Pirate, Starbucks, and Tape Head

Today was great. We saw many tangible signs of progress. She is now breathing normal air - no oxygen supplementation or nose tubes will be needed after tomorrow, it looks like. She has been taken off all antibiotics and sugar-water, which means that the ugly syringe popping out of her forehead is out (as of late tonight).

Also, we are coming to see a different side to the saying, "There's a sucker born every minute." Siena is finally able to drink Sam's milk (out of a bottle) and even tried nursing tonight. She needs a little more practice to get it right. But Siena will have several more years to perfect nursing. (haha... not that long... but the lady in the bed next to Sam today confessed to a nurse that she was still nursing her 4-year-old child... ewww... the joys of sharing recovery rooms with others).

We are shooting to free Siena from the ICU on Saturday. The doc gave us that day as the "earliest possible" day, and I think she'll be ready. Hopefully the doc will agree.

One of my favorite parts of today was watching Siena watch us. She's working on her facial expressions and they'll come in handy, as I hear babies don't normally have much to say for a year or two. Ironically, her eyes look old. They are kinda wrinkled, partially due to the fact that they were swollen shut for a couple of days and are decompressing. I think they're really cute, though.

Baby Pirate: Siena often will peer at us out of only one eye... like Popeye or your local pirate.

Starbucks: Sam has been here twice to check her e-mail and drink Pumpkin Spice Lattes. She loves them. There are several Starbucks within a mile of the hospital... this one didn't have wireless so we had to abandon ship.

Tape Head: While we were happy to have Siena's syringe removed, it was a painful process for the little girl. The tape was practically cemented to her delicate skin and hair. Luckily, she won't remember the pain.