good morning, Beautiful

Good morning beautiful!

When I walked into Mia's room this morning, this is what I saw: my little girl looking around, soaking in her surroundings.  Now that the tubes have been removed from her neck, the nurses are able to reposition her head and body.  As she continues to eliminate much of the excess fluid she has been retaining, her head and face are returning to their normal size, and repositioning her is allowing her head to regain a normal shape.  To say she looks a million times better this morning than she did two days ago is an understatement.

Since she no longer needs the ECMO, or a cardiac specialist, Mia was moved back down to the NICU this morning.  At this point, the NICU is better equipped to meet her special, tiny needs, and we consider this a type of graduation for her.  Several of her medications have been stopped, and they are reducing others.  She is doing so incredibly well compared to Sunday.  We have been taking little baby steps each day, but in seven days, we have come so very far.  The strength of the human body and the medical technology available can be quite an incredible force.

~ getting ready to head to the NICU ~

Mia is tenatively scheduled for repair surgery on Monday.  Of course, this will depend on how she continues to progress.  If it appears that she needs to have the surgery sooner than Monday, then she will, but at this point, Monday is the target day.  We won't know for certain until Monday morning when we speak with the surgeons, but I am praying that we don't have to wait much longer.  While Mia's condition is very serious, it is usually repaired in a single surgery and the children who go through this usually do not have any long-term effects.

We still don't know many details about Mia's internal organs.  That is information we will know only after the surgeon is able to go in and take a look.  However, we do know that Mia's heart is anatomically normal and she has at least some lung tissue on the left side.  I am hopeful that her left lung was able to develop normally before being crowded by the bowels.

~ freshly washed hair ~

Some people have asked what the ECMO machine did for Mia so that she no longer needs it, this is how it was explained to me.  When Mia tried to breathe after being born, her heart was unable to pump adequate blood to her lungs, and some damage was done to the lung tissue.  The ECMO machine allowed her heart and lungs to rest for some time, since it was oxygenating the blood for her, and this allowed her lungs to heal from the initial trauma.  Now, both her heart and lungs are stronger, and they are better able to oxygenate her blood and pump it out to her organs.

Tomorrow, we will be playing the waiting game again.  No big changes are planned for Mia, she will just "hang out" - getting stronger, and preparing her little body for a big surgery.  We have quite a few out of town family members who will be visiting and I'm hoping the day passes quickly.

Mia will be one week old tomorrow, but somehow I have aged years.  Ok, so it probably just feels like I've aged years, but never before have I experienced so many emotions and life altering events in such a short period of time.  To watch her make small improvements each day has been so uplifting and encouraging - I can almost imagine all four of us home together as a family.  Although I know the next month or so will be trying and difficult, I feel good about Mia's health and recovery.  Our family and friends have proven to us that we have plenty of support and with their help, we will make it through this.

Once again, thank you to all of you who have commented on the blog, sent a text, sent an email, called, prayed, or even just visited our blog.  It is comforting to feel your love and read your words of encouragement.  And if you have any questions about Mia's condition, please feel free to ask.