Page 27 - Journey of Hope by Raymond Moldenhauer

DAY38

THE BIRTHDAY GIFT

Today is Heidi’s Birthday! And the big day, the big moment, the
big milestone for Alyssa – her planned extubation was
scheduled to occur on Heidi’s birthday! She was so excited, Jim
was excited, Kathie and I were excited, my son Keven and his
wife Emmy were excited (they had come to surprise Heidi for
her birthday), and the entire care team was excited about seeing
this little preemie girl, that everyone has come to love, fly on
her own. For the last two days, she was doing much of the work
with her own lungs and not relying on the ventilator. Lisa the
Nurse Practitioner, was scheduled to put in a 24-hour shift so
that she could be there to see Alyssa through the entire critical
period.

Alyssa had a very restful night and peaceful morning. At 10:35
AM, Lisa and the team of Nurses and Respiratory Therapist
carefully removed the ventilator tube from Alyssa. They
inserted a C-PAP (constant positive air pressure) into her nostrils
to prevent her lungs from collapsing during an exhale. She was
now on her own for Lisa to monitor throughout the day.

The first 3 hours went by with no complications – just several
sneezes and a few faint hints of a cry. Alyssa had broken her
previous record off the ventilator by 1 hour and 45 minutes, and
was doing very well – resting peacefully with all of the monitor
indicators showing perfect rhythmic waves and numbers.

Since she was doing so well and now asleep, we decided to go
for a late lunch. When we returned, we were not expecting to
see Jim and Heidi in the NICU waiting room. The tears in Heidi’s
eyes, however, told us everything we need to know. Alyssa did
not stay stable during our brief absence.