Day 16: No More Respirator!!!

This morning when the doctors came for rounds they took out the tube in Blair's mouth. She is finally done with the respirator! She has done pretty well without it, but she's still had to work extra hard to breathe. When she breathes, you can see her throat retract quite a bit, but it's been getting better and better. After the extubation, they listened and decided her airways were still pretty swollen so they have done two more rounds of steroids to help her throat heal. They've also done a number of breathing treatments to help open her airways.

When I came back from hanging out with Davis last night and this morning, they had just extubated Blair five minutes before and Spence told me she hadn't tried to talk yet. When I said hi to her, Blair held up two fingers and said "Two nail polishes; I got two nail polishes". Her former nursery leader, Sister Salmond, had sent a gift for Blair with lots of fun girly things and she was very excited about the nail polish. She wanted to show me right away, so she motioned Spence to get out her gift. That's my girl- the first thing she says is "nail polish".

She has gotten better and better as the day has progressed. When they first took out the tube her breathing was pretty loud, but it has gotten slower and quieter. She has more energy this afternoon and she's playing and having a good time. It's still pretty difficult to communicate because her voice is so hoarse that we can barely hear her, but it's much better than it's been the last two weeks.

Right now, Blair just has a nasal cannula and she's been able to have her arm restraints off all day. There is a chance she could pull out her feeding tube, but it's not near as critical as the the respirator tube, so they're willing to take the chance.

Blair will stay in the ICU until they can wean the oxygen percentage blowing in her nasal cannula and the amount of drugs she's getting. She also needs to be able to eat and drink. They aren't planning to let her do this today, but hopefully she can have a drink tomorrow. She's already told us she's very thirsty. Hopefully, she just gets better and better from now on. They did do a test today though and she's still RSV positive.

Right after extubation

Once she was off the respirator, I could hold my little girl. It was absolutely wonderful. It's been so hard to see her in bed non-stop for over two weeks.

Afternoon nap time

This afternoon we got a little more of the adhesive off her face and and combed her hair- she looks like a totally new girl.

Sitting all the way up in bed with no coughing fits!

Playing with her toys tonight- she played with her Snow White magnet dress ups, read books, played with Fancy Nancy stickers, colored, and more. It's so fun seeing her more like herself.

Done with pictures

As much of a smile as we could get- What a cutie!

It was so good to see Davis last night. We let him come see Blair for a couple of minutes before we went home. He was required to wear a doctor's mask in order to come into the ICU. He thought the mask was pretty cool, but I don't think he knew what to think when he saw Blair. He just looked and stared for a minute and then started checking out the new stuffed animals.

Davis and I went home and did some puzzles our friends have give him. He had an absolute blast. When it was time for bed, he said the sweetest little prayer.

"Heavenly father, thank you for this day. Thank you for our blessings and for our family. Thank you that I could see Blair tonight- she's my sister and my friend. Please bless that the doctors can take care of her and make her better. Please bless that she can come home and play with me because she's been gone a long, long, time and I love her....Amen."

What a little cutie pie. I'm sure the part about the doctors taking care of her came from something he's discussed with grandparents, but I love all of his other thoughtful little comments. Those two kids will be so happy when they can play together at home again.