Happy Halloween

** I started working on this post on Halloween evening just as I promised. Between computer problems and Cayman's very messed up sleeping schedule (due to her hospital stay), I did not get it posted before 12 a.m. 10-31-08. You can take it up with the little munchkin, but I'm pretty certain you will forgive her after you see these pictures. They are worth the wait. She's so darn cute!!

Cayman's First Halloween

RAAARRR!!!!

Prowling her prey.
Carving Pumpkins

Mike's pumpkin is the far left one. Do you know what this carving is?


I made this video today for your Halloween scare! It will leave you feeling buggy. :)

A Happy Baby

Cayman is doing so much better. This surgery was exactly what she needed.

These are the changes we have seen in her:

• Drinks her bottle calmly and quietly.
• She does not choke when she eats.
• She does not vomit anymore.
  
• Her breathing is quieter when she sleeps.
• She laughs a lot more.

Before you get upset that I have once again posted without new pictures, let me encourage you to check back tomorrow and see pictures of Cayman's first Halloween. :)

Loungy Days...not to be Mistaken for Lousy Days

There's 'Lazy Days' and then there's 'Loungy Days'.

Neither are to be mistaken for 'Lousy Days'.

Lazy Days are those summer afternoons laying by the pool, drinking lemonade.

Loungy Days are those cold fall/winter afternoons dressed in sweats and cuddled up under a blanket with a good book.

We've had two wonderful 'Loungy Days'.

We stayed home.

We napped.

I knitted.

Mike read.

We watched a movie.

It feels great to be home!!

Recap of the Weekend in the Hospital

I took a lot of pictures over the weekend. That's what happens when I'm stuck in a small room with a camera.

Here's a few.

**Gifts from baby Ashalyn.**

**Doped up on some heavy drugs to prepare Cayman for taking the chest tube out.**

**the chest tube**

**Taking the chest tube out. She was very calm and did not feel much because of the drugs they gave her.**

**Passing the time.**

**the ultrasound technician had his office decked out with Ohio State stuff.**

**This was the apparatus they put Cayman in to do a chest x-ray. She's actually standing up, being held only by the straps and banana seat her bottom is sitting on.**

**Bye-bye hospital.**

We're Going Home

Stay tuned for more pictures soon!

A Hospital Hotel

Every time Cayman has been in the hospital we could always hear a baby down the hallway that seems to cry all day and all night. This time that baby is Cayman's roommate.We have not gotten a lot of rest because of this. Mike and I have taken turns, one staying by Cayman's side, while the other one sleeps in the hotel room.

Still wide awake at 1 a.m. last night, Mike asked the nurse a request that we were not sure would be granted.

"Can we take Cayman to our hotel room and sleep there?"

The nurse checked with the doctor. Cayman's chest tube was not draining anymore fluids, her IV is not in use, her vitals have been steady, so the doctor said, "OK."

So down this hallway we went...












turn left and pass through this door...














down this ramp that connects the hospital building to the hotel building...











turn right and pass through this door into the hotel...












take a quick right...













then a quick left down this hallway...













turn right down this hallway and go all the way to the end...












and arrive at our hotel room.





We only had 3 hours before Cayman had to be back in her hospital room to receive her antibiotic, but it was a great 3 hours to be all together sleeping in a quiet room.

Decorating Pumpkins in the Hospital

Guess who's smiling and playing today...

Yesterday Cayman was moved from ICU to general care. She still has her chest drainage tube. The doctor wants to leave it in until 2 things happen:

1. When no more post surgery fluids drain anymore
   
2. Cayman is taking full feeds

The fluids are draining oh so slow. I think she will be back to full feeds before it's completely done draining. Her morphine is being cut back so they warned us that she may start to become more uncomfortable again.

Three things have to take place before we can go home:

1. Drainage tube out
2. Full feeds
3. Pain tolerance

Cheering on the Buckeyes...

from U of M hospital of all places.





Everyone that knows Mike knows he's a die-hard Ohio State Buckeyes fan. And everyone that doesn't know him but reads our blog I'm sure has caught on to that fact by now.

Most of the time you see Mike he is always wearing something that says "Ohio State" on it. He has been mistaken for never changing his clothes but the truth is he has a closet full of clothes, they are just all of the same thing. The guy doesn't shop for anything else. When he finds an Ohio State hat that fits perfectly he buys like 5 of the exact same hat and wears one until it is worn out and then just gets another one out. He does the same for T-shirt, sweatshirts, etc. That is why he looks like he never changes his clothes. The man knows what he likes!

The Buckeyes are playing a big game tonight against Penn State. Cayman and Daddy always watch the Buckeyes together. Being in the hospital was not going to stop them from breaking their tradition. Mike could have watched in the lobby where there is a big widescreen TV but since Cayman can't leave her bedside Mike is perfectly content sitting in the hard stiff-back rocking chair holding his baby as he watches the Buckeyes on an old, tiny, bubbled-out screen TV.

Cayman is a blessed little girl to have such a Daddy as Mike.Go Bucks!!