Living in Luxury

Finally!  I got to hold Ivy today.  Sitting up is really good for clearing up her lungs and its a way for her to do that while we both enjoy it.  

 Ivy picked out some delicious pancakes for breakfast this morning, took 2 bites and was done.

 She was quickly distracted by a princess sing-a-long video that was playing.

 Smiling as Ariel sings "A part of that world".

 Breakfast with singing princesses is a lot of work for a recovering heart-surgery patient.  I don't think that looks very comfy but she zonked for a while!

 Soon after Ivy's post breakfast nap she was transferred to "the floor".  We are so happy to be out of the noisy ICU.  We have our own private room with a bathroom and a place for me to sleep.  Ivy, Daddy and I are very pleased with our new little slice of luxury.  Immediately after arriving on the floor Ivy wanted to take a little walk.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures.  It was a big job that required a nurse to hold all of her drainage tubes, Daddy to hold onto the oxygen tank, and Mommy to hold Ivy's hand and make sure she didn't fall.  She whimpered quite a bit during our very short walk, but she did so well and we are so proud of her.  The nurse said it was the first time in 12 years she had ever seen a newly transferred ICU patient want to take a walk.  After the walk she just wanted Mommy to hold her, so we sat down on our little couch in our room and she promptly took another nap.  I was in heaven holding my sweet girl.

 I think she napped on me for maybe an hour and a half or so before my bottom couldn't handle it anymore and we moved her back into her bed. 

 After she got back into bed and had a little pain medication (not morphine, thank goodness! She was so sick of scratching!) she was feeling very good, so she played the iPad a little.....

 And did some fantastic coloring.  We also found a VHS tape of The Little Mermaid for her and she watched the whole thing without falling asleep!  

Our plan for tonight and tomorrow is to get all three chest tubes out, the pacer wires out, get a few more walks in that hopefully will get a little longer, be able to brush through her hair (she let me give her a sponge bath, but is scared of getting her hair brushed), and maybe get a visit from her brothers' and sister.

Ps...You can tell that Ivy is feeling a lot better based on the fact that she isn't yelling at people anymore.  She's much more pleasant than she was yesterday, and sitting up a lot more.  She amazes us with every new milestone she crosses.  What a little miracle she is!  We are so proud of her and love her so much!