God blessed us with a great day!!!

Around 3:00pm today they decided to take the breathing tube out to and to let Autumn breathe on her own. She did great and started breathing instantly on her own and has had no apnea episodes. They bottle fed her around 5:00pm and it took her awhile to drink the 11 cc they gave her because she played more with it than she drank it but finally got it all down. The nurse said she really opens her mouth wide when she sucks so she thinks she will do great breastfeeding when the time comes. We asked the doctor how long they think it will take her to heal if she continues to breathe well and has no set backs. He said usually they send them home about 48 hours after the shunt surgery so there is a high chance she will be released by this weekend and we could be heading home on Monday. They are going to let us both stay the night before they release us to have a trial night to do everything ourselves to get prepared to take care of her. They will also sit down with us to talk about what to expect with the shunt and how to spot complications. They will also talk to us about if we will have to catherize her and everything else we need to know. It is scaring to go all the way back home and not have this team of experts close by in case something goes wrong. I have a dr. appt on Monday so we will stay throughout the weekend and leave on Monday if they do release us later this week plus we want to stay a little while in town just in case. :) We still do not know if she has any nerve damage and feelings in her legs. We will move her legs though and she will move them and bend them so we think it is her doing it and not just reflexes. When on her tummy she will push her knees up under herself and push herself up a little. I have noticed she really does not react when they prick her feet so I am wondering if she has feelings in her feet. I guess they will talk to us about it before we leave or when we come back for our 2 week check-up. Well, as I am posting this I just talked to James and Autumn had to be bagged again. She was eating again and stopped breathing but James think it was just because she got choked up while eating. We are still being hopeful and pray she has a good night. I am thankful God blessed us with a great day of improvements because yesterday was such a hard day and I needed a positive one today.