WE ARE HOME!!!

Our sweet baby

Ellison swollen after she got her breathing tube out!

Ellison on the vent

(Anne here) Thanks Katie for doing the up-dates for us! If you don't read her blog you should! I have a button my my blog on the side, it is called When Hello Means Goodbye. She is an amazing friend :)

We are home and Ellison is doing well. Going through this was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. It was so hard to see Ellison in pain. I know doing the surgery was the right choice for her but it was still very hard. They said Ellison should make a full recovery and be a happy healthy baby very soon.
We felt just immersed in prayers the last few days! Ellison was such a good baby the day of the surgery. She slept the whole time before she was taken back. She had not eaten since 7 am that morning. She is use to eating every 3 hours so she should have been so un-happy and crying but she was so calm. Every once in a while she would wake up a little and I would tell her Mommy was there and give her kiss and her bink and she would go back to sleep. Josh and I were just amazed with how calm she was.

We got to the hospital a little before noon. We were taken back to the pre-op area. Then we had to put Ellison in a little baby hospital shirt and booties, which were both to big. My parents arrived right after we got there. Then one of the pastors from our church came and prayed with us before surgery, which gave us a sense of peace. Later on Josh's parents came to sit with us as well.

After a while we were brought back to another room where Josh and I waited to talk with Dr. A the ENT before surgery. After talking with him we then, meet the nurse that would be in the OR with Ellison. Then we meet the anesthesiologist and he went over how Ellison would have an airway put in during surgery and it would remain in after. Then it was time for kisses goodbye. :(

It was so hard to hand her over to the anesthesiologist, but I knew she was in good hands.

Josh and I then joined my parents and his in the surgery waiting room. After the longest hour and half of my life. Dr A came and got us. We then got to talk to him he told us everything went great. He trimmed the extra cartilage as well as some other extra tissue he found once he was in there. He said everything about Ellison's airway is little which also added to her breathing difficulty.

Then we all headed up to the (PICU) Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. One of the staff members gave Josh and I a tour of the unit. Then they brought Ellison to her room, we all went to the PICU waiting room while they got her settled in. About 30 mins later they came and got Josh and I. We finally got to see our sweet baby girl.

She was hooked up to many machines, helping her breath, giving her meds and monitoring her vital signs. It was so hard to see such a tiny little baby in a huge bed with all the tubes connected to her. Josh and I just stood at her bedside for a long time then. We let our parents each take turns coming in to see her, they only let 2 people in at a time. Then our parents went home and Josh went to the cafe and got us some dinner.

They only allowed one parent to sleep in the room overnight so Josh slept in the waiting room. It was a ruff night Ellison was fighting the breathing tube and they were having problems keep her sedated and her blood pressure up. Once the Doctors came in and did rounds the next day in the morning they said Ellison was doing well and they would take the breathing tube out!

Josh and I were so excited. Ellison did well they put her on a little oxygen for a while just as some extra help. In the afternoon we got to hold her and I got to nurse her and she did really well.

That evening the Doctors did rounds again, and said Ellison was doing really well and could move out of the PICU and up to the regular peds unit. Late that afternoon we got moved to a new room. Ellison still had to be connected to the IV and all the monitors to watch her for another day.

That evening my parents came up to visit with us. They watched Ellison and Josh and I went down to the cafe and got some dinner and brought it back to Elli's room. This was the first time I had left her since we got there. It was hard but I knew it was good for me to get out of the room even if it was for 10 minutes. I knew she was in good hands with her Nana and Papa.

The next morning Dr. A came in and said Ellison was doing great and that we could go home later that day. This was music to Josh and I! We were going to be able to take our sweet baby girl home!

Every day that Ellison was in the hospital Nana and Papa brought Ellison a present. She got a cute giraffe everyday. They are each different and special ;)

We want to thank everyone for the prayers and cards. We had many of our friends post blog up-dates about Ellison and facebook posts asking for prayers for our sweet baby girl. I know there were many people who did not even knows us that were praying for us and we can not thank everyone enough.

We can now put this behind us and know that everything is ok with Ellison and this should not be a problem for her any longer. We have a follow up appointment with Dr. A on the 27th of October and are excited to see what he has to say.

Thank You again!