2 weeks post surgery

Two weeks post bidirectional glenn, open heart surgery. I am amazed at how well Maelyn is doing. She is still on oxygen and lasics for a while to help with healing from the surgery. We are still giving her Motrin, but only twice a day to help with the discomfort caused by her being moved around during the day. Giving her the oral medications is getting much easier. She is typically her happy adorable self and she is pretty much back on her daily schedule. We have had a few nights were she was up a lot, ok most nights she is up a lot. I don't know if she is just needing to nurse more to make up for the few days she lost or if she is just needing the extra comfort. She just started taking a pacifier and bottle again (sometimes). She's actually more set into her schedule. The days that we have done things that have messed with her morning nap have been the harder days. The worst days have been the doctors appointments. I think she has learned that the hospital is not a fun place so she just cries through the whole thing now. It's hard to tell what of her fussiness is from surgery and what is just her being a 4.5 month old baby. I think she is teething and hopefully going through a growth spurt. 

Her last appointment was Monday. She cried through most of it so it was hard for them to assess her. I had to assure them that she is much happier at home and seems fine at home, other than not liking the oxygen tube. They lowered the amount of oxygen she was getting, which I think helps a little bit. They noticed that her heart rate was low for her and something (I'm not sure what) looked slightly off on the EKG. So I need to monitor her heart rate a little bit, which has been fine at home. They were also a little bit concerned about her weight gain, but trusted me that she is eating well. I am not concerned about her weight at all, I think she was still loosing fluids from surgery and catching up from missing two days of  not eating at all. Her incisions look good. All of the external stitches are out and the glue is off. The bruising has pretty much gone away. It needs a couple more weeks to heal on the inside and for the scabs to fall off. But I am amazed at how well it is healing and how little she seems to notice it at all. She still has other bruises and scabs from all of the IV placements. She also had a couple rashes from the tape they had on her but those are gone and now just healing. The only other thing is the stickers on her cheeks that hold the oxygen on. I move them every few days but her cheeks are starting to get a little irritated. The oxygen tubes also irritate her nose but that seems to be getting better. At the appointment on Monday we saw another little girl who was probably two and a half who also had oxygen on. She called the cannulas 'owies' and pointed out that Maelyn had owies too. It was really cute but really sad. I'm sure they do cause owies. 

I am feeling ready to get back to normal. I want to get out of the house and get the kids playing with their friends again. We've been shut-ins since a couple weeks before surgery because we can risk getting any bugs and we're getting lonely. I'm hoping to have a few play dates next week but we will still be limiting our exposure to the outside world for a couple more weeks. Also, sometimes the oxygen tank is like having a 4th kid, and that will be sticking with us for a couple more weeks too. Once we get her off the oxygen, and loose the tank, she will also be on the tail end of recovery and be able to get out more. Her next appointment is in 2 weeks. 

Please pray for Maelyn's heart rate and function. Pray for her nursing and weight gain. Pray for her discomfort and healing. Pray for nights. I am feeling drained and just done with all of this medical stuff, so just pray for strength and energy and refreshment and a positive attitude. My parents left today, so I am on my own with all three kids during the day again. So far it's been a good day, but pray for us!