Cranial Vault Reconstruction - Recovery Day 2

The day started out early.  Around 8am the plastic surgery team already came in to check on Meagan.  They looked her over and were happy with how things were going.  They told us we may wait until Thursday to take off her head wrap depending on how she was doing.  Soon after, Dr. R stopped in.  He, too, was happy with how she was recovering so far.  He noticed how much she had suddenly become even more swollen, and so he advised she stay in the ICU for another day.  He said perhaps at night, we could re-evaluate if she would move to the Neuro floor or stay in the ICU.

The day went fairly smooth for Meagan.  The nurses helped me change her into her buddy Claire's cool green hospital gown.  She felt much more stylish than being in the old scratchy hospital provided gowns!  Meagan was in and out of sleep, and in and out of pain throughout the day.  I realized they only had pain meds ordered "as needed," so I asked the nurses to please change it to continuous for at least the next 24 hours to avoid any lapse in relief.  Meagan also didn't eat much today.  She attempted to nurse a little, but only whimpered.  She attempted to eat a few bottles, but would only suck lightly and then cry.  The nurses turned back up her fluids until she gets on a more regular feeding schedule.

Around lunch time, my good friend Lori came by to visit.  She brought me a goody bag of snacks, books, and the most important thing a mom needs in the hospital: caffeine. Yummy Starbucks drinks and snacks.  It was the perfect package! Lori also brought a cute little bear for Meagan to snuggle.  She then went and brought us Chipotle for lunch (yay for no hospital food!).  I also really enjoyed visiting with her and taking a break by having some good laughs and conversation.

Later in the afternoon, the plastic surgery team came back around.  They checked over Meagan and decided to go ahead and remove the head wrap.  She was so uncomfortable, that the team didn't want any possible heat caused by the head wrap to be adding to that.  Also, her face swelled up so badly today, the wrap was starting to actually indent into the sides of her head, so they thought it was best to go ahead and take it off.

HEAD WRAP ON

HEAD WRAP OFF.... We still have curls!! 

Dr. W's nurse practitioner stayed behind to show us Meagan's incision.  She has a long incision from ear to ear.  It is very wavy, which Dr. R said is so it heals more naturally.  He told us a straight incision makes too much of a line/ridge and causes a part in the hair, whereas a wavy incision will heal much more naturally and allow the hair to cover the scar. (I love how much thought he puts into these kids).

The nurses then showed us how they put the antibiotic cream along Meagan's incision.  They used a long Q-tip to apply the cream from ear to ear along the incision line.  Then they propped Meagan up on her pillow and let her rest.  She didn't want to be touched any more!

 

She is resting comfortably now that she has continuous pain meds.  I'm going to start pumping again and have the nurses store the milk because Meagan has no appetite at the moment. Meagan is in and out of pain and sleep still.  Her eyes are very bruised, as is her face. They are still swollen shut. She is also incredibly swollen from side to side.  Dr. R stopped by once more and said hopefully by tomorrow, she can move to the Neuro floor.  She certainly is my little fighter!