Another update, another prayer to add...

I spoke to Becca this afternoon when she took a quick break from the ICU to take care of some mommy duties...

She said that Annie was not going to be getting the chest drain off today.  She was a little fussy this morning and due to moving around it began to drain more fluid.  So they will leave it on for now.  They thought her fussiness was most likely due to pain, but even with two seperate injections of morphine she did not get drowsy.  Her daddy then had to hold her soothie pacifier in her mouth for an hour : )

Apparently, they have found there is some damage that was done during surgery to baby Annie's left vocal cord.  Becca did say that with surgery on a small baby this damage is very common, usually minor, and most likely will just resolved itself over time.

They had an ear, nose and throat specialist in with her today to observe her as she eats.  Annie did take half an ounce the first time it was offered but there is no real way to tell yet if she was able to swallow it with no difficulty.  They are planning on doing an x-ray as she feeds to see the extent of the damage and if it is affecting her swallowing; however, they cannot do this until the chest tube is removed.  Becca was thinking this would probably happen on Friday.

In the event that the x-ray shows that there is any difficulty swallowing as a result of the damage, baby Annie will need to be fed with a slow-flow bottle nipple.  She of course asked if there was any chance this would cause any problems with her speech later in life and they said it was very unlikely.  All-in-all, this does not sound like a big deal but let's just be praying that it is minor enough not to need the slow-flow bottle nipple and that Becca can resume nursing as she was before the surgery.

This afternoon her blood pressure was still higher than they would like to see it -- so they will continue to try and bring it down with medication.  She will not be able to leave the ICU until it is down to a level that the doctors are comfortable with.

Praise God that Becca and Joe have managed to get some sleep through all of this -- and we pray that they continue to do so.  Once she is out of the ICU and back in her mommy and daddy's care, I suspect she will be demanding their attention around-the-clock.  Although they are anxious for her to get out of the ICU, at the same time they are fine with her being there as long as she needs to be.

One last thing to be praying for is Godly wisdom, guidance and favor for Becca concerning her maternity leave.  She is hoping to get it extended but needs to be able to keep her benefits as well for Annie.

Hope everyone had a blessed day.