Is this really happening?

Sorry for the gap between updates!  We have been pretty busy catching up on a lot of things we were behind on.  But we promise, this post will have enough eventfulness to hopefully make it worth the wait.

Notice anything missing?  This Saturday was the 1st time in her life (after 67 days) that we've seen her face without a single tube sticking in it somewhere.  Wow, she is beautiful.

To cut to the chase, it looks like Ella will be able to come home within the next couple of days! (insert today's equivalent of an old "Hip-Hip-Hooray" chant here).  I know, kinda short notice.  But we'll roll with it!  We knew that there was a possibility that she'd be able to come home by the end of the month, but there always seemed to be something holding it up.  In fact, she had been recently throwing up certain medications that she gets with her feedings so we figured this would take a while to get past.  But apparently she's at the point where we will now "room in" with her at the hospital for a night or two to familiarize ourselves with her medications & round the clock needs while under the nurses' supervision.

This has really snuck up on us, and we are both excited & a bit edgy - mostly because we weren't really prepared for this yet mentally (or household wise).  The biggest cause for our nerves is the way she has been handling her meds (well, that and a hundred other things).  We just want to make sure she is going to consistently tolerate them so we don't run into any problems that we'd be unable to solve without the constant care she's been getting at the hospital.  So we're praying that she'll handle them well and that they'll help keep her heart strong & allow it to continue healing.

We are heading in tomorrow afternoon and will keep you posted on progress when we can.  We are simply amazed & humbled that the day we once thought might never come is close upon us.

Thank you, Lord for your great love.