Day 9: Groundhog Day

Today was a repeat of many previous days we've had during our stay, much like the movie Groundhog Day where the same day is repeated over and over again until it finally works out right.  For us, the end of Groundhog Day will be Kate finally getting released from the hospital. We are still in a holding pattern waiting for when that day may come. 

As for today, we spent the morning at the apartment followed by lunch at Oma.

Walking to Oma we have to cross our busy intersection. It just may be one of the busiest in Bogota! It seems like every car is wanting to squeeze it's way onto our street. The traffic combined with the two foot high steps you need to climb to get onto the sidewalk make it one crazy intersection!

Getting ready to cross our intersection

Almost to Oma

These stairs are most definitely not up to code!

We settled into one of our usual tables and one of our usual waitresses came out to serve us.  Rose asked for colors and she quickly brought over a couple.

The kids always order the same thing - for Owen and Rose, it's chicken strips, fries and a shake and for Cole, a hamburger, fries and a limonada de coco. Today, all the adults enjoyed a giant bowl of ajiaco.

Waiting for lunch to arrive

Cole enjoying his limonada de coco

Ajiaco -YUM!

At 2:00 pm, once again, Patricia picked up Shane and I and off we drove to Simon Bolivar Hospital to see Kate. When we arrived, she was sleeping. She was covered in a thick blanket and was so very sweaty.  She was no longer attached to the machine that tracked her heart rate, respiratory rate and oxidation levels which was a good sign that her condition is improving. 

The FANA nurse was not there, so I lowered the railing of her hospital bed and it startled Kate. She awoke crying. I quickly picked her up and it took a few minutes to calm her back down. She stared at me quite intently and then dozed off to sleep. Every once in a while, she'd open her eyes to look at me and then fall asleep again.

When the FANA nurse came over, she saw that Kate had been crying. She told Patricia that Kate had been more upset today and thought it was because she missed us. That was both touching and heartbreaking to hear. We hope and pray that some day soon will be the very last time we have to leave her at the hospital.

We spoke with one of the doctors that spoke English who said Kate had two more days of antibiotics. Her oxygen level has been decreased to .5 liters and her condition is slowly improving. They will continue to decrease her oxygen slowly and once she is off oxygen and still doing well, she will finally be released from the hospital. I asked the doctor about Kate's breathing rate and she said a 9 month old should breath a max of 40 times per minute so that's what Kate's rate must be, otherwise she would be acting much differently if her respiratory rate was higher. I've always noticed that Kate's breathing is elevated so that response was quite concerning. Today it ranged from 47 to 55 breaths per minute - quite a bit higher than the max of 40. This was also the same doctor that asked in Spanish if Kate was a boy or a girl so I don't think she knew much about Kate's case and likely the only reason she was filling us in was because she spoke English.

While I was holding her, a nurse came over to clean her airway. It's a terrible process where first they shoot water up her nose and then they gag her with a long q-tip looking tool. I could not be a part of this and didn't want her to associate my face with a painful event so I handed her off to the FANA nurse. It was horrible.

Then the pediatrician came over to do an exam. She said Kate's respiratory rate is still elevated (which is quite obvious just by looking at her chest moving up and down way too quickly.) Her lungs still sound crackly but they are slowly improving.  She said that at this point, she doesn't expect Kate's condition to worsen, but to only improve - so that is some good news! Since it's a virus, they have to wait for her body to fight it off.

Shane finally got a chance to hold Kate. She was happily sitting on his lap, very intrigued by her butterfly toy, when the FANA nurse came over taking in Spanish and moving Kate's toy back and forth. This startled our little one and she started to cry.

Shane was able to distract her for a while by showing her photos of her new siblings.

But then the tears started to flow again. It broke this Mama's heart to see her so upset so I scooped her up and calmed her back down. She was very tired today and slept the rest of the time in my arms.

5:00 pm arrived and it was our time to go.  When I laid her down in her bed, she cried and cried. I haven't seen her this upset at the end of our visit. It was heartbreaking to watch. Thankfully the FANA nurse picked her up and calmed her down as we had to leave her again. Please continue praying that our sweet little girl recuperates quickly. We are so very ready to bring her home.