IT'S DONE!!! THE TRACH IS OUT!! YAY!!

Babygirl and I next to the "trach fairy" sign-she's # 22 for the year!!

Jenna putting her number on the board-she was so proud!

Jenna being goofy-this is the pic of her "special sign" and her cake for the party!

Jenna opening her prizes for getting her trach out!

Cheesing it for the first time after her trach was removed!! Prior to this she was melting down, but she perked up quickly when I said I wanted a picture!

The final moment...taking her trach out for the last time. She was, has and will always be a trooper!

Well as you can see by the title of my post, the trach is out! We came in this morning and they said that Jenna did well through the night, no issues and slept the whole time. Great news. They did rounds this morning and as promised, stopped by around 9:30a and came in to remove the trach. Well, the nurse practitioner said that I could remove it if I would like, for one last time :) And I did. Jenna was not a happy camper because she thought that I was going to hurt her(usual reaction when I go near her trach) then we just placed a gauze bandage over it and that was it. Then she was upset because I did not put it back in, go figure, she used to hate me putting it back in and now she wanted it, silly girl. Well then the nurse informed me that the trach removal day is made to be a huge deal so if I had regular clothes, put her in them and they had a party with cake and everything for them. Well Jenna did not want clothes on, she refused, but we still did the party. We had cake and ice cream, balloons and they even made a sign that said "Congrats Jenna-No More Trach!!" It was great! Of course I spoiled her with prizes and so did Aunt Me(my sister Missy). I cried once it was over-bittersweet tears. We are so pruod of her, she has come so far and she has no idea how "big" of a deal today was. We spent most of the day today just relaxing and playing with toys. This evening I was able to get her out of the bed and take a walk around the unit. Well, once I did, she never stopped. I could not tell you how many times we walked around, haha. She kept waving at people, saying hi, stopping at other rooms to see patients. She even made a friend in the hall, who also had his trach removed today. A total of 3 trachs were removed today, so exciting! During our walk we got to hang Jenna's number on the trach fairy board. This represents which number of trach she was for the year which have been taken by the trach fairy and given to children who need them. It was so cool! She was thrilled! She has ate ok today, trying new things. I spoke with her cardiac dietician about her feeds through her G tube right now. She was able to provide me with some new ideas and changes to Jenna, possibly trying a multi-vitamin by mouth, and stopping one of her liquid meds if Jenna tolerates(yay!). Also we discussed shortening the length of her feeds to help her be hungry more during the day and eventually get her to take nutrition liquid supplement by mouth. So we will see how it goes. This evening she took a little nap, we did see her ENT surgeon earlier and he is thrilled with how well she is doing. He is anxious to see how she does tonight when sleeping. If all goes well, I will be bringing clothes for her to play in tomorrow and we get to go to the playroom, yay!! I have not told her that news yet, so I can't wait to see her face. Thanks to everyone for all the support, love, thoughts and prayers-it means so much to us. This has been such an emotional rollercoaster, and I am so happy that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. :)) We love you all and will keep you posted. Still the plan to come home Friday. Talk soon.

Love, Jenny, Justin and Jenna