Busy, Busy, Busy

Anara watching TV from the coffee table

So far this week I have been bustling about cleaning, unpacking, and reorganizing. The downstairs is almost spotless (for a few minutes) and most of the clutter has been relocated to the upstairs (save that for later). I am also trying to complete the last portion of Anara's immigration paperwork. Hopefully she will be a US citizen by the new year.

Anara is doing well and we are very thankful that there have been no snafus or complications with her home care. Anara is usually happy and shows no signs of infection. She is still on antibiotics since she has pins and tubes. We have been relying heavily on the TV and a borrowed DVD player to entertain her because it is difficult to sit by her and play all day. Anara is eating very little solid food. She is getting almost all her calories from formula and ends up getting some through her tube most feedings. I am hoping that once she can sit in a high chair again we won't have to depend so heavily on her feeding tube. I am thankful that we did it because I would be pulling my hair out in frustration without it.

I am doing pretty well with the "Anara Maintenance" schedule but at times it would be convenient if I had three arms instead of two. It would be easier to have three arms when using the feeding tube so that I can open her button with two hands and hold the syringe with the third. It would also be easier to have three arms when irrigating her SP tube. It is hard to push in and pull back on the large syringe while holding it in place and clamping the Monti closed, but it isn't impossible. It would also be easier to move her, pick her up, or clean her with a third arm to hold her drain tubes. We really are doing well. My brother, Bryan, has been here to help during the days. It hasn't seemed too overwhelming to be home. It is less stressful without a monitor to make me nervous about respiratory and heart rates. Even the middle of the night maintenance has gone quickly and smoothly.

Violet is doing pretty well. She has a weird rash on her face (around her mouth) and woke up this morning with a "tummy ache". She told me at 5:30am that she had a tummy ache. I thought maybe she didn't really mean it so I helped her back to sleep. When she woke up again she started crying and said, "I don't like this tummy ache" and she has been on the couch since I got her out of bed. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be anything.

Listening to Daddy's leg with a stethoscope and sporting her weird rash goatee