A Long Time Coming

SHE'S HOME!!!!

We have been so insanely busy since we've gotten home I haven't had any time to blog, so I'm sorry if you've been wondering how we are doing.

I will start with the day before we were discharged, so Monday, June 18th. We were told that Ella had a sternal wire that was poking its way through the skin on her sternum so she would need to have another procedure where they would cut a 3cm incision in her chest and remove the wire. This wire was here because it closed up her rib cage after the surgery. I joked with Ashley (the surgeon's assistant) saying that Ella always has to throw one more thing at them as a nice goodbye, you know, something to remember her by 😉. We were told that if she can have the procedure done with just local anesthesia (numbing near the site) we could take her home Monday at 6pm, but if not, they'd have to take her down to the operating room and use the general anesthesia. I prayed and prayed they would only need to use the local. I kept thinking about how they would have to put her on the ventilator again if they had to use general anesthesia, and I was so scared that all of the hard work that she has done to breathe on her own would be all for nothing and we'd need to take home a ventilator. PRAISE THE LORD the local worked! Matt and I sat in the playroom next to her room and peered in every once in a while to see if they had finished. The procedure itself didn't take long, but turning her "bedroom" into a sterile environment took time. We were so thankful and relieved it went well. We were told we could go home that night, but to be safe, we decided to wait until Tuesday morning... We didn't know if Ella would throw us another curveball, and this way we were able to get a good night's rest and move out of the Ronald McDonald House.

The next morning, we packed up all of our stuff-which was a lot considering we were there for over 2 months. I can vividly remember Matt looking at me with a huge grin on his face saying, "We are finally the ones who get to go home!" We had watched many families come and go during our stay at the Ronald McDonald House and this time it was our turn. We are so thankful for the RMH. It was so nice to have somewhere close to stay that didn't cost our family an arm and a leg. I will never look at a coin dropbox in the drive through while getting my $1 Dr. Pepper the same. I will also never look at soda can pop tabs (the things that pop it open) the same either. The RMH collects those to get money from recycling them. I am hoping to head up a collection at my school next year. It's pretty amazing how many families that are in tough situations are able to find refuge there.

After packing up, we headed to the hospital with smiles on our faces. After 75 long days we were finally going be the people that get to walk out of the hospital with their baby. It was a really surreal experience. We had nurses tell us a lot leading up to our discharge that they weren't sure if we would ever be able to take her home. They see a lot of scary and sad things in the PICU and for them to tell us that they weren't sure about Ella, made us realize how blessed we were to be able to take her home. It was finally rounds time where the doctors talked about their patients and Ashley walked into our room, with Dr. Watanabe, the PICU doctor, pharmacists, and nurses behind her, and she said the words that we so longed to hear... "You guys are officially discharged!" Everyone started clapping, cheering, and smiling. Matt and I wished we had it on video. It was one of those moments that I will NEVER forget. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. It was also really sweet to have the whole team of people there that had been working so hard to keep her alive.

(left to right) Ashley, Dr. Nasirof, Ella, me, Dr. Watanabe

Dr. Watanabe with Ella. He is such an amazing man. He always laughed at us 😃
You can't tell by this picture, but Ella loved being held by him.

Thank you Dr. Watanabe and Ashley!

Ashley holding Ella

Shortly after, we took pictures, Matt took many loads of our things to the car, and said our goodbyes. Ashley walked us to our car. I cannot tell you all how much she means to me. Although we don't know each other very well, she has been one of the biggest gifts to me. God placed her to be there for us through this whole thing and I cannot thank Him enough for her. It was so special to have her see us out.

Now here's where things get crazy. As we were about to load up our car, I felt like something was missing on my finger. I looked down and POOF! the diamond in my engagement ring was GONE! The prongs and all! Ashley and I walked back up to the PICU and retraced our steps looking for it while Matt took care of Ella and looked for it out by the car. We couldn't find it. Everyone in the PICU was searching for it and it was no where to be found. I had this weird peace about it though. I figured it got caught on something and was probably in one of our bags or in Ella's carseat. I switched places with Matt and after looking for a while, we decided that it was time to go home. I posted a "story" about it on instagram and my friend, Staycie, replied saying, "How metaphorical though... Ella is more precious than jewels." And that is exactly what Matt and I thought. Her whole life has changed our outlook and perspective on things. I was surprised by both of our reactions because we kind of laughed about it and said how it seemed appropriate to end our time at the hospital like that.

Ella was able to take her mobile from the hospital home with her. She LOVES it!

Ella loved looking our the window while we were driving. She saw so many new things!

WE MADE IT HOME!!!

In the next post I will talk about how life has been as a family of 4, but for now, it's time to sleep!

Love,
Jillian