Yesterday Mike spent the day at the hospital with Finley and usually while he is there he gets so absorbed with his visit that he doesn't have time to call with an update - I usually have to settle for some scattered texts messages until he gets home and I can drag it all out of him!  How are her sats?  Did she get her last chest tube out? Is she up to her goal amount of feeds?, etc.

So far her progress has been nothing short of amazing and she is doing far better than any of her doctors had expected!  Does that make me nervous?  Of course it does!  Based on how this journey seems to have gone for the last 9 months, we know to expect the unexpected with Finley so while things seems to be hunky dorey, I will feel better once we are several weeks post-op and we seemed to have cleared that "possibility for infection" hoop.  That came at about the 3 week post-op point last time.

Anyway - Finley is COMPLETELY and utterly oxygen free!  That's right, no CPAP, no hi-flow, no regular 'ole nasal cannula.  Her cute little face is free of all of that junk and she is holding her own!  Also - she did get that last chest tube out, is up to her goal amount on her feeds (ie. her regular daily amount of breastmilk - she had been getting IV nutrition) and Mike was even able to put her little onesie on her! (As simple as that sounds - when your child is in the hospital - seeing them in their own clothes makes SUCH a difference).  Don't mind Finley's half open eyes in this pic - for some reason - its a creepy little thing her and Nate both do!

The only bad update from yesterday is that Finley seems to have a pretty bad diaper rash.  Some genius thought it was prudent to give her a glycerin chip to help her poop since she hadn't pooped in 5 days.  I asked the nurse how they expected her to poop if she wasn't being fed????  Needless to say, I guess she's been pooping these tiny amounts constantly now and so her little tush was bleeding last night!  UGH!  So, I asked the nurse to get her some Triple Paste (this is what we use at home and hands down THE best diaper cream out there) and the nurse said yes - she was waiting on the doctor to come by and write a prescription for it?  WHAT?  So apparently Desitin and Sensicare are easy to come by but a prescription is required for the good stuff. When I called at 1:30 am the doctor still hadn't been by to write the prescription so today I am bringing my own and I am also bringing all sorts of lotions and potions and am going to give little Finley a day of beauty!!!  Really I am just hoping to help sooth those red marks on her cheeks that the tape has made and all of the other little irritated areas on her skin because the tape they use wreaks havoc on her poor sensitive skin!

Yesterday mommy and Nate had a nice little day together.  We spent most of the day playing at home and then we ran over to Kohl's to get him some new sandals to replace the two sizes too small ones he'd been insistent on wearing.  He picked out some light up Toy Story ones!! In keeping with that theme, we also needed some new swimming shorts for his swim class that starts on June 12th.  And he picked.....Toy Story!!  LOL.  It was a Toy Story sort of a day!  Even daddy got some new "unders" but after the second attempt at this and buying "the wrong kind" - daddy is on his own!  Who would have thought buying men's underwear could be so complicated?

When we got home, Nate helped me to clean out my car - which hadn't been done in as long as I can remember so all of the crushed goldfish crackers, melted M&Ms and other miscellaneous goodies that were on the floor in the backseat are now a thing of the past!  And my sweet little Nate thought it would be a good idea to gather up as much as he could in his hands before I vacuumed it up and throw it in the yard "for the birds".  Because "its nice to feed the birdies right mom?".  We also installed Nate's new big, boy booster seat and are making preparations to move Nate's old car seat to Finley's side of the car because my little 20 pounder is a little too heavy for her infant seat these days!

Before I go - I had to just share this funny conversation Nate and I had yesterday.  I still think that this is such an awesome age because the stuff that he says is so priceless.  Me: "Nate - can you tell me what happened over by your toy bin?" (background:  EVERY toy was out of the toy bin and on the floor in front of it). Nate: "In the living room?"  Me: "Yes".  Nate: "I make a big mess?"  Me: "Ya think?  How about you go over there and clean it up for mommy?"  Nate: "Um mom.  I don't 'sink' so".