In Recovery

At 3:30pm Lee and I were finally able to see Elle. We walked into her recovery room and the first thing that struck me was how big she was! She's on a big girl bed and all stretched out she just looked so BIG! Her incision looks fantastic and despite all the tubes coming out of her, she really does look amazing. The nurse that had her from coming out of the operating room until 11:00pm tonight was a truly amazing man. He has had Elle after her last two heart surgeries and it was so nice to see a familiar face when we walked into her room. One of our favorite anesthesiologist even stopped by to say hello.

Almost as soon as we walked into her room, Elle started moving her toes around and sucking on her breathing tube like it was her binky. At 3:50 pm she opened her eyes for the first time. This was truly amazing - heart breaking because she was in so much pain - but amazing none the less. After her last open heart surgery - it was 4 days before they pulled her out of sedation and then another day before they pulled the breathing tube. Today - Guill, her nurse, told us they were going to try to pull the vent before he left at 11:00pm. CRAZY! Lee's parents and grandparents and my parents all got to see Elle this afternoon. I felt so bad for her whenever she would wake up because her little hands were tied to her bed but she would just try to point as best she could at the breathing tube and start crying. Oh my heart hurts for her! Lee and I can't bear to leave Elle alone so my parents brought us dinner and sat with Elle until we were finished eating. She was having quite a bit of difficulty in breathing at a few points in the evening. Drainage has settled in her chest and it hurts her too much to cough so they were having to suction out her throat. Not Elle's favorite thing in the world to do. Finally around 9:30pm, Elle's blood gas came back well enough for them to pull the ventilator.

I was napping in the waiting room when I got the call from Lee that she was asking for momma. Poor little girl! Her raspy little voice keeps asking for cold water and orange juice - neither one of which she can have. She had to wait 4 hours post pulling the vent before she could have anything. Around 11:00pm - Lee left to sleep at the Ronald McDonald House (thank you Lord for such an amazing place!) and I stayed with Elle (he will be coming back in a few hours to relieve me so I can go sleep for a bit). Our wonderful nurse for the evening brought us some ice chips to see if that would help appease Elle and thankfully it has! Poor little lady can only get about 5 ice chips every 15 minutes but it is better than nothing! Finally at 12:30 - Elle's blood gas came back awesome and Dr. Lam - the Cardiac Fellow ordered that Elle can now have 30cc of water every hour. I have never seen a child drink water as fast as I did when Elle saw that little cup. We are so thankful for little steps - big coughs and small cups of water!...and we know that God is in charge of every single step Elle is taking. He has known about this path since before the Earth was created and I take so much comfort in knowing that HE is with her right now as she sleeps and HE knows the full extent of her and her little life!