Day 35: How Far We've Come

Sleeping beauty.

Vivienne had another uneventful day. Like yesterday, she had one mid-afternoon crying fit, but it wasn't as long or as loud. Other than that she slept for most of the day. A few updates: her morphine was weaned again, and I got her to take a few milliliters from the bottle. She also passed her first hearing test with flying colors. She will undergo regular audiology testing until she is 5 due to the connection between CDH and the risk for late on-set hearing loss (the cause isn't really understood).

I have a lot of time to reflect when I'm sitting by Viv's bed. A new CDH baby is moving into our NICU pod, and as I watched the staff bring in all of the necessary equipment, I marveled at how far Viv has come over the past 35 days. This phase is particularly difficult for Dave and I. Viv is taking very small steps each day and the NICU grind is taking its toll. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we don't know how long it will take to get there. We want to go home, and the day-to-day can be frustrating. Every now and then it's good to be reminded of how far we've come and how lucky we are. Just look at the difference 35 days makes:

Vivienne's necessary equipment as of March 19....

...and today.

Pretty amazing, isn't it?