This one has pictures!

So I have a few pictures for those who want to see them at the end of this blog entry.  Some people may be shocked or bothered seeing Hannah and all her "stuff."  Remember that she is neither sick nor dying and that all this stuff is there to help her.  It will start coming off soon and all be a distant memory.  If you don't want to see them then don't scroll down to the bottom.

Hannah has had the typical ups and downs the last few days and nights.  She'll do really well for a few hours, then face a little set back, then after a few hours of that she is back on the right track.  I was a little overly optimistic with my last post, she is still intubated, but they are weaning her down off the ventilator and she is initiating most of those breaths on her own.  Hopefully the breathing tube can come out tomorrow evening or Monday morning.  She has been weaned off a sedation med and one of her blood pressure meds, but has picked up an antibiotic in the mean time.  Her temp goes up, it comes down, it goes up, comes down, so on and so forth.  They unhooked her pacer wires (like an external pace maker) two days ago.  She lost a peripheral IV yesterday morning but they haven't had to put another one in.

The nurses here continue to take excellent care of Hannah and us.  Today Hannah and her nurse made a hand turkey, it's very cute.  She has a kimono and a hat made by volunteers and some socks that are WAY to big, she's picking up swag all over the place.  Everyone who comes into her room remarks how cute she is, I can't wait for her to wake up and start flashing her smile, then she'll really knock their socks off!

This evening she woke up and was as coherent as she has been since the surgery.  She turned towards Jeremiah and I and focused her eyes a little and even tried to smile at us.  Then she fell asleep, that must have been exhausting.  It was exciting for us, I'm so eager for her to start progressing and smiling at us again.

My new favorite thing?  Hannah sucks on her breathing tube like it was a pacifier.  Sometimes when she really gets going you can hear it all over the room!

I have been singing a song in my head on and off for about a week now.  It's "Rise" by Shawn McDonald.  We had a little bit of a rough night last night so this morning I stood in the hot shower for awhile and sang out loud until I felt strong enough to take on another day in the PICU.

     Yes I will rise

Out of these ashes, rise
From this trouble I have found
And this rubble on the ground
      I will rise


Cause He who is in me
Is greater than I will ever be
    And I will rise...  




Ready for some pictures now?

We'll start out slow.

Here is her little hand turkey! Isn't it so cute!

So she is sleeping comfortably, she mostly sleeps all day at this point.  She has her breathing tube in, her nifty headband is actually sensors that tell us how well her brain is being perfused with blood, and you can see most of her incision with the steristrips on it.  It's a little pink, that's why she's receiving antibiotics in case that's the start of an infection.

Hannah is the little lump of blankets in the middle of the bed.  We've already gotten rid of two IV pumps!

 And finally:

Me and my baby girl, she is just the cutest kid that has ever stayed in this PICU!