Improvements!

Hope and I both slept very well last night. She was only up once to eat, and I only heard the nurse messing with her once. This morning, the nurses started taking out some of her attachments. The first thing to go was the arterial IV line in her arm. It was splinted to her writst, so I was very happy to see that go.

Dr. Young came in this morning, and, among other things, pulled her ears out of the bandaging around her head. Isn't she cute? He showed me pictures on his iPhone from yesterday of Hope pre- and post-op. Her bump was HUGE, and I'm so glad it's gone!

Shortly after Dr. Young left, the nurse came in again and took her off the oxygen, so now I can see her face! (It also makes nursing a lot easier, having the canula out of her nose.)

Hope is now only on tylenol for pain control. This is great--it means that she's not drowsy or having breathing difficulties due to heavier medication. She has been awake for several hours this morning, happily lying in her bed and listening to me talk and read to her. She is nursing well, and is no longer receiving any fluids through the IV, although they did leave the saline lock in. Dr. Young said that today we'll be moving to the regular pediatrics floor, and that if all continues to go well, he'll discharge us tomorrow! Wouldn't that be a blessing!