8 days old and doing great!!

Sorry for the delay in getting a post up. There are not enought hours in the days to get everything done that I'd like to.. She was kept very comfortable last night but today she has been a little more agitated and seems to be a little uncomforable. It breaks my heart. Her little face scrunches up to cry but she can't get any sound out because of the breathing tube down her throat so she trys to cry but can't. They just gave her another dose of morphine, so she should be feeling more comfortable soon. Her vitals have been staying right where they should be. There's been a couple times when they've dropped or raised, but they go right back pretty quickly. No big scares yet. She is still beating all the odds and exceeding doctors expectations of her. She got her chest tube out this morning. One less tube coming out of her! Her scar already looks like it's beginning to heal nicely. It's hard to believe looking at her that she just had open heart surgery yesterday. She really looks great. Her swelling has been very minimal which is very good. The ICU doc just came in and said they are trying to work towards getting her breathing tube out tomorrow! that would be so wonderful since we have never heard her cry yet. That will be a beautiful sound! I'm so proud of her for being so strong. I can't believe all that she has gone through in 8 days.

Here's Bela on her blessing day..


Bela opening her eyes a little for Daddy.



Bela post op. This was right after she came back from surgery to her room.



This is Bela getting an EKG (if you can see her under it all), testing the rythm of her heartbeats. It looks worse than it really is. She gets on of these every day.


They're running a million tests and watching her very closely...I know I have said this many times but Bela really is getting the best care possible. We've been so happy with the nurses and doctors and they are always right on top of things. It really was a huge blessing for Bela to be able to get the Hybrid procedure...she probably would not be doing as good if she'd had the Norwood procedure. We know they were inspired to know what was best for her. There are only 8 institutions nationwide that even do that procedure and St. Joe's just happened to be one. We also were blessed to have the surgeon from Chicago who specialized in that particular procedure to be here for her surgery. Everything has fallen into place and we just have no doubts whatsoever that it was all supposed to be this way. The Lord is in charge and is guiding and directing everything and we've all been unbelievable blessed.
I'm so glad to be passed that huge hurdle. I'm so glad that now we start working towards getting her well enough to come home. Before her surgery it was all just a waiting game. She has made it through beautifully and as long as everything stays the same we are hopefully on the road to recovery. Her first year of life will be mostly spent in the hospital but we know that and are prepared to do that for her. Pretty soon she'll come out of her heavy sedation and we'll be able to talk to her and love on her. I can't wait!