I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT!

What is wrong with this picture?

I’ll give you a hint: NO TRACH!!!

ARABELLA GOT HER TRACH OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can you tell I’m excited?!?!

This was completely unexpected and I am still in shock. Here’s the story:

Last night Arabella was out like a little light. I went to bed and not a peep from her. I heard her stir probably around 5am but didn’t think anything of it. Got up a little before 8:00 (I know, I’m lazy when I can get away with it:) because that is what time Arabella woke up. I didn’t just get up, I jumped up because I heard something I’m not supposed to hear 1st thing in the morning…HER VOICE! With the trach she can’t make normal sounds, they sound “airy” if that makes sense. So, I jumped out of bed and grabbed her. Sure enough, her trach was sticking out! I freaked out because I didn’t know how long it had been out and I immediately tried to put it back in but I couldn’t get it in. When you have a trach baby you are always supposed to keep a half size smaller trach on hand so I grabbed a 3.0 trach and tried to put it in but I couldn’t even get that in. I even put some sterile lubrication on the end of the trach and still no success. I knew she must have pulled it out when I heard her stir because the hole had already started to close up.

During this whole ordeal she was fine. She was breathing fine and not struggling but I didn’t know how long she would last. There was a definite fear in my mind that she would begin to struggle and then deteriorate quickly. I wanted to get her to the hospital and our doctor as fast as possible. I called my AMAZING friend, Lucy who rushed over to my house to stay with Aidan & Maya and I left with Arabella. We got to Dr. Singer’s office and he sprayed her nose with a numbing spray and then me and a nurse held her down while he put a scope in her nose and down to her vocal cords. After he pulled out the scope he looked at me and said, “I think we are going to leave the trach out.” Can you imagine the look on my face? “Really?” Is what I responded but in my head I was saying, “REALLY?!!!!!!!!!!!!!” He said that her right vocal cord is moving but her left one is still paralyzed. She can breathe fine but has a little bit of stridor when she gets upset.

I picked up my trach-free baby girl and walked out the door with a few scary instructions in case of emergency and a HUGE grin on my face. The drive home consisted of me laughing and crying and then looking back at Arabella (repeat for 20 minutes). Like I said, it is so much to take in I haven’t quite taken it all in yet. It was so unexpected and sudden. It’s a lot to process. You have to understand, a trach baby has been a part of my life for 2 1/2 years, 16 months with Aidan and then 16 months with Arabella. There is so much I look forward to like giving her a normal bath, taking her swimming, not having to lug around the suction machine, not having to get up to suction her all night long when she is sick, shorter bedtime routine, not always worrying about her pulling her trach out, no more trach care and most of all just being able to sleep without constantly worrying!!!!

I feel like the happiest mom in the world. I feel so blessed and soooo grateful that everything has happened the way it has. Don’t know how else to describe how I feel right now. BLESSED.