Jolianne had a great day today. She is doing very well off the breathing machine. She has been a little sleepy the past few days so they started holding back on some of her sedation medication. Today she was awake a little more than yesterday. We are keeping our fingers crossed that she does not come down with an infection and have to be placed back on the breathing machine. I really hope that she can continue to get better and get to go to the 8th floor sometime soon. They are saying that it will be at least 2 more months until Jo Jo is well enough to come home. She still needs to get a little bigger and they also want to be sure that the VSD does not cause any problems that would put her life in danger with us living so far away from the hospital. It is still very possible that they will need to fix the VSD before she can come home. We will just have to wait and see what happens. At any rate, I am so very happy that she has been comfortable these past few days. It means so much to me to look into her eyes and not see any pain or discomfort. Yesterday, before I held her, she was crying and they asked me if I wanted to hold her to try to calm her down. I said that I definitely would love to hold her. As soon as she got situated in my arms she nuzzled her face to my chest and fell right to sleep. It felt so good to have her in my arms. Any one out there that has the opportunity to hold a baby, take them in, all the way, that is something that I don't think I really did with the boys. They way their hair smells, the way their face looks so peaceful, the way their breath feels on your face. It is all so magical. I don't take those things for granted anymore. I never know, when I Jo Jo, how long it will be until I get to hold her again. Things can change so quickly in the ICU. I have to be glad for the good days and pray that the bad days will get better. That is the only way that I can make it through each day!!!