Our Weekend In Cinci

Trying to cover two days at once is a bit more difficult than one might think since so much happens in a day that it's hard to keep it straight. Here goes!

Saturday

Saturday was a good day with Linden. She was able to get all of the tubes that were on her face and driving her crazy removed. They took out her NG tube which made her look much more like herself and much less like a sick baby.

Some of the other things we have noticed is that she is looking pink. For most people this wouldn't be a big deal, but Linden has had a yellow hue to her skin color since very shortly after birth. Now that she has a new liver, her bili levels are beginning to drop and her skin is turning a normal color. In fact, we learned that she actually had tan lines on her legs from where her leg rolls are :) We couldn't see them before since her yellow skin color blended in with the tanned skin. Fat roll tan lines... not many things cuter than that.

Linden was also able to enjoy solid foods for the first time since her transplant. We decided to give her a banana to celebrate the occasion — her favorite! She grabbed it right out of Laura's hand and shoved it in her face as if any moment we might take it back. She demolished the entire banana in a few minutes and promptly dozed off to dream-land having spent her entire energy store scarfing her snack. Plenty of food and treats followed for the remainder of the day much to her delight.

Saturday also brought some visitors from out of town who were visiting in Cinci, namely our good friends from college Ryan and Elissa King. They also brought with them some of the most delicious Mexican I have ever had. I think there were 4 bags of food in total and we still haven't finished all of the leftovers! They also decided to bring along an entire tote full of snacks including milano cookies which I promptly disposed of :) Thank you guys so much! Love you.

We said goodbye to Laura's parents who have been an incredible support to us this week! They took over on Graham duty back in Northern Ohio and are keeping him entertained for the next few days until they come back on Tuesday. Thanks Ma and Papa!

We were able to see my parents in the evening (who were witnesses to the banana face shoving incident) for almost an hour before visiting hours were over and they had to kick them out.

It was a good day but unforunately the night decided to be a bit more difficult. Linden was up quite a few times. It's always a challenge to decide if the problem is pain, hunger, or just a grumpy baby. Thankfully we had an awesome nurse that helped to man the crib while we got some rest.

Sunday

On Sunday Linden had a hard time as they tried to balance out her pain meds. It seemed that most of the day consisted of them making calls to adjust frequency or dosage of her pain meds so she could get some rest. After a long night, she wasn't in the mood to be uncomfortable and she let everyone know it. In the late afternoon, she finally seemed to hit a rhythm and took a good long nap!

We were able to spend the morning (eating a massive breakfast) and afternoon with my parents before they left in the late afternoon so we could get some rest along with Linden. We also got to eat lunch with Laura's twin brother Ryan, sis-in-law Sharon, and adorable nephew Liam (no seriously... adorable). Our last round of visitors was Laura's older brother Josh, sis-in-law Gret, and their three cutie pies Susie, Chip, and Bertie Boy. They also decided to bring along a big bag of clothes, books, and snacks for us.

A few of the nurses have commented on how nice it is that we have so many family and friends to support us, we couldn't agree more! Whether near or far, we are so thankful for those who are praying with and for us or stopping by to say hello during some of these longer days.

Linden got her first bath tonight in quite a while, ate lots of food (yes, milano mini-cookies count), and has dosed off to sleep for the night... hopefully.

Prayer

Linden has one more surgery before they can hopefully sew her up for good. They will be going in to close the muscle layer of her incision on Tuesday or Wednesday. Pray for good rest until then and good results afterwards. They say she will probably be more uncomfortable after that then after her transplant surgery. Praying she recovers quickly and that the doctors can manage her pain well.

Thanks again everyone for all you do! Until tomorrow!