Esther's in ICU

Esther celebrated her 3 months old birthday by getting really sick and going to NICU.  The gal just doesn't understand how to party!

When I woke up with Esther at 4 am, I though her IV looked bad, but the nurse said it flushed OK, so I went back to sleep once she was asleep again - I had been up with her until midnight so I was plenty tired.  She didn't look good at all when I got up, and got worse.  Then I noticed that my pant leg was wet where her IV had been laying.  Uh oh.  So the nurse called to have the IV team come stat as she was starting to look dehydrated.

Here's some photos of Esther yesterday:




Then she checked her blood pressure and it was only 40/20 (it's usually 80/40), and she was looking worse by the minute - kind of pale and really sick looking.  So the nurse ordered the team that takes urgent needs, and soon there was 8 people working on Esther.  Esther was severely dehydrated.  The combination of diarrhea and lack of IV fluids (possibly for hours) had taken it's toll.   I started packing - I knew she was going to ICU.

After putting in a new IV in her scalp, and the pumping 60 CCs through it, they moved her into NICU, and continued to pump more into her - they wanted to put in a total of 120 CCs as fast as they dared to do it.  She looked so sick, but her color was better already.  She would have been in the CICU (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit), but they were full, so she ended up in NICU with all the tiny babies. Some of the nurses remembered her from October, and so did one of her doctors!

We stayed with her for a little while, and then once we knew she was resting comfortably, Daryl and I headed out to get the last of our Christmas shopping done before the big snow hit.  They planned to put her on C-pap - a device that forces her to breath, using room air.  But she hated the thing on her face, so now they are just using a nasal canula to force air in so she doesn't have to work so hard to breath.

We got back to the hospital just as the snow started.  We went and spent some time with Esther.  I got to hold her and she was telling me what a rough time she had been going through. Serious complaining was going on.  She wasn't really crying, but being very conversational and definitely complaining.  It was so cute! We got it on video tape, so the kids will get to see it too.
Here's her complaining to me:



Then they were going to place a Foley catheter in Esther to catch urine so they could differentiate between urine and diarrhea, so Daryl and I headed over to the Ronald McDonald House to have the kids open their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Einfeld. There was a game for each kid, and that should make the next few snow days more enjoyable!

Then we went to the kitchen, as there was a group, Medical Meals on Wheels, or something like that, was making a dinner for all the families at RMH! We had chicken, rice, corn, a salad, a roll, and jello salad - a nice, very home-cooked style meal!
Here's some photos I took of the kids in the kitchen area tonight:



I also took this picture of the Christmas preparations going on in their room - Jessica is sewing new goodie bags for all the kids - and even cross-stitching their names on the while fleece cuff! They look marvelous! Thanks Jessica~!

After dinner, we had the boys pack up some food in case they get snowed in at the hotel, and then left - I got dropped off at the hospital and Daryl drove the boys to the hotel. I'm sure the bog boys will soon be setting up a long game of Axis and Allies! Jason's wanted this game for years!
I came to see Esther and since she was sleeping, I returned to my "cave" to pump and blog!
Now I'm off to see Esther for a while before I get a GOOD NIGHT'S Sleep - after all, that's the best part about having your child in ICU - they are really well taken care of, and sleeping in the caves makes for sound sleep - no lights, beeping, nurses coming in etc! I'm going to make the most of it!
Please pray that Esthers diarrhea will clear up fast - she's still losing fluids through the diarhea, but her IV is keeping pace with it now.
And her surgery has been postponed until she recovers from this.
Talk to you tomorrow