My First Ella Touch & Heart Murmur Update

Today was a bittersweet day. While Slade and Claire had a few too many beeps on their machines while my mom and I were visiting, they were minor beeps for things like oxygen dropping 1 pt to high or too low. However, it quickly was always able to resolve itself. Claire has been eating and digesting well and they were planning on starting Slade's feeds back this evening. The reason Slade gets to try eating again is because his echocardiogram came back and the medicine healed his heart perfectly, yippppeee!!! On the other hand, while Ella's was improved, it did not seal the opening as they would like. Therefore, tomorrow at 11am Ella will be having a minor heart surgery to correct the issue. You ask how I say "minor" and "heart surgery" in the same sentence and all I can say is that's what multiple Dr's and nurses have told us. In total the surgery takes about 30 min. and they do these approximately 4 times a day. So while we wish the meds would of worked on her as well, at least this procedure seems extremely common. Afterwards she will be on sedatives and a ventilator for anywheres from 3-5 days while she recoups. She will stay in her same house in the same room so we will be able to visit her whenever we like. Please keep her in your thoughts as she undergoes this procedure and gets to start eating and fattening up again real soon!

Below is a video of the first time I've gotten to touch Mrs. Ella. My hand looks huge and while it is quite swollen it should give you a good idea of her size.