Free at Last!

S~The big update of the day...(drum roll please)... Clare is off the breathing machine. At about 8:20am they took the breathing tube and stomach tube out of Clare. She, of course, hated that but soon settled down. She can now have her binky and Mom and Dad can have her beautiful face back! She looks so sweet now sucking away at her binky. The plan for the rest of the day is to take out her arterial line (a thin tube inserted into the artery in her wrist that measures her blood pressure directly from that artery) and keep her as comfortable as possible. She will be in the ICU for at least one more night as they want to make sure her breathing and oxygen levels are all fine. I believe they also want to try feeding her orally, not really sure of the plan with that. She has been receiving proteins, carbs, and other nutrients via her IV. (The tube feeding plan ended up not working because one of her nostrils got blocked, so her stomach acid tube had to be placed in her mouth again and now there is no access for tube feeding.) But, once again, Clare is doing great. When I left she was watching "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". Her nurse put it on but Clare was definitely enjoying it, so I won't say a thing about a 7 month old needing to watch TV. Besides, it allows us to watch those beautiful baby blue eyes!