Day 3 morning update....

Last night was a little rough as you read from the previous post. Fortunately, the Valium calmed her down and she was able to rest.

The swelling was making it difficult for the Pain Management Team to see the epidural site. The following photos are of poor little Millie on her tummy, if you will, while they are trying to check the epidural.

With the aid of a few pillows, she's on her belly

Nurse Becky trying to calm Millie

Two sets of hands have to be better than one.

I had to stop a take a few photos of her in this position....it's not funny, but it is, if you know what I mean. I have affectionately dubbed the bar between her legs as "The St. Louis" arch. I asked them if they did them that way in St. Louis. It did solicit a bit of a smile from the doctor when I asked.

The Hilljacker in me almost came out last night with the evening nurse. We have had exceptional care and amazing nurses and staff...until last night. Last nights nurse kept taking her blanket away from her because she was running a fever...I thought my head was going to explode. Naturally, I promptly put the blanket right back where it belonged. Everyone knows how well I "filter" to begin with. I hope we don't have the same nurse tonight. If we do, I'll have to ask for another one. I don't really want a confrontation, but she drove me crazy...flipping on the lights in the middle of the night, moving way to slowly and taking the blanket away. Good Night Mrs. Calabash! The final straw was at 5 a.m. when I woke up to Millie saying, "I need my blankie!" I stumbled out of the incredibly comfortable bed ;-) only to find Amelia, lying in the bed, partially diapers, with no pillows to prop her up, no blankie to cling to and no nurse in site. YOWSA...you probably heard the sonic boom at your house. I determined that her bed pad was wet and needed to be changed. So I took one out of the closet and proceeded to change the pad and put her diaper back on. Well, I guess the nurse was searching for a clean pad, but didn't even look in our closet to see if one was available. I politely informed her that I found it, along with several others, in the room linen closet :-). I don't know if she caught my sarcasm or not. But the mere fact that she didn't return to the room before shift change tells me she did.

Millie is still getting a breathing treatment every four hours for now. They make take another chest xray to see how her lungs look. But so far, so good!

The epidural will be turned off (but not removed) in a little bit and she will be going on oral pain meds. This will be the ultimate test. She has not complained one little bit about pain up to this point.

Breakfast was a little better and she had some milk too. The swelling is down dramatically today, but the cast is still tight. Dr. Dobbs nurse, Kristina and his office assistant, Mary stopped by. I love these two woman, they are amazing and awesome! Kristina concurred that the cast is tight and said she will talk to Dr. Dobbs and bring him back up today. Like I said, they are amazing.

The wheelchair and car seat are being worked on for the trip home. I didn't realize they would give us a wheelchair to use. I'm pretty excited about that! I've worried a bit about how to move her about the house. So, lots of prayers are being answered!

Good morning! I'm less puffy today!

There's that beautiful smile that I so adore!

Bubbles are being requested and who am I to deny that??? So we're off for now. I'm sure this evenings post will be interesting since we will be adjusting to new pain meds.