Surgery Update 25

9:00 pm - Emma is doing great. They removed her IV this morning, which is the last thing that was poking into her. Amy would not let them remove the IV unless they promised her they weren't going to be ordering more labs or need to draw blood before we are discharged. We also have taken her off the Lortab today, which has been both good and bad. Good, in that she was able to keep her oxygen saturation levels up while she was sleeping (which she has not been able to to on the Lortab), but bad, in that she has had periods of fussiness and crying, presumably from an increased level of pain. We are seeing her return increasingly to her normal self.  She relishes being held, and demands a lot more attention (hence no blog posts today until now). She has also just about had it with her crib. She screams at the top of her lungs if we put her in it. It makes sense, considering that most of her pain occurred in that crib. Today they were able to bring in a big padded mat and blanket to put on the floor of her hospital room, and she played down on the floor, sitting up for a long time. She seemed to have a blast. Also, Amy was able to take Emma for a walk around the hospital in a stroller this afternoon. She seemed to really enjoy being out, but tuckered out after awhile (Emma, not Amy)   :)

Up until the final chest tube was removed it was just painful for Emma to be held, so she remained in the crib with us comforting and interacting from above. Now we are making up for not getting to hold her. I have such a profound respect for my fellow heart moms and angel moms; all too often we have to let go of our children and hold them in our hearts rather than arms. It is not an easy thing to do. Some of us have to do it much longer than others, and you are an inspiration to me. It is something that you can't understand until you go through it, and I have only seen a small glimpse of it.

Well, tomorrow is the big day. We're really looking forward to having our sweet little Emma back home with us. What remains to be seen is whether or not we will have to bring a tank of oxygen home with us. We'll update tomorrow on how everything goes. We are fairly confident that we are ready to care for her at home. We have been learning from the nurses each day.

We can't thank enough those of you who have been helping us through this. We are not going to name names because there were so many, known and unknown to us. Someone mowed our lawn; several meals and snacks were brought into the hospital; nurses loved and cared for not only Emma, but all of us; messages of encouragement and love were sent our way; Triston was cared for; our surgeon dedicated his life to saving children, and he saved ours. Then there was the fasting and prayers. The list goes on and on.

Thank you!