Post Op...

We finally got some sleep last night after this past stressful week. Before we left our hotel room around 7-ish we called the hospital for any updates since we didn't get a call during the night. When we called her room, the doctors had just finished their round on Olivia so the "verdict'': They decided to take her back to OR and put a permanent dialysis catheter on her since things weren't looking the greatest :((( .
I felt like putting the phone down and start screaming just thinking the pain my little baby girls is going through...
I guess she hardly peed during night time,so after all the fluids given to her for her heart are just sitting around her lungs and her little belly looks like a beach-ball, sooo sad. Just during the night time she has gained 1 kg (2 lb) and is all drowning her body. We rushed to the hospital and asked to speak with both docs (cardiology & nephrology) to why all this change in just 7-8 hr.
They are all blaming her kidney function and all the fluid in her body is pressing even more on her kidney which is making it harder to pee. Livi is in so much pain meds because she has been so restless and each time we talk to her she tries to move her hands & feet from excitement... it brakes our heart ...I wish we can just take her and cuddle with her to comfort her little body.
Her other surgery is around 2:00 pm. They'll put the catheter and two draining tubes by each kidney to drain her body hoping this will help with everything and above all the ventilator which is running pretty high right now.
I pray that God helps her during this time and makes her better soon because our heart aches for ou little Livi since nothing is in our hands... she is so innocent like million of other children and have done nothing to deserve this..
Thank you all for all the prayers and comforting words that you have sent our way...

Olivia's surgery

Tuesday morning was so hard... We all got up (after having Olivia sleep with us for the first time ever) got dressed and headed to the hospital. She was being soooo cute like she knew where she was going. Around 7:40 the surgery team came and got her and the surgery didn't start until one hour later. Before that the surgent Dr. Ohye spoke to us and told us that he wasn't going to put the dialysis catheter yet thinking to give Olivia another chance on her kidney as long as she continued to pee. Within an hour and a half he had everything done ( the surgery was supposed to last 3-4 hrs). What a relief that was when he came out and told us the good news... no dialysis and her heart was finally working right.
At around 11:30 we finally went up to see Livi. She was on a ventilator and asleep from the anesthesia and the morphine. Our baby looked so peacefull asleep and beautiful as always that it was hard to believe she just went through an open heart surgery. The day seemed long ... not much changes during the day, so we left around 8-9:00 pm for our hotel expecting a better day tomorrow...

Getting ready...

... Yesterday I got a phone-call from Livi's U of M nurse and she told me her surgery is scheduled at 7:45 Tue. morning. Her pre-appt. on Monday will be from 10:00 am until 5-6:00 pm so the good news is that they'll let us take her to our hotel room for the night. YEAY!!!

Today was a very hectic day since there is so much stuff to take care before we leave for An Arbor. Since we got up this morning Olivia helped me get all her clothes and blankets ready including aunt Lydia's awesome quilt that aunt Vera just finished washing. We're so thankful for our aunties including our auntie Tina that babysits Livi everyday even when she doesn't have to :-) .
Well packing is not much fun but I hope next time we pack, is for a family vacation which is very much needed.
Thank you all for all your prayers, ph-calls and txt-mssg, we really appreciate'em :)))

Apple is our favorite fruit - ) since we live in MI.

Two weeks ago we finally got the okay from Dr. Steinke (the nephrologyst) to start giving Olivia baby-cereal by mouth. You should've seen Peter and I after the doctor's appointment... we drove right to Meijer, headed to the baby-food section and with the "allowed food list" in our hands tried to pick up as much as we could hold. Neither one of us was looking at each other until we headed for the cart and... it was too much food since we can give Olivia just one fruit or vegetable per week, sooo... we both laughed and had to put some back and try to take the shopping EASY :-)
It was a great experience. At first we had to start with plain rice cereal, which she wasn't much into, then I decided to add a bit of apple and what a difference that made. What can I say, she likes sweets :-) probably because when she was in NICU the nurses (which we love them) always gave her sweeties -) .
She eats everyday about 1-2 tsp of the apple cereal, sitting on her big girl "bumbo" chair. I love her messy face when she smacks her lips so she can taste the food better. Can't wait for the doc.'s appointment this week to see how much she weights.