I'm so happy you all are getting out of ICU!!! That's great news.

Such great news - we love the first hand updates!!! Prayers still coming.

Wonderful news! She's still in our prayers of course, but it's so nice to see that she's continuing a strong progress!!!

Hugs to all of you. Wow, out of ICU....that is amazing and so up-lifting. Thanks for the update. Many prayers coming that this ordeal will soon be nothing more than a memory.

That is so wonderful and special! Goodbye ICU...

What wonderful progress for such a tough little girl. We are all still praying here.

This is from Natalie's website (I love being the "bear"er of happier news):

What a very busy day we all had. First things first, she kept daddy up ALL night and then she took a 5 hour "nap" today. Poor daddy. He's sleeping at the hospital with her and I am here at the Kohl's house.

Natalie is eating like a horse (well, a little pony anyway)! For dinner she had some cut up pieces of chicken, 3 smily-face fries, applesauce, 2 chicken nuggets (of mommies), a few french fries, 4 cookies, and 3 ounces of apple juice to wash it down! Gotta' love those steroids!!!

Her LFTs went back up today, so a liver biopsy was done at 4 pm. This was to confirm rejection. An hour prior to the biopsy she had a new PICC line placed and her femoral line removed. Her PICC line, it should be said, was done WITHOUT sedation, just a local to numb the site. Her nurses and the docs said that they've never seen a kid like her. She didn't cry! Oh my sweet Natalie, how strong you are. Once she recovered from these procedures she was back to her normal self.

About the rejection: They went ahead and increased her steroids and they tell us that this should get the rejection under control. She was given a dose of steroids prior to having the vent pulled and this helped, but she'll need a few more days.

Great news, glad to hear of the progress.

You have a very strong little girl there! I will continue to pray for all of you.

What an incredible little one you have. I teared up when I read what the doctors said. God Bless you guys. I'm praying for bright days. (and restful nights....hang in there Jason. )

Hospitals are hard to sleep in to start with. It must be really tough with a restless child!

It's great that she's doing so well.

Every time I read the updates they bring tears to my eyes. She is such a tough little bear. Hang in there and we are thinking of you.

I can almost picture her, you've shared so much with us. Thank you, this is a nice way to start off the weekend!

I can't believe how tough this kid is. I could never go through what she has been through. Once she is through all of this, nothing will phase her.

That's what I am afraid of!

Here's today's news...from the webpage sorry that I'm getting lazy.

Friday, March 4, 2005 8:45 PM CST

It turns out that the biopsy taken yesterday does indeed show rejection. That's OK, though, as Natalie's LFTs improved today after one REALLY REALLY big dose of steroids last night. So we'll continue this stronger dose until the rejection is no more.

Lots of visitors today...Natalie's Grandma and Grandpa Dempsey and Becca's cousin Shane and his wife Tina stopped by to see the Princess!

Natalie is doing well. She spent the day playing with toys on the floor and as hard as we tried to keep her on the sterile playmat, she had other ideas and crawled all over the room!

GOOD NEWS...I always wait until the end to do this...If Natalie continues to do well, we'll be outta' here on Tuesday!!! (Out of the hospital anyway, and discharged to Kohl's house for a few weeks of monitoring.) Pray that all goes well.

I don't know what to say, Becca. That is INCREDIBLE news!!

Wow! I'm so excited for you all.

There's some new pictures on Natalie's website.

Absolutely fabulous!!!

Do you all realize that our little bear was just getting listed a mere four months ago?! This is amazing!

Keep it going, little one.

I hate to bring you all down on the roller coaster with me, really I do...

Rotavirus - there's another icky "R" word.
Miss Natalie is again sick. How she contracted this is anybody's guess - but hospitals are not always the cleanest place to be.

She's back to getting IV fluids, mostly because we've been hard pressed to get her to keep anything down. She kept daddy - who, bless his heart, has been staying with her at the hospital - up ALL night last night. But she hasn't gotten sick since 9 this morning, so we're hoping that all is getting better.

It freaked us out a bit, since all of her meds are now oral.
She's on 11 meds, given a total of 25 times a day, so we're really hoping that this virus gets better soon. Even though she's immunosuppresed, she sould be able to fight it.

The good news, Becca, is that once a child contracts and beats a rotavirus, they never get it as severely as they originally did. She's being tested, isn't she! Well, she and her parents, of course. Keep fighting alongside the little angel and she'll keep on fighting as she has been. You are doing a wonderful job, it seems. More prayers just went out to you from Oklahoma.

Jeremy

B, I am praying that all these ups and downs turn into all ups! May God give Natalie His healing touch.

Prayers still coming from me, too!

I am getting caught up with the updates today and what a rollercoaster ride it has been. The three of you are in my prayers daily.

I just went to the web site and looked at the pictures. How scary that must of been with all the tubes and wires, she looks so small. Tell that old virus to get the Hell out of there and leave that precious baby alone. She needs to get well so she can drive her mom and dad crazy.