An Exciting Night!

 Amelia's first night was full of excitement, and thankfully, the excitement was all positive. She was able to get some sleep in 30 minute intervals. The abbreviated sleep was due primarily to the staff monitoring her on a regular basis.

In the middle of the night they had Amelia stand up for a moment and they were amazed at how much taller she seems to be. According to her she may be 2 inches taller! My Dad says that he sees a shopping spree in her future. One of Amelia's random thoughts from yesterday was that when she was at the San Diego Zoo she got to  feel the head of a Beluga whale which she said, "felt squishy, like a rotten watermelon". Joke....or drugs...you decide.

During the middle of the night they showed Amelia x-rays of her back, which her and my mom were amazed by. Previously it wasn't clear whether the doctor brought her curve down to 40 degrees or had improved her curve by 40 degrees. After viewing the x-rays, Amelia thinks the latter seems to be true. This was very emotional for both Elaine and Amelia. The phrase of the morning was Amelia saying "I love my sternum".

This morning they had Amelia sitting up in a chair for 30 minutes, which you can see pictured below. She feels a little more achy today, however, the pain is definitely manageable. Praise the Lord for that!

You can see all the hefty equipment she is hooked up to in the pictures below. This includes: oxygen, blood pressure, IV's, a heart rate monitor, and a balloon like device hooked up to her legs which inflates and deflates periodically to keep blood flowing and prevents clotting. Finally, last but not least is a drain that is hooked up to a reservoir which collects blood and fluid from the surgical area of her back. They emptied right after I had arrived yesterday which caused both my dad and I some fleeting "light headedness".

She will be moving from the ICU to a regular room sometime this morning.