Christmas Day

Monday 25th December

Needless to say that it doesn't feel like Christmas and we wake up in our stuffy little room at GOSH. We have said Merry Christmas to a few people but other than that it could be any other day - although we did get a free breakfast in the hospital canteen! When we got to the ward though, it was quite festive and the nurses were all doing their best to keep up the spirit. Grace received about 9 beautifully wrapped gifts from Father Christmas (the hospital must receive quite a few charity donations at Christmas) and we opened 2 of the softer ones to see if we could increase Grace's collection of soft toys (some of her own - like Nelly - and a number of new ones that have been given as gifts since she's been in hospital). Grace has got a Jake Tweenie and a lovely puppy in a kennel - great gifts for her age group so we are very impressed with Father Christmas and his hospital visits!

Grace's lung volumes were in the 80s today and we couldn't believe how they've improved. The nurses say that she is doing really well and that the doctors have even mentioned possibly coming off ECMO tomorrow. We can't believe it but are so grateful for this Christmas present - its more than we could have hoped for and all we wanted. Grace remained stable all day and we read to her and tell her about Christmas and all the good wishes for her, etc. We visited Wendy and Stu for an hour or two this evening but otherwise just stayed with Grace. We still miss her so much.