Dec 4

We weren't sure if Kaitlyn was going to have her PDA ligation surgery yesterday but in the end the docs decided to postpone till Friday...so we spent the day with Lauryn. We started the day with a trip to the Aquarium and then we stopped by the hospital. They allowed Lauryn into the ICU and the nurses were great...they let Lauryn help them pick out a blankie for Kaitlyn among handling some of the medical stuff...after a short visit we went to Sophia's princess birthday party. Lauryn dressed up as Cinderella, complete with dress and Cinderella shoes. The funniest thing was that Sophia was wearing the same dress and shoes...as Tai put it, "how embarrassing"...but maybe they did plan it that way!

It's definitely difficult being the mother of two children let alone having one in ICU. We're torn between wanting to spend every moment with Kaitlyn and being a present for Lauryn. Every time we are with Kaitlyn we stroke her hair and talk to let her know we are there.
Yesterday was a short day with Kaitlyn. The nurses are careful to keep Kaitlyn sedated enough that she isn't active as she tends to wave her arms about and turn her head this way and that which is not good for her throat. But we're proud of her feisty nature!

Kaitlyn's bilirubin level is up causing her to look yellow. The nurses are so considerate. They usually leave the lights out so the lighting doesn't highlight how yellow she is. When the lights are on she looks like the Simpsons who are also very yellow! Bilirubin is the broken down red blood cells that are meant to be secreted from the liver with the bile and out of the body with her stools. This is what gives our stool it's brown colour! (We are A-pluis students her in the ICU, we're learning so much). The doctors are going to do a series of different tests to rule out different causes for her high bilirubin levels. None of her symptoms correspond with the causes they are exploring but one thing I appreciate about the doctors here is that they are very thorough. They do not leave any stone unturned. Once they rule out all the simple causes they will explore some rarer causes that may be linked to genetics. Please pray that her bilirubin levels will drop and that her liver is functioning perfectly.