Looong night but finally off the ventilator

Yesterday ended up being a VERY long day for all of us, since Callie didn't fully wake up until almost midnight. They couldn't take her off the ventilator until she was breathing on her own and fully awake, and because of the amount of pain she was in when she would start to wake up, they kept having to sedate her each time, causing her to depend heavily on the machines. Finally they ended up having to let her pain meds wear off to some extent, just to get her awake enough to start breathing on her own. Can we just say that she was not a happy camper at that point?
Once she was finally fully awake the real fun began. She didn't understand why she had all of those tubes and wires all over and spent a pretty good amount of time trying to rid herself of a few of them. Once the breathing tubes were out she started slowly getting back to her bossy little self, demanding that the nurse bring her some water immediately. Of course she was told that she had to wait 4 hours after the tube came out and this did not please her in the least. She spent the next hour and a half begging for water, even telling me that she wanted to get in the car and go home because in mommy's car there is a water bottle. The poor nurse finally relented and gave her a bit of chipped ice, which seemed to satisfy her momentarily. Eventually she would go back to sleeping fitfully, only to awaken every 20 minutes thrashing around in pain. Finally the nurse suggested that I bend the rules a bit and get in bed with Callie, she even hinted that if I happened to close my eyes she wouldn't notice ( parents are not allowed to sleep at all in ICU and will get kicked out if they go to sleep) So I laid down next to her and sure enough, she calmed down and fell soundly asleep until about 2 AM, when she woke up and told me it was time for Mommy to get out of her bed. Those were the happiest words I had heard all night (since I had not yet been to sleep and was running on fumes by that time) and I didn't waste any time getting up and out, where I joined Jamie in the parent sleep room ( AKA parent sleep CLOSET) before she changed her mind. And finally everyone got some sleep ( a whole 3 hours, anyway) before we returned this morning to talk to the doctors during rounds.
When we returned for rounds, Callie was sleeping soundly and we were told that she did get some sleep, she finally got her water along with some Jello, and that she is on track to be moved to a regular room by the end of the day today. So HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone because we have SO much to be thankful for. So many people have sent out prayers for Callie and for us, and those prayers have been answered in a big way. Thank you all and keep 'em coming.