She Likes Ta Move it Move it!

Whew, what a day! In going to greet Ainsley this morning we learned that she had already been visited by, and had a workout with the NICU physical therapist. Now, Ainsley still has a therapeutic amount of phenobarbital in her system. As I type this I am realizing that up to this point I have probably thrown out many terms that aren't readily accessible to everyone, and that I'm still learning about myself. So, I'll start by explaining how this medication has been used with Ainsley. Ainsley was given phenobarbital upon arriving in the NICU due to seizures she was having, and I think was also utilized to slow activity in the brain after such a traumatic birth. Phenobarbital is a barbiturate and has kept Ainsley heavily sedated since her birth. Also, with Ainsley continuing to work towards achieving a more active metabolism, the phenobarb is only slowly working its way out of her system; thus keeping our little sweetheart pretty docile. All that said, we arrived this morning to receive the report from her session with the physical therapist. During her session, Ainsley showed movement in both arms and both legs!! I mean give it up for a girl! Not only that, but just as we arrived we were able to see Ainsley moving her arms around some when touched and demonstrate some leg reflexes when you touch her knees! It was a good morning. We also learned that when the nurse was checking her lungs for fluids and suctioning them out, Ainsley's gag reflex kicked in; another first! We couldn't have been much happier this morning.

After all the excitement of the morning we were able to share the fresh news with some our best friends from Boone, NC who came to meet Ainsley and bring us wonderful lunch. Ainsley did a little showing off of her new found movements, but was also tired from the days activities, and we tried not to overstimulate her too much. Today she also continued to crank out some decent amounts of urine (never thought I'd be so excited about pee), and seems to be improving on her kidney functions. All of her blood gas test results came back today with almost everything within the acceptable range. We were especially excited about her calcium level coming up because she was about to receive a medication to help regulate it, but she didn't care for that and said, "BAM, check those stats"! 

So, today was a very busy day for Ainsley and she continues to impress us with her improvements and her cuteness.  She also had her first bath tonight and had her hair washed as well, and is looking quite pretty! : ) 

Not much else to say about today other than I am worn out from the excitement and happiness of many firsts and continued steps of improvement. I just continue to hope that each day has at least a fraction of the progress from today. I hope everyone has a great night, and thank you all for your love and support!