Kadence's Journey Pt 3

Ok, we left off on July 13 with me getting released from U of U hospital, and Kadence starting to make huge efforts to recovery. Remember at this point my sweet little Kadence was already a week old and I had only seen her for about 35 minutes total. I will be covering July 13- July 20th.

I went down to see Kadence on July 14th and again could only stay for about a half an hour. I tried so hard to stay longer because I wanted to be there for my baby, but I just physically couldn't. I am so grateful to all the many many family members who took turns going to see her. It gave me huge comfort to know that she wasn't alone.

On July 15th, David and I went to see Kadence. As we went through the routine of scrubbing (Which hurt SO bad because my arms were bruised beyond belief from all the IVs and blood draws), checking in with the nurses station and walking back, we noticed something very out of our routine....A new machine! They moved her off of her ventilator and on a new one...a smaller one. They kept her old ventilator in the back in case she wasn't ready for the upgrade. This was a particularly good day for me. Kadence opened her eyes for me for the first time, grabbed onto my finger for the first time, and we even got to see her cry for the first time. Ok, you may be wondering why we had to see her cry not hear her cry. Because of all the tubes and machines, she wasn't able to make any sound. It was absolutely heart breaking to watch her face melt, and she was just a screamin' yet we couldn't hear her. The good thing was that she was with it enough that she knew to cry. They had her off most of her pain meds and only gave them as needed. They gave her some food for the first time...through a feeding tube to see if her body could handle it. They let David do her "cares" which included taking her temperature and changing his very first diaper. He did great, but it was so nerve wracking to have nurses hovering over you to make sure the cares were completed. I made another goal for Kadence. I told her that we needed to be able to hold her by her 2 week birthday. We soon would realize that was a bit of a stretch, but I knew she was strong and determined. We went home to Logan that night to get some rest and sleep in our own bed. It seemed so empty at home without our baby.

On July 16th, David received the Melchizedek Priesthood at our home ward in Logan. It was a great experience. Somehow the bad day Kadence was having overshadowed it though. She was having problems with her lungs. She was actually getting air outside of her lungs. They were able to get most of it out by twisting her chest tube which was a huge relief. Here she is on the 16th:

On July 17th we got great news....She was off of ventilators all together!!! It is such a huge improvement from the day before! We were able to hear our little girl cry for the first time in her 11 days of life. It was such a tiny little cry and very raspy due to all of the tubes that were in her throat. David was able to give Kadence her very first blessing today as well. At PCMC they don't allow you to use your own oil though, they give you a sterile syringe with consecrated oil in it. It was neat and David kept the syringe as a reminder.

On July 18th Kadence took a little step backwards. She was struggling and uncomfortable without the ventilators so they moved her on to a c-pap machine. Most people know that a c-pap machine is used for those with sleep apnea to help maintain a steady flow of oxygen and keep their lungs open. It's the same for Kadence's c-pap. It made it so it was more comfortable for her to breath and was able to save her energy for other things. There was some good news though, her second chest tube was finally out. She was able to lay on her stomach for the first time, and she absolutely LOVED it! She also sucked on a binkie for the first time.

On July 19th I had my follow up apt at U of U, and everything looked like it was headed in the right direction. My blood pressure was still high for me but it was finally in the normal range. They didn't ever put me on meds to lower it because when the body ends up regulating itself it would put the blood pressure way too low. Kind of tricky I guess. They took Kadence's catheter out and now they weigh her diapers. They also took her off her Lasiks. (The med that helps drain extra fluid off her body) She slept much more comfortably because of the c-pap machine. They told us we could have held her today, but we didn't want to since the c-pap tubes would pull at her nose and make her uncomfortable. We figured we would wait until she was ready.

Look at what a proud daddy he is!

On July 20th (Her two week birthday) we went back to see Kadence laying there with oxygen on. The excitement was almost overwhelming. She AGAIN met the goal I set for her and we knew we would get to hold her. I got to hold her first because well, I am the mom. It was so great to hold her. It made it real and finally for the first time she felt like she was ours.

Mommy and her princess

Proud daddy holding his little girl

It made us laugh so hard because when we put her back in her isolet, she laid like this. It was like she was absolutely exhausted from being held and just in a state of absolute comfort. I love this picture!

So her second week of life was much better than her first and although we didn't know what kind of handicaps she may have, we knew she would make it at this point. What a huge comfort to know that she was ours and we would one day be able to take her home to love her without people standing over us.