Day +14: Turning a Corner

Last night was not too bad at all. Dare I say it- it was pretty good, actually! He only woke up once during the night when the nurse was changing his diaper, and then fell right back asleep after that. I think the little bump up in his PCA morphine dose made all the difference! It helped his pain stay more at bay so he could be more content.

Kal was much more awake this morning, as he has usually been really sleepy during the mornings in recent days. He threw up a lot when he woke up, but then he wanted to play with some toys for a little while and even stated babbling a tiny bit to one of his favorite nurses (who claims Kal is her boyfriend). Haha. She's so sweet! Apparently he was saving his words for his lady. Sheesh, this guy. It was so great to see him start to show characteristics of his old self again, even if it is for a few minutes at a time.

Mesmerized by his little ball.

The doctors were really happy and impressed with Kal today. He's doing really well, and will continue to monitor him for any changes. They wanted to still give his mouth sores a break today, but will attempt to start trying to give his medications orally (vs having it through the IV like he's been having it). Taking all of his meds orally is one of the requirements to get the "ok" to be discharged and go home. It will kind of be a long process, though, as we don't want to overwhelm him all of the sudden with a billion meds in his sensitive mouth, throat, and stomach.

He still needed a low amount of oxygen throughout the day. Whenever we would try to take him off of it, he would slightly dip down in his oxygen again, just enough to set off the alarm. They will try to wean him off the oxygen as well, eventually. His breathing is doing better most of the time now, though, as far as sounding not as congested as he did yesterday.

Also, Kal is still a little swollen, but his water retention has definitely gone down since yesterday. Hooray! (Except, after all this, I hope he doesn't loose his adorable chubby cheeks he's gained in this process. I just love them!)

During the day and this evening, he seems to be feeling a lot better and more awake. He threw up once again this evening, but hey, that's makes it that he has only thrown up twice today! That's a miracle in itself! Woot woot! His mucous secretions seem to be lessening and his mouth is bleeding a lot less, too!

Kal had so much energy for bed that it was hard for him to calm down to fall asleep. He was so happy just trying to eat his giraffe toy. Once I layed him down, he enjoyed kicking his legs, and even smiling at his other nurse that he loves! I haven't seen him smile in so long. Really, it seems like forever since I have seen him happy and smiling. It's a miracle that he's feeling so well now. Just like the nurses keep telling me, babies and kids are so resilient. One day they're doing awful, and the next day they perk up and turn a corner to be on the road to recovery. I'm so glad it looks like Kal's starting to turn that corner now!

Nom nom nom- yummy giraffe! It was so funny, he was just sitting there motionless with part of the giraffe's head in his mouth and holding it close to him. "You're my best buddy, giraffe!"