As many of you already saw on Facebook, the big news of the day was that Annabelle got moved out of the PICU and up to the 7th floor (7B transplant plant recovery wing).  She did have some trouble overnight throwing up, but we realized that her last three episodes of throwing up came right after she got morphine on an empty stomach (remember her feeds are bypassing the stomach and going straight into the small intestine thanks to her NJ tube).  They were able to switch her to oxicodine today, and that has helped manage her pain without the awful side effects of morphine (loopy, glassy eyes, throwing up, etc).  The new NJ tube is working really well, and she’s keeping all of her formula down (even when she threw up after the morphine she only threw up mucus and not formula).  Thanks to her feeds being introduced to her gut, her lactate and ammonia are finally trending down!  Praise God!  The levels still bounce around a little bit, but her last lactate was 4.2 and her last ammonia was 57!  The little peanut is starting to show it too, because she’s showed off A LOT of smiles today and has started playing with some of her toys again.  It’s so great to see her starting to act like her old happy self.  We also had some AMAZING day shift nurses today, so thank you so much for your prayers for exceptional nurses (keep them coming!). 

The other great thing that happened today is that Annabelle had her first pet therapy session today.  If any of you know Annabelle, you know how much she loves doggies (not just her ugly pink one but ALL doggies).  Well two greyhounds came to see her and her whole face just lit up!  It was so precious! We look forward to many more pet therapy sessions at the hosptial and at the Ronald McDonald House.

So all in all it’s been a really really good day, which was MUCH needed after the past few rocky days.  We’re excited at the progress Annabelle is making and we are so proud of her.  We are happy to be in the much more spacious 7B room with less noise and more privacy. 

We are so impressed by the doctors here (especially the transplant team),  and we love how this hospital really treats the whole patient not just phsycially but also emotionally (through child life activities, pet/music/art therapy, and through the beads of courage program – Annabelle is earning LOTS and LOTS of beads).

Although we would have never chosen this path for our life, we are in awe of God’s soverignty over this trial.  Mike and I are both amazed at the grand adventure we are on, and we are greatful for the platform God has given us to share His goodness and faithfulness through the life of little Annabelle.  It’s a really cool thing to be a part of and we repeatately say “this is way bigger than just a transplant!”  God is working big time!

Here’s hoping to a speedy recovery!

Prayer Requests:

1.) Continued prayers for the donor’s family.

2.) Continued prayers for no rejection, no infections, and no clotting.

3.) Pray that Annabelle’s abdomen is healing well so we could resume feeds through the g-tube and get rid of the NJ tube soon (we have to keep her right arm from bending so she doesn’t pull the tube out of her nose).

4.) Pray for lactate and ammonia levels to continue to trend down (we would love to see lactate below 2.0 and ammonia in the 20’s).

5.) PRAY FOR EXCEPTIONAL NURSES!