Day 4

We had the greatest day. It didn't start out great, but by the afternoon I had my girl back.  We had a great night sleep. We woke up at  5:30am and headed down to the lab for x-rays. Grace was quite whiny from the minute she woke up. I thought this would be the bad/hard day that comes after surgery. She put up a little fight for everything that we needed to have done. She had been given oxycodone at 4:00 am and it messes with her pretty bad. She always gets sick from it.  

After X-rays we talked about eating. She said she didn't want anything. The nurse offered her anything she wanted. They settled on sausage and ice cream.  Seriously, she is on a sausage diet. I felt a little jealous. I would love sausage and ice cream for breakfast every day. 

Our team of docs stopped by for their rounds this morning and felt like things were good enough to take her chest tubes out. Best. News. Ever. Chest tubes coming out are just one step closer to the h...o...m...e... word. (Our heart friends could tell you - We never say that word until we are standing at the doors getting in the car. Things change too quick around here!) We loaded her up on Morphine and Motrin and went for it. One thing Grace has done this whole week that I love is her pep talks. She will have a little pep talk with herself and then just does what she needs to. We pulled one side out and then while the NP was undoing her stitches on the other side, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes and said, "It's okay, but this is going to hurt." She insisted on watching and her eyes became quite big as she watched how long the tube was. We survived it. I stayed by her side. She didn't even cry! I bet it felt so great to get them out. Afterwards I found her little ankle quite swollen. Her morphine IV had blown. I felt bad for her, but it was kind of a good thing. They pulled it out and don't have plans to replace it, unless she continues to not drink. After the tubes were pulled out she had some awesome visitors come.

We met some of our heart friends, a cute 15-year-old girl and her mom and Gracelyn's friend Heather and her mom, Cathy. WE LOVE THEM! Their entire family has stuck by us from day one. I love having Cathy as a friend for lots of reasons. The best part is that I know she really cares about Grace and the second part is that she's a nurse. I don't have to explain everything before I explain everything. We can just talk. They brought some pretty great things for the both of us. After they left daddy showed up. That made us both super happy! We kind of like him. She was so excited to tell him her tubes were gone and that walking would be easier now. He got her right out of bed and she headed down the hall. I'll admit, while I think it's the coolest thing to see her walk, I think I hold my breath the whole time. She was so tipsy today. She couldn't keep her balance and kept rocking back on her heels. She went twice as far today.

 When we got back to her room Jeff helped her into the bathroom mirror to show her her new pink lips. Kind of fun!

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By this point in the day Grace started talking in full sentences. She even asked if she could eat. She was giggling and smiling.

Our good friend Kathryn showed up bearing gifts as well. Lots of chocolate for mom, Pei Wei for mom and an awesome light pillow for Grace. She also brought down a gift from the primary kids in our ward. Last Sunday the kids all drew on hearts for Grace. Another good friend, Tara, put them on a string and made them most awesome banner that goes around her room. We hung it up right away. She absolutely loved it.

I was watching Grace have full conversations with her and it dawned on me that we were past due for pain meds. I asked the nurse to stop all narcotics and see what we could do on only tylenol and Motrin. While Kathryn was there we were surprised with nurses telling us Grace was headed for an echo. We walked her down to the echo lab and then her dad kicked me out. :) He decided I needed to take a break and eat and he would take care of her. (I think I already mentioned it, but I kind of like him. He is such a great dad.) I went to the patio and ate my lunch in the sun. It felt great to get out.

When they got back from the echo a cute puppy came to visit with a volunteer. She liked him, but she was too exhausted to play. She had an echo tech that was pushing on her chest really hard. She was also pulling Grace by the arms, which we can't do for 6 weeks.  Her dad was not happy and it takes a lot for him to get upset. Daddy then left us to go home and find the other kids again. Grace asked if I could get in bed with her and watch a movie since her tubes were gone. I was SO happy to cuddle with her.

We goofed off for a bit and then crashed. She ended up sleeping for 3.5 hours.
 

 She finally woke up when she heard her baby sister. She just wanted to hold her. Grandpa and grandma brought her down to visit for a bit. They bought us dinner and we decided it would be nice to go eat it on the patio. We loaded her up in the wheelchair and went for a little ride.

 Those who know Grace well, know that this picture is 100% Grace. Arms in the air, huge smile on her face....I think she's back. The drugs had her in such a fog that should couldn't do much. Anytime we ask her pain level she tells us she's at the #1-The big smiley face at the start of the pain chart. I've tried to tell her it's okay if she's hurting and we will help, but to just be honest. She tells us she is great! I believe it.

 Grandpa and Grandma had to take turns pushing her to and from the patio. She's lucky to have people who love her so much.

Grace will tell you that her Grandma is her favorite person. She cuddled up to her last night and I wasn't sure who wanted to cry more, me or my mom.

Grandpa and Grandma took Baby B home and we FaceTimed my sister. She felt so bad she couldn't come down last night. She sent Chillis chips and Salsa with my parents. She called it the next best thing to having her. :)

Grace and her cousin had a little play date over FaceTime. It was so fun to watch the girls talk. I kept having to tell her to be quiet she was laughing so loud. When my favorite guy came down, he brought my favorite donut. I finally pulled it out to eat at 10:00 last night and a cute little girl begged for it. I'm afraid she's going to be getting whatever she wants for quite a while.  She followed that with, "Would you mind calling service and ordering me some fresh ice water?" They're creating a monster. ;) It was so fun talking with her today. I love her smiley face!