Off the breathing tube! Hoorah!

Today at 12:50pm they took her off of the ventilator, about 10 minutes before Angel and I walked through the door. I thought this would be great; but Savannah didn't think so, she went nuts! She was wiggling and squirming, fighting and kicking and grabbing and trying to pull on anything she could get her tiny hands on. I asked the nurse why this was, (as Angel and I both were holding her feet and hands) and the nurse said that sometimes when babies go off the breathing tubes (which, up to that point, is all they know) they aren't used to breathing through their nose. After they took Savannah off the breathing tubes, they put a "C-Pak" on her, which is this little mask-like thing that goes on her nose so she can still breathe. If they took her completely off, her lungs would collapse. SO, she is having a hard time switching, and she makes these heart-breaking gasping noises, as she is trying to breathe through her mouth but can't. Finally the nurse had to hold her jaw shut to keep her from gasping, and force her to breathe through her nose. She was so agitated, and it was just torture for Angel and I to hear her gasp, and struggle to get a breath when we know that all she has to do is breathe through her nose. I had to hold her down to keep her from yanking out her umbilical lines and her feeding tube, and I kept telling her to BREATHE, savannah, breathe! She has to learn for herself but I absolutely hate the process.

Geez I never thought she'd have to learn how to breathe. It was really hard; please pray that she learns quickly so I don't have to have a heart-attack from this stuff. I hate it.