Post op day 4...

This is David...  Praise God!  Grace's recovery has gone so well that she has already been moved out of the ICU and onto the recovery floor (nursing ratio is 4-to-1, instead of 1-to1).  Grace's cardiologist and her surgeon are both very pleased with how well she is doing.  To be honest, I am very pleased as well.  I feel like I am hesitantly happy with how great she is doing, since her recovery thus far has been so much better than either of her two past surgeries, I feel like I am just waiting for something to go wrong at some point.  However, when I catch myself thinking like that, I have to confess and ask God to forgive me for not rejoicing and praising Him for how great Grace is doing.  Kristi and I came into this surgery with the understanding that we would be here for two to three months.  When I spoke with Grace's surgeon this morning, he stated that, assuming she continues progressing like she has been, then we might be out of the hospital in 7-10 days (What?!?! we are having a hard time even wrapping our minds around that being a possibility).  Please praise God with us for how great Grace is recovering thus far, and also pray that she will continue to do great.  She needs to get more fluid off of her lungs, begin normal feeds (thus far she dry heaves or throws up when she eats, we are praying it is just a sign that her tummy needs to advance feeds at a slower pace, not a bigger issue of some sort) and have a sedated echo that looks good before discharge can ever become a reality.

Although today was great, with Grace moving to the recovery floor, it was bitter sweet because Grace and I had to say goodbye to Kristi this morning and Kristi missed getting to hold Grace by a couple hours.  While it seems as though the past 9 days should have been a little wearisome, it has actually been a tremendous blessing for Kristi and I.  It seems like God blessed us with some much needed time together, so it turned out to be a sort of surgical honeymoon for us.  It is wonderful to experience God's hidden blessings in the midst of trials, and God certainly blessed Kristi and I (and Grace) these past 9 days.  Thank You, Lord!!!