20 and expect to be in the hospital for about a week (5 days hopefully) and then in Cleveland for at least another week after she is out of the hospital.

Ingrid also saw a cardiologist in Cleveland: her VSD has closed, blood pressures in her arms and legs are good, and the echo of her coarctation repair looks good. There is a little turbulence around the repair but, because her blood pressures are good, there is nothing to worry about.

Ingrid is working on standing, cruising, scooting and, possibly crawling. She very clearly says "Dada" and "Kitty" and has a different inflection for "Doggy" and "Sister". We keep working on "Mama"!

I will post more regularly around the time of her surgery.

A Short Update

As you can see Ingrid is doing quite well! Her personality is blossoming!

She is a happy, friendly, playful, talkative little 8-month-old.

At last weigh-in she was 12 lbs. 15 oz.

She saw her cardiologist in Richmond today - her VSD (small hole between ventricles) has closed and her coarctation repair looks great.


We are going to Cleveland the last week in April so the doctors at Rainbow can assess when she'll be ready for her O-repair. Hopefully she'll be ready for repair in June.

Her O is looking good but hasn't really changed for a few months.

And that's about it here...I'll post again when I have news.

Front Page News

Jamaica family relieved at outlook for 3-month-old with rare omphalocele

Despite a few minor details it's a nice little article. (Photo and story by Larry Chowning)