Dealing with the stress...

Once again, here we are, and Emma is doing great and I find myself picking up my pieces or at least trying to. This last episode in the hospital, with Emma's lungs starting to collapse, really scared me. On Saturday, I thought we could loose her. I mean these two little pieces of her body that were supposed to work weren't working....they were shutting down. Now she is doing great and I find myself a mess. I know this is usually how it works but I'm still not used to it. The adrenaline carries you through, then she gets better and you crash. I'm hoping this "down" time isn't too long. Her surgery went well and she is really thriving. Her sats yesterday before surgery were fabulous...between 96 and 100. That is really good! I think today her walking is more steady and she is babbling more. She seems much happier! I'm so grateful for her doctors and nurses! Her pediatrician is incredible and is the one that found this problem with her ears. If it were missed, the growth/infections could have eaten her ear drums and left her with no hearing. We are so very grateful. God seems to always have a plan and put stuff in our paths that we could have easily missed had His hands not been guiding us. We are very grateful to God that we are still holding our baby girl!!! She is a blessing to us!

Emma's surgery went very well. They removed 4 cholesteatomas from her ears along with very thick fluid. Some of the thickest he had seen. He also put tubes in. She is doing very well with the help of Tylenol. Hopefully we'll see an increase in her verbal development now that she can hear. Enjoy the pictures!!! The bottom one - she is riding in the wagon waiting to go back to surgery.

We have to arrive for Emma's surgery at 8:15 a.m. I'll let you all know when we are done and how things went.

Evidence that she does eat...

Checkup

Emma had a check up on Monday. She sounds good and weighs 15 lb. 15 oz. She is doing really well and is a very sweet girl! She will be having ear surgery next Thursday, February 25th. They will be getting rid of her Keratin Pearls and will also be placing tubes to get rid of the fluid. Unfortunately, we have to do things a little backwards. We need a CTscan to know the extent of the surgery but as long as she has fluid they can not get a good read as to how extensive the keratin pearls are. So the only way we can do it is the way we are doing it. Which only means, that we might have to have another surgery once we can get a CTscan if the Pearls go into her bone mast or beyond the middle ear. It's complicated but we have no other options. And the first surgery should not be a big deal so that is good.

Other than that, we are just winding down from everything being in the hospital. I hope I regain some energy soon. : )

Please keep my friend, Megan, in your prayers. She is getting a new heart as we speak. It is from an 18 year old so I'm sure there is heartache there too. We need Megan's new heart to work and for her body to accept it. They said they usually know within 24 hours. Thanks!!!

Emma is home now and doing great!!! Thanks for all the prayers! She did have pneumonia in both lungs and bronchialitis. Doing great now! Enjoy the video!

Much better...

Emma is off of oxygen. What a week this has been!!! It has been extremely difficult and trying and I'm glad it is almost over. She will probably be coming home tomorrow. Yesterday, things were not looking good. We discussed giving her one more day and restarting lasix and then if no change we would start steroids. But with a few changes that morning - a new cannula and Emma's 4th feeding tube coming out, she improved tremendously. She fell asleep in my arms and for two hours I stood holding her watching her sats and timing how long she was satting 99/100. The nurse was great and kept weaning her down. My arm hurt so much but there was no way I was going to move and chance waking her up. In two hours, Emma went from 8 liters of oxygen down to 2 liters. Overnight she was weaned down to 1/4 liter. This morning we weaned her the rest of the way off. The doctor said her lungs were very clear with no crackling sounds. We are so thankful she has pulled through. Thanks for all the support! I'm very tired and need some time to recoup but I don't know if that is going to happen. : ) Hopefully she'll be home tomorrow. Thanks again for all the prayers!