Ais Update 6/8

Today was the big day. Internalization of Aislinn's shunt. I feel like a crazy person for being excited for this kind of procedure. But the shunt means moving on...going home...getting our little girl back. When we first came into the PICU, the idea of Aislinn having a permanent shunt going from her head to her stomach was pretty terrifying and mind bending. Our little girl???  If nothing else, this long wait has given us time to process and accept the idea as well as anxiously await the surgery.

We got up extra early and got down to Aislinn's room about an hour before her surgery was scheduled. We found out the the surgery was going to be postponed, probably until the next day. Apparently the OR had a high trauma night and lots of unexpected surgeries. Heart-wrenching to think of those trauma cases and frustrating that we got pushed back. But what can one do? So it is in the hospital...hurry up and wait...

We got an unexpected call that the surgery was back on for today and at 10:30 in the morning no less. Woohoo! Patrick wrote more about that here.

It was a relatively short procedure and by about 1:30 we got to visit that sweet girl. It was so awesome to see her without a tube coming out of the side of her head! She was pretty wiped out but doing well and recovering well. When we visited later in the afternoon, she got to have her cannula (oxygen tube to the nose) taken out. We are down to 1 IV tube in her left arm and the ND tube (feeding tube!). This is so exciting! Look at that sweet face and those bright eyes. There's our girl.

It is so wonderful to see her clutching her owlie and getting her binky in her mouth. She also likes to feel things with her feet, so we'll put furry stuffed animals under her toes or give her lots of kisses on the toes. She loves that. :)

I think Ronan had a pretty good day. He had both Hammie and Nana, so what boy wouldn't be happy? :) This picture is of him and Patrick playing pretend catch with Papa (there was no ball). Love that active imagination!

Praises for Today
-the shunt is now internalized! Surgery went well and recovery seems to be going as expected
-Aislinn's lungs are looking better, sounding better and apparently working better. Her respiratory rate is in a better range and they were able to take her off of the oxygen
-another shout out for everyone who has helped us get by each day! Food, coffee cards, treats, gifts, help with Ro, lots and lots of prayer...every bit of support has blessed us tremendously. It is humbling and uplifting to allow ourselves to be served. We will never be able to fully repay the kindness, but I hope to pay it forward someday. Our moms have been especially amazing (and our dads for holding down the fort at home) and we don't know what we would do without them. Seriously, what we do? Love you both so much!

Prayer
-please Pray for God's comfort and healing as Aislinn recovers from the surgery and continues through the withdrawal process
-we would love to get moved out of ICU tomorrow! It would be so amazing to have a bed in her room and get to stay the night with her. The nurses don't need to watch her as closely now and sometimes we worry about her overnight (we're not allowed to sleep in the room overnight because there is not enough room)
-Please continued praying for Ro. Pray for comfort, order and peace in his sweet little heart.