So far so good

Surgery went very well yesterday. Dr. Campbell expanded both rods and bent one of them to help straighten her back a little more. He seems very pleased with Ava's progress and it is quite possible that we could go home today, if not tomorrow. Ava is still a little out of it and uncomfortable, but every now and then she shines through it all.

Surgery # 8

My mind is kind of blank right now as we wait for Ava's surgery to be over. Whenever Ava is in surgery, this kind of happens to me. I don't really feel worried, I actually feel glad that she is finally here and we are getting it done with, but this whole experience can be pretty draining. She wasn't too happy when we got here and they had to draw blood. I didn't realize how strong she has gotten until they tried to take her blood and she fought like crazy. My least favorite part was when morgan, me, and the nurse had to hold her down, but eventually they got it. After they left, she fell asleep and woke up in a much better mood. We took a little video of the sweet pea before they took her away.

Untitled from Morgan Handley on Vimeo.

Cruising and crawling

Ava has been doing great. Since the beginning of January, she began walking around the room (while holding on to things) and a few weeks ago she even started crawling! We never thought she would crawl because of her back, but she decided one day that she wanted to give it a try and just took off. Everyday she makes her rounds; from the chair to the couch to the bookshelf to the desk to the fridge and down the wall to the bathroom where she always tries to get to the toilet, but that is where she is stopped by me, mean mom. These last 4 months without any surgeries has felt like we have been on vacation, but soon it must end. We fly out east for her first expansion surgery this next week. It seems it is about time for her VEPTR to be expanded because she hasn't been able to keep her food down as well lately. This is Morgan's final semester and we have a lot to think about. We are looking for jobs (especially ones with good benefits), trying to sell our house, we have Ava's surgery, Alyssa is getting married in April (very exciting), and it seems like there are a lot of other details that I won't bother to mention, but it is craziness!

She is really good at getting all the magnets off but not back on

Playing hide and seek