One down....two to go!

Hermann Memorial is a beautiful facility, and one of the best hospitals in the country. It's located in the Houston Medical District, with tons of other medical facilities. It is easy to get lost, but we quickly became accustomed to the layout.

After surgery, we were taken to a private room in the Children's wing, and he nurses were ready to greet us and help us in anyway we needed. They provided diapers, wipes, and all the other things you need to care for your little one, so we know next time not to over-pack.

For most of the day, we took turns running around the building on errands, and one of us was always in her room. I sent my husband back to the hotel for the overnight part, but neither of us slept. It's really hard to think about anything but that poor, sweet, medicated baby and how she is going to do with all of this.

Very late that night, after my husband had already left, she finally felt like getting out of bed. So, she ate a little bit of food and then we went on a ride in a toy car for awhile. She was out of it, but I could tell she was glad to be doing something normal again. She then went to sleep for the night, but we had to bring the car into our room to make sure we got to play with it in the morning.

The morning came, and seemed to go on and on. We knew we would be released that day, barring any catastrophes, and we were ready to go. To get back to some kind of normalcy. We wanted to take our baby home. BUT, we couldn't, because our plane didn't leave until the morning. So, it was back to the hotel for one more night.

We had to wait for the doctor to come to release us from the hospital, so while we did that, we played in the playroom provided by the hospital. They have a room and also a pretend park with roads on the carpet and fake trees in the middle of that area. It's a peaceful place to meet other parents and let your kids run around.

We met a great couple with a child with Mitochondrial disease. It was a great opportunity to connect with other people who really understand your struggles as a parent of a non-traditional child.
The doctor came to release our daughter while I was out on an errand. I was sorry to miss him, but then passed him in the hall and he stopped and told me everything he had just told my husband, whom had bothered to be present. It was so wonderful of him, as he didn't have to do that. He's a busy man, and the job was done.

The discharge paperwork was easy, and we were on our way to our hotel by lunchtime. The baby slept a lot on this day, too, but it was more difficult because with her arm in the splint, she didn't fit in the hotel crib! We put her in a queen bed, surrounded her pillows, and tried to be quiet.

Upon leaving, the doctor had instructed us that we could take her splint off any time after 48 hours. This was such GREAT news! Sometimes kids need to wear the splint 24/7 for a very long time. It was so encouraging to us as her parents that she would be free to use her arm during the daytime. It would be sore, of course, but not forever. She would be able to recover more quickly this way. We were truly blessed with this news.