Day 27

Hailey was very awake again today! Hooray! It is fun to see my good ol Hailey after all the time she has spent so sedated. She smiled a lot when I came in this morning. We read stories, sang songs, snuggled, etc. It was awesome! She is still intubated. They told me that they were talking about a trach because of her tendency to have high CO2 lately. I was telling the nurses that I felt like we would be here well after Christmas if we were to try putting in a trach. The nurse told me that she doesn't think Hailey will be home before Christmas anyway. I would love to say that I took all that news in stride, but honestly thinking about spending another Christmas at the hospital and the possibility of a trach was too much all at once, especially after this long week and I cried.  I was feeling like I could really use a hug. Heavenly Father is so merciful. I had just thought how much I would appreciate a hug when our child life specialist, who has known us for a very long time here, stopped by. She could tell I was upset and offered to give me a hug. She listened with empathy and kindness as I told her about my concerns. I was so grateful for Heavenly Father sending someone to give me a hug right in that moment.  It is amazing how He knows what we need. After that hug I felt so much better.

I got to eat lunch with a really neat mom named Angela, whom I have never met before. She was here with her daughter for some appointments and I felt like I should talk to her. While we ate lunch she signed back and forth between me and her daughter, age, 10 who is in a wheelchair and can only communicate using sign language. They were such special people. That lifted my spirits a lot too.

I also got loving texts and calls from several friends and family members.

I marvel at the way Heavenly Father blesses us to have the people in our lives that we need when we need them. It is a miracle.

I think for now the trach is kind of on the back burner. They said they have tossed the idea around, but no one is convinced she needs that yet. They said they would probably give her one more chance to be extubated and stay extubated before they go for a trach. We just need lots of prayers that she can get well enough and that her lungs can get well enough that she will be able to be extubated soon and handle it well. She is on really low settings on her ventilator, so getting her breathing tube out would be reasonable in the next couple of days if she can just keep her C02 levels within normal range.

Overall, it was a good day. I got some pictures of our dear little Hailey smiling! She also got really excited talking to Daddy and Katelyn on the phone. She also played with her balloon a lot which was super cute!

By the way, I always read the comments so many of you post on here and very much appreciate them. I don't always have a lot of time to respond to them, but I hope you all know how much each one touches my heart. We are so grateful for all the love and support we have received.