Hospital Day 5

Kaitlyn is doing really well. I feel that we have her pain controlled better today than yesterday. She has had another IV line taken out so now we only have 1 out of 4 still in! She is looking better each day and being at the hospital hasn't seemed to cause any anxiety for her as it has in the past. The pain meds might be helping with that though, since they make her more relaxed.

She has been playing more and rolls to each of her sides without any obvious signs of discomfort. We are really surprised at how quickly she has wanted to do this.

It's funny, the green thing that is covering her G-tube is a Soothie pacifier! Our surgeon cut a hole in the top of the pacifier to run the tube through and secured it with a special tape. This allows for the tube to be held in place on the body so it can heal better and when the tube does move, it doesn't disturb the skin that is healing around the tube. The pacifier will come off before we leave the hospital and it will just be the long tube for about 2 months as everything heals. After that, they put a "button" in that is a port that you connect the tubing to and it is flat on the skin. That way there won't be a tube hanging from her all the time.

We were told today that as long as we know how to adequately use the G-tube when Kaitlyn needs it, we can still give her bottles and gradually transition to G-tube feeding when she truly needs it. Right now she is doing okay on the bottles since we have thickened them a little more than what she was getting before. This allows her to swallow easier. So all in all we will be doing a little of both once we get home.

Kaitlyn loves her Muppet! Chip had it made for her at the Muppet Workshop at FAO Schwartz in NYC last year. It has been one of the best distractions ever for when she is fussy. Her name is Princess.

Another of Kaitlyn's favorite things to do is to read books! We have been trying to make life at the hospital more like home and do more of the fun things we do at home, like reading together. This book was a gift from her Aunt Jess about rainbows. Kaitlyn wanted to grab and touch the ribbons on each page. A good sign that she is feeling more like her normal self.

It has been so thoughtful of our friends and family to send and bring Kaitlyn gifts while she's been in the hospital. We have been able to decorate her room with flowers, balloons, cards and stuffed animals. It makes it look more like a fun place to be for sure! Thank you!

Having some fun playtime together. She is getting more interactive- another great sign that she is feeling better!

She's been able to get some good rest, the pain medicine certainly helps with that! Now if only we can get some rest too.