Recovery and a renewed spirit...

I can't believe it is less than two weeks until I get to see Kristi and the kids!  To everyone who has contributed to making their trip out here for Christmas possible, thank you so very much.  Grace has been doing really well today.  Throughout the night last night, the nurse stated that Grace's blood pressure was on a roller coaster all night and just when she would get enough meds in her to get her blood pressure to come down, it would end up going to far down and she would have to give her meds to go the other direction, then it would end up going back too high again.  Apparently, that song and dance occurred until about 4:00am and finally the nurse found the right balance to get Grace's blood pressure at the appropriate level and keep it there (it all seemed to revolve around trying to keep her properly sedated).

Today, Grace has had a great day all day.  She was doing so well that the doctor's thought it would be a good plan to try and extubate her today.  However, when they attempted to make that transition, Grace demonstrated that she wasn't quite ready, yet.  The nurse did a good job of reassuring us that this was not a setback at all, but just that Grace might need a little bit longer to recover and for her lungs to be ready.  After all, this is the first time that Grace went back to surgery and she wasn't completely healthy (healthy for Grace), so it seems to make sense that her lungs need a little bit longer.  The plan is for them to try again either tonight or tomorrow and this time they will have her on some different sedation drugs when they prepare to extubate her to see if she is a little more alert and prepared to be taking deeper breaths on her own.  Your continued prayers are greatly appreciated!

Here is a picture of Grace with a new Christmas bow in her hair

Last night, Abigail was at a sleepover birthday party for her best friend, so Andrew, my Mother in Love and I went to dinner, looked at Christmas lights, and then Andrew had a slumber snuggle in my bed.  As you can imagine, I've been emotionally exhausted lately, so the comedic relief and sweetness that Andrew exudes was just what I needed to renew my spirit last night.  I think that Abby is emotionally exhausted too because she came home from her slumber party last night at almost midnight because she had a sore throat and a temp of 100.2.  Andrew was obviously asleep when she got home, so this morning, I explained to Andrew that Abby came home in the middle of the night and that we needed to let her sleep in as long as possible.  The poor little thing hasn't gotten to bed at a reasonable time almost all week for various reasons, but one of the biggest being that we have spent extra time snuggling, praying, and processing her feelings as she misses her Gracie and daddy in a big way.  Once I showed Andrew that Abby was sleeping on the floor next to our bed, Andrew asked me "can I snuggle Abigail and I promise I will try not to wake her up?"  

Fortunately, Abby woke up this morning feeling good, no fever and just a sore throat when she swallows sometimes (her throat is hardly red or anything, so that's good), so I'm not sure what last night was about.  Today, we went to visit my Dad in the hospital, then went to lunch, and to see the movie Frozen.  I had a great day with these little people...

Will you please continue to pray for Gracie Doo's recovery, the difficulty of our family being split up, my Dad, and for the grieving and healing process of my Grandma's passing?  Thank you sweet Village!