Grace WALKS!!

Grace walked for the first time! This Wednesday while Miss Debbie was cleaning, she put Grace's toys on the coffee table in order to vaccuum. Grace had the other rings so she decided to put them on the stacker. She got off the step her and I were sitting on and crawled a bit before lifting up and taking FOUR steps! I was lucky enough she did it again and caught it on video. That's me being loud and talking in the background to Miss Debbie lol. It was awesome!

Antibiotics Complete!

Grace after the MRI- still looking a little drunk.

Showing the doctor her progress so he would order the picc out- way to go Grace!
Also the last picture with the picc line in her arm.

The entire picc line

Auntie Kim and Mommy very happy when the picc was pulled:)

We went to Vanderbilt on Thursday and it went better than expected. We got there about an hour ahead of schedule, so Kim and I expected to be waiting for a bit. To our surprise, they could get us in early since one of the others scheduled was stuck in traffic. The nurse was even happier when they realized she didn't need an IV since she already had a picc line. They put her to sleep while i held her and she was down for about 45 minutes to complete the scan.

She came out of anthestia well, just a little drunk looking and craving a snack since it had been at least 12 hours since her last meal. Since we had a few hours before the Infectious Disease clinic appointment, we went to Centennial Park and took a nice stroll before going to Joe's Crab Shack in downtown Nashville. It started to pour down rain, Grace laughed as I tried to get her to the truck as quick as possible while running in flip-flops and soaked jeans. At the appointment, the resident said they didn't get a test that measured the inflamation so they would need that before we left. Which would have meant having the picc for the weekend, but the attending doc saw Grace's improvement and her walking to the wall toy and he told the nurse to pull it. I got to keep it- like a 4 year old wanting it for show and tell :) and here is a picture- the part past the bandage was in the vein in her right arm and ended up closer to the heart.

So no more picc line- which means no more harsh vancomycin in the veins- and she is well on her way to full recovery with physical therapy. If i had to put a number, I would say that she is about 95% back to the way she was then some- her vocabulary has increased dramatically and her motor skills are back to normal. We still have some physical therapy so she can get back to the right milestones for her age, but she is doing well- hopefully she won't need the therapist for long!

Recovery: Weeks 3, 4 and 5

Daniel refused to walk to the store, so he carried Grace in the stroller! lol


Talking to daddy on the computer.. he was sending loads of winks that she loved.


Sitting by her own for the first time since being in the hospital.

We haven't disappeared, just busy busy bees.
Miss Grace is moving right along!! She has made about a step and a half in the last week by herself. All her moving abilities have returned, now its time to work on stamina and endurance. She has been grabbing fingers and making everyone walk her when she wants to go somewhere. It can sometimes be mistaken as wanting to be held, but she will fuss at you if you are doing in wrong.

Her speech abilities were in question after an evaluation a few weeks ago, but after talking to the doctor- I have no worries. Dr. Hughes examined the ears and didn't see anything that would hinder her hearing. However, a hearing test is scheduled for next week just to make sure and have a baseline for any future checkups.

Thursday is the big day- MRI and a clinic appointment. We hope to learn if the PICC line can be pulled and when. I have learned that a nurse can do it, so we won't have to make a trip back to Nashville for the simple procedure. It's starting to look up!