Day 3

We are on Day 3 of our adventure. I say adventure because this has definately been one. We have had surprises, excitement, and only a few setbacks.


Jordan is chest tube and pacermaker wire free! These were removed around 10am. We are hoping that now they are removed, she will be more willing to get up and move a bit more. Trying to walk just even to go to the bathroom has been challenging. Right now she takes 2 steps and then looks at one of us to pick her up. Any of you whose kiddos have had surgery know picking them up is a challenge in itself since you can't pick them up by under their arms for fear of hurting their sternum and the incision! Instead you have to scoop them up. Anyway, after she gets back to bed from her little trip, she's plain exhausted and is out for at least an hour.


This morning we also found out we were moving to the floor!! I was a bit hesitant but know that we are just 1 step closer to going home. We were down on the floor by 2pm. The downfall is now we have to "share" our nurse. In the PICU, Jordan was one-on-one with her own nurse. It was nice since I would start talking to her and didn't feel like I was intruding or taking her away from someone else. We could almost always find her just outside Jordan's door if we needed anything. Not so true on the floor. Jordan doesn't need as much now though either. Monitoring, pain meds, and help going to the bathroom is about all we need right now. She's been sleeping though most of the day anyway, but if she wakes up more and gets to walking around, we might be able to hit the playroom. Well maybe play in her room with her new toys and colorbooks......


Because of the move, we had someone pick up Riley and Drew from school and hang with them for the afternoon. Around 5, Jeremy went to pick them up and took them to BWW to eat some wings. I feel bad that I can't be there with them but I feel I need to be here. They understand that I need to be here and if it was either one of them, I would be here for them too. This just stinks all the way around. I did get an email from Drew's teacher saying that he seems to be doing well with the whole situation. I've talked to Riley about it and even though there are times for him to think about what is going on with Jordan, he knows that I have to be here for her. I don't think being able to go to a new friend's house along with going to BWW has hurt at all either!!


When Jeremy came back with the boys, I was able to stop by the Heart Friends meeting. It was nice to just walk down the hall to the meeting knowing that if I needed to, I could be back in Jordan's room within seconds. I was also surrounded by people who knew what I was going through. After the meeting was done, Jordan was showered with gifts. It was very sweet and really meant a lot. Their kids even got into it and made pictures for Jordan's room. They are now on her wall for all to see :-) Thank you Ladies!

Jordan has had a bit of a rough night so far tonight. After Jeremy took the boys home, we have tried to give Jordan some pain meds. She is off now off Nubain and now on Lortab (Tylenol and Hydrocodone) and Lasix (diuretic). She decided it wasn't all that great and vomited it back up. Then we noticed she had a pretty bloated tummy. The resident came in to check it out and is going to keep an eye on it.

Jordan also started Lasix tonight. Even though yesterday she needed fluids because she was dry, today she started to retain water and getting puffy. I noticed her eye was puffy this morning and by tonight, her left side of her face looked a bit puffy. The Lasix should help this and also make Jordan go potty more!

I have been really overwhelemed with the support and gifts this time around. Don't get me wrong-the last time Jordan had open heart surgery, we had support. This time feels really different though. We always expect our family to be behind us-after all it is their grand-daughter or neice that we are talking about here :-) Our friends have really stepped up too! We have people who we didn't have in our world 2 years ago, offering to pick up Riley and Drew from school, meals prepared for us, gifts for Jordan and pictures to put up on her wall in her hospital room. We can not say thank you enough! Everything you have done has help us be able to concentrate more on Jordan's recovery!

Stats look great while sleeping!

Chest tube free and the tell-tell tale of CHDs present in our baby's little ticker...Dori is going to look over her tonight!

Until Tomorrow's adventure,

Tracey