Day 4

After an eventful early morning, I am happy to report that today was a quiet day! After draining her belly, Stella's cardiac function began to improve, which meant her kidneys began to work and her insulin and lactate levels trended back down (hooray!)

One of us has been able to remain by her side all day while her body recovers - she looks so sweet and peaceful despite what seems like 10,000 wires and tubes coming out of her. This afternoon her team began peritoneal dialysis to continue to remove excess fluid from Stella and work towards re-closing her chest early next week. After that, the next goal will be weaning her from the ventilator. Maybe by Christmas? I'm pretty sure that's all any of us are asking Santa for.

Our girl continues to impress the team with her ability to fight and remain stable. We HATE every step of this process and understand that the level of supportive care she is on will take quite a bit of time to come off of. So please pray for patience (for both Stella and her parents) as we endure the recovery process! We trust she isn't in pain right now and that the doctors are managing her medicine accordingly. And every day we are continuously humbled by the outpouring of love and prayer we receive for Stella - from all over the country and from friends we've never met. I dare say I never knew someone so popular on their 4th day of life :)