After yesterday's events, today was such a nice relaxing day. Last night, Ava was still quite sleepy from the morpine given to keep her still during the CT scan. She started to wake up this morning and was ready to eat! This afternoon the doctors decided to take out her feeding tube and treat her like a normal healthy baby who is hungry. She nursed like a champ for the first time. Hooray!
As for where things stand with her hypertension, her blood pressure has gone down a lot and they have not had to increase the medication to control it. This is great news and perhaps means that the issue (whatever it is - a clot in the aorta near the kidneys that is getting smaller or something else) is resolving itself. More tests still to come back, but amazingly her doctors have started discussing preparations to take her home (working on feeding, getting her a home blood pressure cuff, trying out a patch delivery of medication for her blood pressure, etc). We don't know when exactly this could happen, but I have to say that it is quite a surreal experience (a happy one too) to go from one day contemplating pretty major surgery to the next preparing to take her home!
We can't say enough how much it means to us to have everyone's support. THANK YOU for following Ava's story and for offering your help in so many ways. We have received so many emails, phone calls, etc. from all of you expressing your concern and your prayers. Thanks especially to Robin, Hannah, Nana Karin and Grandpa Steve who have been taking care of and entertaining Ben and Lily (they even organized a "bunny party" the other day), straightening our messy house and being there in every imaginable way, and to Jen and Marya who showed up unannounced at the hospital yesterday and got the good news of Ava's CT scan with us and who got us out to Bonfante Gardens this morning to have a little fun with the gang. You guys are really the best!
Stay tuned for more info - hopefully we'll get getting some more test results in the next day or so and will know more of the plan soon.
