Thursday Update

The shifts at the NICU are 12 hours long - 7am-7pm and so on. They kick all the parents out from 6:45 to 7:45 so that the nurses going home can review charts with the incoming replacements. Each nurse is assigned to two babies during their shift.

All that to say, I am trying to get into the hospital by 6am and 6pm everyday so that I can get an update from the person who has been with Annabelle for the last 12 hours. Last night after picking up the dawg from the vet (his annual tune up) I raced into the NICU at 6:15pm to hear what news there was worth hearing.

The nurse was removing the two IV food drips as I arrived. The two tubes are still in Annie Lu's neck but they are just running saline through them to keep the lines open in case they are needed. Annabelle is now getting all her food by mouth. Just amazing.

The PT did not come by yesterday afternoon and tape Annie's feet after all. She said that actual exercises would be much more beneficial than tape and since the doctor told her we would be taking her home in a couple of days, the PT figured she would just hold off on the taping.

We still are in shock and disbelief that there is a possibility Annabelle will be coming home this weekend. I asked the nurse, "I thought that babies who were in the critical section of the NICU were then "graduated" to the non-critical side before being discharged."

Turns out that most of the babies in the NICU are pre-mies (sp?). Once they are stabilized on the critical side, they are moved to the non-critical side basically until they have the whole eating / body weight thing worked out. Since Annie is eating fine and her weight is good, she will probably skip the other side of the NICU when she is discharged.

I was relating this news to a friend and she said, "Let me get this straight, on top of all the physical miracles, now your daughter is a honors student who is skipping a grade?"

I reckon.

Annie is still having the dressing on her back changed everyday by the plastic surgeons. The neurologist has not yet changed the dressing on her head covering the shunt. Annie still cannot put any pressure on her back so how we are supposed to get her home in a car seat is a mystery to me.

I will try and snap some pictures with the camera phone when I go in this morning.

So with all the great news we have had this week, Annie is still in the NICU and, while we can't wait to get her home, the thought of having Annie at home comes with a certain amount of anxiety as well.

It is all I can do to keep from grabbing the nurse and saying, "Let me get this straight - today she is in one of the best NICU's in the country surrounded by state of the art equipment and a round-the-clock staff who had to go to medical school just to be qualified to look after my little girl for 12 hours at a stretch and tomorrow she is going to be AT MY HOUSE? IN A BASSINET? BEING WATCHED 24/7 BY THE FAMILY DAWG? GET SERIOUS!"

I suppose all new parents feel similarly. but still . . .

I know I keep saying it over and over but I am so thankful for all the support we have received in terms of friends and family basically carrying us through all this. But even more importantly, I am just so thankful for all the prayers you have been sending up on Annabelle's behalf.

As I visit three times a day, every time I see her, she looks better and better - I can almost see her healing and getting stronger right in front of my eyes. Amidst all the tubes and wires of the past week, it is as if the most important tube of all has been her prayer IV - picking up the slack where all the others leave off.

Some time ago, it occurred to be that our due-date was August 27th - just before Labor Day (hence the Labor-Day challenge cd in the right-hand column). I would really appreciate it if you would continue to pray us through the next two weeks.

I don't think we would even have her were it not for the countless prayers over the past few months. And I just can thank you enough.

GO ANNABELLE!