I was only able to be at the hospital with her this morning because I had a doctors appointment and needed to get other things taken care of in SLO. I cried... almost the entire way home. I have never felt so unconsciously drawn to another human being. It's like a strange magnetic pull and I just don't feel right when I'm too far from her. I'm sure most parents feel the same way, and I'm also sure her situation makes that pull a tid bit stronger. Anyway, I was away, my mom was with her and I missed her first "stretching". Missing that is comparable to missing a first lost tooth, or first time pottying... to me at least. Today marked the first day of her serious progress towards coming home. And it was beyond successful. The "stretching" involves a couple things. Slight sedation via codeine and tylenol, removal of her aspirator and a weighted rubber tube pushed down into her esophagus. The tube is pushed down so that there is enough tension at the end of the esophagus to stretch it very slowly and then an x-ray is taken to view the results. Eventually the esophagus will be stretched enough to easily attach it to it's bottom half, which will be her next surgery (and hopefully her last). It takes about ten minutes total. My mom said that the doctor was thrilled with how much it had stretched... surprised even. The last two weeks have seemed to be a surprise to everyone. Nurses, doctors, us... we are all so amazed at how quickly she is healing. The day after I was able to hold her for the first time (which was only a week after her first surgery), a pediatric physical therapist came in to teach us some exercises that we could do with Kinley to get her moving, and building strength... so now we get to have play time :) She usually isn't as excited to "play" as we are, but we can't help ourselves, and she'll learn to love it too :)
We've been able to hold her skin to skin pretty often too, which is so great for bonding and developing connection with her. It's like a natural sleeping aid. I can't believe how quickly she falls asleep there. The physical therapist seemed to think that Kinley will be breastfeeding by the time she goes home, and will probably be done with her "button". That was some of the best news I've gotten so far. We were initially told that she may have the button for months after she goes home because of mouth aversions and that she most likely will not breastfeed. So you can imagine how relieved I was to hear her say those lovely words!
Not only is she healing physically but she's finally acting like a normal baby. She cries, and I love it! She definitely sticks out her little bottom lip and frowns when she's not happy about something... OH and she sucked her thumb today!!! Never thought I'd be excited about that one, but I almost teared up when she did it... When they tell you that you can never really prepare for everything as a parent...believe them :) Everyday is a new one, and it just keeps getting better
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