We can hold her!

Well, yesterday I finally got to hold Harlie. It is still a little intimidating because she is still connected to everything - but it was wonderful anyway! They did the first trach change yesterday, too. So, that seems to be healing well. I learned how to suction the trach and have done that twice now. A little scary, but I can see that we'll get used to it with time and practice.

She has another small surgery tomorrow morning. And we're thinking that once she recovers from that, we'll be able to bring her home (maybe next week). They have started to get all our stuff in order in preparation for discharge, so I'm thinking that's a good sign.

Today she took a pacifier for the first time. It was wonderful to see her doing something a normal baby should do. It was actually quite a big deal to us - given that she's not had the opportunity to suck since she was born. Feeding her by the G-tube can have negative impacts on the development of her mouth motor skills. So we are hoping that if she will take a pacifier, that might help. Well, it is getting late. Talk to you later.