Okay, so my last post was a little depressing. I think I'm allowed some days like that, this isn't an easy process. I will say that I realized this and immediately turned my attitude around the very next day. I made sure Avie heard the positivity in my voice and that I kept my thoughts happy. Then, the very next night, Avie had two green stool smears in her diaper! The surgeon was thrilled and scheduled a contrast study. We've done these before she was reanastomosed (put back together) by injecting the contrast into the stoma that we were flushing. But, since she no longer has stomas, the contrast was put into her tummy via a tube in her nose. Like the replogle tube. Then we watched it make its way through her intestines by taking x-rays every few hours. I'm pleased to say that it's still progressing through her system. So far, everyone is happy that it's moving and there are no concerns at this point about the speed at which it is traveling through... even though it seems a little slow to me. I had a good feeling about this study when we started it. I actually told my husband that I knew something good was coming out of this and that we were going to get good news from this study. She hasn't pooped the contrast out yet, but I have heard her fart... which means that the contrast is pushing out some of the gas that made her belly swell up. So things on the medical front are improving! On the "I have a baby" side of things, Avie smiled for the first time! The day after our 'birthdays' she smiled. It happened as I was changing her diaper for the first time (I had helped the nurses change her diaper before, but they had to fold the diaper in a certain way at the top to avoid hitting the ileostomy- so I never completed the full process). My husband was talking to her and taking pictures when she looked right at him and grinned- this is the photo above. We were both frozen with joy... and I was almost weak in the knees! What's next?? Walking?!