…but her mom and dad snuck off to a Bed & Breakfast yesterday. It was a last minute deal, but Tina and I decided to escape the Gator fever.
We found a place right off the Atlantic coast out in Flagler. It’s a two hour drive from Gainesville and we headed out right after we saw Ella in the afternoon. Timed it just right too, because we missed all the football traffic. =)
It was a nice drive. Felt so good just to see some different scenery. I was beginning to feel like we had been living on an island for the last eight weeks, so it was nice to confirm that we weren’t.
We arrived at the B&B around 7:30pm, just when the sun was setting. We checked in, and headed down to the boardwalk and walked to a restaurant. Dinner was a bit disappointing, but the walk back to the B&B wasn’t.
There was a monster thunderstorm* right out over the ocean. Something you rarely see out in Southern California, but I’m sure it’s a regular event here. It was awesome. A gorgeous clear night, with the waves crashing, stars out above us, and lightening flashing in the distance. What an incredible display of God’s creation. We took our time walking back, barefoot on the beach, and just soaked in the moment.
The next morning, after breakfast, we headed north on highway 1 to St. Augustine. What a quaint town. A lot of history too considering it’s the oldest city in the country. We walked around looking at all the different shops and historic buildings.
We were then lured into Pizza Time, a NY style pizza place, where we enjoyed the best pizza we had ever had! Seriously, pizza is my favorite food, and I tend to be picky about it (not that I’ve ever turned down a slice ;-)), but this pie was absolutely tasty. If you’re ever is St. Augustine, you gotta give it a try.
After lunch, we walked around a bit more and took in the scenery. We then decided to head back to good ol’ Gainesville and check up on our baby girl.
Ella had a good day overall. She has been a lot more comfortable since they replaced her right chest tube yesterday. Her stats are looking better. Her blood gases at noon were: cO2=57, pO2=107. Her pO2 was down a bit this evening at 8pm (68), but Michelle thinks this was attributed to an excess of secretions in her chest at the time.
She’s only had 23cc of chest fluid output for the day. We like this to be more because her chest x-ray is still showing up hazy, indicating a fair amount of fluid. On the positive side, Ella’s urine output has increased significantly. We hope this is related to the additional diuretics she’s received and that it keeps up. This is the right way for her body to process excess fluids instead of relying on chest tubes.
Ella is in good hands tonight with nurse Michelle. We’re able to rest easier knowing that the nurse on duty truly cares for our baby girl.
Please continue to pray for Ella’s fluid issue. We are trusting our Lord that in His time and in His way, He will take care of it. This has been an incredible process, of learning to give over to God the things we cannot control. It can be very emotional, and there’s no reason that it shouldn’t be! But there is an incredible rainfall of peace when we put our trust in Jesus.
Heavenly Father, we praise your for your promises that you deliver through your Holy Word. Continue to write on our hearts, these words you have instilled in our minds. Praise you Lord for your peace, grace, mercy, and sovereignty in all things. You are Almighty God, and we surrender to you, praying that you may be glorified through all these circumstances. It is in Jesus name that we ask these things. Amen.
*Below is a slideshow and a short video of a lightening strike we saw on the beach last night. There are a total of 23 separate frames that make up the slideshow. It really shows how incredible the strike was, and how much occurs in less than a second!. Wow..wow…WOW!
Ella is doing better this morning.