Colleen's room in Pediatrics was decorated with a Winnie-the-Pooh theme. It was rather ironic that our friends sent balloons and a stuffed animal, which turned out to be Piglet! You can hardly seen Colleen in the big kid bed, but she's there next to Piglet.

Saturday was difficult emotionally. It was a long, slow day. Knowing that she was well, but still lying motionless in her PICU bed, was nerve-wrecking. We wanted her healthy and ready to come home! We couldn't hold her that day and we when left the hospital that night I cried all the way to the car. I now understand what it feels like to "yearn" for someone. I was desperately wanting to hold my little girl.

We woke Sunday to a phone call from Colleen's overnight nurse, Marcie. She said, "I was just calling to tell you Colleen had a great night. She's off the oxygen, she tolerated the food in her tube, she's awake and hungry. You can hold her all you want today!" We were flying high! When we got to the hospital, they asked me to try to breastfeed her, since she didn't seem to want to take a bottle. She took to the breast immediately and gave me a look that said, "Where in the heck have you been? Geez. I woke up. I couldn't figure out where I was. I was starving. Why were you holding out on me?" She ate great and took a bottle from the nurses that night.

What a beautiful baby! This was taken in Pediatrics. She only has the feeding tube in her nose (which wasn't being used), the heparin lock in her arm and a heart/oxygen monitor taped to her toe. She is sucking on a pacifier that is taped to a cloth. The nurses came up with this ingenious method so the pacifier doesn't get lost!

Monday morning the central line was removed from her neck and Colleen was free to be transferred to Pediatrics. She spent the next two days in observation. On Tuesday, the feeding tube (which hadn't been used since Sunday) was finally removed, as was the heparin lock in her arm. She was free of all the lines attached to her except for a little monitor taped to her toe to gauge her oxygen levels and heart rate. I spent the night with her Tuesday because the Pediatric nurses had had trouble bottlefeeding her. (Probably because they couldn't give her the attention she received in PICU.) So, in order for her to go home, they wanted to see her eating through the night.

By Wednesday morning, she was good to go! It took all morning and into the afternoon to wrap up paperwork, get her medicines, get instructions and see the stream of doctors and nurses who came to see her, either on official business or just to say goodbye! We had a bit of a parade as we left the hospital with our arms piled with belongings and the nurse carrying her balloons and stuffed animal.

We stopped in PICU to say goodbye and have her picture taken for the wall. Then, it was homeward bound!

The end! {You made it.}