It Takes A Team

Today Eli missed us so we booked it home this morning for a solid hour and a half 😁. He was so happy to see us. It was a surprise visit and I hope I never forget the look on his face and his reaction. He saw us and got the biggest grin and grabbed Matt and I around the neck in a big hug. It was so sweet. We then went and had lunch in Auburn with our pastor, Josh, and his wife, Colleen. We are so blessed by them. Our church family has been such a wonderful support. I can't wait to get back there on Sundays.

We had a meeting with our team of doctors today at 3 and everything is going about the same.

Ella is still on the ventilator but tolerating the "sprints" of time without the support turned on ok. They are hoping to be able to extubate (take out the ventilator) tomorrow or by the end of the PICU doctor's 5 days on. So we are praying for tomorrow, of course, but are preparing ourselves for a later time as well. She will then go on the bubbles (CPAP) machine and if all goes well after a few days on that she'll go on the high flow machine; then if all goes well on that she should be off any respiratory support after a week or so!   So pray that things go smoothly!

I asked the doctors if all things went as smoothly as it could how much longer would we be here and they said 3-4 weeks after she's extubated. I laughed when I asked this because Ella is one that keeps us on our toes so I am not totally expecting to be out of here by then, but then again, she may surprise us!

Really GREAT news... Ella does not need the pace maker! The current in her heart kicked in and is pacing itself now. We were told that this often does not go away once it starts up. The doctors said that there is very little chance she will need the pace maker if she can sustain the pacing for 48 hours and she has! Yippee!

As I've mentioned before, Ella's lungs have had some issues with the upper lobes filling as much as they need to. They've done a ton of respiratory therapy with her and continue to do so. She hasn't cried like a normal newborn does and can't be moved around like a normal newborn so there are gas pockets that can't get out and her lungs aren't able to expand as much as they need to. They check the size of her lungs by x ray every other day or so. We are praying that she can quickly get those going so she can get her chest tube out and then the UAC line that's been in her umbilical cord. Then we can probably hold her! I can't believe that she's been alive for 20 days and I have held her for about a total of 2 minutes and Matt hasn't held her at all. I am finding comfort in the small touches and interactions that we get to have with her though. It's been sweet to get to touch her head, hold her fingers, and rub her feet. It's amazing how I almost forget that I haven't held her very much. I hope this doesn't affect her later because we are a pretty snuggly family so she will have to get used to it haha! 😂

Lastly, they are waiting to get the official read on the ultrasounds of the blood clots, but the tech doing the ultrasound said it looks like they're still there. So please pray these go away. They are a little unnerving...

Anyway, thanks for all of the love you showed me yesterday. Today hasn't had a lot of progress, but has been good. 💜

Love,
Jillian