Surgery tomorrow

Hello all. I am so tired. It was such a long day. Ava's backwards swallow test went fine. It showed that there was no obstuction in her large bowel. (colon) So we are happy with those findings. Her surgeon wanted us to wait until February 16th to do the surgery but I explained to him my feelings. I told him about my dream and that I have been feeling that "the time is now." He then told me that he was going to be out of town next week and that made me really nervous. Then after about a half an hour of discussing her behavior last week he said, "How about tomorrow?" I was speechless. We then agreed that it was best for her to be well and that he would definately be doing the surgery. I feel at peace with this although I am scared to death. We have to leave for the hospital in just 7 hours. Here are a few pics of the day.



She pretty much cried this whole test.


Miss Ava weighs 25 pounds.


She was 37 inches tall. I was shoked. She has grown so much the last two months.


My happy girl.


She also had an ultrasound done of her kidneys and bladder. We were just checking as a followup after her almost bout with dialiais when she was in the PICU. We didn't get the results of that test.


Mommy and Ava are exhausted. This was shortly after we got the news that the surgery was a go for tomorrow.


I'm very afraid. Please pray for Ava and all our family as this is so difficult again to surrender our baby to the hands of some one else. Pray for strength. We know she will go to PICU right after her surgery. Surgery is scheduled for 7:15 am. I will try to get ahold of one of the hospital computers and update as soon as I can.

Thanks for your support, love and prayers.

~The Helmick's