Another Good Day

Adeline continues to do incredibly well with her recovery, and we are beyond thankful.  It was amazing yesterday to realize that while she was in surgery so many people were praying for her (and many of them we've never even met)!  Andrew and I cannot thank you enough for the prayers - we definitely felt covered in prayers and continue to do so.  Driving over the Cooper River Bridge to the hospital this morning I couldn't help but keep thinking that I almost can't believe everything.  God has answered so many of our prayers already, and we are very blessed.  Adeline is one special little girl, and she continues to prove that she's feisty and a fighter. 

Yesterday was quite a long day and hopefully Adeline's biggest hurdle to overcome.  Dr. Bradley said that he was very pleased with the repair of her heart and that her heart looked as he expected.  I wanted to jump up and hug Dr. Bradley after he told us the good news, but I don't think he's the hugging type :)  I did learn from one of the nurses that he does love NASCAR which shocked me.  He's a surgeon that even all of the nurses and other doctors seem to be in awe of.  Receiving hourly updates on the pager from the OR was my lifeline during surgery yesterday.  The pages typically said something along the lines of "all is going well and she's stable."  Not a whole lot of information but all I needed to know to keep me reassured that she was doing well.  She had an echo immediately after surgery, and her heart looked great. 

I was so thankful to see her back in her special corner of the PCICU with one of my favorite nurses (and Adeline's too)!  She's hooked up to several more medicines and wires and is on a ventilator.  We were quickly given the run-down of all of her new meds and what they do and how the interact with each other.  We have definitely learned more about the heart and medications than we ever thought we would.  She's swollen from surgery but not as swollen as we thought she'd be.  I never thought I'd sit and watch to see how much she peed, but I've learned that much of her meds revolve around her amount of pee right now so I'm a little bit obsessed with her output! 

Adeline has had a great day today.  She woke up for a good two hours this afternoon and just stared at Andrew and me and held our fingers.  She definitely had a look on her face like "what in the world happened to me??" and we kept telling her how strong she is and proud of her we are.  Her nurse told me she's tickled at how well she's doing.  They did a CPAP trial this afternoon which allowed Adeline to breathe on her own, and the ventilator would have kicked in if she needed it.  She passed with flying colors and will have another two trials tonight.  If she passes these, the doctors are talking about removing her ventilator tomorrow, but we all know that Adeline is the one calling the shots at this point.  She'll let us know when she's ready to start having things removed.  We can tell that she does not like having a breathing tube (who would) and is somewhat agitated by it so hopefully she'll prove she's ready to be off of it. 

On a hospital note, yes I have mastered my way around the hospital now and Andrew wants everyone to know that he's thoroughly enjoying the hospital cafeteria (I tend to want to wander outside and still avoid the cafeteria).  I think he talked about his piece of chicken that he had at lunch for hours. 

Please continue to pray for Adeline's strength and healing as she recovers.  Her tiny body has been through so much, and just think how we would feel if we went through the surgery that she did.  Also, please pray for all of the babies and children in the PCICU and their families.  You quickly get to know the other families and their stories, and many of the stories make you put everything into perspective.  We've been blessed to be able to hold Adeline but many parents haven't held their babies yet, and they're older than Adeline.  You can tell when babies have bad days or setbacks and can just see it on their parents' faces.  Some moms spend the majority of the time alone for various reasons, and I can't imagine being on the unit by myself and have such respect for their strength.  Thank you thank you thank you for all of the prayers and love!  Adeline says she can't wait to meet everyone!