One Month

Sorry...didn't mean to freak you all out. Avery is fine. The closure of her belly went fine. I did not get a chance to post after we left the hospital and we were out doing stuff all day yesterday, so I am just now getting caught up.

The closure took about 45 min. and the surgeons were able to get all the intestine back in her belly. However, they were not able to close the skin completely because her skin is so tightly stretched right now. It may close some on its own but most likely she will need some kind of skin graft later. It's not bad and definitely not high on my list of concerns.

Avery has been with us for a month now and it is so hard to believe! She continues to be stable and respond well to the weening of her blood pressure meds. The heart surgeon was in yesterday and is still not ready to close her chest. She had a fever yesterday so blood was sent off to check for infection. Her pupils were a bit large so they did a head ultrasound this morning to check for bleeds...didn't see any so that's good. Hope to hear back about the possible infection later today...she has not had a fever recently so hopefully we are clear. Our biggest issue right now is keeping her sedated. She seems to be very uncomfortable and in pain and I will tell you, it is the most excruciating thing to watch. I find myself avoiding a hospital visit unless she is totally asleep. It's just too hard to watch. My heart hurts...I just want to hold and comfort her like mommy and daddy should do.

Be thinking of us as we are closing in on the time when our family will be separated. I have been dreading this time. Shane is going to have to get back to work soon and Kaitlyn will be going to Colorado with my mom next week. I will be holding down the fort here in Little Rock so all of you who have offered to come visit should prepare for my calls! It is going to be extremely hard for Shane to leave and be away so please please keep him in your thoughts. The next couple weeks are going t be very difficult on all of us.

Thanks for your continued support of our family and Avery. Words just don't express our gratitude- Carissa