six

  Today Lucy is six weeks old and she went back to the operating room.  That makes four trips since she was born or one trip every ten days.  We haven't even gotten to the surgeries that are required to fix her heart defect.  Six weeks, it's hard to believe.  I can't really explain it but it has gone by fast and slow all at the same time.

  I'll back up a little, on Tuesday night Lucy spiked a small fever and the nurse noticed her incision was looking red.  To be safe they started her on antibiotics and sent a blood culture to see if there was an infection.  By Thursday the incision started to look a little puffy in certain spots and the cardiologist was sure there was some fluid underneath.  The culture came back positive, so they were just going to  use a small needle to drain the incision.  However, they were not able to tell how much fluid was there and decided the best option would be to open her up, drain and clean the infection.  Although this wasn't anything urgent, because the surgeon was there and the OR was open, it was better to do this sooner than later.  Lucy came back good, like she has done with every hurdle she has had to endure.  They did put the breathing tube back in, but it should come out by tomorrow morning.  Our hearts are breaking for all Lucy has had to go through so far and we can only hope the future surgeries hold very little unexpected issues!

  Aside from today's hiccup, this week has been pretty good, Lucy was down to one IV medication and has started back on her formula feeds every three hours.  We continued to hold her during the day and at night for bonding.  The therapists (physical and speech) are back in working with her and teaching us ways to help her cope and calm.  We have found that our voices calm her the best and a hand to the top of her head is the next best thing.  I think a lot of that has to do with her time in the NICU.  Since she was sleeping most of the time we would just talk to her or read her books.  We hope that she continues to progress and can eventually calm herself.  The speech therapist suggested we record books so they can use them when we are not there.  I hate my voice recorded so we'll see if that actually happens.  I guess if we can't be there twenty four seven, recorded voices is the next best thing. 

  To sign off on a happy note, we were able to dress Lucy in one of her onsies.  Thank you Jenni and Jess for the adorable outfit!