Finally home

Our little ladybug is sleeping. She's having a time breathing and swallowing, so she's drooling like crazy and her nose is runny. Still some bleeding which is alarming to us, but the docs and nurses all said it was to be expected. She was so thrilled to get the stitches out of her tongue that I think we ALL wept. 

The surgeon came in early with his new partner; I want to say he's an orthodontic guy, but I'm not sure -- we were pretty brain dead when they came in. Dr. Matthews took the two long threads out of her tongue which was a piece of cake, amazingly (the thread held her tongue in place during the surgery). He thought she looked great, was happy she ate jello and pudding, and released us around 11AM or so. Jai was happy to get the IV out and walk around a little. She wore daddy's hat and grinned with those big, swollen lips -- it just made we want to squeeze her. Daddy has photos and will put them up after we try to get a few zzzz's. The double espressos got us home, but we're rapidly running out of gas! Two nights and a very hard day have worn us out. I can't believe how tough our daughter is. She hasn't even needed pain meds yet today. 

The soft palate is repaired beautifully. He couldn't fix the tiny gap in the gum, unfortunately, but that's not unusual. That'll come later. 

Her cry sounds different already, not resonating through her palate, but she is SO swollen that it's hard to tell how she really sounds. She was making happy little sounds and signing like crazy overnight. When the docs left this morning, a mom walked by with her toddler and Jai Li spotted them. The baby was crying. Jai immediately signed "baby," made the little sound in her throat that she makes when she hugs (kind of a cute, happy, little grunt), and hugged herself, as if she wanted to hug the little guy that went by. Adorable. She signed for milk, too, when she was ready for it. 

Overnight, the only we would get her really comfortable was if we both stood up, Layne and I facing each other, with daddy holding Jai between us and her upper body leaned back against me. If she could press her face against mine and hug her arms and legs around daddy, she would finally calm down. Talk about a long night in that position!

The docs were thrilled to see her so cuddly with us both, considering she's only been with us 3 months. 

Off to sleep... more later.