Although Haven’s surgery has been pushed back at least another day due to her high white blood cell count, today has been a positive day so far.  Haven’s physical therapist worked with her this morning and was very excited with how well she is putting up with being in the hospital for three months.  She said that Haven is much more alert and active than many babies in her situation.  She handles all the tubes and wires well enough that she does not need to be very sedated on a regular basis.  This has allowed her to move around more and look around and keep developing even though she’s in the hospital.  She attempts to hold up her head when she is tipped up and she tracks moving objects very well with her eyes.  She enjoys looking at toys, mirrors, and books.  We were pleased to hear that although she is delayed developmentally, she is still progressing and will probably develop quickly once she can be moved around more.

The cardiologist reported that her heart function still looks good on her latest echocardiogram.  He even mentioned that her leaky tricuspid valve may have even improved a little.  Her blood pressure, saturations, heart rate, and blood gas levels have all been good.  Her protein level is up and she continues to get less and less puffy.  They have not been able to find any signs or areas of infection so hopefully her white blood count will go down and allow us to move on with her next surgery to stop the chest drainage. 

Unfortunatley the drainage on both sides of her chest has picked up emphasizing the need for her next plueraodesis as soon as possible.  All the doctors are frustrated that she remains so sick even though she is doing so well in many areas.  We all hope that there will be a lot less waiting and a lot more progress over the next couple weeks, but we are thankful for her strength and tolerance of all that she is going through.  Even though Haven is so young, she is a great example for all of us to make the best of every situation and keep pressing through the hard times.  She does an amazing job of that every day.  What a sweetie!