Picture Post

Joni is recovering well and Hannah is doing great! Here are more pictures of our beautiful baby!

(All snuggled up in "Nanny's" blanket!)

GOING HOME

We are going home this evening!!! We get be in our own bed...at home with our newborn...no more IVs...we are both very excited. I will probably hold off on posting too much more over the next couple of days while we get used to living life, again!

Thanks so much for your prayers and support!

Up and About

Nothing much to update except that all is going very well. Joni got to take a shower this morning, which I'm sure felt wonderful! She will be doing some walking excersises today in an effort to get her mobile and strong enough to go home in a few days.

Hannah had her first doctor's appointment yesterday. She weighs 9 lbs and is 21 inches long. That puts her in the 75th percentile for her age...she's a big girl...but we already knew that. She didn't care for her shot, but was asleep by the time Nana and Papa had her back to the car.

No More Broth!

We had a restless night from the incessant beeping of the IV machines, but nevertheless, Joni is feeling better today. The surgeon visited us this morning and upgraded Joni to "Full Liquids" which is a big step up from "Clear Liquids". Hopefully, these meals will have more taste and satisfy her hunger better. The doctor also ordered some medicine to help her digestion system get going again. Overall, he was very pleased with her progress.

Hannah Jane came to visit her mommy yesterday and is as beautiful as ever. Joni got to give her a bottle and cuddle with her for a few brief hours. It was very hard to say goodbye, but Joni says that being able to hold her was worth the pain of knowing Hannah couldn't stay here. We are still looking at being here until Friday at least so that they can fill her full of antibiotics to make sure the infection doesn't return.

Well, we are about to exercise some by walking around which is a great sign. I'd better get out of the way...Joni's multiple IVs, tubes, etc, make us quite the entourage! Thanks for your prayers, and please continue to pray for a speedy recovery!

A Quieter Recovery

As of last night, Joni is out of ICU. The doctors say that she is progressing exactly as they would like, and now, she will begin her recovery from TWO major surgeries. We expect to be here for another 5-7 days for recovery, but Joni is much more comfortable now...and she is no longer in danger from the infection. She has been upgraded to "clear liquid" meals (she says they are lacking in taste) and has good blood counts.

We continue to ask for no visitors as that delays her recovery. She can't wait to see you all when she is healthy again.

The Storm Has Calmed

Joni is improving by leaps and bounds. Her heart rate was the major concern and is now down to the low 100s. She also had a fever yesterday, which is now gone. Her white cell count before the surgery was 27, and is now down to 15. (Normal is below 10) Every indication is pointing to the fact that they have the infection on the run and it is no longer affecting her body.

Now, we are back to where we were before all of this infection started...recovering from surgery...except this time she is recovering from 2 surgeries. The doctor said he would move her from ICU back to the medical/surgery floor sometime this morning if she was continuing to do well. We still have a long road ahead of us due to recovery time. We expect to be in the hospital for about another week or so.

I'm off to be with her. Thanks for all of your prayers and your thoughts. While I can't reply to every comment or email, please know that I'm reading them all and relaying them to Joni. We love knowing that we are loved!

Didn't We Just Leave?

Well, we got Hannah & Joni home on Sun night, and all was going well. Then on Mon. afternoon, Joni began to have sharp shooting pains in her right abdomen. The surgeon has removed her gall bladder (it was infected) and appendix ("just for good measure" according to the surgeon), and they also cleaned out a belly full of bacteria from a perforated bowel. She is in ICU recovering very well. She called this morning asking for a book and some other things. She said they have her up out bed and in a chair this morning and she feels great. We will be spending at least a week in the hospital for the doctors to make sure that the bacteria is gone from her system. I will try to keep the blog updated more often. Thanks for all of the offers to help...at the moment, we are well taken care of. I will let you know if we need anything!

Hannah Jane McDoniel

Hannah is here! She was born on Thursday, March 6 @ 11:35AM - weighing in at 8lbs and 5 oz and measuring 20 and a half inches. We are all home now and recovering. I've attached some pictures so you can see the cutest baby ever! (I'm not a proud dad at all ;) )

Mom and baby are doing well, and we are all home. I leave you with one more picture that has revealed to me that we have a potential drama queen on our hands!

Finally!

We have received word from our doctor that Joni will be induced on Thursday morning bright and early! Hannah is getting very big, and so they've decided to go ahead and induce so that she won't be too big to deliver on her actual due date. We are VERY excited about that decision as we get to see our baby girl on Thursday!!! We appreciate your prayers, and will let you know as soon as Hannah is here (and I can get a moment at the computer!)