Rainy Saturday

Micaiah decided that a nap would be nice....right in the middle of the kitchen floor

 Playing Old Maid with daddy - I love how this picture shows off our family tree in the background!

New Phones!

My first "smart" phone totally died on Friday.  I couldn't even get it to turn on anymore.  A friend had mentioned that verizon was doing free iphones so Mark and Travis headed to the verizon store on Saturday.  We were happy to find out that both of us had had our phones long enough (2 years) that we could get the free phones!  I stayed home with the girls and they had fun playing with a friend from school that had spent the night.  We were supposed to have family fun day at AOA (our school), but it was a cool rainy Saturday so they had to cancel the outdoor fun.  Instead we spent time walking through the rain and puddles :)

 

Getting a new phone means that I need new pictures on it of the girls!  They were happy to pose.

HOME!!!!

Yup - that big smile could only mean one thing - we're going HOME!!!!  Yes, she has to come back early next week, but we're still super excited to be on our way!

Physical Therapy and Braces

Physical therapy started today.  They also got her some braces because they are concerned about some webbing under her arm since she has a wrap-around burn.  If you notice she is wearing the same green dress in many of these pictures, it is because it is a dress made special by some woman for girls at this hospital.  It is a pillow case dress that is easy on and eary off - the ribbons that tie on top help to adjust the amount of room needed on the sides to fit around wraps and braces and things.  What a blessing!  We wash this dress daily as it is so comfortable for her and easy to use!

Checking things out

Gabie wanted to see what her head looked like from the back so I took a picture as she looked in the mirror.  They told us we'd have to be very careful to keep her head covered whenever she was outside so we found a pretty stylish (purple!) hat for her to wear when out and about and for recess once she's back at school.

 While I was at home I was able to collect a great many care packages and gifts sent to Gabie and bring them back to her.  This was just what she needed to encourage her and help keep her from getting bored!  Plus all the goodies helped to keep the calories coming in.
One thing we learned is that children who are burned use up a crazy amount of calories during their healing process.  For someone like Gabie, who doesn't have a lot of 'extra' pounds, this was difficult.  Her appetite hasn't been good since her accident but she's burning twice as many calories as normal.  One of the stipulations for getting to go home is that she maintains her weight.  These past couple days we finally reached that goal (or not losing).  Now if we can just gain some weight back she'll be good to go!

Back to Galveston

After school on Tuesday I left right away to head back to Galveston to make the switch.  All 3 girls wanted to come with me.  I explained a couple of times that they would spend about 4 hours in the car for only a small amount of time with Gabie but they didn't care.  Papa came along to help switch people, cars and just generally to help Mark and I with the long drive as we were both very tired. 

 Before Daddy, Papa and the girls left to head home we got a snack at McDonalds.

Encouragement!

While I was at home her sisters sent her these videos to encourage her - it was so sweet.  Also every time Mark and I would be leaving to trade places Micaiah would get her bag and shoes and say "I come too - I come see Gabie" and would just melt when she didn't get to come.  She even slept in Gabie's bed a number of nights that we were gone.  What a precious relationship between sisters.

Taking Down

This morning they took Gabie down (in other words unwrapped everything from the surgery, took out the staples and did a general checking things out.  Overall they said she looked good, although the graft on her leg didn't 'take'.  At this point they weren't sure if they would have to re-graft or if it would just be a long slow healing process there.

 It was pretty exhausting so she was ready to take a nap early afternoon.  At this point Mark and I had to start trading off.  I headed for home and he was going to stay.  This was the first time I left her since her injury and it was not easy to do!  I'm so thankful that our Heavenly Father cares for her for more than I ever could and provides healing above and beyond any mommy, daddy or doctors could.

Breaking Out (again)

Gabie got to go out and about today.  It was great to see her up and walking again.  The doctors would've liked another day or two in bed but it was just not working anymore.  Gabie was getting really down and discouraged (and very bored).  So they released her to get up yesterday and let us transfer back to the Ronald McDonald House today. 

 First order of business: Homework - her request.

 Back to the hospital to get some medicines and do some paperwork - there is a beautiful garden right across the street - we went to look at the pretty flowers.

Precious Girl

Recovery Time

 Strawberry Shortcake splint

Watching movies to pass the time in bed.  She also let us put her hair into a little bun to keep it out of her face.

Awful day

Honestly, I think this was the most awful day we had through this whole experience.  I don't think I was truly prepared for what this surgery would entail.  We checked in early to the same day surgery floor and were told we were probably go home at the end of the day.  This turned out not to be true.  Due to the nature of her grafts and their placement they wanted her to be prone for 3-5 days after surgery.  They also take the graft from her head which they shave.  They did prepare us for this and warned us about the scarlet red dye that is in the covering that goes over the graft site.  Gabie woke up in so much pain.  I won't even try to describe how those first few hours after surgery went - when they called me back to the ICU after surgery....let's just say as a mother, it was one of the most difficult experiences I've had with my mother's heart, and I'm quite sure it was the most painful thing Gabie has even endured.  However God is good and saw us through.   By the end of the day they were controlling her pain better and for most of the day she rested and slept.

A Little Exploring

The girls, nana and Stephanie stayed at a hotel so they could spend some extra time with us.  So on Monday we went exploring.  We knew this would be the last day of Gabie's "in-between" of feeling pretty good.  At this point the skin grafts she had were cadaver skin, but tomorrow's surgery would be replacing them with her skin.  They warned us that this would be painful and encouraged us to take her out for some fun before being in bed for awhile.  We went to the beach so she could see the ocean and took her out to eat and her sisters went swimming at the hotel.  I don't know that she was too cheered by any of this (I think she instead thought it was a whole bunch of stuff that she couldn't or didn't want to do).  Even a repair man in the elevator at their hotel tried giving her a chocolate candy hammer (it was cute :) because she looked so down. 

The family, including Mark, left in the afternoon and Gabie and I headed back to the Ronald McDonald House for the evening.  We played games, watched movies and went to bed early, even after she took a nap earlier in the day.  I think she was feeling a little more cheered there being around other kiddos who were in the same boat as her.

Out of the Hospital

Getting ready to bust out of the ICU/hospital

 Once we got to the Ronald McDonald House we got to see family again.  Everyone drove down for the afternoon after church.  The girls were so excited to see each other!

Ronald McDonald House

On Friday Mark got checked in at the Ronald McDonald House.  I only went there to shower while Gabie was still in the hospital, but once we knew she would be able to check out for a couple of days between her surgeries I decided to take some pictures to show her what her 'new home' would look like.  She was pretty excited to go!

Up and At 'Em

Gabie was feeling much better this afternoon.  Her teacher from school even came for a visit!  It was so nice of her and her husband to drive down to see us.  Gabie was doing great and even started getting up and walking!

Waking Up

Gabie's surgery ended up being later in the day yesterday due to some emergency surgeries bumping her.  She finally woke up around 2 a.m. hungry and wanting to watch TV - it was so good to see her smiling face!