Friday, February 11, 2011

At My Limits

Two and a half weeks, that is my breaking point!  Apparently living in the hospital slowly wears on me until my brain eventually turns to mush at 2 1/2 weeks.  To say this week was hard would be an understatement.  I literally stopped functioning and turned my brain off because I was so overwhelmed with responsibilities.

That being said, I am sitting here 3 weeks later (after getting lots of requests and feeling much better emotionally) trying to get back on track, remember everything that has happened, and catch all of you up.  We'll see how it goes...

Averi's temperature continued to be low all through the week, which didn't sit well with the doctors.  Since she didn't show any other signs of cold sepsis (low blood pressure, irritability, cold extremities, etc.) I asked why they were so up tight about it.  That's when someone finally explained to me that there are other more likely things that could also be causing a low temperature, like a fungal infection, that wouldn't show up on the blood cultures.  The only problem with that theory is that she would still be showing other symptoms, like cold sweats and being achy.

Being frustrated with her low temperatures, the doctors finally put in an order to take all of her temperatures orally.  Yah, that went over really well.  Have you ever tried to take an oral temperature on a baby?  She literally screamed until tears rolled down her cheeks while the PCA tried to hold her mouth shut.  Needless to say, the resulting temp was not accurate.
The therapy sessions were even lame this week because many of the therapists were out sick.  This was made up for, a little bit, when Early Intervention brought finger paint.  I didn't know how Averi would do since some kiddos with DS have sensory issues, but she loved it.  I think she might have loved it too much because she kept trying to lick her fingers and we had to cut the painting short.  At least she was able to make a few really cute pictures and hand prints first.

4 comments:

Celeste Ferguson said...

So sorry! The paintings, however, are adorable!! :)

Lauren in GA said...

I'm so sorry that you reached your breaking point. You are doing a great job, Tiffany. I really mean that.

When I worked at a daycare we, "painted" with Cool Whip with lots of food coloring in it. It made it easier than having to stop the project early.

That artwork is so sweet.

Katie Leigh said...

Vanilla pudding works also works well for finger painting.

Tina said...

Yeah, I was thinking along Katie's train of thought. You could get more colors using baby food too.