I sure wish today had ended better than it started...because it started pretty well.

As I type this blog at home, Emma is having her fourth IV put in since last Thursday. The third one just went in last night, and it's already gotten clogged. Prior to the IV going in tonight, she had ceased screaming for about 4 minutes. That was our cue to leave. We fed her at 8:00 tonight, and she was ok for a little while...then the screaming ensued. She also had a fit after she ate at noon, and we gave her Mylicon. It worked then...not so sure if it worked tonight. It sure did seem to take a while to kick in, and I'm going to call the hospital after I finish the blog to see if she stopped screaming. On top of that, I'm not crazy about the nurse we left her with. Despite the sign hung over her crib that says, hugely, "Delicate surgical incision," this nurse didn't quite seem to understand what we're dealing with. For you prayer warriors out there, please, please pray that that nurse hasn't harmed our baby. Anyway, you moms out there: if Mylicon worked on your kids (and I know it's not for everyone), how long did it take to really kick in? Emma's lying on her tummy, so I don't know if it will take even longer for her.

By the way, these tummy problems she's having all started when her new formula started on Sunday. New formula that I've asked 2 NICU doctors, 1 nurse practitioner, and 3 nurses to change. I would give anything for my daughter to not hurt, but all this screaming is her own version of "I told you so."

Dr. Troup sent his nurse in today to check on Emma's incision - this was both good and bad news. What do you want first? Let's start with bad and try to end this blog on a good note...since we're not seeing much good lately. When the nurse peeled back the dressing, we noticed that the opening had spread in a new place that used to be nice and sealed up. Yes, the incision has opened up even more after 2 days of topical medication and 6 days of antibiotics. Dr. Troup's nurse and our NICU nurse said it was probably because the new bacteria they identified 3 days ago has still been attacking the wound and skin, and the new antibiotics haven't had a chance to kill it yet. It's scary to think that bacteria has been attacking my 3-week-old daughter's skin and tissue. My insurance company isn't thrilled about that, either, by the way...nor were they too pleased when I informed them that a nurse yanked Emma's legs up over her head. So we'll see what happens there...now for the good news - the rest of the incision looked ok. Not great, but ok. We can definitely tell that it's not as deep, and it's filling in with pink tissue and skin, and the gooey infection is gone. There's still some white goo in there, but it's good stuff, apparently. Although this is good news, we're still very, very far from complete healing. As in, weeks.

This picture is funny (to us, at least) and sad at the same time. It's funny because Emma has no idea what to do with her legs when she's not on her stomach. It's sad because Emma has no idea what to do with her legs BECAUSE she's on her stomach all the time. Russell and his mom put her on her side to change her position for a bit, and up came the legs. This is how she prefers to be, I think, because she spent the last few months inside me with her feet up over her head.



One thing I want to point out in this picture is that her feet are wrapped with little strips of gauze. I mentioned this in a previous post - they're wrapped to keep her feet in more of a flexed position and to keep them more turned out than turned in. The need to flex her feet is a result of lying on her stomach - her feet then have the tendency to go into a pointed position. When they go into a pointed position, they also have the tendency to turn in. The big thing there, though, is that spina bifida kids' feet have a major tendency to turn in. So that's the purpose of those little ankle wraps.