Busting Out

Well, I sure did not think this day would ever come, after 21 days in the Levine Children's Hospital Tuesday morning I will be taking Madelynn home. She will have lots of doctor visits to monitor her growth. Her biggest hurdle now is learning how to eat again. Her body has gone through a major shock and has to learn somethings over again.

I think once we get home and get her in a routine she will start thriving again. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed more than one night in a row. We will be making lots of doctor visits and it will be up to them as to when she can go back into public daycare again. If I had to make an educated guess about mid December as long as she is eating well and gaining her weight back. When she was born she weighed almost 8lbs. The day of her surgery she weighed almost 12lbs, today she weighs just over 10lbs.

Over the last few days in the hospital I have heard lots of good things about Maddie. Today, was the one that hit me the hardest.........There is a nurse practitioner who had heard about Maddie but had not met her till today.......She said to me, so this is the Miracle Child everyone at the office has been talking about and yes they were right she really is a beautiful baby. After that I think I spent about 4 hrs today just staring at her.

Maddie's condition is a common congenital heart defect. It was an interrupted aortic arch or a coarctation of the aorta has a few common types. Maddie's type is very rare and has been the talk at the Cardiologist. Every Thursday all the doctors in this practice have round table discussions about current patients and the treatment for them. I like this because the patient has the better chance of getting the best care possible.

During our stay here at the hospital when the doctors had to make really hard decisions about the really sick patients they would then come and see Maddie. I would here things like she is the wellest child on the floor, she is making great progress today, some would just come in and stare and look at me and say she is just so beautiful. I think is some ways Maddie brought them joy and reminded them that some days it does work out the way it is supposed to.

The doctors and nurses are some of the best in the business and travel great distances to work here. They are a special breed of people with amazing gifts. One nurse lost a patient one night and had to care for Maddie the next. Since that night she cared for Maddie she came to see me every night she worked to make sure we were okay. God must have a special place in his heart for her.

I will miss the staff here because they are great people but I am very glad to be going home. TTFN