Leah did really well through the night. They were able to do some suctioning to remove more of the mucus. Her x-ray look great this morning. The goal for tomorrow is to hopefully remove the ventilator. Her liver numbers were a little high, but this is about the time the body starts wanting to reject the liver, so this is very normal. She started some steroids to help. Over all, we felt like today went better even though she has the breathing tube in. She is very good at trying to get her hands up to her mouth. We have to keep her strapped down. She manages to slid herself down and get her hands closer to her mouth. Many times throughout the day, we have to move her back towards the top of the bed. She's feisty:)

It's been an up and down kind of two days. Yesterday, we were both able to hold Leah dispite all the wires and tubes. She seemed more like herself. We could hear that she seemed to have some mucus in her lungs, so we were trying to get her to cough it up. Because of her incision on her belly, she wasn't able to cough hard enough to get anything out. She slept with a C-Pap machine to see if that would help with her collapsed lung. This morning the xray showed no improvement. They decided to insert the breathing tube again and do another bronc. on her. They were able to get out a lot of mucus. Both lungs look irritated, so they aren't sure if she has a viral infection. We should know by tomorrow. She will keep the breathing tube in through the night and they will see what her xray shows tomorrow. We are praying for clear lungs. She really doesn't like the breathing tube and tries anyway to get to it. Ethan came out with grandpa and grandma Sauder, so we are enjoying having him with us. We have decided to not let him see Leah until she is moved to a regular room. We are hoping that this happens before he has to head back home. He brought some gifts out that he wants to give to her. Thanks for all the prayers, cards and support through this time. .... "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. " -John 16:33

Leah is definitely looking much better today, but her right lung is collapsed again. They are going to do an ultrasound to make sure it's not fluid around the lung. But as for now she has to wear a mask from a CPAP machine, which she absolutely hates. And because of this we will be spending another day in the PICU. Setbacks can be very discouraging, but it's all in Gods timing.

I never thought I'd be happy to hear my baby girl cry, but after almost a week of silence a raspy cry is music to my heart. Yes, praise God Leah had her breathing tube taken out today around 4:30pm. You can tell that her throat must be very painful. But we are very excited to be moving forward with Leah's progress. The transplant team will see her tomorrow and decide if she should be in the PICU for another day or not. Words can not express to you all how thankful we are and how blessed we feel for all of you and your support (prayers, cards, etc.) While I don't wish anyone to have to go through this, my prayer is that you all could experience God in the same way we have through all of this journey. And that God would bless you as much as you have blessed us. Thank you so much. Please pray for Leah's throat and lungs as she recovers from her breathing tube being taken out.

Leah had an OK day today. The word of the day was lungs. She had another bronc done today. Her x-rays look good now, so they hope to ween her off the ventilator and pull out the breathing tube. Hopefully that can happen tomorrow. She responds some by shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head. My (Travis) parents were out today. We would just ask for continued pray for healing over her body, and for Gods peace, comfort and strength.

I thought I would take a moment while Leah is resting to update you on her status. Leah's incision was closed at about 10:30 this morning. She had a good ultra sound after they closed her up. They were only able to close the skin, so we will have to be back in about 6 months for her muscles to be reattached. At 4, they stopped the medication to keep her asleep. Slowly she started to move and open her eyes. It was so good to see her eyes again. She still has the ventilator. They are slowly weening her off of that. Over all we feel very happy with how the day went. Travis's parents will be with us tonight into tomorrow. We feel so blessed by all the prayers and support from family and friends. Thank you.

Pre-surgery photos. Can't wait to see her like this again.