Shabbat of Ups, Downs and UPs

I wish I could go into detail and explain all the events of Shabbat. I'll do my best to remember, in my very sleep deprived state. 

We went into Shabbat in the up. The morphine was clearly helping with some pain and allowing her to get some sleep. One thing I have failed to bring up in these posts is her heart rate. Since the removal of the chest tube, Tehilla's heart rate had been high, very high and extremely high. It's called tachycardia. When she would be crying her heart rate would be between 180-206. When she was on the morphine, her heart rate would go between 150-175. Something was clearly stressing her and causing the high heart rates. When she wasn't on morphine, she was crying a lot and whining and gagging and throwing up. 

The problem we were having was that the doctors were scrounging to get her calm and unagetated, as well as the nurses, but no one was following the instructions of Dr. Erez. Everything kept failing but no one knew what the cause was because every few hours they did something else.

Our night nurse was awful. Sweet, and maybe well meaning but very upsetting. I slept in Tehilla's room on an arm chair. I woke up at 2:00am, to see the nurse lifting Tehilla under her arms. That's a huge post heart surgery no-no. By lifting under the arms, it pulls on the newly stitched skin and puts pressure on the chest. Only many weeks after heart surgery can you lift under the arms or put  her to play on her tummy. I jumped out of the chair and told her that she can't do that. Then I found out that she had fed Tehilla an hour ahead of schedule and had given her more than she was supposed to get because she felt she was hungry. I told her off and told her she had to follow the instructions of the surgeon. 

They had taken her off of morphine and she was irritable but didn't seem in pain and her heart rates were still high but not extreme.

The morning brought us a wonderful nurse. When the doctors came for their rounds, I told them I had a lot to say. They have gotten used to me participating in their discussions and briefings, correcting them and offering my opinion. One of the head doctors even said that I was a welcome member of the medical team. 

But this morning I had nothing kind to say. I told them I was very upset because there was no plan and everyone was doing something else. I told them about the nurse. I told then I want one plan- Dr. Erez's plan and everyone to follow through. I said that I didn't feel safe leaving the room, that if I did, someone might do something they shouldn't. The doctors all nodded their head in agreement, one even apologized. They agreed to follow the plan and call Dr. Erez on any conflict. 

I also asked that they check her ears, just in case. 

I'm sure I have a reputation for being THAT mother, but I couldn't care less. (So funny how much I've changed since my advocacy post!)

After that it was smoother sailing. The nurse was fantastic. Tehilla was agitated and the medical team (including me!) felt it was because she was very hungry. We felt she should be allowed to nurse and fed baby food. So, a call was placed to Dr. Erez and he agreed as long as we maintained the 4 hours between meals. It has a lot to do with eating redirecting blood from the heart. 

So, I nursed her. She was so calm, it was unbelievable. And like magic, all her vital signs began to stabilize more. The next meal I gave her baby food. After that, she started to do so great, that there were whispers of moving us to the step down unit. 

It's now been several hours and they just came to confirm that tomorrow morning, we are moving to floor 4, post-op ward. 

Which brings us closer to home. Tehilla is doing great and she's even...

Smiling!