A few new pics to share...

Mommy's little (or should I say BIG!!) bow head!!!!

Can't find Grady? He's probably with his sissy, giving her lots of love!

In her Sunday dress after church...
Taking an afternoon restie with big brother...Grady insisted on patting his sissy's back to help her fall asleep!

AWESOME visit with cardiologist at Children's

We had a great visit with our cardiologist today at Children's. Miss Ella was her usual wonderful self as the sonographer performed the echo. The doctor wanted to sedate her, but we didn't know that we couldn't feed her for 6 hours prior to sedation, so we chanced it and she did awesome. We gave her a bottle of formula to make her tummy happy, and off to sleep she went! She was content for an hour while the lady explored her chest and abdomen with the transducers. She's such a good baby! I also need to add that she's up to 8 1/2 pounds now! She likes eating as much as I do!! (this is mommy talking, of course...have you seen daddy lately?)
The result of the echo...the cardiologist was very pleased with her heart. He said the left side looks promising! GOD IS GOOD!!! I asked him when he thought we would be "out of the woods", and his response was "You're in the edges of the woods!" I cannot explain to you how much of a relief that is for us! I was physically sick to my stomach all morning from nerves and anxiety over this appointment. He also said that he felt 90-95% confident that she was going to be okay (meaning that the left side will continue growing and will be able to function well) I could have kissed him!!! That was the best news I've heard in my entire life!! His thoughts on her future are that she'll need a catheterization to open up the aortic valve down the line, but the chances of additional open heart surgeries are very slim. I can't think of a better example of the power of prayer! We are SO blessed!!!
A lot of you have mentioned that you are having a difficult time posting comments on the blog, but please don't worry about it. We know that you are keeping up with her and we are SO thankful for your prayers and support, and that's all we need. We can feel the love without having to read it!
I'm going to work on her announcements in the next few days (do you think it's time?!?!). If I don't have your home address, please email it to me at amorrison@nisdtx.org I'll be sure to put one in the mail for you. I'll also try to post newer pics soon.
Again, we THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for your love, support and prayers during this journey. We are SOOO blessed to have you in our lives!!!
Love to all,
The Morrison Family XOXO

You've come a long way, baby!!

April 29th...that's just 3 weeks ago!!!
Hanging out this morning with one PROUD mommy!

It's hard to believe that Ella is 4 weeks old today. She has been through so much in her short lifetime, and she has taught us so many lessons. She has taught us how precious life really is... How leaning on our faith can get us through even the most challenging times in our lives...How thankful we are for our wonderful family and friends.. How grateful we are for our health and the health of others... How wonderful it is to be parents to two beautiful children... To appreciate one another everyday... And, of course, the most important lesson she has taught is to stay focused on the absolute most important things in life: our faith, our family and our friends.

Now that we are in somewhat of a routine, I've had a little bit of time to digest what has actually happened in the last 4 weeks. I know in my heart that we couldn't have remained strong without our faith, and with out you all. We are forever grateful to you for praying for our sweet girl. As Nana says, there is POWER in numbers, and Miss Ella has had hundreds (if not thousands) of people across the country praying for her. What a lucky girl to be SOOO loved!!! She is going to continue to make you all very proud of her!

Love to all,

The Morrison Family XOXO

Update from home and Dr. appointment

We've all adjusted well to having a newborn at home. We are SO thankful that Ella is doing great! This little peanut LOVES to eat!!! I thought we'd have to set an alarm every 3 hours to feed her, but she wakes us up to let us know when it's time. The doctors lwould be happy with her consuming 55 ccs every 3 hours, but according to Ella, that's simply not enough! She prefers 65-75 ccs minimum. Her face is really filling out and her thighs are looking scrumptious!!!

Our doctor appointment last Thursday went really well. Her blood work and chest x-ray were fine, and we had some promising news from her new cardiologist. He has many years of experience and is highly respected at Children's. We chose him because he is the one who studied and wrote the report on Ella's echo cardiograms before and after the surgery. When he stopped in to check on her at the end of the appointment, he stated that he felt she has an 80% chance of being okay...meaning an 80% chance of her left side growing with her, and not needing the 3 staged surgeries! We were SO happy to hear that!! The tears immediately started falling!! This is just another example of how our prayers are being answered for our sweet baby girl! God is good!

We don't have much going on this week except for an appointment with the pediatrician. I'm amazed at how calm we are with Miss Ella. I honestly thought I'd be a nervous wreck at home, but she's giving me so much confidence and assurance that she's going to be okay. She's an angel!

Enjoy the pics and I'll continue to take more and post them.
We love you all!
The Morrison Family XOXO

We LOVE being home with sissy!!

We are all doing great! Ella is a really good baby! She has her mommy's appetite, so she's rockin' & rollin' on the bottle...yeah!! When she is fussy, she prefers to be held by mommy and daddy, and we're not complaining. We are so IN LOVE with this precious baby!
I'm so sorry for the delay in posting, we have just spent the last couple of days trying to establish a routine that works for everyone in the house. Grady has adjusted pretty well. I'm not going to lie and say that the first two nights weren't a little chaotic, but tonight was much better! Big brother is just smitten with his little sissy! (Abe tells everyone that he's too crazy about her because we can't get him off her!!!) She loves his company, but we still have to be really careful with him kissing all over her. The cardiologist said that a little cold or virus would land us back in the hospital, so we're being extra cautious.
We pretty much have an appointment with a doctor every week. Our first appointment is tomorrow, at Children's, with the surgeon's nurse practitioner. She is wonderful and we're looking forward to seeing her. Next week is with our pediatrician, and the following week we're back to Children's to visit the cardiologist. In between our appointments, we'll just continue counting our blessings and loving on this precious miracle!
I'll try to post pictures of us at home as soon as I can. Thank you for checking in on us. Take comfort in knowing that we are doing great!!
We love you,
The Morrison Family XOXO

Ella had a BIG day!!

Look everybody, no tubes!

Grady held her for the first time today! He LOVES his sissy!!

Dr Morrison kept a close eye on his sister all day!

We are inching closer to going home. We were both relieved when they extended our stay until Monday. Neither one of us was comfortable with leaving any earlier!
Miss Ella hit another milestone today. She had her NG tube pulled out. She was not happy when the nurse pulled it, but she sure looked great afterwards! She's knocked out both feedings since then, so there is a good chance that we'll go home without the NG tube. If she doesn't take the feedings very well between now and Monday, then they'll have us put it back in. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
The only line connected to her now is a probe on her left foot that monitors her heart rate and oxyen sats. Holding her without the lines is SO awesome!!
So, if she continues to do well, then she'll sleep with us in our home for the first time Monday night. Yay!!
I hope you all enjoy the pictures of Grady and Ella. We are proud parents of two wonderful children! We feel SO blessed!!!
For all the mommies out there, we wish you a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! We hope you have a wonderful day with your precious miracles!!
We love you all,
The Morrison Family

There's a rumor that we're headed home soon...

I couldn't believe it when the nurse practitioner said that we could be home as early as THIS Saturday!!! I wasn't ready for the news, but Miss Ella has been doing so well that they don't see the need to keep us here. We were only on this floor to give her time to tolerate her feedings and to get educated on how to take care of her at home. Well Miss Ella is a CHAMP when it comes to drinking her bottles! She took two complete feedings by bottle today, and polished off the majority of the other feedings. They are considering pulling out the NG tube tomorrow since she has taken the majority of her feedings by mouth. We are SO thrilled that she's doing so well, because we were fully prepared to be here a minimum of two weeks to work on this. The doctors and nurses are completely amazed by this little one!
She did have here echocardiogram today, and she was a good baby during the entire thing. She just has the sweetest disposition! She sat on the table for an hour while the tech worked on her, and she fussed very little. I was SO proud of her! The results were good from the echo. Dr Forbess' nurse practitioner came in afterward and let us know that they were happy with their findings. I was thrilled! Then, I spoke to the cardiologist and asked him to give me his interpretation of the results, and he stated what we've known all along. His concern is the left side...it needs to grow with her, or else we'll have to come back for the Norwood procedure. He mentioned that recovery from the Norwood down the line would be pretty difficult for Ella. Then he had to step out for a phone call, and he said that he would be sure to catch up with me in the morning. I'm going to choose to think that she will not be back for the Norwood, and we are all going to pray for her little heart to grow.
I'll keep you posted on our departure. I'm insanely nervous about taking her home. Oh, did I mention that she's not on ANY heart medications?!?!? I was shocked when I found out that the cardiologist discontinued her very last heart med yesterday. He simply thought she didn't need it! That also contributes to my anxiety about going home!!!
Wish us luck the next few days and we'll let you know when we're discharged.
We love you,
The Morrison Family