Day 4

We made it home...barely!

The plan was for Micaelyn to get discharged this morning.  She just had to drink a certain amount of fluids, eat a little bit of food, and be able to walk.  Sounds so simple.  It was anything but that!

I worked very hard to get her to accomplish her goals early in the day, but it was obviously a hopeless task.  I ended up getting her settled in for a nap in hopes she might do better after a little sleep (I had really hoped she would get to take her nap at home!).  Unfortunately even after her nap she was quite uncooperative.  They brought mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese for her to eat.  I only ever got her to eat a few pieces of macaroni, and she didn't really eat too much of the mashed potatoes either.  Thankfully the doctor didn't set a minimum amount to eating.  However, she did have a certain amount she had to drink, and she really wasn't doing well with it.  Around 5pm the nurse called the doctor to let him know she hadn't met her goals yet, and he set a time limit by which the goals had to be met in order to go home.  If she didn't meet the goals she was to be moved out of PICU into a regular room.  With a lot of pushing on my part and a lot of grumbling, crying, and fussing on her part we managed to just meet the time limit so we are finally home!

I will try to write a bit more tomorrow about how she is doing, but for now suffice it to say she is in A LOT of pain and does NOT want to eat or drink anything.  It will take a great deal of effort to keep her hydrated.  She is very quiet, hardly speaks, and is also very lethargic.  She seems plain limp and lifeless for the most part.  I am hopeful she will sleep well tonight and have a bit more energy tomorrow.

I'll also post more pictures tomorrow (at this moment Micaelyn is sitting here in my lap sleeping on my arm).  For now I'll just post the most important pictures - going home!

I just had to dress her up for the occasion!

It used to be that if I took 100 pictures of her I might get 1 or 2 with her mouth closed (if I caught her while she was swallowing) and in all the others her mouth would be hanging open, sometimes with her tongue hanging out.  It's simply amazing to see her sitting around with her mouth closed!

Even though I did get a few smiles for the camera, this is the look she has had for the most part today.  She has had a blank look and a limp body.  Hopefully she'll have more energy after a night of sleep here at home.