Transplant #1 done!

Charlotte's stem cell transplant went as planned! So far, everything here is going as expected. She received her baby stem cells mid day and we watched for about 45minutes while they slowly entered her body to begin their magic. She slept through the whole thing and was confused by the certificate they presented her haha. Transplants are a big deal around here for obvious resons as they are life saving. For us, it felt like step one of 2 in the transplant process since she will need a second transplant after more chemo in November. But we still celebrated this milestone!

Now we watch for her to engraft, basically her body's response indicating bone marrow production and blood cell production is occurring. She will have a rough next 2 weeks they tell us. So far, we are just battling nausea and what older kids describe as what feels like the flu. But medications are helping her and we also began TPN, which is nutrition given through IV. It goes through her central line and will provide the calories, vitamins, minerals, fats and nutrition she needs when she can't take enough by mouth for a little while. She has already dropped a full pound this week so I'm happy to begin this nutritional piece. She did eat part of a bagel this evening and kept it down, which was a great surprise!

Thanks for your prayers and love! It's working and we believe God hears just as we feel every single one. Ideally, no news is good news for a little while as we let her body recover and start growing those cells. Taylor and Parker will come visit tomorrow which is honestly the best medicine on earth for her soul. They are doing really well too. Surrounded this week by loving grandparents (Schuey and Neal) and even took a road trip to see all of my family in VA. They know that she will be home and back to her pesky adorable little sister self when this process is over.

She is still going, still moving! "Grow Cells Grow!"

In my window seat bed this morning getting ready for the big day 

Daddy reading a story before transplant. She then dosed off the missed the whole thing

All hook up as stem cell transplant begins

Go cells go! Grow cells grow!

One of her nurses here, Rachel, that she has bonded with came in on her off day today to bring Charlotte this Elsa braid knit hat she handmade for her last night! These nurses are amazing. 

A wake up surprise 

Made a firepit complete with roasted marshmallow craft in playroom tonight. She can't wait to be home enjoying our firepit with the whole family. 

Manicures by Charlotte. The nurses are lucky gals 😆