So I guess this is what I get for it taking me three weeks to update this blog.  When I look back at my last post - and how I talked about how good Finley has been doing and now here I sit typing this in room 229 - the PICU at Children's.  Finley started coming down with some cold symptoms on Tuesday night - tons of coughing and Mike and I were up half the night trying to suction her and hold her upright so she could fall asleep.  At that time, I wasn't overly concerned as Finley has fought off two colds this season and got over them quickly - I assumed this would be one of those colds.  Needless to say - it is not.  Wednesday I had to be in the city all day in a client meeting and the took my client out to dinner that evening.  Gigi had texted me a bunch throughout the day and Finley seemed to be holding her own but at the end of the day she sent me a text saying she didn't like the way Finley was breathing - fast and shallow.  When I got home Wednesday evening, she was awake, not coughing much, and while she was working a little harder, it didn't seem to bad - probably because, bless her heart, she was still in a good mood - albeit pretty lethargic.  That quickly went downhill overnight - I tried suctioning her and it wasn't working.  She wasn't coughing much but her breathing had really begun to concern me.  Not only was she breathing very fast and shallow, I could feel her heart racing when I put my hand on her chest.  I sat in her rocking chair, holding her, and was contemplating whether she might need to go to the ER.  This is something I struggle a lot with as the mom of a special needs child - trying not to hit the panic button and trying to get myself to think about her as a normal child.  Maybe I was being paranoid. 

Yesterday I had to be in the city with my client again and unfortunately - I was leading a strategy session with the client so I couldn't miss it - they traveled in from OH for the meeting.  Mike brought her to the pediatrician in the morning and they promptly sent him to the ER.  This was the first time I've not been able to be there and it sucked.  A lot.  As they began to triage her, they put the pulse ox on to test her blood oxygen level and it was 74 - extremely low.  This is even low by "pre-heart repair" standards.  Needless to say, Mike said at that point the ER doctors swarmed Finley.  They put her on 50% oxygen and immediately admitted her and had been contemplating between the 5th floor where she normally stays or the PICU.  Because of the amount of oxygen she needed to be on - they admitted her to the PICU.  Since then they've changed her from regular oxygen to a bipap which helps to break the oxygen in to smaller particles so it can get through her compromised airway and it also warms the air.  She is also getting Albuterol treatments every 2 hours.  They tried to switch them to every 4 overnight but she couldn't tolerate it and so they have stayed with every 2 hours.  She was running a fever overnight, which is now under control, but she's still having some issues moving enough air into her lungs and so they are watching her closely and will consider intubating her if she doesn't improve.  She seems to have more energy today though than she has in the last couple of days because she's VERY upset about having the bipap mask on her face and immobilizers on both arms so she doesn't pull it off.  My poor baby.

And so it is, this roller coaster we're on.  Hoping to be on the upswing again soon.  Please keep Finley in your thoughts.