Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Settling back into a routine

Things have been going pretty good since bringing Vaeh home last weekend. The first night home was a little rough. I think a combination of her being unsure if Mommy & Daddy would be there when she woke up and her being sore led to a fairly sleepless night. So Vaeh & Mommy were back in the living room! But on Sunday night, she settled back in to a good sleeping pattern. It was a little late getting her down, but she slept until 9 AM the next morning, & woke up in such a good mood! My little girl keeps getting closer to her norm every day. This morning (9:30 AM) she is still sleeping!

As for the eating front... we're making great progress! It all started the morning we brought her home from the hospital. Daddy & I stopped on the way to the hospital to get a quick breakfast, just from McDonald's. Daddy got hotcakes, so he waited until we were in Vaeh's room to eat. She kept eyeballing his plate, so he gave her a little taste of syrup, & of course she loved it! All tolled she probably took about an mL of syrup - and NO GAG! Not even the slightest wretch! At home on Sunday morning, we got carry out from Bob Evans. Mommy's favorite - strawberry pancakes! So of course when we started eating, Miss Vaeh was watching ever so intently. She took quite a bit of the strawberry juice & whipped cream. Again, no wretching or gagging!
Now wanting to be a little more adventurous, we tried a little more texture. I mashed up a graham cracker in some milk, and she loved it! She keeps reaching for more & for everyone's plate within arm's reach! Last night, she ate a 1/4 piece of a graham cracker! Then she decided to chew on a crayon, so we tried another 1/4 piece of a cracker & she ate about half of that piece. I can't believe how she's taking off!

She's still on a half liter O2 continuously to keep the PA's open, & we're not sure how long she'll need to be on that. So that's another challenge in trying to figure out how to let her roam around the house & not pull the oxygen tubing. She's just doing so well that I don't know what to make of it. This is all new territory for us! I wouldn't give it up for the world!

7 comments:

The Portas said...

I'm so happy to hear that Vaeh is taking off! Isn't it fun exploring this HEALTHY new territory? Her body doesn't know what to think!

Way to go, Vaeh. You're a star!!

xoxoxox

Hollie said...

Nevaeh is SO beautiful!!! How neat to have her interested in flavors and textures after all your feeding struggles. She is looking so good after such a nasty surgery. Thanks for inviting me to your blog, it's so nice to have the support of other heart mommies to get through all the ups and downs!
Love,
Hollie and Elaina

Unknown said...

I told you she would amaze you. I am so excited after reading your post. I remember when Arianna ate her first piece of graham cracker. I still get thrilled to see her eat, which isn't always alot but at least a few bites here and there. It only gets better from here!

And about the oxygen tubing...it can be such a pain. We had the 50 foot extension but she would crawl and it would get stuck on everything. Didn't help that it pulled on her face with the tape everytime...but after a while she got used to it. Hope you find a solution. But how exciting to be having this problem...that means Vaeh has the energy to move around!

Take Care,

Vanessa

Kathy said...

good luck with the O2 tubes...just keep untangling her and let her be a wild woman!

Glad she's home and doing so good...

Colin's Blog said...

So happy to hear that Vaeh is home and doing well! Love to hear the eating stories-Colin drank an entire juice box the other day and his speech therapist was so excited!! Keep up the good work Vaeh!

The Domanico's

mina said...

Wow, Tina,
It's so exciting to hear how much progress Nevaeh is making with food. That's awesome. Sounds like things are starting to really fall into place. Here's to more baby steps every day!

Blessed Family said...

Keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers. I am glad things are starting to go well for you. Take care, Heidi