HaPpY 150 DaYs Sweet Girl......

Today is a HUGE day to celebrate!! Every day is a day to celebrate, but today is yet another BIG milestone!! Our sweet ANGEL ARIAUNA is 150 days post transplant today! It seems like just yesterday that Ariauna and I were off on an adventure to never be forgotten. We were scared to death, but we had numerous talks that together with prayers to our Father in Heaven we could do it. It seems like just yesterday! I just wanted to take a moment today to write my feelings down. It is hard to believe it was 150 days ago that we were patiently waiting for one of the most beautiful gifts my daughter would ever receive. I think the only other gift that can even compare is the day she was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and was given the Gift of the Holy Ghost to comfort her, guide her and help her to know the difference between right and wrong.  This beautiful gift she was given 150 days ago, didn't come in special wrapping paper, in fact it didn't even have a bow. But it was the GIFT that would give her a longer life.  I will forever be grateful to the beautiful woman who gave of herself and donated her cord blood to save my daughter's life.

As I sit here today at the computer looking back at our journey, I can not help but have tears streaming down my face. 150 days ago I was scared to death. I have never been so scared in my entire life. I had heard and I knew what the next few weeks, months and even years could bring. I knew there was a chance I would not be able to bring my daughter home. I watched as my daughter was given another chance at life. I watched as she was sicker than she has ever been in her life. I watched as she slept for days and days and didn't hardly wake up. I watched her go through things, I can not even imagine going through myself. Here are a few pictures of things that every time I see them, the tears start to flow.  Here she is so sick, and sleeping days and days away.

Here is another one of her spiking fevers of 105 and 106. Nothing would cool her down. She would throw up the Tylenol, we tried the cooling blankets, rags, everything they could think of.

Here she is with her horrible rash, that we waited and waited for doctors to decide for sure if it was Graft vs Host Disease where her body is trying to reject the donor cells. Luckily, even though still very miserable for her it ended up being Engraftment Syndrome where her little body was trying to engraft to quickly.

Here she is with her beautiful daddy who came to visit about a week after she received the cells. No matter how prepared he thought he was, seeing her this way was un-imaginable. This picture will always make me cry! She was so excited to see her daddy, even though you can not tell by her face. And he just sat and held her and cried and cried and cried...

And here she is letting daddy shave off the few strands of hair she still had left. Losing her hair was one of her greatest fears about this whole process. Knowing that, this picture will also always make me cry, it was getting rid of what she was the most afraid of.

I will never forget the HELL she went through, the days I sat and watched the monitors as she slept and wondered if at any minute with her blood pressure dropping and her oxygen levels dropping they would come running in and sweep my angel to the ICU unit.

Some days I still wonder how we made it through those toughest days. But then I sit and have a good little cry and remember all of the sweet people in Minnesota who I was a complete stranger to, that held me, loved me, talked to me, visited me, cheered me on and shed tears with me. I remember my Ronald McDonald House family and how I couldn't have made it without them. I remember my parents filling in for me as a mom to my other three beautiful children that I had no choice but to leave behind for months and months. I remember my brothers and sisters and their spouses sending me beautiful emails, text messages, letters and packages cheering me on and reminding me how much we were loved. I remember our ward family (church family), beautiful neighbors and my closest friends who went above and beyond at feeding my family at home, doing our yard work, helping with my kids, providing Jerry a way to be with us for Thanksgiving, sending Ariauna and I LOVE packages, texts, and emails to remind us how much we were loved. I remember a wonderful community that went above and beyond and providing and supporting a fundraiser to help us pay for this $300,000.00 procedure she was going to have to have. I remember friends of Jerry's who provided numerous sky miles for Ariauna and I to get to Minnesota and for him to be able to come back and visit us numerous times, I remember the company Jerry has worked for for over 20+ years feeding our family, allowing him to be away from work and helping us in ways I can not even say, I picture Dr. Margaret MacMillan, the BMT staff, the outstanding nurses, and aides that took care of my sweet girl and knew exactly what she needed when I as her mom had no idea and for them comforting me on days when no one else was there, when I felt like I couldn't do it one more day, they pushed me and kept me going, and I remember numerous times looking back and seeing only one set of footprints in the sand and knowing deep down inside and a burning in my soul that it was then that my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ carried me.  My heart is so full today as it was when we were in Minneapolis and I can not help but once again thanking each and every one of you for all you have done for our family. I know we could not have done it without the help of all of you.

I know our tough times are not over. I know we will have other challenges and times we need help again, but  it is with a very grateful heart that I post these next two pictures and thank my Heavenly Father for helping her to fight through this. For being by our side every step of the way. It is pictures like these that make looking back on all the sad and heart wrenching pictures worth it. I hope she will have many more RAINBOW days! I love her as well as my other three children with all of my heart. She is truly my hero.. I will never forget the day we got the results back on the other kids being tested for Fanconi Anemia. It was just Ariauna and I in Minnesota at the time and the doctor told me that the other three kids tested negative for FA. Ariauna looked at me and with a big smile said she was so glad none of the other kids had it. She is truly a blessing to us all. She is the sweetest, most kind, loving girl I have ever met. She is always happy, always smiling and brings joy to everyone around her. She will always be my little HERO.....  I love you Ariauna and I am so happy at day +150 you are doing so well and are so strong.... Here is hoping for many more happy days!  HaPpY 150 day BiRtHdAy!!!!