What a Night

So tonight was really exciting. Darrell and I went up to see Addi and her eyes were open. We started talking to her and her eyes started following us. She spotted Mr. G and looked at him. I got her to SMILE at me and she made a sad face when we had to leave. It brought tears to my eyes. They are glad that she is moving, but right now they need her to be still. They kept having to give her more sedation medication to keep her from moving. Talk about a little fighter!!

Tomorrow they are going to try and ween her off of the ECMO machine. Please pray that her heart will be able to function on its own. Currently it is functioning with the help of the machine. That is the big goal for tomorrow. She has been doing so well! We appreciate your prayers more than you know....keep them coming!!

Friday Update

We went to check on Addi this morning and received a good report from the intensive care doctor. He said that she is doing "amazing". He said that we are by no means out of the woods yet, but she is doing well. Her organs look good and she moved more during the night which is a good sign for her brain activity. They even have had to increase her sedation because she has come out of it a few times. Today they want her to relax.

She has accumulated some fluid around her heart which they think may be from the trauma yesterday. They are now deciding how they want to get rid of it...there are two options.

We are hopeful that things continue to move in the right direction. Please continue to pray for her and her heart function. God is good and we know that he is in control and has special plans for us!

Pray

Today Addi had a scheduled doctor's visit, and it quickly turned into an emergency situation. Darrell took her down to the lab for bloodwork, like usual, and things quickly changed. When they tried to get the blood for the second time Addi got really upset. She started getting sick and then began to turn blue and her body temperature dropped. They quickly took her to the ER and started CPR and administering meds to figure out what was going on. They did an echo and discovered that she had quite a bit of fluid around her heart. They drained that and she was put on an ECHMO (spelling?) machine to help her heart pump.

As of now, we are waiting to see what happens or how her body responds with the hope of ultimately trying to get her off the machine. The doctor's are waiting to see how other organs in her body are functioning.

The good news is, she woke up and looked around at one point and moved her arms and kicked her legs. We were told that this is a good sign regarding her brain!!

Darrell and I are so blessed to be surrounded by people who love and care about us. Our family and friends filled up one of the waiting rooms. The texts and emails mean the world. Please, please, please continue to pray for our precious Addi! She is a fighter and we are so proud of her.

Wristbands

Like I've said before, the school where I teach is absolutely wonderful. I work with the most caring and compassionate group of people. As one of our first fundraisers for Addi, a few of my good friends at school designed one of those silicone wristbands to sell. It is red and they say "Remembering Cade" and "Embracing Addi"! I thought it was so sweet how they included Cade on the bracelet too.

The bracelets are one for $3 or two for $5. If you would like one, or some, email me or let me know and I'll figure out how to get them to you! They have already sold over 500!!

Here are two pictures of the bracelet (I tried to show each of the phrases). This is the best I could do, and they are a little hard to read. My email is scarpenter0104@yahoo.com.

Another Thursday Appointment

Addi had another check up today at TCH. Her X-ray looked good! The doctor said it looked the same as last week. She has to wear a halter monitor for 24 hours. They like to have their heart patients wear them every few months. They just want to make sure something out of the ordinary isn't happening with her heart. We also don't have to take her back for two weeks. That's progress since Darrell has been taking her once a week.

She was one tired little girl today. She went down at 6:30. Because of the timing of her appointment she didn't get much of a nap. She's such a sweetie, but she doesn't really appreciate having to wear the monitor. I think the tape pulls on her and ever since her surgery she's a tad bit dramatic when it comes to things being on her chest. I've attached a picture of her with the halter and one to show how tired she was.

I know I say this all of the time, but I really can't say it enough. Thank you so much for all of your continued prayers and support. They mean more than you know!!

Beautiful Belly

Wednesday night, during bath time, I was able to get the remaining five pieces of tape off of Addi's chest. Her belly looks great! The scars are so thin and I am really impressed with how good they look!

Every time I look at her stomache it reminds me just how special this little girl truly is. Her tiny little belly tells such an amazing story! I thank God every day that He gave her to us!

Back With Her Friends

Today Addi went back to Ashley's. Her six week recovery period ended on Friday. I was really nervous about how she would react to me leaving her. She has spent the past four weeks with her Mimi. When we got there she was so excited to see Lucky, Ashley's dog. Then she went right to Ashley.

I was so relieved that she didn't get upset. She loved on Ashley and got busy playing with her friends.

We just love Ashley! She kept Cade at eight weeks and started keeping Addi at about eleven weeks. We are so blessed to have her in our life!

Here is Addi playing in the school room today!