Woah, That was Fast!

Last day on the vent and pretty hair

I went to see Katie Saturday. She was a little grumpy but once she settled down they decided to let me hold her. I talked to the nurse practitioner and told her I wanted them to stop putting the extra protein in her feedings and give her a few days to get beyond the 2 pound mark. When she gains a little then try to start transitioning to formula. I can't take the throwing up anymore and it's not good for her. She agreed to talk to the doctors about it and then told me they were planning to extubate her Sunday afternoon. I was holding Katie and it had been about 45 minutes when she started getting a little fussy. I had the respiratory therapist come in and check her tube and listen to her and she sounded clear. She settled a little but then started fussing again and turning her head against her tube. By the time her nurse came in she sounded really squeaky and was really agitated. The nurse and Rt decided that she had pulled her tube out from her throat and it was time to take it out. They extubated her right there and I stood at the foot of her giraffe and watched as they held the oxygen over her mouth and she tried to cry. She was breathing but so mad as they suctioned her out and then they put the nasal tubes in her nose. They had to use the longer prongs and they had to put her g-tube back in which made her even more pissed off. Katie cried and fought against her nasal tubes for 45 minutes and was still fighting it when I left. They had to give her adavan to settle her down and she lost a few ounces I'm sure. I called to check on her that night and she had finally relaxed but still had moments of irritation so they had to keep giving her a sedative.

This is what a pissed off tiny human looks like

When I called again on Sunday morning she was doing really well and had even relaxed so much that her heart rate was the mildest it's been and she was even starting to suck on a pacifier. We made plans to visit that afternoon and we were going to take Colt's grandparents and his mom with us. BG got to see Mini when I was in the hospital and was excited to see her again and Colt's mom has seen her a few times. The three of us walked into Mini's room and Georgie the RT and Marcie her nurse were in there just finishing switching her oxygen. Katie had become so irritated with the long prongs in her nose that they decided to go to high flow oxygen. Now she has a nasal cannula that flows the oxygen into her lungs. I got to give her a couple of kisses on her little head and they put her back in her giraffe. Jujee and BG were in awe at how cute and still tiny she is. I put my hands in and tried to settle her down because she was crying. I tried shushing her and holding my hands on her tummy and head. I held her binky in her mouth and fought her to keep her tiny left arm from flailing around grabbing at tape. I finally got her calm and BG went to get Grump and Colt so they could give her a blessing. This was the first time Grump had seen his tiny great-granddaughter. He mentioned that giving her a blessing scared him to death because of her size. I love to hear the words spoken during a blessing. Grump gave her a beautiful blessing and it seemed that she settled right down and could feel the spirit the same as we could. I love to feel her tiny body beneath my hands and to see her react to my voice. She is so strong and her hair is getting longer and I think it looks strawberry blonde. She is so pretty and full of personality. Colt and I had to get going and as soon as I let her hand go she started fussing again so I rolled up a soft cloth and put it in her hand. She snuggled it by her face and went back to sucking her binky. It's getting harder for me to leave her. I hate when she is uncomfortable and I can't fix it. We said goodbye to her and met everyone else in the lobby to head home. I called to check one more time before we went to bed and her nurse said they had to give her some morphine because they think she might be having withdrawals from it. That's likely why she was so grumpy, she hadn't had any for 24 hours. Hearing that my 1 pound 11 ounce infant has withdrawal makes me hate my body for not keeping her inside longer. I realize that circumstances were out of my control but I am still mad. Katelyn is here and safe and that's what matters. She is doing well and we are on our way to helping her grow bigger. I love her and she means the world to her family.

High flow nasal cannula