Caydence: Finally...

Caydence finally got her breathing tube out today! All night and all morning I was so nervous not knowing how she was going to do. We planned for 10am and sure enough everyone was in the room at 10 ready to go. I think everyone was just as nervous as I was because Caydence has had that tube in for the longest time and it has never came out, well except for that one time where it was an accident and she coded, but we don't need to remember that. Eric and I stood back while everyone stood around the bedside and got everything ready and then Dr. Zebrack pulled the tube out of her mouth. They put the C-Pap on right away. She was pretty mad when the tube first came out, I was able to hear her little cry. It didn't sound much like a cry, more like a faint squeak. Hearing that little cry was the best feeling. It was the first cry I've heard since she came out of my belly. The first hour had to be the most stressful because she was so mad and all I wanted to do was pick her up and comfort her. Everyone was on pins and needles hoping she would do fine. The first gas they drew wasn't very good so everyone was still unsure of how she was going to handle it. She finally calmed down and started to relax and they drew another gas and it looked great. We did a chest X-Ray and that looked great too. Caydence had everyone surprised of how well she was doing. She would get mad at times and get all worked up and cry but overall she has been doing really good. I think the only reason she would get so mad was because she hasn't know any different than to have that tube in her mouth and now its gone, and also I can't blame her for being uncomfortable with having that C-Pap mask on her face. They had started her on dex early this morning which is a sedative that should relax her but shouldn't effect her breathing. It seemed to help her after they took the dose up. She has just been sleeping most of the day besides the times where she was mad and uncomfortable. We are just so happy that we were finally able to get that tube out. Her face is so pretty without all that take on her cheeks and tube in her mouth. This was such a big day for all of us, especially Caydence! I can't believe it took almost 4 months to get her extubated. It's just crazy thinking about it that in one week she will be 4 months old and has never been home. Even though she has been through so much I am so thankful that she is here and moving forward. The whole ventilator dependence thing is what has been holding us back this whole time. So getting her off that has been such a big step for her. We still aren't out of the woods yet, we just need to get through the first 24hours and see how she does and go from there. We will have to see how much C-Pap support she will need and how long she will have to be on it and if she even tolerates it without being pretty sedated. All this will come over the next few days and weeks. This is all uncharted territory for Caydence so we don't know what comes next. Lets just hope that she does fine and we can get her home as soon as possible!