Wires, MRIs and New Sheets

Today was filled with mixed emotions. I called the nurses station at 3:00am to check on our little miss. The nurse told me that Elle's calcium level had dropped severely. They had to start her on a calcium drip and then they also had to pump her up with some magnesium too. Not the news a new mom wants to hear at 3:00am! The nurse reassured me that she was stable and her levels were under control. Lee and I spent the rest of a very unrestful night thinking of our little one and we headed to the NICU bright and early this morning. We wanted to be there for the rounds of the doctors so we could talk to them about Elle's calcium levels and about the MRI she was scheduled to have. We spent the morning with our precious little angel - I spent it trying to spike her hair up and taking bed head pictures!

A few minutes before the doctors were supposed to come to Elle's corner of the NICU - the cardiologist got paged for an emergency and had to leave. The doctors won't continue rounds without the full team - so we didn't get a chance to talk to the whole team. We were able to talk to one of the other cardiologist and the resident that are in charge of Elle. No "new" news from them - just a re-cap of the calcium problem and findings from the echo from Monday night. The next step in our day was the MRI. We've seen little Elle in her bed surrounded by all these wires for 3 days now...but when they started pulling out the wires and moving them to the transport bed - I lost it. She is such a little girl and attached to so many wires. The nurses kept moving the wires - one by one and then when they had the transport bed ready for her - they moved our little one into the bed. Lee and I walked with the nurse to radiology and sat with her while they got the MRI machine ready for our special girl. It was so hard to give Elle that final kiss and then walk out of radiology. We had the option of staying and watching the MRI - but neither Lee nor I could do it. We spent the next hour checking into the hotel and catching up with the most wonderful visitors - The Rosses. They totally made our day with their surprise visit and it was just what the doctor ordered to get our mind off of Elle's MRI. I don't think they will ever realize just how special their visit was for us today. We were able to take them down to see her in the NICU and much to our surprise - while Elle was getting her MRI - her nurse was making her bed "girly!"

Check out those cool pink sheets!

While we were escorting the Rosses out - we ran into another surprise visitor - Annalee and Adelaide! What a wonderful afternoon to be surrounded by wonderful visitors! Our excitement about the afternoon was short lived. While we were with Elle later on this afternoon, her nurse made the comment that she had ordered an EEG because Elle was shaking and sucking on her lips - signs of more seizures. We will find out the results of the MRI and EEG tomorrow. They will be able to tell us if Elle has problems in her brain that are causing the episodes. I don't want to call them seizures because we aren't sure if they even are seizures! I'm praying that Elle is just like me and shakes when she is cold and sucks on her lip when she is nervous!! We spent the evening with our wonderful families and had a "real" sit down meal at a "real" restaurant. Tomorrow is a new day and will hopefully be filled with good news from the neurologists and from the cardiologist. We should find out soon what the plans are for fixing Elle's heart. From what the cardiologist said this morning - they are leaning towards putting in a BT Shunt. Whether they go in from the ribs or actually put Elle on a by-pass machine and open up her chest is yet to be decided. They will make that decision after hearing from the neurologist. While all of this is so tough to go through - we are guided by a power so much stronger than us. Annalee brought us some wonderful scriptures from one of her dear friends and they all sum up exactly how Lee and I are feeling - joyous in the Lord and completely trusting in his plans for our family.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Philippians 4: 6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.