{"id":5439,"date":"2011-03-30T08:40:06","date_gmt":"2011-03-30T13:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/?p=5439"},"modified":"2011-04-09T13:25:28","modified_gmt":"2011-04-09T18:25:28","slug":"fontan-day-3-operation-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/?p=5439","title":{"rendered":"Fontan Day 3: Operation Day Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"

9:30 a.m. <\/strong> We got our wake-up call bright and early this morning at 4 a.m., and jumped out of bed. Mary Clare was her usual “non-morning” self, so I just left her in her purple heart night gown and wrapped her up in her blanket as we loaded up once again. We arrived at surgical check-in at 5:30. After vitals check, she was given pink Versed. This is an oral drug that is given to children to make the “hand off” easier. By 6, she was loopy eyed and playing Ariel with the nurses. They placed a pink flower surgical cap on her head and she asked me to go with her into surgery. When I told her I’d see her in a few minutes, she smiled and took off with the nurse. As we left the holding area, I shot a glance through the double doors and saw about 7 blue scrubbed people walking with her. This image is burned into my memory. For some reason, it’s comforting. I know everyone that is here, is on our side. I was assured this when I was walking to get Starbucks downstairs, I saw a familiar face and made small talk. The doc beside my friend, asked me if I was the mom of the cute blonde that just went back. He explained that he, having three daughters of his own, was singing Sleeping Beauty songs with her. When he called her Sleeping Beauty, she quickly corrected him, “I’m Ariel!” He said they hated to put her to sleep because she was so much fun. They assured me that once she was back “there” she would be given something by mask to breathe and fall asleep. She will not feel the sticks and pain of a central IV in her neck and several other PICC lines, peripheral lines, etc. Dr. Bradley began his work around 8 and we will be paged with updates on the hour. By now she should be on heart-lung bypass.<\/p>\n

10:20 a.m.<\/strong> Just received our first page. Mary Clare is on heart\/lung bypass and Dr. Bradley is “working away.” He explained yesterday that it will take a while to actually begin working on her heart. He must get through scar tissue from previous surgeries and procedures. I am blown away by the support we are feeling. So many people are wearing pink and sending Pinkalicious thoughts and prayers our way. We certainly have a loved little girl. We are so humbled and so very, very blessed. Thanks be to God.<\/p>\n

1:20 <\/strong> Just received a page from PCICU. Dr. Bradley is finished and she is off of heart\/lung bypass. It took a while to control bleeding, which is typical, and everything seems to be a bit ahead of schedule. Dr. Bradley will be coming into PCICU waiting room to talk to us soon. I’m anxious to see my baby girl with her brand new “scarf” (scar) She may not be awake\/extubated today, but still, I’m ready to see her little face. We cannot believe all of the love and support we have received. What an amazing feeling knowing how many people are loving and praying for our sweet Pinkalicious Ariel. We are so thankful and blessed beyond measure.<\/p>\n

3:40 <\/strong>Mel and I were able to go back into PCICU to see Mary Clare. We were only there for a few minutes before she started blinking and moving a bit. She is still heavily sedated and intubated, so they are certainly not ready for her to wake up. We tried to keep quiet as the nurse explained all of the meds they were administering. Somehow, she sensed that we were there. They sent us away. It broke my heart not to be able to hold her or talk to her. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, however, I know the long road to recovery has only begun.<\/p>\n

7:47 p.m. <\/strong>It has been a long afternoon. The early part of the day seemed to fly by, for some reason, but this afternoon has been difficult. Mel and I went back to see Mary Clare again around 5:30 and once again, we were asked not to speak loudly, as she was responding to our voices. She was trying her hardest to fight over the ventilator, which is not what they wanted. They ran CPAP trials to determine if she could come off of the vent, but she wasn’t quite ready to breathe on her own. My body ached to hold her, to touch her. My mind is telling me I have to wait, to keep quiet, not to touch her, but I can almost hear my heart pounding, wanting so badly to grab her, smell her sweet scent and kiss her cheeks.<\/p>\n

No mother wants to see her baby hurting. It is truly the most difficult part of this journey. Seeing her wrapped in tubes and lines breaks my heart. She has her wall of IV drips and bags behind her and has three large drain tubes peeking from under her covers. She has a central line in her neck and several IVs in her arms and legs. Her pacing wires are in her chest and, of course, the lines in her nose and her little taped mouth with her vent are very difficult to see on her perfect little face. I did notice that her little toes are not their usual blue. They are actually pinkish! She will be thrilled. Her toenails and fingernails are a pale pink.! (Still somewhat purplish, but not her typical dark gray blue!) It is amazing. Her stats were already in the low 90’s-upper 80’s! Still under all of those lines and wires is my little Pinkalicious Ariel! I can’t wait to see her open her big brown eyes.<\/p>\n

Right now, I’m back in the waiting room. Mel is having a bite to eat with his family. They feel like she’s ready to be extubated, so they asked me to step out. Her nurse said she was doing beautifully, and once they extubate her, she’ll be breathing on her own! Her nurse also told me that she asked Mary Clare if she was in pain, and MC shook her head no. She also pointed to her tube, indicating that she wanted it out! That’s my girl, letting everyone know exactly what she wants.<\/p>\n

I am utterly humbled by the outpouring of love and support and prayers we have received. Nothing I can ever say will be enough to express our gratitude. God is holding us and carrying us through this journey. It is truly a surreal experience. My heart is so full.<\/p>\n

10:30<\/strong> Mary Clare is extubated and sleeping.\u00a0 Her night shift nurse is amazing and said she was going to make sure Mary Clare would get a peaceful and painless night’s sleep, which is exactly what I was hoping to hear!\u00a0 Mary Clare was vaguely awake for a few moments after she was extubated.\u00a0 I was talking to the nurse about getting a paci \u00a0to have for later and Mary Clare said, “Green Pappi”\u00a0 telling me to be sure to get her her favorite, a green one.\u00a0 Her nurse also said\u00a0 that immediately after extubation, my MC was telling them she did not like the tube. \u00a0 Apparently, it’s pretty rare that a patient talks so soon after a vent tube is removed.\u00a0 “She’s a talker, I can tell” was her nurse’s response.\u00a0 I can’t wait to hear that voice again tomorrow!\u00a0 Thanks be to God!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Look, pink lips!<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

9:30 a.m. We got our wake-up call bright and early this morning at 4 a.m., and jumped out of bed. Mary Clare was her usual “non-morning” self, so I just left her in her purple heart night gown and wrapped her up in her blanket as we loaded up once again. We arrived at surgical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5439"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5442,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5439\/revisions\/5442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}