Eiche fam

Namine is asleep, so I think now is as good a time as any to update everyone on how she’s doing.

The hardest thing a parent has to do, I think, is sit and watch their child in sickness, knowing they can do little to lessen the pain, and nothing at all to improve their health. Namine might be a little better, but it’s hard to tell. She still has a fever – 99.5, if memory serves – but that was after getting some Motrin, so the real fever is probably higher. She’s still coughing up blood, but it seems less than yesterday. Again, it’s hard to tell. I’m not sure how much blood is still in her stomach, because we don’t have her vented. She just finished a 50% feed (half formula and half water), and she hasn’t been yacky at all. She’s wanting more and more to sit up and play, talk and drink water (thank God for sponges and her Boon cup!), which is evidence that she’s feeling a little better.

They took her down to the ENT clinic this morning to clean out the drainage from her ear and take a look inside. I wasn’t there for that, so I can only relay what Jess told me, but Namine had her first full-on, no-holds-barred, all-out temper tanterum in the clinic. Not that I blame her, not at all. She’s recovering from surgery, her mouth hurts, her ear hurts, she has a fever, and some jerk tries to stick a suction device inside her ear? Yeah. That’s what I thought. Anyway, yes, she does have an ear infection (no kidding), and the culture from the drainage sample came back as bacterial. (Jess and I have a theory on the ear infection, which I’ll share if anyone cares to hear it.)

All in all, I think that Namine’s body has taken quite a beating, but it’s doing its best to heal itself. She was up to 40% oxygen this morning, but she’s back down to 35% again, and O2 sats are mid-80s. That’s not great, but it’s better. Her heart rate, at least while sleeping, is about 20 bpm faster than normal. That’s better than yesterday, where is was 50 higher than normal. Slow and steady, but we’ll get there.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”