Huge sigh of relief!

Having Mercedes' Whooping Test results within 48 hours didn't exactly happen. The people at the lab took longer than the doctor expected, but finally, this morning we found out that swab 1 came back negative for whooping cough (pertussis). I'm not sure what the swab 2 is testing for, but we should get those results Friday or Monday. We're so grateful that it's NOT whooping cough!! Hopefully it was just the common cold, but of course we can't take any chances with Mia's delicate situation.

If it is just a common cold that we had, Mia got hit hard with it. She hasn't been well at all since about Saturday. Yesterday, things got bad enough that Dr. Silva ordered a chest xray to see what was going on. Thankfully, the xray came back perfectly clear! The RT's have been incredible - they've been so on top of things suctioning her to keep her clear and doing vent changes to keep her co2 within range, giving extra breathing treatments to loosen all the junk in her lungs, etc. The nurses have been great, too.


On Monday, they did routine blood work, but yesterday, they did some extra blood work to test for other things to make sure she's okay... Results came back just an hour ago and Mia is positive for bronchitis. We are so grateful it's "only" bronchitis!!! We know it can still lead to other things and we know she can get better or worse, but we're so glad it's not anywhere near pneumonia-like or worse. =)

Mia got her first dose of antibiotics right now, and will get them for the next 7 days. Keep praying for her and the rest of our family. Mercedes still has a nasty sounding cough once in a while, but she's doing well. =)

Homeschooling is going well. I have to make sure Mercedes' attitude stays where it needs to be - gotta break that will, if we're going to get anything productive done!! She's stubborn just like her Mommy and Daddy. (More like her Daddy, though.) ;-)

We haven't seen Mia since Saturday, actually, I did sneak in to see her Monday night after my Bible study, and it was the sweetest thing. She was sleeping (it was almost 10pm) and I stood on the stool and was just admiring her beauty, and said "Hi my baby girl!! I miss you so much!! ......." and she heard my voice, woke up, turned towards me and moved around just a little bit, then got this totally peaceful look like "sigh, Mommy's here!" It was so sweet! =)

I can't to hold her again!

Rachael