Morning Report

We spent ALL day waiting yesterday. KayTar and I both took the day off of school because the nurse said we might need to go first thing in the morning or any time following that. We got the call at 5pm when the boys were on their way home with dinner. I scarfed down my Subway sandwich and we hit the road.

Right after we arrived a worker from the in-hospital radio station came by to drop off a craft for KayTar to complete. There was lots of glue and LOTS of rainbow glitter utilized for that particular project.

Anyway, if you attempt the craft, you are entered for an on-air contest where they call your name and then bring a prize to you. KayTar has won every time she has spent the night inpatient and last night was no exception! The only difference was that she is now old enough to be CRA-ZY exciited about hearing her name on the radio. While she was anxiously awaiting the announcement, she made some confetti with leftover crafting supplies and held it in her hands until she heard her name on the radio, then it was tossed into the air. She won a My Little Pony coloring book and the guy who had dropped off the craft came back to deliver it. KayTar had previously made a BIG deal out of how awesome his headband was and somehow she sweet-talked him out of it! She also received a plush guitar from a volunteer who was passing by.

After all the excitement, it was time for her last feed, pajamas, and The Little Mermaid. During the movie, they placed her IV which was not too happy about and even PRACTICED SCREAMING while waiting for the EMLA cream to absorb. She's a hoot. Anyway, they called in the charge nurse and he got it in ONE STICK. This is a very rare occurrence, because KayTar tends to be a tough stick.

After the movie it was lights out for her and studying for me. However, her alarms were going off like crazy last night. Her respiratory rate was hanging out at 11-13 mostly, so having it set for 16 meant that it was literally ringing every 30 seconds or so. They lowered it to 10, but then her heart rate monitor started going off, exclaiming, "Bradycardia!" and "Irregular!" on the screen. It wasn't too annoying when I was studying, but once I laid down at 1am, it became both frustrating and comical. For a while, every time I closed my eyes they would take turns ringing, I thought perhaps the nurses were punking me. They finally lowered the heart rate to 50 and that helped. They still rang quite a bit during the night, but not constantly like in the beginning. She was getting vitals checks and glucose checks every 3 hours, but on a staggered schedule, so I was waking up every hour for either that or alarms it seems. KayTar slept through everything, though, finger sticks included. I wish I had those skills! My best stretch of sleep was from 4-6am, when I was only disturbed once. Also, I didn't realize there was a thermostat in the room and I was frozen solid for hours, I was sleeping in my hoodie and blankets and was still shivering. When I found the thermostat, it was on 50! Geez, that is like mid-winter temps here in Texas and I was not in my outdoor gear. I got up for the day at 6am...sometimes trying to sleep is more frustrating than just getting up!

At last check, her glucose was still in the 80's. I hope that once she is up for the day, it starts dropping more quickly so we can get out of here and there will be a night of sleep in my near future. ;)

 KayTar in her new headband.