And we're home!

Hi all,

Well, after getting up every hour with Bethany in the hospital last night (thanks to her small bladder and the continuous IV fluids), the doctor came in this morning at 6:30 a.m. and gave her some motivation: eat well today and you can go home! That's all she needed to hear, folks. She ate all day long - soupy malt-o-meal, cream of chicken soup, ice cream, pudding and apple juice! She also took oral pain meds instead of the morphine through IV...so, once the doctor finally got back around to see us (about 6 pm tonight), he gave us the all clear to head home. YAY! That made everyone happy!

It is amazing what Bethany can do despite her circumstances! She can talk still, and we can understand her almost as well as before the surgery! She was yelling "I'm the map" with the TV show Dora today. It was funny. She is drinking well and is managing quite well with slurping her runny food choices. She is proving once again how determined as resilient she is!

Dan came to the hospital this morning at just after 9 so I could head home for a shower and a quick lunch with Toby before taking him to preschool; however, Toby told me on the way home from the hospital that he didn't feel good, and as I looked at him, I noticed his "glassy eyes" look - so I knew he wasn't going to school. So I postponed my trip back to the hospital and instead took him to the doctor and then picked up his prescription before heading home to find someone to take care of him. The hospital wasn't too happy about siblings being around in the first place, and SICK siblings were even worse. Thankfully, our wonderful friends Tim and Roxy were able to come stay with him (and Matthew and Trent once they were home from school) until we made it home about 8 pm tonight. Never a dull moment here everyone. ;)

The surgeon actually said Bethany can return to preschool whenever we felt she was ready - so we're going to see how she is through the weekend and then decide what's best with her teacher early next week. I don't want to put her in a situation where she is frustrated by her limitations with speech and diet, but she LOVES going to preschool too. One day at a time.

That's it for tonight. Thanks for checking in and your continued prayers. Right now I would ask that you continue to pray for pain and for her to stay calm and not do anything to impede the healing process. She tends to get a little wild with her brothers, and she loves sticking things in her mouth and nose, which has caused quite a bloody mess in recent months. I had a serious talk with her tonight about leaving her mouth and nose alone, so hopefully she's gotten the message.

Blessings to you!
Becky