Finally!!!!!!!!

Here we are just minutes after they extubated her. My sweet baby girl! Words cannot express the joy in my heart. Twenty one days of not holding her are now behind us, thank the Lord! She is breathing great on her own...the first couple breaths were tricky for her. I think she forgot how to breathe on her own since the machines have been doing it for her for a 1/3 of her life. But she got the hang of it real fast and has been doing great. Here is Dave and his girl. Her little cry is so sad sounding. It is super soft and hoarse.

Is this picture priceless or what? This was about five minutes after being extubated. She is thinking, "Hallelujah, that tube is finally out!" She is such a little trooper. I was scared she forgot how to smile so this was so thrilling to see:) Love it. She is still on oxygen for a day or two and then....let's hope, we can go home!!!!!

Almost

Well, Sophie didn't get her tube removed today :( Maybe Friday. They want her to build up her strength a bit more. She was on a paralyzing medicine for two weeks and it made her very, very weak. She has not been on it for a few days now and she has been exhausting herself from opening her eyes, moving around, and breathing without a lot of help from the ventilator. Almost. We can definitely see the light at the end of the tunnel, though. That is a good thing.

You Go Girl!

Sophie has been doing great!!!! She has made so much progress in the last two days, and the doctors are impressed with what Sophie has been able to do. They have steadily been lowering her rates on the ventilator. She has been tolerating all the changes like a champ.

One of the med students who has been assigned to Sophie had a dream the last night that she was extubated and moving all around and doing great. She shared it with us and all the doctors and we all agreed that if it comes true this week, she is going to have patients lining up for her because of her visions :)

The plan is to continually lower her rates through out tomorrow and then if everything is looking good, Wednesday they will remove her breathing tube and see how she does. Can you believe it? I will finally be able to hold her, nurse her and hear her cry. I haven't been able to do that for almost three weeks. It has been, without a doubt, the longest three weeks of my life.

So please, keep the prayers coming for Sophie Mae. She has got a couple of big days coming up! I will let you know how she is doing.

An update and a new hat

Here is our little Sophie. She is sporting a new hat, thanks to Florett and a new blankie, thanks to Grammy. You might be wondering what the yellow thing is in her ear. It is an earplug, so she won't be so disturbed by the oscillator (the breathing machine she is on) and all the alarms that are always going off.

So, the plan for today is to switch her from the oscillator (a breathing machine that holds her lungs open and pulsates air into them - it breathes for her) to a ventilator (a breathing machine that supports her in her own breathing). So she will be going from not breathing on her own, to supporting herself with her own breaths. They think she is ready for the switch so they are going to give it a go. Worst case scenario would be to put her back on the oscillator for a few more days then try again.

Thank you all for your continuing prayers. I think little Miss Sophie has brought all of us closer to our Father in Heaven. What a blessing :)

Good news!!!!! She is back on the ventilator. The transition went very smooth, so that is great.

Baby Steps

Sophie's x ray this morning looked better.....yipee! (the lungs still look really bad, but not as bad as yesterday and that makes everyone happy.) and her bloodwork has been showing improvement. She is getting there slowly but surely. Thank you for your constant prayers. The Lord hears all of them....isn't that so comforting?

I think I can, I think I can.

Can I just say that these past eleven days have been the longest days of my life. We should be there for another two weeks. Dave and I don't care how long, as long as we get that little girl healthy again. I promise that once that day comes you won't be able to pry Sophie from my arms. Serious :) I try to think of those days instead of the fact I haven't held her for eleven days. That breaks my heart more than anything. Here is a new picture of Little Miss Sophie. They said we could use a blanket and hat from home to keep her warm. Grammy whipped two blankets out that evening. A friend from church knitted her a little hat. It felt good to see some homey touches in such a sterile enviroment :) She is on her tummy now. She likes it so much better and it gives her lungs more space. I can't wait to kiss on her again!

Ok, I think we are turning a corner. This morning she is doing good. We haven't had any episodes with her not breathing for 48 hours. That is the longest she has gone. She acts up a little bit when they have to move her for an xray, but her heart rate and saturation don't plummet like they used to. Her biggest problem is her little lungs. They are very very sick. The left one is collapsed and so is most of the right one. Poor baby.

On Sunday evening, they started prepping her for a procedure we felt very uneasy about. They had mentioned it to us that morning, but they way it was worded sounded like a longs ways off. It is a procedure called EMLS in which they carry the blood outside of the body, circulate it and oxygenate it so that the lungs can heal. Since Dave and I felt unsure about this procedure that carries a lot of risk, we both knew it was not something we wanted done to Sophie. That morning they made it seem like that was something in the distant future, so that was why it was so bothersome to see all these preparations being made later that day. They wanted to make sure she was ready just in case, yet we felt strongly that she wasn't that sick. We knew we had to turn it over to the Lord. Completely over to the Lord. Our prayers became even more fervent. We asked the Bishop to give her a blessing. Dave and I both received blessings. Our faith was put to the test even more so now than before. We decided to have a fast for Sophie. Our family, ward family and friends joined us. We knew the Lord would buoy us up, we just had to have faith. That night was a good night. The next day was a good day and the doctor said that she was making progress. This morning she said she is no longer a candidate for that EMLS procedure because her tests are coming back showing definite improvement. The Lord heard our prayers. He continues to hear them . Is'nt that wonderful?

Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep Sophie in them daily. She still is so sick. Thank you for all the help we have received. What would we do without the relief society? We have had dinners brought in nightly and it has been so wonderful. We can feel all the love for our little Sophie, and I can never express how much it means to us. Below is a picture of Sophie's room. My SIL Stacey took a bunch of pictures of Sophie when she was four weeks. She sent them to me and I put them up. We also have get well signs up. Feel free to send one her way and I will put it up. It makes me smile. Ok, that is the update :)

Spencer Levi Schramm

My Dreamboat turned 7 today. I cannot believe Spencer is 7. Spencer is such a wonderful boy. He has a heart of gold. He is so patient with others, is kind and very fair and loves to fix things. He loves his family and has promised that when he gets married he will come visit me on every birthday and holiday because he is gonna miss me so much. I love that! Happy Birthday Spencer.