Lucy Kate Update IX

We have been very busy for the past several days. Lucy is finally moved to the Riley Heart Center for her final week of recovery. Her chest tubes and IV lines were taken out and those wounds are healing. We have to change the dressings and wash her every day. This morning we finally gave her a bath and her hair is so fluffy now.

Accommodations in the Heart Center are much nicer than the ICU. Our private room has a couch that pulls out into a bed, several chairs, cabinets for storage and dim lighting. It's about the next best thing to being home. I'm writing this from the couch right now as Lucy sleeps. The worst part about living in the ICU was only one parent could sleep with Lucy at night. Now we can all finally sleep in the same room. It's a great feeling to be closer to her.

Lucy is starting to feel much better now. I couldn't imagine how sore her body is after having a surgical incision, three chest tubes, right arm IV, left foot IV, right thigh femoral arterial line, left thigh femoral vein central line, left arm picc line, pulmonary arterial line, right atrial line and pacer wires. If we could have traded places with her, we would have. We never want our baby to experience pain again.

She's still going through drug withdrawal, which is awful but it's slowly wearing off. She finally smiled for Sarah and I and showed her personality for the first time since surgery last night. After all she's been through, we finally have our little Lucy back.