SK here we come!

Well she is off to her first day of senior kindergarten.  I truly was not sure, even as late as Friday, whether she would make it in today. But she did. So we will take it one day at a time.  Alexa is going to in part-time and slowly work her way up to full day.
She was so happy and excited to see her teachers and friends! She woke up bright and early and with a huge smile on her face!

She did wonderfully--She went straight up to her teacher and showed off her fancy new lunch bag that she picked out--Disney Fairies!

She had decided that she did not want a new back pack this year--was quite content with the Minnie Mouse one! Who am I to argue with that?!? She opened up her lunch bag and showed her snack--Cheese String and yogurt!!! (snacks she would have never enjoyed pre-transplant)

And momma did okay too!  I had a bit of help from her wonderful teacher who knows me well and knew that I was probably more nervous than Alexa was, and so she whisked Alexa off right away to see some of her friends.  She almost forgot to give me a hug and kiss!!!!

And I cannot lie--there were a bit of shed tears, but mainly because many people (ones I did not even know) came up to me to give me and Alexa a hug and tell us how happy they are that Alexa is doing to wonderfully and back at school with the rest of her friends.  I did not realize that so many other teachers, staff, parents and students knew about Alexa's situation and care so much about her.  She has touched so many people in ways I have never imagined.

As always, Alexa showed me just how brave, strong and resilient she is.  6 weeks ago, she was being transplanted and today she is at school.  This is one day of super mixed emotions, I am so happy to have her doing her "normal" kid stuff again, that is happy, ready to learn and thrive, but am having a bit of trouble letting go.

This picture makes me smile!  My darling girl has changed so much in a year's time!  As always, watching her grow and flourish has been my pleasure and can't wait for what she will impress me with next.

Hoping everyone has a great first day at school and a great year!

PS... I know there are many people who are wondering how the procedure went on Friday.  It went very smoothly.  She was given a mild sedation that made her giggly and drowsy, kept her calm, and left her with no recollection of the event.  I was allowed in the room with her, and held her hand while telling her stories to keep her still while the doctors took their sample.  They were able to get a good sample and it looked clear--which is good news, and we should have results today!
In the meantime, over the last two days, she has gone to the bathroom a lot and today, I measured her stomach and it is about 2 inches smaller than it has been since this whole thing started. I am hoping that this is a sign of positive news to come later this afternoon. I am more confident that we will get over this hurdle too!

UPDATED @ 1:49pm
Just got the results call back from the transplant team.  NOTHING out of the ordinary that could be causing the excess build-up of fluid.  There are no obvious signs of infection--the cultures have come back negative. And the fluid was clear, indicating that it is not a leakage of fat.  This is good news! It really is, but still does not give us an answer. So, Alexa is being booked for an ultrasound sometime this week and she will do bloodwork at the same time!  In the meantime, we are hoping that she continues to release the fluid in her urine and her stomach continues to go down.