Introducing Joy’s new smile!! Her swelling has gone down sooooo much. I refrained from showing pictures right away since it looked pretty rough. It’s amazing to see how much her eyes have changed without the pressure to her skull! They’re much more symmetric and her strabismus is nearly completely gone! 

It’s been a pretty uneventful day compared to yesterday. Cardiology ran some tests and they’re not concerned about Joy coding again. Apparently this is something that isn’t uncommon for babies under 6 months old to do post-surgery. Nothing otherwise seems to be wrong with her heart so that’s a good sign! Everyone is confident in saying this was a one-off, but they’re keeping her in PICU another night for observation just to be on the safe side. If all holds steady it looks like there’s a good chance we go home tomorrow! 

After yesterday’s episode, she was taken off of her feeds and put strictly on IV fluids. To my understanding, this was because if she had coded again, it would be better if her stomach wasn’t full. Once cardiology came back saying she should be in the clear, the PICU resumed her feeds which gave Joy her Cinderella moment according to her nurse: she changed from a super cranky baby to the totally chill and snuggly baby we all know and love 😉 It’s amazing what a little food in the belly does! 

Her second feed post-fast, however, didn’t go so well. She became a little irritable afterwards and then promptly threw it all up… twice. Including her NG feeding tube. Joy got a bath while we waited for her plastic surgeon team to evaluate the situation (the end of the tube had come out through her mouth while the other was still coming out through her nose. They gave the all clear and Joy begrudgingly got a new tube placed. Apparently it’s also not uncommon for this to happen when transitioning from strictly IV fluids back to feeds so the nurses aren’t too concerned at the moment but will definitely keep an eye on this. Please pray that Joy’s stomach would settle and handle her future feeds okay! 

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!