We've been missing out

Emma has now been in the hospital for almost 4 weeks (this go-round). And we spent 3 and a half of those weeks in the PICU. What a crock. If I had known the pediatric floor was this great, I would have asked to move days before we actually did move. Let's compare: we no longer have to walk down the hall to a community bathroom; we have our own. I can shower here in our own shower when I spend the night and stay all day the next day. We have access to ice without asking a nurse. We also have access to a refrigerator, coffee, a water machine, cereal, ice cream, milk, juice, and free movie rentals. Those last 5 things are technically for patients, but Russell and I are eating and drinking Emma's share of those things. We haven't rented any movies...yet. We have more counter space. We have drawers. We have curtains AND shades to block the sun when necessary.

Our nephew, Mason, got to meet Emma yesterday...oh, how precious. He's two, and he wasn't allowed to see Emma when she was in the PICU. He's been asking about her, and I think he was pretty excited to meet her yesterday. Here's Mason being a sweet little boy and petting her tummy...and don't miss out on how happy Mary Jane is with both her grandchildren for the first time.



Our latest adventure with Emma is putting her in a wagon here at the hospital and wheeling her around the floor. She LOVES it. She looks all cute and snuggly with two pillows, her Boppy, and a blanket...unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it today. I'll try to remember to take one to post on the blog. I do, however, have a picture of Emma in her swing, which she also loves. In this pic, she loved it so much, she went right to sleep.



We're not sure how much longer we'll be here in the hospital, but we think it will just be a few more days. I know this sounds like good news, and it is...to an extent. The downside is that we didn't come to the hospital and get something fixed; we came to the hospital to find out that something else is wrong that CAN'T be fixed. A malformation of Emma's brain stem has caused her vocal chords/throat muscles to not work quite like they're supposed to. So now we just have to take it a day at a time and pray that God will be merciful to her. As I've said before, I don't know what that means exactly; but I do know that it will be good and according to His plan. We will carry on as if this hospital visit didn't happen - Emma will have normal well child visits, as well as visits to Dr. Troup. She'll have the surgeries that had already been planned for her.

Pray for Emma, and pray for Scilla.