Thursday, September 10, 2009

The Many Faces of Jane

Another better day. In fact today went almost exactly as yesterday did. Same numbers, same awesome nurse, same same same. And for us, the same cautious relief.

So, to celebrate the seemingly unprecedented phenomenon of three consecutive decent days, I present to you some of the many faces of Jane:

The Sourpuss
This is during mouth care; she doesn't like having her mouth swabbed or suctioned -- and who can blame her?



The Protest
This generally comes on the heels of any activity she's not up for, like, say, mouth care. Often accompanied by a hand pushing out in the classic "stop" gesture -- which she would be doing here except that her breathing tube is in the way.



The Pirate
Jane makes this one-eyed face a lot, and every time she does, the younger nurses and respiratory therapists say "Arrr!"



The Listener
Anytime Jane's eyebrows are up, whether her eyes are open or not, she's listening to what's happening around her.



The Flirt
Need I say more?


These are only the best images of at least a dozen I got in three minutes of her pantomime show. With emoting like this, she could totally be a daytime drama actress someday! A mother can dream...


A short while later...

I can't believe I forgot to mention this: the attending thinks they've beaten back the pneumonia already. At least it isn't showing up on the chest x-rays anymore. I was convinced this was going to be like a two week battle, but the antibiotics are totally kicking microorganism butt. So the plan is simply to finish the full courses of the antibiotics. They're feeling really good about the response they've been seeing from her so far. They've also been able to adjust the ventilator settings down a bit, but they're constantly fine tuning those so I try not to get too hung up on that.

In slightly less good news, poor Jane now has an ulcer. It's pretty common (what crappy thing isn't common in the ICN I ask you?), and they're treating it with Pepcid. Really, Pepcid! She's still on morphine, so I'm guessing it isn't bothering her much. But still. Wouldn't it be nice for her NOT to get a common preemie complaint for a change?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What wonderful photos, and even more wonderful that you've had three good days. May they be the first three of many, many more.

mommatosena said...

WOOT!!! Triple WOOT!! for 3 great days! LOVE all the pics and glad that the pnuemonia is on the way out...sorry about the ulcer but at least it's common and they can easily manage that...hoping that from here on out it's just grow baby grow!!

Cindy said...

I love your updates, and the many faces of Jane are terrific!!!

Prayers and hugs heading your way!