Update on Natalie

What a long week this has been. Natalie had her surgery on Monday. Surgery went well. The day after surgery Natalie did GREAT. They extubated her and we got to hold her all day. She even nursed quite a bit on Tuesday. By Tuesday evening they moved her from PICU to NICU. This was a great step. And they had said she was doing so well that she would probably be home by the weekend.
However, Wednesday's chest x-ray showed fluid around her right lung. The dr tried to drain it just with a needle, but only got 10 ccs. They knew there was more so opted to do a chest tube. As of today that tube has drained over 200 ccs of fluid. A lot of fluid for a little baby.
The day after the tube was placed the nurse let us hold her and nurse. Since then, no nurse has let us hold her. :-(
Yesterday, they told us that she now had fluid around her left lung and had to do another chest tube on that side.
Today, we found out she has chylothorax...basically the fluid she is having is lymph. So, they put her on a special formula that has a very low fat content, to try and seal that up.
At this point, we've been told she will be in the NICU indefinitely. Most likely at least 2 more weeks.
My mom and Dave are still here, and Matt's parents have been here the last week. They leave tomorrow. I have no idea what we would do without them...it is really hard trying to figure out how to divide our time between the hospital and the kids. Thankfully, Matt has taken the month of January off. It's just been really hard.
Prayers would be appreciated. She's a little fighter and I know we'll get through this, it's just a matter of time.
I cannot wait to get her home with us, and to be able to snuggle with her whenever I want.