and so it begins

Marian's having a bit of a nap now, recovering from surgery to place a double lumen Broviac catheter (as she explains it, "it's 2 tubes that go to my heart and now no more pokes!") and a very late night in the ER. We were scheduled to come in this morning and start our BMT adventure with the surgery, but crazy intestine action this weekend had the powers that be concerned that she was dehydrated, not really the way to start before fasting for surgery. So Nathan finished up taxes and I finished up all the unnecessary packing that made me feel better and we rushed out to Philly. Except it all took us forever and we didn't get here until midnight :). Into the room by 4:00 am, though, which actually exceeded my expectations. We've been coping via games this visit, with Settlers of Catan in the ER and Nertz (a card game) in the surgery waiting room. I was giddy with lack of sleep and panic, but have been able to keep it silly instead of sobbingly so. Such a fine line :). I think the worst part of being at the hospital, other than the REASON, is all of the sad parents. The waiting room vista is seriously sobering, and slipping through the ER to our triage room (our doctor arranged for us to skip the soaking in germs part) almost brought me to tears (granted, a rather easy feat). Luckily, our room overlooks the ER because, for some reason, the ER waiting lounge has a 9-story vaulted ceiling for our viewing enjoyment.

But we are safely settled and the princess is resting well. So far we've only dipped into the Legos in her treasure bins, but great things are in store! Thanks for checking in with us.