Good morning everyone! :)

Rebekah has become an early bird here in the hospital. She used to sleep in till 8:00 or so at home, and now she is waking up between 6 and 6:30. Rise and shine, Sunshine! :)

We are back to a frustrating "square one" here in Room 781. For the last three days, Rebekah's white blood cell counts have been rising, indicating an infection. She has also had a fever for the last three days, ranging from 99 to over 101. The resident that has been on call this weekend has been most concerned about a possible wound infection, or something else going on with that swollen area behind Rebekah's left ear than just a blood clot. At this point, the doctors are working on ruling out possible sources of infection - she does not have an ear infection, and the blood cultures came back negative for a blood infection (yay!!). There will be another doctor on call starting tomorrow (one we really like!), and there is the possibility of having some kind of imaging done on that swollen area. One thing the resident brought up is the possibility of that area being a swollen lymph node. He doesn't really think that is the case, but he cannot rule out the possibility, either. The other thing he said is that sometimes wound infections can brew deeper in the chest and not come to the surface for a few days.

So, all of that means that we are staying put for the foreseeable future. Rebekah is also confined to her room until the source of infection can be found and treated. We're going to have an interesting time keeping this little girl occupied in this small space! :)

Under the possibility of going home soon, I had not pushed for PT and OT in the last couple of days. I will definitely be more aggressive on getting that set up this week. Rebekah is making huge strides on her own, but a little therapy certainly won't hurt. :) Rebekah is sitting up on her own and she even used Drew's arms to pull herself up to a standing position briefly. She loves playing with Mega blocks in her crib, and she has a little piano toy that she has enjoyed. She also has a board book that a local charity gave her (Why, oh why, did I not think to bring any of her board books???) that she absolutely loves. Of course, she also has lots of her stuffed animals to play with, too.

In light of today's news, we have decided that Drew is going home today. There are things that he needs to get done at home, and the boys could use some Daddy time. So, we are going to have a few days of just girly things. I think we'll have a pedicure party and paint our toenails this afternoon or tomorrow. :) And we'll be able to listen to Christmas music as much as we want!

While we are disappointed that we will be here for at least a few more days, if not longer, we would much rather Rebekah stay here and get these issues resolved before we head home. We are in the best place possible for our little Boo!

Nancy