Morning has brought with it a renewed sense of determination from Liv Blu. I knew it was going to be a good day when she woke up and after I whispered, "I love you" she gave me a look with her sweet little eyes that simply said, "I love you too." Who needs words :)
While mama caught up on some much needed sleep I met with our new nurse (who is AMAZING) to go over the day's plans and goals. Today is all about movement. We need to get her lungs moving as well as well her body. The first thing to move however was the IV. We finally hooked up the port and things are running smooth so we're one step closer to getting both arms completely freed up. We also were able to get some numbing spray in her mouth/throat and that's been a huge help with the annoyance of the NG tube. We're very close to being able to actually speak in more than a whisper now :)
The next goal was to get her body shifted in the bed (pictured above) so she can prepare for bigger movements later today. Liv's typical response to anything related movement or adjustment is one of panic and her expression of that is hyperventilating and, "ow ow owwww!" but she powered through and we accomplished our first goal! The next movement goal is a big one. We'll need to get her out of the bed and sitting in a chair. We're scheduled to make that attempt at 3:00pm today. I have high hopes because as we were adjusting her in the bed earlier she complained that her little bottom was itchy (due to being in one position for the last 48 hours) and without any assistance she pushed her hips up in the air to adjust the towels and blankets beneath her as well as to implement a vigorous scratch to her butt in an attempt to relieve the itching. Definitely a good sign considering the muscles involved to achieve the feat.
Nurse Rachael has also given Liv homework (an excellent choice of words in terms of motivation) to blow bubbles once her movie is over. Liv was immediately inquisitive as to the reason why she had to blow bubbles. Borrowing from King Julien I explained that her "booty" was itchy because she hasn't moved in two days and the same is true for her lungs so we need to get them moving. The explanation made sense and therefore the activity has been deemed acceptable.
Right now she has a very good "coverage area" from the epidural so the pain of the incision, adjacent muscles, and organs effected by the surgery is being blocked very well. The trade off is that she'll need the catheter for at least another day until she regains control of her bladder. She definitely wants to go home but she also understands that we need to show the doctors that we are ready to go so she's motivated to get these goals accomplished.
Looking forward to making more strides later today!
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