Growing in leaps and bounds!

Well, every weekend brings new surprises. What's neat is she waits for the weekends so we can be a part of all her firsts! First of all, as you know last weekend she started saying Ba, Ba ... well, as of Saturday night, she was talking to "Elmo" and said DADA for the first time!!!!! And now she doesn't stop saying it. It is so precious! She also was able to go to her first fireworks Saturday night after the Strawberry Festival. I was a little nervous because they are so loud, but she LOVED them! We started out in the car, but she just sat back and watched so I attempted to take her out of the car and she was mesmorized ... She might be alot like her daddy, but she defintely has her mom's fearlessness :) Then on Sunday she was off and running. Ok, maybe not running, but up until now she was army crawling and would occasionally get on all fours, but then fall down. Sunday she was off on all fours across the floor. Watch out world! She has also figured out how to go from crawling to sitting and laying down to standing in her crib. She scared me half to death last night when I walked in her room expecting her to be sleeping and she was standing in her crib laughing at me!
This morning though my poor baby woke up all congested. She cried out then just started mumbling under her breathe, almost like she was complaining. My heart melted. I am hoping this will be a quick passing cold as we are supposed to go to camp this weekend. She is a fighter though and still had lots of smiles this morning!
Robin also has Hailey's 1st year dvd almost finished. I cannot wait to share with everyone! She has come a LONG way! I am so proud of all her accomplishment ... by the time we get the physical therapy consult she won't need it!

A weekend of "First's"

First of all, I want to say Happy Daddy's Day to Hailey's wonderful "Dada". I couldn't have asked for a better husband and daddy for my baby. Right from her first appearance he has been there taking care of her (and me) every step of the way. Many late nights in the NICU after a long day at work, many days of moving his schedule around to be at her doctors appts once she was home, many nights rocking her sleep in the bathroom (with the shower on) to soothe her when her reflux would make her cranky and mommy couldn't take anymore :) Thank you honey - we love you so much!!
This past weekend we had daddy all to ourselves and we had many "first's". Hailey said her first word "BABA" - now we are not sure exactly what she is referring to, but she does not stop repeating it and a few times we swear she said "DADA"! She also had her first bites of chicken and her first popsicle and absolutely loved them, yet when I tried to give her a strawberry with a touch of chocolate, she gagged. Funny child!!! She also took her first crawls forward up on her hands and knees!!! Up until this weekend she just did the army crawl. Oh, and the princess used to give kisses and then decided it was a game so when we asked for them she turned her head, but this week she started giving them generously, slober and all. And there is more, she had her first trip to the beach and her first birthday party, Adia turned 1 and Hailey throughly enjoyed herself! Happy Birthday Adia! We found out at the park this week Hailey LOVES sand, so we took her to the beach and she did love the sand, the water was a little scary for her! All in all, we are tired, but had a great weekend.
Also, Tim and I wanted to say thank you to our dad's! We love you both so much and we are so blessed to have in your lives and to be able to share you with Hailey!!!! As my daddy's day card said to my dad, you both are some of the best things in our lives! We couldn't do it without our families! We love you!

And here we are now ...

Well, to bring you up-to-date Hailey is doing wonderful and has a birthday approaching very soon! We have sent out the invites and are getting very excited! We have been taking her out more and more and she just loves it. Yesterday she stuck her feet in the sand for the first time and loved every moment. Actually, when I picked her up to go home she cried! I think we will try to take her to the beach this weekend. We also did WalkAmerica on May 7th, we raised $415.00. Thank you to all who supported us! As far as her early intervention appt, they said she is average for her adjusted age and above average for her actual age!!! The only issue is her core strength. Sometimes because preemies are in the isolette laying flat for so long and not floating in the tummy they can have muscle tone issues. So we will be working with a physical therapist through the summer. On a side note, while waiting for our first appt she started slithering along on the floor and rolls everywhere. She also gets up on all 4's and rocks so maybe by the time we get the appt she won't need it! Also she can pull up on things now when sitting, though when laying flat she can't seem to sit herself up. Anyway, we are getting there! She also had her first night away from home June 2nd at the TBS staff retreat. She did wonderful and did not cause one disturbance. When she gets out of her normal routine she gets very overstimulated and is a happy baby, but does not like to sleep so needless to say the next day she (and we) were exhausted! Here is a recent pix of her watching Elmo on the computer!

Don't you love the little clips I found for her hair?! She hardly has any hair, but I have been dying to put something in it so there is my attempt :)

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Long time, no update! Mostly because no news is good news! She and I did have the flu around April 5th and boy was it bad. My grammy and relatives were visiting from ME and all of the sudden Hailey let go and that was it. We were out for a few days. Now that we are over that Hailey is doing amazing, she had her 9 mo check up yesterday. She hasn't gained much weight, but the doctor thought she is doing wonderful and was so proud of her progress. She is now 15lbs, 14oz and 26 1/2 inches long. Usually they don't give 9 month shots, but she is off schedule so unfortunately she got some yesterday and didn't take it so well. In the past she has cried and then gotten over it. This time she cried all the way home. I felt so bad! We are so proud of how far she has come and love her so much! On May 11th we have her early intervention check-up, her pediatrician thinks we will be happy with the outcome because she is right no track. I will let you know how it goes. Also our walk is Sunday, I am looking forward to it and praying for no rain!Thanks!

Friday, February 17, 2006

I haven't updated this journal forever though I try to keep the pictures and stats up-to-date. Life has been pretty hetic since we moved! Just wanted to let everyone know Hailey is now about 14lbs, 6oz. She goes for a shot today and I will get her exact weight at that point and will post under her 7 mo stats. For those of you who followed us along the way you know one big issue Hailey had was bowel movements. Up until December she was still glycerin dependent, but as of recently she has started to go twice a day! Sounds funny to post, but its a big miracle for us because we were headed for more testing and possible surgery if things did not "speed up"! She is still on reflux meds, reglan and zantac which I am hoping and praying she will grow out of soon because reglan can cause serious side effects, but is needed for babies who have extreme reflux. So other than the reflux and being small for her "age" she has no other known preemie issue or developmental delays. Praise God! We will continue to watch her closely as she grows because some issues can come up when they start to crawl - walk - talk, but you know we are trusting God that she will be just fine and from what I am seeing that is absolutely true! As for the holidays they were wonderful. We spent Hailey's 1st Thanksgiving home with my family, then after making sure everyone was healthy we ventured over to Tim's sister's house to be with his family for a little while. Hailey did well and stayed healthy. Sadly, a few days after Thanksgiving Hailey's cousin, Jordy's ALL relapsed. Please keep her in your prayers! On Christmas Eve, we had a small party with Tim's family and then spent Christmas Day with my family. On Christmas Day she blew her first raspberries, too cute! She also came down with a small cold and was a little fussy for a few days, but after a quick dr's visit to make sure it wasn't anything to worry about she got better on her own! Also, this month I started back to work part-time. It was really hard! Many days I cried and felt like quitting, but as time goes on I realize it will be o.k.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Today Hailey had her 4 month checkup. Her current stats: 10lbs, 10oz - 22 1/4 inches long - head is 39 centimeters. She is in the 5th percentile for her weight and head, but not on the growth chart for her height ...They also checked her red blood cell count to make sure she was doing well and not anemic. That was great! They also decided we could stop fortifying her feeds now, and they increased her meds just a little. Overall the doc said she is a healthy baby just born a little to early :) I also talked to him about her bowel movements because they are still sporadic, but he said he isn't worried because some babies just go longer between bowel movements. Also at Johns Hopkins they had said she might favor her right side just a little which should be watched, but he didn't see it and says she seems just fine. Well, for those of you who still check this, sorry I go so long between posts and thanks for looking! We are now into cold and flu season and trying hard to keep her healthy. The bad news is her dad is sick! Pray we can keep her well!

Monday, November 14, 2005

Hailey is 4 months today! I cannot believe it! We go to her first pediatrician visit up here on Thursday so I will have her 4 month stats at that time. She will also have to get her 4 month shots :( She does so well though ... She is meeting lots of new people and enjoying every moment, though we have to be very careful when they come to visit that they are not sick and wash well before touching her. I hope you enjoy the new picture that I posted. She has been smiling and cooing for a few weeks now, but its the first one caught on film! I have lots more pictures I will post soon.Will update after her doc appt!

Monday, November 07, 2005

We moved to Maine to be closer to family on Thursday. Hailey is doing wonderful and took the car ride well. We left Baltimore at 10am and arrived in Maine at 8pm. She never left the car the whole time and I can't believe how wonderful she was. The first hour of the trip and the last hour were the hardest. The first hour because she decided she wanted to eat and so we had to pull over rather quickly and figure out how to make it all work via the car, the last hour I just think she was SICK of being couped up and nothing worked to soothe her until we put "white noise" on the radio. We made it the rest of the way peacefully. She met her Auntie Tracey and cousins Jordyn and Taylor on Saturday and loved them instantly. We are excited to be home!
The day before we moved Hailey went to get her synagis shot for RSV and was also weighed. She is now 9lbs, 12oz! We can't believe it. She will see her new pediatrician here on November 17th. I will try to add pictures soon, but right now I have limited internet access.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

In case any of you haven't heard we are moving to Maine on November 3rd! I can't wait! It has been so hard being down here in MD without any family, especially having a new baby and not being able to take her anywhere. Sometimes you just need to go out! At times we will just take Hailey for ride to starbucks just to get out of the house :) Tonight we took her for her first visit to a store - IKEA - around 8pm when not alot of people were around. We can't do that for much longer though because RSV season is here! Well, Hailey is doing pretty well, we are again having issues with pooping. She hasn't gone on her own for about two weeks. The doc said to give her glycerin every 3 days, and that is what I have to do to make her go. I can tell it bothers her b/c she cries, grunts and passes ALOT of gas! Between that and the reflux she can be fussy at times because of pain many times to soothe her to sleep we have to rock her in the bathroom with the shower on and sing to her. I guess the noise of the shower works because 9 times out of 10 it works, until we leave the bathroom of course. Anyway, since we are moving I will f/u with our new ped in ME. She also has some kind of baby acne or rash on her face and scalp. We see the ped tomorrow. Hopefully it is nothing and will go away on its own. I am hoping they will weigh her as well. She may be over 8 lbs! Please check out the new pix!

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Today Hailey had her 2 month check-up! She now weights 7lbs, 10oz!!! The sad part is that even though she wasn't "due" till last week she is technically two months so they keep them on schedule for their shots, so she received her immunizations today. She has done pretty well. Her only symptoms is she has a poor appetite this evening and is sleeping more than usual. Overall the pediatrician was very pleased! She is having some reflux issues so we increased her meds and hope that will solve the problems since she was dosed according to her weight when she left the NICU. We are also having a few "pooping" issues as she hasn't gone since Sunday. He said give it one more day then give a glycerin. I hope she grows out of this! Well, that is about it - please check out the new pix! Love you all!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Hailey is doing great! We went to the pediatrician today and she is up to 6lbs, 7oz! We are so excited with the weight gain! Other than that not much to report. Just eating, burping, sleeping and pooping! We have quite a long winter ahead of us trying to keep her healthy. They keep telling us not to bring her out or have her around people because one bad germ and she will end up back in the NICU. Its hard, but well worth it ... Keep us in your prayers that she does not get sick this winter and for our sanity being in the house 24/7! Thanks!

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Well, its been a great week! Hailey is doing amazing! She has had two doctors appts, one with her pediatrician on Wednesday and one with the apnea clinic today. Tomorrow she sees the eye doctor. When they are preemies they have to have their eyes checked a few time to make sure all is well. So far everything has looked great, so we will see how tomorrow goes. The pediatrician visit and check-up at the apnea clinic were problem free. They weighed her at both visits, on the scale at the ped she weighed 6lbs, at the apnea clinic she came up as 5lbs, 10oz so I am not sure which is correct, but both are great. We are tired, but loving every minute and thanking God for her life. I did see my OB as well and he said there was no reason for the preterm labor. All tests before, during and after were normal. It was premature rupture of the membrane and there is nothing they can do to prevent it from happening in the future and there is a good chance it would happen again. So, Hailey probably will be our only angel, but thats fine with us. We all agree she is the best tempered baby ever. Well, have to go - check out the new pictures and please keep praying she stays healthy!

Monday, September 05, 2005

Hailey did well last night, full feeds, no alarms and is coming home! My mom and I stayed last night with her and got little sleep so we came home for a nap because they said she wouldn't be discharged until tonight. But they called at 9:30a to tell us to come in and get her! I can't believe it! Please pray all goes smoothly and she does well with no alarms!

Monday, September 05, 2005

Hailey's home! Just finished feed, dad is holding her, nana is lying down for a nap and I am about to after pumping. Pray all goes well - will keep updated during my pumping sessions. Final weight before home - 5lbs, 3oz! We go to the pediatrician on Wednesday for checkup. I am a little nervous, but I am sure all new moms are - I know we will be just fine! Thanks for all your support and prayers!

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Well, I am updating now because we are home only for a few hours and then I will be spending the night in the NICU with Hailey! If all goes well she will be going home tomorrow and so I am rooming in with the monitor to make sure I feel comfortable with it before she goes home. Thank you all for keeping up with us and for your prayers! I know that is what saw us through! I will still try to keep this updated as best as I can, but I am sure it will not be as often once she is home as I am sure we will have our hands full. I will try to post new pictures once she is home as well. Love you all! Keep praying that all goes well with the discharge, that thing go smooth with the the monitor, meds etc ... and that she grows and grows and doesn't get sick (or us b/c we can't afford to get sick and make her sick)!Thanks!

Saturday, September 03, 2005

After the nurse the night before saying Hailey needed to have a bottle every other feed. The docs came in and said, no, we need to try every feed so she can go home and she did great yesterday! No problems, wide awake... but since I am doing writing this the next morning, I have news from overnight and they said she would only take about 30cc's and then tired out. So last nights nurse said the same thing that she needs to bottle feed over other feeding. Guess we will have to go in today and see what the docs say today. If she doesn't go home by Monday she will go to the mount to get bigger so she will have more energy to eat and we really don't like the mount, but they can't keep us in the intensive care any longer. Her weight is up to 5lbs, 2oz!!!! Will let you know the update tonight and have a few pics.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

The day nurses aren't so thrilled with the night nurses who are not feeding Hailey through the night. The nurse who have been on are just not familiar with Hailey and how she works. Anyway, today she has been fabulous! She has taken her feeds all day and they actually have put her on her own schedule now. So when she cries, she eats. That way she can get more rests between feeds if need be. This has gone great all day and when she eats, she has been taking 85cc's! The only bummer is we can't plan our visits around her feeds, and she can go 5 hours between feeds and during that time we need to let her rest, so she will eat and be able to go home. So tonight we went, but just could sit beside her bed. So I don't have a weight tonight. Will update tomorrow! If all goes well she should still be home Monday or Tuesday!

Thursday, September 01, 2005

A few road bumps today ... Hailey had a transfusion last night due to her red blood count being at 23, when normal is 30. She also didn't do so well with her feeds. Her 9am she really struggled with and had some bradys. Then she did well at her 1pm, and at her 5pm she couldn't finish the feed, lastly at her 9pm she finished, but had about 4 brady and apnea episodes. Not good ... The nurse thinks we need to back off again and only give her a bottle every other feed. The nurse tonight thinks it could be another week or two. Tomorrow they are supposed to teach us how to use the monitor for home. We will see what the docs say. Good news - her weight is up to 4lbs, 10oz. My parents are also here and it is quite a blessing to have them around! Keep praying for strength for her and us to keep going!

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Well, after the episode yesterday with Hailey choking when taking her meds orally, they backed down on sending her home at the end of this week. The doc talked to me today and said they are now planning on Monday if all goes well. They want to see three things happen before discharge, taking all her feeds via a bottle, growing at a steady level (because she has been gaining weight, but not as steady as they want), and though she is going home on a monitor they want no big episodes for a few days. Today she did well with her feeds. So far she has taken all her feeds by the bottle and done really well. We also gave her a nice bath tonight so she will smell wonderful for her grandparents tomorrow! At her 1pm feed I suggested we try to give her meds via mouth, but with 10cc's of breastmilk to help dilute it and she took it no problem so that is a step forward. She also is now 4lbs, 9 oz!!! So lets pray this continues and Monday happens!

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Well, they brought up the magic word "discharge" today. We started getting excited because she hadn't had a brady in two days and a half hour after getting excited she had two, but since she is pretty much doing well on all other levels they said they are going to plan to send us home at the end of the week on a monitor. We did have one small setback - in order to go home she needs to take all her feeds by the bottle, which hasn't been a big deal, but it also means all her meds by mouth. At her 5pm feed they gave her the meds by mouth which must not have tasted good and she coughed, choked and stopped breathing for a second. Then she was so tired out from that she couldn't finish her bottle. So now in order to get her home we have to find a way to give her the meds without gagging. I suggested giving it with more breastmilk to dilute it some. The worry is if she doesn't drink it all she won't get her meds, but I know she will at least drink 5cc's so we will try that tomorrow. My parents arrive Thursday, my dad is staying till Saturday and mom is staying for a week or two. I am hoping they both can be here for her coming home!Her weight is now 4lbs, 8oz. They did say she still needs fortifier added to the breastmilk in order to gain weight. So we will go home with that as well. Keep praying!

Monday, August 29, 2005

Hailey did amazing today. She drank a 55cc bottle at 9am, 12pm, 3pm and 8pm! Usually by her afternoon bottles she is pretty tired and sloppy, but she did better with her afternoon ones that she did her morning ones. I think she really caught on this evening! And with a couple of the bottles she didn't even desat and no bradys today!!!!
It was so nice to be on maternity leave and not have to worry about leaving her in between feeds for work. She also had a follow-up hearing test today. They didn't even tell me that she had one and failed, but today they came for the follow-up and after a little scare she passed! I guess alot of babies fail the first time. Auntie Elita came to visit today! It was nice to have company and she was able to see Hailey chow down on her 3pm bottle. Which is the best she has ever done. I have added some new pix tonight, and a special one for Natalie, Connor and Erin to see their mom holding Hailey! My mom and dad come Thursday and I am so excited!!!!

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Hailey is moving up, she is now 4lbs, 7oz! Last night they tried a bottle at 3am and she drank about half, I then tried at noon and she finished the whole thing, as well as at her 9pm bottle. At her noon she only had desats, but with her 9pm she had a brady and desat. Most of her bradys have stopped except with feeds, but tonight she had one at about 8:30pm. It didn't go to low, but it was still weird. Her red blood cell count is low, but she is producing new ones at a high level so we are hoping she will bring herself up and this brady is not a sign that she is going lower. They will watch to see if she becomes symptomatic. Her pooping is still an issue. They haven't given her a glycerin in a couple days because she is smearing the diaper, but she hasn't really gone a good one for us. I was thinking how ironic it is that most of us take for granted that babies poop and drink from bottles, and for us that is all that is keeping us in the hospital!

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Today Hailey is back to 4lbs, 6oz. Cutting down on all that activity has seemed to help. We tried a bottle at 12pm and at 8pm. At the 12pm she drank about 28cc's and we had to put the rest straight to her tummy because she tired out. You can tell when she is tired because she gulps, then brady's and destats. With the 8pm, she did better, and we tried a preemie nipple instead of a regular one and that helped alot. She did brady and destat, but after a big burp she tried again and finished all 40cc's. Not much to report other than that, please pray that the switch clicks on and she is able to take her feeds without bradys or desats. Lastly, check out the pictures, I finally added a few new ones.

Friday, August 26, 2005

Today Hailey wasn't able to even finish one bottle. When we did try she would gulp and then desat where her oxygen saturations would go really low. We think she has just been working to hard. So for all of her feeds after 12pm we have given them bolus, through the tube in her stomach. Then tomorrow at her 12pm feeding we will try the bottle once again. They say there comes a day when it all clicks and when that happens we will go home. At least these are small issues, it is just frustrating when you are so close to going home! Tonight her weight was 4lbs, 5oz. So she isn't really gaining right now, but its not surprising with all the work she is doing. We are going to only give her a bottle a couple times a day until she gets better and then we will increase slower than we did before. She was also having some reflux issues with the bolus feeds, but I suggested it was because they put it all in her stomach over only 5-10 min and it was to much so tonight they tried giving it over a half hour and she did better. Well, I am now officially on maternity leave, hoping she can come home so I can spend most of that time with her at home. Please keep the prayers coming!

Thursday, August 25, 2005

They increased Hailey's feeds from 36cc's to 45cc's. I arrived at 8am and she took her first bottle with no desats at all so we decided to try to give her another bottle at 11am, again no problems. At her 2pm, she only drank half and then fell asleep so the rest was given through her tube and at her 5pm she had a brady and desat, this was her first full day of bottles and we just think she was tired out so the later in the day the sloppier she became. Tonight we took our well-baby class, every parent in the NICU has to take it before discharge and in the class we were able to use Hailey as a model and gave her another bath which was nice. More and more there is talk of discharge. From talking to the nurse today, it sounds like the goal is to get her taking all her feeds by bottle, without desats and to continue the weight gain. Once that is accomplished, instead of feeding her on schedule they will make it more like home and only feed when she is hungry. After that we should be able to go home. They told us to finish preparing stuff this weekend so we do not have to rush around next week when the final word is out. Sounds like my parents might come down Monday if all is going well! I can't wait to see them and for Hailey to come home!!! We were so involved in the bath we didn't get to weigh her tonight so I should have that update tomorrow. Oh, and continue to pray for her poop. They had to give her a glycerin today. Some nurses say it is normal for breastfed babies not to poop everyday, but in the NICU they like a poop every 24hrs. Not sure how that will effect our going home, but tonight they said we can always talk to our pediatrician and get glycerin over the counter. They said some babies need glycerin in the early months of their lives. We will meet to "interview" our pediatrician tomorrow and hopefully we will like him because time is short to pick one!

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Today Hailey drank two whole bottles (36cc's each), one at 8am and one at 2pm and she drank them within a half hour. They don't like them to take longer than that because that can cause them to lose to many calories and get to tired, so if its over a half hour they stop and give the rest through her tube. We did try another bottle at 8pm tonight and she was sucking away, but everytime we checked the bottle hardly anything was missing! I think something was wrong with the bottle nipple, but the nurse thought her suck wasn't strong enough - oh well. We will try again tomorrow. She also gained another ounce! She is 4lbs, 6oz! Other than that things are pretty much the same which is good. Still keeping her temp, still pooping. They were worried and almost gave her a glycerin this afternoon then she had about 4 diaper blowouts in one! So pray we can go home next week ... I'm ready to break her out of the NICU!

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Today Hailey drank two bottles! Her first bottle at 12pm she drank 30cc's (about 1 ounce), and her second bottle at 5pm she drank 23cc's. So she doesn't burn to many calories while learning to suck/swallow and breathe all at the same time they only give her 40 minutes a bottle and what is left in the bottle they feed through her tube. Right now they are giving her bottles at the nurses discretion and all other feeds are given through her tube over an hours time. Its funny what we take for granted, I never thought things like pooping and drinking a bottle would become an issue, but with preemies they are a HUGE deal! With these feeds though she is doing well and not spitting up, so that is a great sign. If we can get her taking all her feeds through a bottle and keeping them down she can go home! YEAH! In other news, she is keeping her temp better and actually went back up to 4lbs, 5oz today! I thought for sure being out of the isolette and eating would burn enough calories so she would lose, but she proved me wrong ... Only one brady today around 7am and other than that she only had a few desats when eating and its a sign she needs to burp, once burped she is good to go. That might mean she is sent home on a monitor for a few weeks but we can deal with that. So right now we looking good for next week. All the nurses love her so much! They said I better watch out because one might try to bring her home. They told me they like being on the night shift because I am not there and so they get to bring her out to play and show off her outfits. Defintely the princess and fashion queen of the NICU! Well, I am training my temp and will be done work next week so I can be with her more often - I can't wait!

Monday, August 22, 2005

So far, so good ... Hailey has been keeping her temp, pooping and not having any severe desats or bradys. She did lose 10 grams, which puts her closer to 4lbs, 4oz. The worry is when they take them out of the isolette they have to work harder to keep up their temperature and so they lose weight. So we hope this will change and she will gain it back or she goes back in the isolette. As far as feeds go, she has been getting 36cc's over a 3 hour period, so today they condensed them so its now 36cc's over 2 hours and then an hour off feeds. On top of that we gave her a bottle today and she drank 20cc's. She did have a bigger aspirate (7cc's) at her 8pm cares, but it was kind of expected due to the extra 20cc's she was given. Please keep praying because if all goes well with feeds she could be home next week, if not, we get to start over ... Its really hard not being able to have her home, especially now more than ever. She is much more interactive and alert and needs to be home and in her parents arms!!! Up until now I have been splitting my time between working and her since I work only a couple floors away, this way I can save my maternity time, but I am now done with that. Starting next Monday I am on leave and will sitting by her bed till she comes home. I just can't concentrate anymore on anything but her!!!!

Sunday, August 21, 2005

We had some BIG accomplishments today ... first of all we walked in today and she was in a "big girl bed"! They are watching her temp closely to make sure she can hold her own, and so far, so good. Also, we were able to do the honors of taking out her nasal cannula, so she is now breathing all on her own. Again, so far, so good. Please keep praying!! Her biggest issue has been her eating and reflux and that is the last hurtle before coming home! One of the docs today said if all goes well she could be home in the next week. If all doesn't go well that could mean we go back to the mount till she grows out of her feeding issues, or even reflux surgery. So lets pray that we can go home! Its going to be a BIG week ... Oh, and today she is 4lbs, 5oz!!!!

Saturday, August 20, 2005

She finally had her first poop on her own today! YEAH! She is also up to 4lbs, 3oz! Moving on up ... They also said not to be surprised if when we come in tomorrow she is out of her isolette into a real crib. We tried the bottle again today, she only drank 3cc's today and in between had a couple choking spells, but as we keep trying and she gets older it will get better with time. Meme and papa left today which was sad. Can't wait to be close to everyone again very soon!

Friday, August 19, 2005

Hailey had her first bottle today and she drank 12cc's! We are so excited! We now will be giving her one bottle a day and one try at the breast. She also is a part of a "panda study" and they will follow her and other preemies throughout the years to see how they develop ... They were very impressed with her and said she is exceptionally smart for her age! She is also the fashion queen of the NICU. At rounds they always discuss her new "outfit" of the day. Meme and I had fun shopping for some new ones today. Well, thats it for today. We still need a poop though ...

Thursday, August 18, 2005

We made it - 4lbs, 1oz!!!! Moving on up ... Other than that we are still in a holding pattern waiting for the caffeine to totally be out of her bloodstream so we can know the effects and start weaning off other things like oxygen and increase her feeds. Sounds like they will watch her through the weekend and start some of these things on Monday. We still need a good poop! We are slowing introducing breastfeeding, she gets the idea, but I think it will take a while before she is a pro ... please keep that in your prayers. Well, tomorrow Meme and I will be going shopping to stock up on the last few things needed for the baby before she comes home. We will know more next week, but if she does well weaning off the oxygen and with the increase in her feeds it could just be another week or two before she is home free!!!

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Hailey had another great day today. Not much has changed, but thats always good news. They are holding off trying anything new until she is totally weaned from the caffeine. That way they will know how she responds to each new thing as it takes place instead of trying to figure out which ones are working and which ones cause problems. She is still 3lbs, 15oz. We were hoping for 4lbs, but will have to try again tomorrow. We were able to try breastfeeding today. They say it will take time as she is still small, but it never hurts to try. She did latch on a couple of times, but didn't stay on for long. Please pray with me that she gets the hang of it! One step closer to going on ... it won't be long now!

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Hailey had her first bath today! It was so much fun and she did so well! It was nice to have her wire free and she actually liked the bath. She is doing better and better each day. We are still waiting for the poops, but her reflux seems to be improving, no spit up and aspirates. Also her bradys, apneas and desats are much better. She only had one brady today. Also, she was weaned today on her oxygen to room air (21%) on the 1/2 liter flow. God willing, it seems in the next week or two we are really setting up for improvements enough to go home. Not much longer now! Lastly her weight - a big 3lbs, 15oz!!! We are going for 4lbs tomorrow!!!! Please pray she keep improving so we can bring her home - each day its even harder to leave her as we so much want to bring her home ...

Monday, August 15, 2005

Hailey had a good day, not much to report, but those are the best days. Due to her slow weight gain they increased her feeds to 11cc's an hour, and tonight she weighed a big 3lbs, 14oz. She only had two bradys today in the am and only one desat. That is amazing compared to what she has been doing. She still is not pooping on her own, but we are hoping soon ... Her reflux reallly seemed to be bothering her today, but should get better with the stop of the caffeine. Hopefully we will continue in this direction. Please keep praying!

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Hailey is one month old today - happy birthday! Today was a better day. Her largest aspirate was 3cc's and she only spit up very little. She still needs glycerin to poop, but when they gave it to her she had a huge blowout!!! Her weight went down 10 grams to 1690 grams, but that is still around 3 lbs, 12 oz. Most likely the huge diaper blowout caused the weight loss :) Her attending physician stopped by to talk to us today and said they are trying to figure out her "puzzle". The doctor said that since she is 34 weeks she should start to have less bradys, apneas and desats, so since she is having more they need to find the cause. Right now she is on caffeine and they said sometimes that can cause the relux to worsen, which causes the desats to worsen. So they have stopped the caffeine and are going to watch the effect. They said they won't know the full result till Thursday though because it takes a baby a long time to get caffeine out of their system. Other than solving the puzzle they are really happy with her overall progress. One tidbit of fun news. Meme was with me in the room with Hailey tonight and noticed a small beauty mark right above her lip. We had never noticed it before and so I tried to wipe it off thinking it was something else, but sure enough its a beauty mark. I swear it popped up out of nowhere because we stare at her for hours each day. Guess it could happen since she should still be in my belly, things are still forming and maturing. I hear Taylor has one just like it :)

Saturday, August 13, 2005

The good news is Hailey was increased to 10cc's of breastmilk every hour today, the bad news is that she is having pretty big aspirates, the last one was 10cc's and she is also spitting up. She also continues not to poop on her own. The doctor today said that these are "normal" baby things, but I am a little worried because this was not "normal" for her before this week of changes. They also weaned her oxygen to a half liter of flow, but increase the amount of air from 21% to 25%. She continues to have desats, brady's and apneas, but this is all just due to being premature. Now the exciting news - Meme and Papa arrived today! We were so glad to see them and so was Hailey! They said that she looked better than they expected, but she also looked smaller than they expected ... to us she looks so big compared to where she was before. Anyway, I have one picture of Meme with Hailey, but then the camera died so we will have more with both of them as the week goes on.

Friday, August 12, 2005

The bilius drainage stopped yesterday so today Hailey was finally able to eat again, but at a smaller amount. 5cc's continuously over the period of an hour. They were going to increase the amount to 10cc's (full feeds) if she did well, but at her 8pm feeding she had a 3cc aspirate so they decided to hold off. She also is still having a problem getting her bowels going again and hasn't pooped since her glycerin yesterday, so lets pray she starts up again! They also increased her caffeine since her level was low and she was having more desats, she did better with that today. Its sad because the move this week really set us back, and so all the progress we are making now is steps we already made, but we have to work back up to from the steps backward. Guess its all part of the rollercoaster ride of being a preemie in the NICU. Keep the prayers coming!

Thursday, August 11, 2005

The good news is we went up a little in weight today though we are not quite sure how since she isn't eating. Yesterday she was 1630 grams, and today she was a whopping 1650 grams (3 lbs, 11oz). She also had her eye exam today, many preemies develop an eye condition called ROP (retinopathy of prematurity), it can cause huge eye problems and even blindness - and her test came back all clear! Thank God! The not so good news is yesterday when she returned from "the mount", they decided to put a ND tube in to feed her, the difference is that it bypasses the stomach and goes straight to the intestines, this helps with reflux. Well, they gave her a day to rest and never fed her. Then today they decided to just put back the NG tube, the one straight to her tummy, and give her another chance to eat. When they put the tube in some green bilious drainage came out of the tube which can mean a whole lot of different things, but their assumption was that when they put the ND tube down yesterday it bypasses a muscle between the stomach and intestines and because she is preemie that muscle is weak and so the tube caused it to weaken more and so some stuff came up from her intestines. So they are watching and waiting for it to stop, giving her a night to rest and might start feeds tomorrow again. Tonight the drainage has stopped so we are hoping that is it. She also stopped pooping so they had to give her glycerin today, but we are again assuming its just because she needs to eat to get things flowing again. All in all though we are much happier with her in the NICU and know she is receiving the best care and this to shall end. We have had our two steps back this week (maybe a few more than two) so its time for our steps forward!

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

After a very long night of worry we got to Mt. Washington this morning ready to fight for our baby girl to go back to the NICU. I will spare you the long stories, but there was just many things we did not like and Hailey was just not acting like herself. The biggest concerns were her spitting up, which she hasn't been doing since the continuous feeds, the trouble keeping her temp and the severe brady's, apneas and desats she was having where she had to be bagged and given extra oxygen. This morning she had a really bad brady and would not come up to the point they had to call an emergency and a whole group of nurses/doctors came running. In the NICU we could usually just stimulate her and she would come up. Also, she is not normally one who cries and they said she started crying uncontrollably at midnight, so bad the nurses from another room came to make sure she was o.k. By the time we started on their cases, the doctor was already in contact with the NICU because she felt the same was we did and by about 11am Hailey was back to the NICU and since then she has been great! It was like she was a whole different baby when she arrived there. She even opened her eyes and stayed awake for hours, which she hadn't done since she left. She has only had 2 brady's and 1 desat since she has been there compared to clusters of them yesterday. They checked all her counts and she is good, her lungs are also clear. They did stop her feeds to help with her reflux, since the doctor at Mt. Washington thinks that might have something to do with the destats and they put a new feeding tube in lower that goes past her stomach to help her digest better. They will start feeds again tomorrow. The only other issue we are having now is that her temp is still low, but we think its just because she has been through alot today. We all have! Also, because of everything and the doc at Mt. Washington starting her on lasix (which no one understands) Hailey has lost weight and is down to 3 lbs, 10 oz, which is quite a loss. Because we had such a bad experience the NICU said they would do what they can to keep her there until she is ready to go home! I hope and pray they can! There are so many stories from the last couple of days, but I am exhausted and need to go to sleep. Please just pray we can stay in the NICU to "feed and grow" and that the rollercoaster ride slows down soon. We are looking forward to Mom and Dad Chalifour arriving Saturday! Its nice to have family around at a time like this ...

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Well not so great day in the life of a preemie and her parents. Hailey was transported to the "Mount" today to feed and grow. The day started out great, her transfusion went well last night - her weight is up to 3lbs, 13 oz - she only had one desat the entire night and she greeted us this morning with eyes wide open! It seems though ever since she was transported to the "Mount" she went downhill quick. She hasn't been keeping her temperature up, they missed a dose of her meds, and she has been having many bradys, apneas and desats. I have never seen her have this many since she has been alive! Also, in the NICU if she would have an episode where her heartrate would drop or she would decide to stop breathing you would just stimulate her and she would pick back up, this time they have had to bag her and pump oxygen in her to make her breath again. Never has this happened! Tim and I also are not very fond of the new facilites, but we are trying to give it time because for four weeks we have been accustomed to one way of life and now it is all different so the dislike may be just because we are out of our comfort zone and we need to expand our horizon to bring her home. I hope that is it and I hope, as they keep telling me, that her problems today are because of the transport and she will stabilize. Please pray for her and pray for us because this has taken a toll on us! It is also really hard not to have family down here, especially on days like today! I am also having some rough waters with short term disability paying for my maternity leave and being able to start it when she comes home instead of using it now. Well, I know whom I have believed in and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed into His hands! I know I will look back one day and see this all worked together for good ...

Monday, August 08, 2005

Tomorrow is the big day! We are moving to Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital. It is bittersweet because we have gotten used to the NICU, how things work and the staff, but it is good because it is a step in the right direction and hopefully means we can go home soon enough. Today she had a few more bradys (heart rate dropping) and apneas (oxygen level dropping) so they checked her to see if she needed blood. Her hemacrit (red blood cell level) was 24.4 and normal is 30 and above so they decided to transfuse.The good news is she is making her own cells so this should give her the boost she needs to get herself up. I have also decided to start my maternity time on Monday since she will be at a different hospital and from this point on I can be more involved in feedings and getting her to grow and go home!Because of the transfusion we did not get to weigh her while we were there so we will have an update tomorrow. Love you all and please keep the prayers coming!

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Well we went from one extreme to the next. Up until now we have prayed for Hailey to poop, when we arrived tonight there was a new sign on her isolette that read "poop precaution", when we asked what that was about we were shown pictures that are to graphic for this website :) Hailey had a diaper blowout, and I mean blowout! They were changing her diaper and at that moment she decided to let loose and it was like a gun shooting out all over the isolette. This is the second time this happened since yesterday - so now she is under "poop precaution" for all the nurses. I guess our prayers worked all to well! Tomorrow the surgeon will come back to review Hailey's status and we should get the good news that she is all set and does not need an upper GI test anymore. Other than the new sign on her isolette things are pretty much the same - no news, good news! She did have a weight gain - 1650 grams - 3 lbs, 11oz!!! Lets pray this continues ... Tomorrow we should have more details on our upcoming move. Will keep you posted!

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Hailey continues to do well.Today she weighed 1580 grams, which is 3 lbs, 8 oz. - please continue to pray for weight gain! She also had a couple more diaper blowouts all by herself! They did try to wean her off the nasal cannula today and that caused her to have some epsiodes where her heartrate and oxygen rate went down so they decided to hold off for a little while longer. She is still doing well with everything else. I just can't thank you all enough for your prayers. I know that is what is getting her and us through! Its been really sad lately in the NICU, some parents we have gotten to know have received some bad news about their babies and it just tears you inside and you know that could have been you, but it makes you all that more grateful for what you have and the miracle Hailey's life has been! Love you all!

Friday, August 05, 2005

Well Hailey finally did it! She had her first diaper blowout today without the help of any stimulants! Then she had another and another ... three diaper blowouts! We are so excited because that is more assurance surgery shouldn't be needed! They also increased her feeds today to 10cc's to try to get her to gain weight a little faster. She was down some today, 1560 grams, about 3 lbs, 7 oz - we figure with all that poop she had to lose some weight :) So overall she is doing really well. She only had one episode where her heart rate dropped today. She also had a lung xray and that came back looking great! We are really excited abou the progress she is making! We also did kangaroo care tonight with her, where she is skin to skin and she started getting excited and licking my skin and sucking - so cute!!! This a really good sign for when we can start breastfeeding!

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Well we may be graduating near the end of next week to our feed and grow location. Hailey is getting to the point where she does not need an intensive care unit so they are preparing the paperwork to send us away. Today she did well, her weight is 1590 grams, 3 lbs, 8 oz and they increased the calories in her breastmilk to 24K cal. She is tolerating the feeds well though she still on continuous feeds for now. They did check her red blood cell count last night, but they still think its within reason and are not going to transfuse. They think the increase in oxygen desats may be reflux so they started her on zantac today, they are also waiting for her caffeine level to come back to decide if they will increase that. She had a few smears on her diaper today, but did not give us a good poop until she was given glycerin. The only stipulation before we go to Mount Washington to "feed and grow" is to get the lower GI test one more time to check for the malrotation and if that comes back good they will send her away, if not we will have to go for surgery. They said that test should take place early next week. Please pray that we don't have to go for surgery! She is doing so well we hate to go backwards! We have become pretty attached to everyone in the NICU and so we are actually sad to think about leaving to a new place, but it will be graduation day and closer to when she comes home so we definitely won't complain :) Thank you all for praying us through! We need some good diaper blowouts to make a clean break :)

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Today they added calories to Hailey's feedings to help her gain weight faster. The also started her on iron to help with her blood count. The problem with that is iron constipates, so they have also increased her reglan to try to counteract that problem. In the past three days Hailey has had more episodes of her heart rate and oxygen dropping so tonight before we left we gave them consent for a blood transfusion. They have not checked her since Sunday to give her some time to recover, but because of the increase they decided to go ahead and check her counts to be safe. If her blood count is fine they are going to do a PH probe test to see if the reflux is causing the problems and they will start her on zantac, lastly they may also increase her caffeine, which stimulates her to breath. Hopefully we can have this resolved by tomorrow! Other than these few things she has had a pretty good day. The surgery fellow also stopped by to say they have been watching her and all looks good so far, but they would have more answers for us on Monday when the attending comes back from vacation. He said most likely what will happen is before she leaves the NICU they will do one more upper GI test, and if that comes back still as a "soft call", they may do one more laprascopic test - better safe than sorry. I don't have an updated weight tonight because they are not going to weigh her till her midnight diaper change. Hopefully we will have a big weight gain to report!!!

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Hailey came in at 1570 grams - 3 lbs, 7 oz!!! Slowly, but surely we are gaining. They also increased her to full feeds today which is 27cc's every 3 hours. She is still on continuous feeds though so she is getting 9cc's hourly to give her stomach time to handle it before we try to give it to her all at once. She did well today, had a big poop (still with the help of glycerin, but we aren't complaining), she also had her color back today and was alot more alert. Actually both this morning and tonight we had a real hard time leaving her because she was so active and alert! Also when we put her back to bed after holding her I put her binkie in her mouth and she held it there and sucked for a good long time, which is great because this young sometimes that doesn't happen right away. She is still having some desats and bradys, but that is normal preemie stuff that will be resolved as she grows. we also got rid of her "semi-permanent" IV line today! Last night it clotted so they had to remove it, but since she is up to full feeds it doesn't matter because she doesn't need it anyway. For the next couple of days they put a "makeshift" IV in her other arm just in case they need immediate access for any reason. All in all we are definitely progressing in the right direction. Thank you all so much for prayers, I really believe that is the only reason Hailey is doing as well as she is ... Keep praying for mommy and daddy as well because we are becoming quite exhausted!

Monday, August 01, 2005

Hailey had a hard day today. She spit up once again, and so they diagnosed her with reflux and since preemies are at high risk for some of that going into the lungs they decided to put her on continuous feeds instead of giving her feeds all at once. So where she was on 21cc's every 3 hrs, she is on 7cc's every hour and it goes in slowly over the whole hour. They are now wondering if they increased her feeds to much this past weekend and that is why this happened, so the continuous feeds are to give her belly a break and then will try again. She also had some really bad desat's today, where her oxygen saturation went really low to the point where she turned blue. She also was pretty pale and lethargic today. Those are some of the signs they are watching for to decide if she needs a transfusion. Right now her red blood cell count is low, but they also track her production of new red blood cells and that is high so they don't want to rush a transfusion, but if the destat's and other things continue they might decide to transfuse. Two steps forward, one step back ... that is what they keep telling me. They also keep saying we are really "lucky" because overall she is doing well and even with what is happening today, these are normal preemie things and are not life threatening. I know that she is "lucky" because of prayer!

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Hailey had a pretty good day. Her weight is now 1540 grams, just about 3 lbs, 7 oz. They increased her feeds twice today, once to 18cc's and then up to 21cc's. Originally they said 18cc's was full feeds for her, but now they are saying she needs to be up to 27cc's. This evening she did spit up some of the breastmilk which was a little discouraging because she has been digesting it well up until now. Hopefully it was just a "normal" baby thing to do and not a sign of another "step backwards". Sometimes that can cause her to aspirate into her lungs, but her breathing was normal after so we are praying that it meant none went in there and we can keep the feeds going forward.Also, she pooped at 5am due to glycerin, but not since. It seems she is trying to, but still needs stimulation for right now. Please keep the prayers coming!

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Hailey had another great day. They increased her feeds to 15cc's and she had no aspirates. If all goes well she will be up to full feeds by tomorrow, which is 18 cc's and if that is tolerated they will stop her IV fluids and take her PICC line out (line in her arm to give her fluids). If that happens we will be free of two wires, the IV and the temp probe ... We are definitely going in the right direction! Her bradys and apneas are still happening, but happen more as her caffeine wears off so instead of giving her one dose in the am they are going to split the dose and give it two times a day. Also, they did a chest xray and her ateletasis (collapsed part of her lung) has resolved and her lungs are clear! We are still working on the pooping, they are trying to stop the glycerin so she doesn't become dependant, so we are doing rectal stim, using a Q-tip with gel to stimulate her to push. It worked tonight so hopefully she will start doing it on her own. They are not to worried though because she has great bowel sounds and is not distended (bloated out). Lastly, I usually give her weight, but they are not going to weigh her till 11pm so I won't know till tomorrow. Each day we see more of features develop and she becomes more alert! We love her so much and can't thank you enough for your prayers - keep them coming!

Friday, July 29, 2005

Hailey had a really great day! They took her off the temperature probe because she is starting to maintain her own body temperature. She also had very few aspirates today with her "meals", and she is up to 12cc's of breastmilk. If she continues in this direction she could be on full feeds very soon. She only had one diaper blowout today and that was induced by glycerin, but at least she went... The verdict is still out on the transfusion, but she looked really great today. Also her breathing was better today due to them giving her lasix to help clear out any fluid in her lungs. She is also still on caffeine. A couple fun facts ... today she turned her head all by herself from one side to the other! Also, we noticed tonight while holding her that she has the cutest dimple right smack in the middle of her chin. And lastly her weight - she is up to 1520 grams - about 3 lbs, 6 oz!!!! YEAH!

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Today Hailey did well. She is definitely becoming more alert, especially when we are around. I really think she recognizes our voices and touch!We also think she is starting to fill out. Today she weighs 1490 grams, 3 lbs, 4 oz.
They increased her feeds to 9cc's in spite of the aspirates and told us not to worry about them. She only had one poop today so that is still a major challenge. Pray for poop! They seem to think when she gets the merconium and barium out(which can be like concrete) that she will start going regular. Her red blood cell count is down again so they are thinking about a transfusion, but they said tomorrow they will give her a "blood holiday" where they won't take any blood and see if she recovers on her own. She said bye for now to her Nana, Dooda and Uncle Matt as they leave tomorrow for Maine. Just think - next time they see her she will be coming home! They also had a baby shower for us at work today and we were really blessed.
Love you all! Keep the prayers coming!

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Hailey took a step forward today and went off the vent and back to nasal cannula! YEAH! She also is tolerating her feeds pretty well. She gets 6 cc's of breastmilk and had a 4 cc aspirate (milk left in her tummy) at her next feed, but they didn't seem worried. The rest of the day she did well and digested it all, then tonight had another 4 cc's, but overall we are very happy. Today she is 1460 grams - about 3 lbs, 3 oz, but, she had two huge diaper blowouts so they are attributing that to her weight loss. Today she was more alert and kept her eyes open for longer periods of time and we were able to hold her again! Lets pray she keeps progressing in this direction!

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Hailey did well today, they are weaning her from the vent, so tomorrow she should be breathing with just nasal canula again. They also increased her feeds to 6 cc's every 3 hours. The real test will be tomorrow when she is breathing on her own and eating. That is when she went downhill Saturday. She also hasn't had any aspirates today (food left in her belly that won't digest)and her abdomen has been soft (which is a good sign that things are digesting). So we are hopeful that this means we are taking steps forward. Today she weighed 1500 grams, which is 3 lbs, 5 ounces. I was wrong yesterday 1440 grams was 3 lbs, 3 ounces - so she is gaining! Her bowels have been slower today which is a little worrisome, but she has had a little movement and good bowels sounds so we are waiting for another diaper blowout :) Please keep praying, we need her to be able to breathe on her own, eat, digest with no reflux and poop ... if she does all that we are looking good :)

Monday, July 25, 2005

I saw other preemie blogs and decided to start one on my own. I thought it would be a great for Hailey to look back on someday. I am going to publish my posts from back when she was in the NICU until we are current. Here we go! Well, I have never written on here before, but thought it might be a good time to start. We had a pretty good first week with Hailey no huge complications. No sign of infection, the results from the head ultrasounds came back fine, she was on CPAP when first born and then put on the vent, but was extubated within 24 hours. The biggest complication was moving her bowels, she was getting bilius drainage in her NG tube so they wouldn't feed her until that stopped. Near the end of the week after an upper GI and lower GI they said it was a "soft" call whether she had a malrotation which would require surgery. At the moment she is moving her bowels and there is no obstruction so we are watching and waiting. They started feeds last Friday, 3 cc's every 3 hours and upped to 6 cc's on Saturday, but Saturday night they received some bad blood gasses and she was struggling so they put her on CPAP, then re-intubated her and stopped feeds. Sunday she was pretty lethargic, but today she is recovering though she is still on the vent. She had a minor atelectasis of the left lung so they are giving that a little time. They also started feeds again today at 3 cc's, so far she is tolerating it well. Her weight today is 1440 grams - I am guessing about 3 lbs, 5 oz. As they keep telling us this is a marathon, two steps forward one step back. So we just keep praying and going forward. can't wait to hold her in our arms and squeeze her tight. I will try to keep this updated as time permits. Here is our first picture as a family!