ACH makes it a very Merry Christmas!

Conlee celebrated her first Christmas in the hospital hooked up to tubes and getting oxygen, being suctioned to the point of irritation and receiving breathing treatments. SO not how I pictured things! However, I will say that the hospital made it as joyful as possible.

Starting with a delivery from Santa around 3:00 this morning. She received a bag full of toys and goodies all perfect for a 6 week old. The nurses and I tore into it. We couldn't believe how custom it was!

As to Conlee's status - she had been doing great all night and Bo and I got a lot of much needed sleep. She even nursed at 3:00 and we were very thankful. However, as we've come to expect - around 5:45 - we were awakened by the beeping monitors and nurses that came running. Turns out the RT turned her O2 down around 4:00 (we didn't even know he'd been in we were snoozing so hard). As we've seen over the past few days - when they take it down - she has trouble breathing and we get into the downward spiral. They turned her back up and she was comfortable.

The doctors tell us that at this point there is nothing we can do except wait for the mucous to clear up and for her to get strong enough to handle the decreased O2. No one is speculating at this point when that may be and the attending physician even warned us that she may take another pretty drastic turn for the worse before getting better. So - life continues to be an hour-by-hour situation.

My family brought Crawford up around 11:00- he technically shouldn't be allowed in this ward - but everyone has been more than willing to "break" the rules and allow him to join us. He even napped on the couch in Conlee's room! We all enjoyed Christmas dinner in the cafeteria (it was free for everyone and surprisingly delicious). There were volunteers singing Christmas carols - and Crawford loved dancing with them. When they took a break - the room was silent and Crawford started clapping and yelled "YEA"! The entire cafeteria started laughing. So nice that an almost two year old can bring such joy to a room full of people all enduring their own difficult journeys. The volunteers were also giving out hats and I got Conlee an adorable knit hat - just small enough for her little head.

After lunch Blake and Kari stopped by with gifts for Crawford and Conlee. It was great to see them and the gifts were perfect. Bo went with my dad, brother and Crawford back to the apartment (as an aside - my dad's friend got us a free 2 bedroom executive apartment from Lindsey - it is perfect). Mom and I staid with Conlee and gave her a bath - it was about time!

Next up Keith and Colette came by. It was so good to see them and catch up.

Our next visitors were Santa and Mrs. Claus! They came by to take a picture with Conlee and to give her a Scout (the hospital mascot) stuffed animal. As soon as Crawford saw Scout - he took him - but I don't think it bothered Conlee!

Shortly after they left, Bubba came by and brought us "left-overs" from the Wood family Christmas. He wanted to make sure we had a home cooked meal on Christmas. I've already sampled and it's wonderful.

Bo brought Crawford back around 4:00 and we had a blast playing in Camp Wannaplay. We had a tea party, played the piano and worked on the tool bench. The play areas here are incredible and the in room media/flat screens are amazing. Each room has an x-box and a computer that controls your tv/dvr, movies (over 212 new releases to choose from), music, internet - it's so cool.

Everyone just left for the evening and Conlee, Bo and I are winding down from a really nice day. All in all it's been a day spent with friends and family - much like any other Christmas (aside from the setting).

My baby is still very sick and we've been told we have a long road ahead of us - but at least she was able to spend Christmas resting comfortably. She's been eating for the first time today, so hopefully she'll start packing back on the pounds (she's down to 7.3 oz - which is really good considering what she's been through).

I appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers. The notes, calls and visits - help give us hope when it would be very easy to get down.

Merry Christmas!