Deeper breaths for all!

Today I've been able to breathe a little deeper and I am soo grateful that. Bel's lung looked a ton better this morning, you could actually see lots of dark areas where there was no fluid at all. Just what we wanted to see. They have been clearing and suctioning out her lungs all night and all day today so she should be feeling much more comfortable now and breathing a little easier. Yeah!! They have actually taken her down quite a bit on her ventilator settings, she is now doing all her own breathing, but is still intubated so that the machine can kick in if needed. I love to see her doing some of her own work and not the machines doing all the work for her. It shows that she is more stable and getting stronger. She is so strong and so good at bouncing back from all her stumbles. I'm just so proud of her!
She woke up for a little while this afternoon to say hello. She looked in my eyes and I talked to her for a few moments and it was a beautiful moment with her. I miss her when she isn't awake and with us. She usually never wakes up while she's on her sedation med. I sang a song to her that I sang to her everday at home and she started to squirm around and respond to it. I loved it. She's coming back to me little by little and I have so much to be grateful to my Father in Heaven for.

Nothing has still grown on the culture they sent, so that means she most likely doesn't have a virus or infection (no pneumonia!). Her lungs just clogged up from ineffective heart funtion and poor breathing, then collapsed from all the gunk clogging the airways and have now opened back up nicely with all the treatments she has gotten. We will continue to give her her heart meds to help with the leaky tricuspid valve, which is probably the culprit for all the problems she's having, and hope it helps her heart function until next surgery which still looks like it will be in another couple of months. Whew! There is sooo much going on and I try to give just the nutshell of information, but sometimes it's probably still confusing to understand. It's amazing all that I've learned. I ask a million questions a day and feel very confident in all the terminology used and equipment that Bela requires. I wouldn't like it if I didn't, so I ask ask ask. It helps to feel like I take part in her care.

Yeah for progress!! Thank you for all the comments over the last couple of days, I can't really say how much they mean to me. It brings me to tears to know how many good people are praying for us, and to hear over and over that we are loved-- not sure we are deserving of all the incredibly kind comments from everyone (well, Bela is :)), but they are soooooooo appreciated. We're keeping our heads up high and know that this too shall pass. I look forward to the day that she's in my arms again and every day that passes is one more day closer to that! I am grateful that she is mine because she is one special little (tiny) person.

Here's some shots of Bela on Wednesday taken by Camille... Hard to believe this was just a few days before all of this happened..