Hospital stay #6 and MRI

Ellie had a regular check up with her cardiologist last week and things seemed to be fine besides the fact that she is not gaining weight and has been quite congested for the past couple of weeks. Other than that, she has been pretty happy and healthy and had avoided any hospital visits.
On Monday, after I went swimming with the boys and the Burtons and Rhett almost drowned (that's another story), I came home to a very sick-looking Ellie. She had not been her normal self for the past couple of days - screaming, not sleeping well, she vomited and was dry heaving, turned really pale, was very lethargic, and when Mike checked her O2 levels, she was down in the 50s and 60s. Normal should be above 80. Mike and Wayne gave her a blessing and we felt that it wasn't safe for us to drive her 45 minutes to the hospital so we called 911, got her stabilized, and I rode in the ambulance with her up to Primary Children's. I have to say the ambulance ride was really uneventful and not as exciting as I had always imagined it would be. Of course, there is no excitement when your baby is sick and on the way to the hospital.
At the hospital they did the usual blood tests and xrays and everything turned out negative...again. By the time they were ready to admit her and get her into a room, Ellie had turned a corner, was giggling and was doing well at her baseline O2 requirement. The doctor gave us the option of staying or going home but with our luck we would end up right back in the hospital so we decided to have them monitor her overnight.

We were ready to take Ellie home the next day except for the fact that she was scheduled to have her MRI the next day and the preauthorization with the insurance had run out 5 days ago. So instead of fighting with the insurance to get the preauthorization extended, they decided to keep her there another night. She did well again overnight and got in earlier for her MRI and echocardiogram that were done under general anesthesia. By the time I saw her she was upset and starving. She was very mellow most of the afternoon but the nurse was kept busy trying to find a good level of O2 that wouldn't make her drop her saturation levels. The cardiologists said to keep it to 1L and the other doctors said to keep it to 0.5L. So many conflictions and neither level was working well to keep her sats above 80. So because she was on an increased oxygen need and had been suctioned out more than twice in a 12 hour period, they didn't let her come home tonight. We were all wondering what happened after everything was going so well. Maybe they will come to some conclusion tonight. In a way we would like for her to just stay in the hospital to avoid the sick boys we have at home and be monitored. But one doctor did make a good point when he said that the hospital is full of sick kids right now. So, one night has turned into three nights in the hosptial so far. We would rather have her at home.
I'm guessing that Ellie's surgery could be within the next couple of weeks if she can get healthy. The fact that she is not gaining weight, her pressures in her heart seem to be elevated, has grown to their 6 month goal and hopefully has had all the tests that need to be done for the surgeons to evaluate her, make it seem like she is ready. The surgeons and cardiologists will probably discuss her at their next meeting on Wednesday and hopefully we can set a date after that.