The Hospital - Milayla is officially discharged :)

I will be the first to admit that the hospital is not one of my favorite places to be. I have a large admiration for those who choose to go into professions which put them in the hospital day-in and day-out. And I have an even deeper admiration for some of the families who have to stay for long duration in the hospital due to a sick child. In the grand scheme of things, the couple weeks that we had in the hospital is nothing compared to the some of the families that we met who have been there for 6 months.

Staying in the hospital is not exactly a sleep aid. Milayla didn't sleep well, therefore, neither of us slept well. A lot of time was spent cuddling, walking and feeding a very tired little lady. But, without fail, morning would come (at a verrrrry early hour) and she would be smiles and ready to play and socialize.  I am so grateful for the resources that the hospital had in place for little children to keep their minds and hands busy. There was a big play room that both kids loved (Atticus was particularly excited to ride around on the Bobby Cars with Milayla). Not to mention, the kids were a tad spoiled and got to open up some Christmas presents early - which certainly helped the entertainment aspect.

There was craft time most mornings, and while most of the crafts were for older kids than Milayla, it was certainly something that Atticus looked forward to. And there was a lovely clown who blew lots, and lots, and lots of bubbles for Milayla. She loves bubbles. So much that if she is having a sick, tired and icky day they are sure to put a smile on her face.

And of course, Milayla was still full of smiles and sweetness.

She spent her time (when not in appointments) eating, reading, dancing, making friends, cuddling, chatting, being her happy self...

and feeling the effect of all the love and blessings being poured out on this Little Lady.

See that board up there? It is full of all sorts of loving, encouraging and thoughtful messages for Milayla. She is one very loved little girl. And I didn't even end up getting all of the messages on there! I am so grateful for this board, for all the people who sent messages of love and positive thinking (and especially for all the prayers that accompanied the well wishes), for all the positive responses that this board generated from visitors, other patients, and the hospital staff. I love the different languages, countries and religions that were represented on this board; that they all came together to for the cause of seeing Milayla get better. Well, all those prayers, positive thoughts and well wishes were answered and as of this afternoon... Milayla has officially been discharged from the hospital!

We are very grateful for the care of all the doctors and nurses, and the kindness of the other families whom we got to know while we are in the hospital, but there really is no place like home. And those great Doctors and Nurses have set up a plan for Milayla to see her continue progressing with her ability to eat. We don't know how long Milayla will need to have the tube for, but we are just grateful to see progression and to see her doing so well. In the meantime, there will be plenty of appointments. The next couple of weeks, in particular, will be full of appointments all trying to be squeezed in before the holidays.

Milayla is making incredible strides with her eating and we are so impressed with her determination to progress. That said, meal times do take quite a bit longer now; between preparing meals, eating, tube feeding, and cleaning up (3 times a day, plus snacks) it doesn't feel like there is much time for anything else. But we are happy to see Milayla doing so well, happy to see things progressing, and happy to be all under one roof and if all that entails longer mealtimes for a time, then that is where our focus will be and we'll make the most of it. And, of course, we feel super blessed to have Keely here helping out. It has been a huge help, especially while Milayla and I have been in the hospital. Atticus is so glad to be reunited with his dinosaur buddy and Milayla is loving having dance parties with her auntie. And as an added bonus, we have Keely taking gorgeous pictures for us. There are very few people that I trust to take family photos of us and Keely is one of them. Just check out these couple photos of Milayla in the hospital - beautiful (Milayla and the photos). Keely has been taking a lot of photos while she has been with us, so be sure to check out her Facebook Page by going here.

Yes, we're all still a little sleep deprived but we're happy, together and feeling very, very blessed. Now, it's time to celebrate with some games, food and laughter.