ALL PACKED UP AND WAITING TO GO!

Mike and I went to the hospital tonight and packed up Kaidence's room. We had A LOT to move as was expected after being there 98 days straight. WOW!!!! kaidence was an amazing BINGO player at the hospital because every week they play and she seems to win. Even when she was in the OR. We came home with many fun toys and blankets thanks to the many that donate and make life more normal for all of the children at the hospital. It has been bitter sweet and we said our goodbyes to many of those that work nights. A few tears but I survived. I hear the same thing from those that come and say goodbye to Kaidence. They all say what a miracle she is and that they were not sure that we would ever get to take her home. We are so very blessed. Kaidence will hopefully be spending her last night tonight and so Mike and I had a farewell meal together at the one and only "Rainbow Cafe"...

We will post more tomorrow. Thanks for all of the love.

GOING HOME ON.......

I am afraid I will jinx myself if I tell you the exact day that she is coming home so here are some round about ways without me saying the day itself. The day that she is scheduled to come home this week starts with a "Th", "It's not today but .........". So hopefully you all figured that out.
The boys are so excited. McCaden acts like we are going to Disneyland, he is being such a great helper. Camden keeps telling me that he is going to kiss and hug her. He says that Kaidence will poke his eyes and giggle and hold his finger. We are very busy getting ready to bring home little Kaidence. I have worked all day long on her room that turned into a storage unit for everything while she was gone. The house is a mess. Home Health came out this morning and delivered pretty much everything. I think that things are set up and we are ready to go. Mike and I are going to the hospital tonight to clean out her room of 97 days. I think we may just need a UHAUL.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!!

We are getting ready to bring home our sweet little Kaidence. I have a feeling that it will be very obvious to our neighbors when we will be on our way home. The decorations are just waiting. "Word on the street is" that she may be able to come home the end of this week if there are no more problems and if her rejection drug medication levels in her blood stay stable. They are keeping her in the PICU but want me to room in with her, I guess so I can remember how to be her mom again. No, it is really because I will administer medication 35 times a day. 15 of the medications at 8:00 am, I thought mornings were bad before. I am also learning how to do her respiratory therapy and use the suctioning equipment. She is not to happy that I am doing that to her. It is not too bad, basically like placing a feeding tubE and I like seeing how many boogers I can They will send her home on a feeding tube ( been doing that since July) and oxygen and monitor for night time (shouldn't be too bad, we practiced that when we brought our little McCaden home). I will learn how to bag her (breathe for her) with a bag and mask today. That is just a precaution like learning CPR. We are going to be very busy at home. We will go to Cardiology appointments twice a week. Monday she has a cardiology appt. as well as her swallow study. Kaidence is happy and sleeping very well. I must say that she could probably out snore her dad easily right now.

Well not quite Monday

Kaidnce is no longer going to come home on Monday. She had some very low blood oxygen levels last night. Because of this they are going to watch her very carefully. They will run some more tests to see if they can find out the reason. So She wont be comming home for a week or more. We had a couple hour long interview to make sure we know what to expect and what we will need to do for her. Now we will have time to prepare our house for our sweet little one.

MONDAY IS THE BIG DAY!!!

Kaidence is loving life. No more IV meds, breathing tubes or oxygen. All she has is a line in her chest to help so that we can draw her rejection medication levels when she goes home without her needing to be poked. She will go home on 15 medications so I may be pretty darn busy but that's ok. She looks great!

Monday is our big day (supposedly). Kaidence gets to go home. Can you believe it? We are so excited. We are so ready and at the same time so sad. I know that sounds crazy but most likely only those that have been in our shoes can understand this. Since July these people at the hospital have been our life. They have been there for us in our darkest hours. We are going to miss those relationships terribly. We have made so many friendships and these are the people that Kaidence knows. So many first for Kaidence have happened in the PICU including all 3 of her teeth. I also feel so sad and my heart aches for all of our friends that could not bring their babies home. Part of me feels guilty and yet I know that they would never want me to feel that way. I will celebrate these little angels everyday as I raise Kaidence. I will think of them and the lessons I have learned every time I look at Kaidence. I have cried all night as I have thought about our friends that we have met along the way. I want them to know that I love them and that they hold the most dearest place in my heart. I will never forget the time that we spent exhausted and worried as we talked over our little ones beds. I will never forget the spirit that could be felt in the unit as a little one returned home to our Heavenly Father. These lesson of life are forever in me. Thank You to those that have cried with me, laughed with me and worried with me. And now thank you to those that rejoice with me.

I LOVE HOLDING MY BABY!!!

Kaidence is so happy. Mike wasn't feeling that great and so he stayed home with the boys. I was able to spend the day with her today and we had such a great day. When I walked in and said "hi kaidence" her little face got the biggest smile across it. I would tickle her and she would giggle in a soft, raspy voice. We sat her in her stroller and she loved being out of bed. I even rocked her to sleep twice and I loved holding her so close to me. She is apparently doing well because they are no longer giving us her heart nurses. We will miss them so much, it makes me sad. I really learned to trust them and it made it easier to go home more often. The boys want Kaidence home. Camden keeps telling me that sissy is better and that Santa is going to bring her home. I can't wait for the first night home. Everybody keeps asking if I am scared. I figured it can't be worse than bringing her home on all 9 of the medications in August and that included 2 IV antibiotics and a PIC line, learning how to place a feeding tube and calculate calories and feeds and the 2 times a week doctor appts. That was all dropped on us at once and so I am hoping that I will at least feel a little more comfortable. I will just have to learn all new warning signs for rejection, brush up on my CPR and figure out a schedule and how to keep germs away with two little boys. YIKES! We are just so excited and we want Kaidence home when she is ready.
My thoughts have been with the family that gave us Kaidence's little heart. I think about them multiple times a day and wish they could know how grateful we are. I think we have to wait a year to write to them. I hope that they will be happy with their child's heart going to our little Kaidence. I don't want to disappoint them or let them down. They are always in our prayers.

We will work on getting more pictures on the blog. Tomorrow will tell us alot if she can get off of the cpap.

Please pray for little Alex. He has a big day tomorrow!
Thanks for all of your love!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!! We hope that 2008 will be GREAT! GREAT! GREAT! A year full of good health, joy and friendship. Kaidence was asleep as we brought in the new year, but we still called her and yelled HAPPY NEW YEAR! The nurse said she did stir a little.

Well, today is hopefully going to be the big day that I get to hold Kaidence. I am so excited I can't wait. She is getting out all of her heart lines from the surgery and will only have the 1 new line that was placed in her chest yesterday. They needed a line to take blood samples without always poking her. We are very excited about the progress that is being made. There is talk that tomorrow they will try to ween her off the cpap machine that helps her breathe. If that works we will be another step closer to home. If you couldn't see that scars you would never know all that this little girl has endured. She truly is very special.