Day 63: Part Deux-Deus Ex Machina

So tonight when I'm making my 2nd visit to my daughter and singing The Rainbow Connection into her ear and pondering how I'm singing a song about faith when I have so little at the moment, the doctor walks up to me and tells me they are moving her out of the sick room of infected babies. I tell her that makes me happy, but why? She avoids the question. I ask why again. She then tells me they now think the blood culture was contaminated because they are all coming back completely clean now, and so she probably only had a viral infection in the first place.  It was probably all a false positive.

You know that famous photo of the Navy sailor in the ticker tape parade who is so happy he grabs the nurse walking down the street and bends her backwards and plants a huge kiss on her lips? I swear I almost did it myself.

This means that under the original "viral infection" diagnosis she should be discharged very soon rather than 10-14 days!  I'll get it confirmed with our primary doctor tomorrow at 11:30 counseling session, but they have to be pretty sure that her diagnosis was wrong to move her back into the regular NICU rooms right?! 

Tara hanging out with her Daddy on the bed before her hospitalization

This begs the question....should we argue the charges for the dangerous and painful spinal tap procedure and the antibiotics that she never needed in the first place? I now understand why people sue for pain and suffering because I know for the past 2 days I've been suffering tremendously, as has the entire family. Manu had sage advice to wait until she is discharged and in my arms before we argue anything, but he or Shalini will be there with us to fight the charges. It is not unheard of for medical records to get doctored here after the fact for shady purposes, so we will definitely take his advice.

I chatted with a nurse tonight about bathing Tara because a ring of greyish skin that sloughs off is around her neck, and she said she is bathed every morning but she will be more careful and work on that spot and it make take a few days to get it looking normal again. She also told me they change the diapers every four hours, which suprised me because I change at every feeding at 2 1/2 hours and it is always wet or soiled. She did say if they smell a dirty diaper they go ahead and change it thank goodness! Can't wait until she is at home and can get the royal treatment instead of her supposed VIP status.

I would love to tell you that Vivek shows some sign of missing his sister, but frankly I think he is just basking in all the extra attention and loving every minute.

He is quite the drama king, and howls in agony before he passes gas. Tara simply scrunches up her face and turns to the right (always the right side for some reason) and toots then moves on like nothing happened. She will sit around in a dirty diaper for two hours without comment, but if his is more than a little moist he will let you know about it. Worse yet, he won't stop fussing until the diaper change is almost over and you are fastening the last snaps on his outfit.

Geeta gave us all the giggles today and came rushing in the room holding Vivek saying "Hairdo! Hairdo!"  She placed him in my arms and I burst out laughing when I saw she had shaped his hair into a mohawk. She has been comforting me and trying to make me smile and laugh for days now, and I could see she was thrilled to finally suceed after cooking me special meals and offering soothing words and gestures even if I couldn't understand them all.

Mitlesh Auntie says she wants us to leave India with good memories from here. I told her we will...it's just we've been through so much for two months now and we are so homesick. I explained that when you come as a tourist it is a very different experience. You spend your time in search of entertaining things, and have fun with everyday experiences. Let's say you need something from the store. As a tourist in India that could turn into a several hour interesting adventure seeking something, taking in the sights and experiences and working through the challenges along the way. It's the sort of thing you laugh about and tell stories about later. When you have twin babies to take care of and need something and are most definitely not here to be a tourist, it simply a giant pain in the ass. Like the other day when it took Vinnie four hours to mail a letter. But I'll leave you with something cute I saw when walking home from the hospital tonight that struck me as a touristy moment.  Next to the dumpsters were three cows sleeping with a small calf. But one of these things was not like the other. There was a stray dog that apparently thought it was a cow and was cuddled up next to the calf, and none of the cows seemed to mind.