Ella is doing great. She had an appointment with her cardiologist this week. She had an echocardiogram done and her heart looked good. It's beating good and everything is healing nicely. Her blood pressure is a little high. Not so high to put her on medication just yet but when she goes back in a few months she may need to get something if it's still high. We need to pray that it drops. Blood pressure medication for an infant is not that good for her. She went to church on Sunday for the first time. We also took her to the zoo last week with her sisters she really enjoyed it. 

THANK YOU

Jason and I would like to thank everyone for all of their prayers and encouragement and helping with the girls. We really appreciate it. The prayers were really felt through this whole journey. I know that without our faith in God we really would have felt hopeless , but He brought us through it and we just had a supernatural peace. We knew she would be fine it was just difficult seeing her go through it all. The blog has been a good way for people all over the country to keep in touch and be able to pray for Ella. We have family all over and I know their churches and friends all knew about Ella. It's so awesome that people we don't even know were praying for us. This has definitely been an experience that I hope we will never have to go through again. We really don't know what we would have done without all of you. We are so thankful. We could see Gods hand in this situation all the way until the end. He brought people into our lives at all the right moments to help lift us up , people that could understand what were going through and it really helped us feel better. His timing is so perfect. He knows what we need when we need it. We are so glad to be home now. We will try to enjoy what is left of the summer. I will keep the blog going with pics of Ella and what she's been up to . Thank you all again.

ELLA'S FIRST WEEK HOME

Sorry I have not posted in a while I have been having some computer difficulty. Ella's been home over a week now and she's doing great. She has been taking her meds good and eating alot. She had a nurse come to the house to check her out. The nurse checked her oxygen, listened to her lungs and weighed her everything is great. Then the next day we went to childrens hospital for another x-ray. Her lungs looked good, no more fluid. That is her last visit to childrens now we will only go back for social visits. The girls are doing great with her. They keep fighting over her. They think I should of had two, one for each of them. Ella is more then enough work though. I have been getting used to her feeding schedule. The newborn stage hasn't been to bad. I think with already having two other kids I was used to not getting any sleep. She went to the pediatrician this week they were so happy to see she was doing well. They were the ones who first seen her when she got sick. She's like a celebrity there. Everyone knew her name. She's getting so big. I am still fortifying her breast milk with the extra calories. It's definitely working. The doctor weighed her and she is 9lbs. 2oz. Next week she will go to her cardiologist. The only place I've been going is to the doctors it seems. We plan to start venturing out soon and enjoy our summer. 

WELCOME HOME ELLA!

Yes it's true our precious Ella is home. We picked her up around 4 p.m. She had a nice little coming home party with her grandparents and aunties and cousin. It's so good to have her home it has been a long three weeks. I think Ella is really happy to be home and sleep in her own bed. We thank God for making her whole and bringing her back to us. Her sisters are so glad to be able to see her everyday. We are looking forward to spending the day together tomorrow as a family. I will post back soon on how she is doing and with some new pics of her days at home. Here she is at home with her sisters we are so blessed to have three beautiful girls.

Day Twenty-one

The tube is out for good this time. She should be able to go home tomorrow of course the doctors still can't say for sure nothing is definite around here. She will need another x-ray in the morning just to make sure everything still looks good and then she's outta here. The doctors want to see her on Wednesday for another x-ray. I guess because the draining stopped so abruptly they want to be sure it doesn't start again. Tomorrow will definitely be a day to celebrate. God is so good. He brought us through this hard situation that at one point felt like it would never end. She looked so good today just like her old self again . We can't wait to have Ella home again so our family can be whole. I will post back tomorrow with some good news. Here's a pic of Ella she was trying to break out of her crib today.

Day Twenty-one

I just got off the phone with Ella's nurse and she said that she did not drain all night. She thinks they will take the tube out tomorrow and she will go home this weekend. I will get a more accurate report when I get there. We are so excited thank you for all of your prayers. Keep it coming she not home yet. I'll post back later with more details. 

Day Twenty

Today was a good visit with Ella. She did not drain at all while I was there. Jason went tonight and she still has not drained we really hope this means she is done we will know more tomorrow after her x-ray. Today at the hospital the stanley cup was there so the girls had there picture with  it. It was pretty cool they brought it in for all of the patients and siblings and employees to have there picture with it. I will for sure post back tomorrow hopefully she is done and we can prepare for her to come home.

Day Nineteen

Sorry for the late post. Nothing really new has happened she is still draining. Here is some cute video of Ella. Enjoy :) we think she's pretty cute.

Day Eighteen

So its been 10 days since the surgery and she is still draining fluid. The doctors agree that this is a long time and they have no idea why. Everything else looks really good. She is healthy but she just keeps draining. Her surgeon thinks that she could just suddenly stop draining one day soon without having to decrease her fluid but he has no idea when that could happen. I am praying that when I go in tomorrow morning that she will be done with this. We really want to bring Ella home. It's hard being here without her. She looked so cute today the nurses put a little outfit on her. I'll post back tomorrow with some good news hopefully.

Day Seventeen

The tube is back in. This mornings x-ray showed more fluid on her lungs so they need to put the tube in. She will have another echo to see if the fluid returns if it doesn't come back again then the tube will not be in for long.  Hopefully we will be taking Ella home soon. It was good being at home last night but Us and the girls really wish Ella was there. I will post back with any changes. I'm believing for some good news later today.

Day Sixteen cont.

I hope everyone has not been freaking out since 2 p.m. about the x-ray. I am so sorry I got back to you so late we've been kind of busy. Her x-ray showed a little more fluid around her lungs but her vitals are still pretty good. They moved her back to the PICU so the cardiac team can keep a closer eye on her. So far the doctors do not feel the need to put a tube back in, she will have another x-ray in the morning. We have left the Ronald Mcdonald house. We decided to go home now and be with the kids and just commute back and forth to the hospital. I think this will be good, I feel better already. I think us being at the hospital so much was starting to make us a little crazy. It's good to get back to a little normalcy plus I think we will get a better nights sleep. I'll post back tomorrow afternoon with what's new until then please continue to lift Ella up in your prayers. We really do appreciate it.

Day Sixteen

At 10 p.m. last night Ella had another x-ray and it was the same as earlier which was good. At 5 a.m. she would get another one. When we arrived this morning they had done another x-ray and everything was the same she is still eating good and her vitals are good. She also had an echocardiogram and the fluid around her heart does not seem to be that much to worry about. Her doctor came in and said that she has fluid around her lungs that is more of a concern. At 2p.m. they will do another x-ray and if the fluid around her lungs has not increased then they will not do anything but if it does increase then she will need another tube. Please pray that she will not increase her fluid we just want this to be over. I will post back after 2p.m. with the update.

Day Fifteen cont.

Remember when I told you nothing exciting was going on today? Well it just got exciting. I was feeding Ella and I  heard a bubbling  sound and she was crying so I went to unwrap her blanket and I seen the end of her tube that was supposed to be in her stomach. We immediately called the nurse over and they called the doctor he came in right away and they put a bandage over the hole and ordered an x-ray. The x-ray looked good and her vitals look good. She will have another x-ray tonight to see if the fluid is started to build and if that happens they will need to put the tube back in. Please pray that she will not need another tube. I guess sometimes the fluid could just dissipate and then she would be fine. She must have had enough of that tube I think she really wants to go home. We will update if we get some new info.

Day Fifteen

Ella's doing good today. Her lung still looks good I don't think it will be an issue anymore. She is still draining alot we really need that to stop. She is losing some weight, the doctors would like to see her start gaining before she goes home. Jason and I have been having a relaxing day just hanging out with her.  There's nothing really new and exciting going on.  Her incision looks really good. We were really surprised how good it looks. We don't think it will even be noticeable as she gets bigger. We have really been amazed with the talent and knowledge that God has given these doctors they are really able to do some incredible things these days.

Day Fourteen

Sorry for the late entry. Ella's lung is back to normal, thank you all for the prayers and words of encouragement. We had a few visitors today, Ella was very excited. Earlier today Russ and Rebecca Hozen came by, followed almost immediately by my (Jason's) parents. We also just received a call from Lori Bunk letting us know that her and Chris are making there way over when Chris gets out of work. This day seems to be flying by. The kids just left with my parents and are on there way to my Uncle Jimmy's house, they were getting a little stir crazy here. Well back to talking about Ella, she really looks good and she is eating well, the only think keeping her here is her chest tube is still draining quite a bit. The doctors and nurses are saying it is normal and the fluid looks good. It is just hard for us when we thought we would be going home now. But it is better to double and triple check everything here before we take her home. So what they are telling us now is that it will be a few days before she stops draining and then we will need to stay at least twenty four hours before we can go home. They are hoping for monday or tuesday, but we are believing for earlier. Check back soon for new pic's.

Day Thirteen

I am so exhausted. Today was a little hard for me . I just feel so tired and we still have no idea when we are leaving. When we went to the hospital this morning we found out that Ella's lung is collapsed, it is a common thing to occur when babies have tubes in them. The incision that the stomach tube is in must have gotten some air in it and it caused a lung to collapse. Ella will have an x-ray in the morning and we believe that the lung will be back to normal. She is still having some drainage so he tube is still in we really want that to stop draining so we can leave. Please pray for us . We really need to go home. Besides the first couple of days today is probably the hardest ,this situation is starting to wear us and the kids down. We did take a little break today with the kids. We went to the science center it was a nice time but we wished Ella was with us.

Day Twelve cont.

The girls are back from greenfield village. They had so much fun with their Dzia Dzia. They got to spend some time with Ella and feed her a bottle.  The girls can not wait for her to come home. We had dinner at the Ronald Mcdonald house tonight. A group of high schoolers came in and made tacos. Tacos are Olivia and Alexa's favorite they really enjoyed them. It was nice to sit down with the girls and have dinner. After dinner the girls hung out with Jason and watched a movie. I went back to the hospital to feed Ella. She is eating so good. She seems so comfortable and happy now. I got to rock her to sleep. She was sleeping soundly when I left her. I hope she has a good night and doesn't give those nurses to hard of a time. Everyday we are almost in unbelief of how well she is doing. I can't believe that she just had  open heart surgery 5 days ago. She seems like a healthy, beautiful newborn. She doesn't even seem fazed by anything she has been through. 

Day Twelve

ELLA'S MOVE: today Ella got moved back to the NICU where she first started. She is moving in the right direction. She will be discharged from the NICU. We are just waiting for her drainage tube to stop draining. Once that stops they can remove it and the following day she will be discharged. So as of today she only has a pic line in her head, which is like an I.V.( they are only keeping it in just in case they if something happened and they needed to give her something intravenously) and she has one drainage tube in, so she is started to looked more like our Ella again. Today has been a relaxing day the kids went with my dad to greenfield village and Jason went to work for a little bit. Everyone will be back soon. Jason's dad just left, he was here for a little visit with Ella. Our new friends Eric and Michelle got to go home just now, today is their daughter Hayleigh's first birthday. I'm so glad she gets to be home for her birthday. Hopefully we won't be to far behind.