My sister got in late Thursday night. I couldn't have been more happy, that she came to be my support. Knowing that I would see her in the morning is what got me through the night. I wasn't 100% positive if we would be going home on Friday, but I had high hopes. I didn't think I was possibly going to be able to make it through one more night at the hospital.
I was by myself Friday morning and enjoyed some down time with Penelope. They came into get us, for what hopefully was going to be Nellie's last x-ray. It was so nice carrying her without any tubes or wires. I held my breathe, as I awaited the results of the x-ray. Dr. MacDonald came in and said the x-ray looked perfect. He ordered and echo and said if everything looks good, we would be going home.
The echo seemed to take forever, as I was anticipating going home that day. We waited only a couple of minutes to hear the results. The PA walked in and said we were good to go! I immediately called Tyson and told him to head over to the hospital. Tyson's mom also came to help. We had accumulated so much stuff over the past week.
I got Penelope dressed her new outfit. It was so good to see her in clothes. She smiled as if she knew she was free. We got the discharge papers and were on our way. As we drove away I took a look back at Valley Children's Hospital. I was overcome again with pure gratitude. I had my baby in tow and couldn't be happier.
We celebrated by eating the yummiest lunch at our favorite restaurant Sakanaya. I had the most amazing feeling all day and still do. I don't think I realized how much stress I was holding onto, until we got home.
Penelope is on three months of blood thinners, a yucky medicine called Lasix, and tylenol as needed for pain. She doesn't like her Lasix at all. Even though she hates it, she is still able to get it down. I am luckily able to hide the aspirin in her baby food. We have to give her a sponge bath for ten days and cannot pick her up under her arm pits for six weeks. I never realized how much I used her underarms for support. We are learning and making the adjustments we need, so that she is comfortable.
She is doing amazing in spite of everything that she has been through. If you did't know her, you wouldn't think anything was wrong. The only difference we really notice is her smile. She does this little half smile now. It is still cute but we miss that big cheesy grin.
I am so unbelievably proud of my little girl! I tell her every day how strong and brave she is. I hope she will look back on this experience when she is older and realize how much she was blessed. I hope she will be able to see, that the hand of the Lord was with her every step of the way. I hope she will realize how much love others have for her and especially from us as her parents.
Sunday we were able to remove the dressing that was covering the hole, where Nellie's chest tube came out. I couldn't believe how quickly her skin healed, a couple more days and we won't be able to see it anymore. We follow up with the doctors this Friday to make sure everything is going well. We will do annual follow ups with her cardiologist to make sure her LPA grows with her body. If it happens to not grow with her body, they will be able to stretch her artery, without her having to undergo open-heart surgery again.
It was amazing to have my sister with me to end this journey. I am so luck to have her. I also don't know what I would do without Tyson. I thank my lucky stars every day that he is mine.
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