Well, Leah has been keeping everyone busy the past couple of days. On Tuesday she was breathing with more stridor than usual, broke out in a heat rash, spiked a fever of 99.8 degrees, AND got a random blister on her chest, all the while being Little Miss CrankyPants if anyone dared to set her down. Thankfully (which AutoCorrect changed to “Hanky Handily” – what???) the fever went down after we took off her long-sleeved sleeper. She had a chest x-ray and a nose swab and everything looks normal, but she was still having retractions and more breathing noise than we are used to, so we will be keeping eyes and ears especially wide open. The blister turned out to be from the leads – as she squirms, the gel separates and eventually the little black snap on top comes into contact with her skin and since it has a hole in it, it leaves a little suction blister when you pull it off. Mystery solved!

Yesterday Buggy’s heat rash seemed to have mellowed out a little (it’s under her diaper) but we could see little spots on her forehead and eyelids too. Sigh. Her big claim to fame yesterday was making her nurse retape or replace her repogle probably a dozen times, if not more. We have been using smaller pieces of tape because her chin is all irritated and scabby, and let’s be real – the tube loosens in the middle of the tape, so no matter how big it is, eventually she will be able to pull the tube down and out through the tape. Part of the issue is that she has discovered how very nommable her fingers are, and is on a perpetual mission to get them back into her mouth. She misses most of the time but sometimes she has a victory and gets to eat babyfingers for a bit. This gets the tape more wet than usual and loosens it, and voila! There goes the tube! At one point she was playing mean with the nurse – nursie would retape the tube and then as soon as she walked away, baby ripped it off. Like, five times in a row. Thankfully her nursie had a good sense of humor.

Mama didn’t have such a great yesterday either. I had to stay at Home Home Tuesday night for a Wednesday morning doctor appointment, and had to take the bus and train back to the hospital with my overnight bag. By the time I got to PICU I was in terrible pain. Aunti Staci arrived soon after I did, so I took a nap doubled-over in fetal position while Aunti Staci entertained Ms. Bug. It took my pain meds almost 2 hours to kick in. I was seriously ready to go to ER again and make sure I didn’t bust a suture or something. I hate going to the ER. I wish I could just, you know, keep a doctor in my pocket or something. The pain mellowed out eventually, but not before three different nurses told me I looked pale. Ugh. I’m so ready for some improvement. Here’s hoping today is a better day for all of us!

Our little dolly, all tucked in

Awesome bag made for Leah by Peggy!

Little rainbow dress

“Oh hai, Gran!”

Totally knocked out. OT has decided they don’t want her on the gel pillow anymore, so she has a little bit more freedom to squirm around on the bed. This is the result. And yes – she has somehow managed to pull off her tube and fall asleep at the same time. Nursie was prepping the new tape. Oy vey.