Miracles do happen....

I know it has been a couple days since my last post, but not to much has really transpired in Hannah's world.  Everyday she seems to be getting stronger and her personality is starting to come back.  Yesterday we brought her exersaucer up here because we were determined to get her up and out of this ICU and to the floor.  She loved it!  She spent about 40 minutes in it playing and smiling.  She even ate a couple of Gerber puffs!!  She is still on the high flow oxygen which is what's currently keeping us here in the ICU.  I talked with the ICU doctor this morning and he said the plan was to switch her to regular oxygen today and as long as she tolerates it, she can go to the floor tomorrow! I think getting her out of here and to the floor would do wonders for her right now!  A change of pace, scenery, we can walk the halls with her and take her outside!  I think some fresh air would do her good!

From a transplant perspective, the transplant team thinks she is doing great!  All her labs continue to stay normal and are stabilized.  She still isn't taking any bottles but they do have her on continuos NG feeds so I am really not sure how she is going to have a chance to get hungry if she is getting fed day and night.  I am sure we will know more once we get to the floor and start working on those things.  The best information I heard yesterday was that Hannah really only needs to stay away from crowds for only about a month!  Then after that, as long as she is still doing well we can slowly start bringing her around more and more people.  I mentioned something to the transplant coordinator about having just grandparents and us for her 1st birthday, and she responded that as long as she is still doing well there should be no reason why I couldn't have a party for her.  I got the biggest smile on my face!  It was nice to hear that things WILL become normal someday maybe even soon.  I know its a new kind of normal, but the fact we can celebrate her birthday is HUGE to us!  She went on saying the great thing is that it is summer time and we can keep people more outside than in.   So my planning has begun!!  She will have a 1st birthday party to be remembered :)

We are so happy that Hannah's past few days have been more ups then downs.  I think the girl deserved a break.  I feel very fortunate lately that Hannah's second chance of life has been in her favor.  I belong to a support group on Facebook, and a little girl about a month younger than Hannah got her second chance at life about a week after Hannah got her transplant.  Unfortunately, her first transplant didn't work and within days they had to do a second one.  Now the second one is not working, and her body has been through so much trauma a 3rd one may not be an option.  She is not only in liver failure but now is in renal failure as well.  They didn't expect her to make it through the night but she is still hanging on.  My heart literally breaks for this family.  Going into transplant, this is every parents worse nightmare, not knowing if your child is going to make it through or if it will even work.  In a lot of ways, we are cheating the system because I do not think we were made to have these surgeries at such a small age.  God has a plan for everyone and I truly believe that he has his reasons, but to read about how much this family is suffering and what they are going through is so unbelievably heartbreaking.   My faith has really taught me what life is truly about and how we should live it.  I thank God everyday for making Hannah so strong, and keeping a very close eye on her through this whole life changing event.  He works miracles, and I can only pray for that family he is holding on to one for that little girl in Iowa.

Here are some pictures of Hannah over the last couple days.  God does indeed work miracles everyday, and this is the miracle he gave to us......