I'm entitled to my opinion

Most of our family members who have been here for every day of this whole ordeal probably each had a different "step" that they dreaded the most - waiting through the surgery, what Troup had to say about the surgery, the long wait while Emma was sedated, etc.  I, personally, wasn't as scared on the day of the surgery.  I was probably the least excited when Troup told us everything went well.  That's not to say I wasn't excited, just the LEAST excited of our family members.  I dreaded today the most.

And I was RIGHT, I tell you, I was RIGHT!  But that's my opinion.  Russell dreaded this day the least.  He was downright giddy at the prospect of waking up his baby girl.

Emma was extubated at 10:30 am, and the next 4 to 5 hours were quite unpleasant.  She didn't breathe on her own for a little bit at first, and they had to bag her to give her oxygen.  I watched her oxygen level drop all the way to 0%, and I saw a glimpse of a blue baby between the nurses, respiratory therapist, and my brave husband standing in front of me.  Once she finally started breathing on her own, she was very upset and trying to cry.

You could hear all kinds of rattling in her throat and, I assume, her chest.  I so badly wanted to clear her throat FOR her, and that has lasted all day.  She's still fighting the junk that accumulated over the last 5 days and got irritated during extubation.  Her little face and eyes have remained swollen, and I could tell that she knew her eyes were kind of weird.

Those first 4 to 5 hours were basically filled with Emma wavering between crying and just being dissatisfied with her nasal cannula.  Because she has sleep apnea, they didn't just give her a little oxygen support; it was a steady, full-blast of oxygenated air in her nose.  And the probes in her nose wound up crooked to the left a little.  And one side of tubing was pushing into her face.  And both sides of tubing were taped down to her face.  I do not say this to complain about the nurses or respiratory therapist - they're wonderful...it's just an uncomfortable situation to be in, especially when you don't even understand it.  As Emma started feeling better, she started asking every person that came in the room, "Can you take this off?" in her teeny, tiny, scratchy voice.  The doctor agreed, under the condition that if she didn't keep her oxygen up on her own, they would put a less pressurized cannula back in.  The cannula came out, and we haven't looked back :)

There are still some things to deal with - like how in the world she's going to handle her bipap mask when she goes to sleep, how we're going to protect that incision at the base of her head when the headgear goes on, and also when/if she's going to poop enough.  This is actually a pretty big deal.  The bigger her stomach is with backed up poo and the air bubble hanging out in there, the less room there is for her lungs to fully expand.  Her lungs have been compromised for 5 straight days, so they need all the help they can get now.

After those first few really stressful hours, things have been much better.  She has been asking what things are in the room, if there are stickers in the room, who people are, etc.  She has introduced Bun to a few people (Bun is her well-worn bunny), and she started smiling.  Here's one of the early smiles, and, bless her heart, her puffy cheeks and eyelids just cause her eyes to close when she smiles.