Laura and Me and Laura saying goodbye to Elle Belle
Elle's room - you couldn't miss it! Lee packing up the stroller while Elle slept through all the ruckus of us trying to pack
The patient when she finally awoke waiting on the nurse to come pull that final iv...please disregard the massive bed head - at this point her brush had been packed and was already in the car!
waiting on the elevator to take us to our car! whoo hoo!
We got home around 6:00pm and that evening was such a blur! I remember running across our street to give my sweet friend Ali a huge hug and I remember telling Lee the cooler was still in my car as I was drifting off to sleep. We all fell asleep super early Tuesday night - every light in the house on and I think I even left one of my car doors open. Oh well - at least we made it home! Wednesday morning, Elle woke up bright and early and was rearing and ready to go! Only bad part about having a toddler at home 5 days post open heart surgery is trying to keep them on the down low! Our cable/Internet was out so we watched Madagascar and Madagascar 2 at least 6x - one was going in our room and the other on the tv in the den. We read a lot of books and colored and other than a few minor melt downs - Elle did really good. We have to be super careful about Elle's incision right now. We can't lift her up under her arms - we have to scoop her up, she can't climb anything, throw balls, or fall. She also can't wear her feeding tube backpack for 12 weeks. This is going to be the hardest because she isn't eating anything orally and hates to be strapped to her highchair during feeds. We are going to have to get creative with this! My brother stopped by and played with Elle for a few hours - she loves her Uncle Benny so much and we are all so proud of him for taking the plunge and starting graduate school at The University of Texas. He's already moved to Austin so his visits are extra special. I guess this means we will be adding burnt orange and white to Elle's wardrobe! This morning, Elle and I took a walk with our friend Tina to pass the hour (plus) that Elle's feed was going. It worked out well with Elle being in the stroller and we went early enough that she wasn't too hot. We were walking nearly everyday pre surgery so I got super excited when the CV nurse told us that we could continue with our normal early morning walks. We have had so much help from our wonderful family and friends. From my mom helping with Elle while I try to unpack all our stuff from the hospital to Ali going grocery shopping for us to sweet friends making dinner for us - it is all just so overwhelming. We are so thankful to have such amazing friends and family! Thank you to everyone who has helped us! Each passing day, Elle is getting stronger and walking around more and getting a little steadier on her feet. Our main concern right now is her falling and busting her chest open - that would be awful. So for now, we are just trying to keep her occupied with books, coloring, painting, movies and mickey mouse. Lee and I watched her this evening prepare a feast in her play kitchen for the gaggle of toys she now carries around with her everywhere...mickey, minnie, donald and daisy duck, pluto and a pink baby doll a volunteer gave her in the hospital. They are all in bed with her right now as I type this! It's crazy for me to think that at this point a week ago - we were sitting by Elle's bed side post surgery. This recovery has been so different and so much faster than the last surgery! Thank you Lord for the amazing gift of our precious daughter and the miracle I see every day as she gets stronger!
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