All fixed up

I am happy to report that Vivian's heart catheterization procedure was a success and her heart is all fixed up!!  There are way too many pictures in this blog post, but I wanted to include them all as this is our documentation of this big event. 

We arrived bright and early Thursday morning and Vivian was in very good spirits!   We are so lucky to have a children's hospital in our city and they were AWESOME with Vivian.  Here she is "practicing" with her bear and getting ready for the procedure

The worst part of the day was the first few hours after the procedure.  Vivian was put on "bed rest" for the first 5 hours after the procedure and we were instructed to keep her as still as possible.  She was not too happy when she first woke up and she wasn't exactly thrilled about being hooked up to a bunch of machines, but she was a trooper and we managed to keep her occupied.

After the 5 hours were up, they allowed us to un-hook her and let her get down and walk for a few minutes.    She was so happy to be out of the bed

My parents were here helping Rob and I and we are so grateful they were here with us.  They got the big 3 kids up and off to school in the morning and then came down to help me so Rob could get some work done.




The big kids arrived after school and Vivian was really happy to see them

 

 

 

After the kids had some time visiting with Vivian, my parents and Rob took them home for homework and dinner.  Vivian and I would've been lonely, but  my sister stopped by with her girls to visit and help us pass some time, which I very much appreciated

Later that night Rob came back down and had dinner with Vivian and I.  We decided it was best if he went home and helped with the big kids, so he headed back home and Vivi and I crashed.

Vivian slept great that night.  One thing about Vivian, she is an awesome sleeper.  She has not woken Rob and I up ONCE since the day we got her.  I don't know how she slept with all the chords attached to her and all the machines beeping throughout the night, but she did (I, on the other hand, not so much).  The only thing she does better than sleep, is EAT!  Hospital food did NOT slow this girl down.




Before we could be discharged, Vivian had to have several tests run



Thankfully, everything looked great and they gave us the green light to head home.  We just had to wait for the doctor to stop by one last time.

more eating

 

 

Finally the doctor stopped in and gave one last listen to her heart and we were DONE!  We are beyond grateful to this doctor.  What he did for Vivian was life-changing. 

It is amazing that Vivian went in to the hospital on Thursday morning with a heart that wasn't working correctly and came out Friday afternoon with a heart that is just perfect.  She has absolutely NO restrictions from here on out and doesn't need any kind of medication.  A few hours after we left the hospital she was at a high school football game having a ball!  We are so thankful for the wonderful medical resources we have in this country.  This procedure changed her future.

Ever since the day we said "yes" to Vivian, we have known this little trip to the hospital would be needed.  It is such a relief to have this behind us. I feel a huge weight has lifted. We are so proud of our girl and the courage she continues to show every day.  And we are so proud of the  3 big kids for being so good while we were gone and continuing to shower their "Mei Mei" with love and support. 

And thanks again to Grammy and Pop Pop for being here for us, and for Vivian.