We Are Home!

Yesterday we came home as a family for the first time. We are so excited to finally have her home. We are spending our time loving Adelyn so much, and trying to get to know our daughter. So far she is fairly easy to please, rarely spending much time crying unless she is hungry. Our first night wasn't too bad even when she was waking us up every 2 hours for a "snack". Although we definitely won't complain because we would rather wake up every 2 hours in our home, then have to visit her in the hospital. One of our favorite things is holding her and walking around the house since she no longer has the cords attached. We also love snuggling with her while she naps, any we might be guilty of snoozing a little too. Ginger and Baxter are very interested in her. Each time she starts to make sounds or cry a little, one the dogs usually comes to either Tim or me to make sure we are going to find out what is wrong. Both of them have slipped quick kisses on her head, even if we are holding her and telling them to get away. All of us are trying to get into a routine of our new family, and loving every second if it!

Going Home?

Yesterday we received wonderful news that we would room-in with Adelyn, where basically we care for our baby and the nurses are available if we need them. It is to simulate life at home, so she is still on the monitor but we don't get to see the numbers. We were told she can go home after two nights of weight gain, and we are happy to report she gained weight last night. So fingers crossed she gains weight today and we can go home tomorrow. We have really enjoyed the last 24 hours as our little family should be, with the exception of the puppies at home. We can't wait to bring her home and have the entire family together under one roof! Once we get home we will be able to get more pictures on the blog. Things have been especially crazy over the last 10 days as we have been working to exclusively breastfeed Adelyn. The hard work (and patience) has paid off because she is getting all the nutrition through breastfeeding, and we won't have to introduce bottles to her yet. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers, we are so thankful for the support. We know it is with the help of everyone that we are coming to end of our NICU stay!

How Preemie Moms are Chosen

How Preemie Moms are Chosen

by Erma Bombeck

Did you ever wonder how the mothers of premature babies are chosen?

Somehow, I visualize God hovering Earth, selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger.

"Armstrong, Beth, son. Patron Saint...give her Gerard. He's used to profanity."

Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a preemie."

The angel is curious. "Why this one God? She's so happy." "Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a premature baby a mother who knows no laughter? That would be cruel."

"But does she have the patience?" asks the angel.

"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she'll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair.
Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it.

I watched her today. She has that sense of self and independence so rare and so necessary in a mother.
You see, the child I am going to give her has a world of it's own. She has to make it live in her world, and that's not going to be easy."

God smiles. "This one is perfect. She has just the right amount of selfishness. "
The angel gasps, "Selfishness! Is that a virtue?"

God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't know it yet, but she is to be envied.

She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says "momma" for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it.

I will permit her to see clear the things that I see - ignorance, cruelty, prejudice - and allow her to rise above them.

She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."

"But what about her Patron Saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in the air. God smiles.
"A mirror will suffice.

What a difference a week can make...

This past week has been a roller coaster of emotions thanks to the uncertainty of the NICU, lack of sleep, and a handful of hormones. We are truly blessed on the big steps our little angel is taking. We spend the majority of our day/evening in the NICU at Adelyn's bedside, and we are happy to report that each day she surprises us with yet another step forward. She stopped the CPAP machine over the weekend, and started on nasal cannula. Today she went down to 1/2 liter of oxygen and if everything looks good for the next 12 hours the cannula will be removed. She had two bilirubin lights this weekend, went down to one on Sunday, and yesterday went to the blanket - for a couple of days we had our very own glow worm. Today they removed the blanket! Her TPN was stopped at the end of last week, and she has been steadily increasing the amount of breast milk she is eating - she is now up to 2 ounces every 3 hours. Yesterday she started to work on latching while she was getting the feedings through her NG tube. Today she was actually able to get a little bit of milk before getting sleepy. The lactation consultant said everything looked good, and she was surprised how well she did on her first try this morning. If things continue in this direction, tomorrow the only tube she will have is the NG tube to feed her (through her nose to her stomach). This will probably stay in place until she gets better at breastfeeding. We are so proud of Adelyn, and love spending our day at her bedside. We just wish we could take her home soon. We try not to get our hopes up on when she can come home, since she is in complete control of the timeline.

I realized yesterday that having a little girl is absolutely wonderful, but I do have to share my Valentine! Tim went to work for part of the day yesterday, and came home with roses for me and a cute little stuffed animal for Adelyn. He said he wanted to get a little something for his Valentines. I hope one day she realizes how fortunate she is to have Tim for her daddy.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We absolutely appreciate it, and see the amazing work of God everyday we see Adelyn. Thank you also for your patience with us, this was an unexpected bump in our road and it is very difficult for us to express what we are going through. Although our baby girl is doing well, we don't want to introduce unnecessary germs and potential problems before she is well enough to leave considering she is still very fragile. There is still a period of time once we are home that we have to be extremely careful due to her prematurity. There will definitely be plenty of time to hold Adelyn once she is strong enough to protect herself! Thank you for the understanding during this roller coaster of emotions.

A little update....

It is so refreshing to see Adelyn without all the equipment attached. Here she is holding on to Tim's fingers while the nurse was doing her check-up. Today Tim received his first gift from Adelyn when he went to change her diaper. I'm sure the nurses think we are ridiculous when we change her diapers because we have now idea what we are doing.
Daddy and Adelyn snuggling during some skin to skin time. She had the best respiration while lying with daddy. At one point she was so relaxed it was causing all of us to want to snuggle and nap.
Mommy and Adelyn snuggling while she was stuffed inside my tank top so we were skin to skin as well. We both said this was the moment we felt like parents, it helped not only us but also Adelyn. She is improving daily! She started on breast milk yesterday, and by today has increased her feedings by 4 times. She has also had her CPAP machine turned down with hopes of going to nasal cannula and room air soon. Today she is 35 weeks, so only 2 more weeks until "full term"!

One of my favorite photos of my two favorite people! Seeing how much Tim loves Adelyn and the secure arms she will be raised in, as well as her complete relaxation in his arms makes me the happiest mother in the world! Please continue to pray for her to get stronger so she can come home soon, and for our continued patience knowing she is safest in the NICU. Every moment of every day we feel truly blessed to have such a strong and amazing little girl, and can't wait to introduce her to our family and friends.

Adelyn Mae

Our little lady just couldn't wait until March. Adelyn Mae decided to make her debut at 4:49am on Monday February, 7th. She is absolutely beautiful and already has Mommy and Daddy in complete love. She was born at 34 weeks and 3 days. Saturday evening I left work early to go to the hospital and get checked out for some cramping. I was having contractions between 1-5 minutes apart, but they were not accomplishing anything at that time. So I was given some medication to stop the contractions and told to go home and rest. Sunday morning the contractions started again, and I took more medication that eventually stopped them again. The contractions started happening again Sunday evening, they were much less routine but more intense. We debated for a few hours whether to go to the hospital or wait until morning to go to the doctor. After a very strong contraction we decided to go in, completely unprepared for what was to come. Upon arrival they notified us that at some point during the day my water had broken, I was dilating and effacing. So we were informed we would be admitted and having a baby in February as opposed to March. By the time we were in the labor and delivery room, I had dilated another 2 cm and ready for the epidural. I was debating on if I wanted it right away or to wait, thank goodness I didn't wait. By the time the epidural was in place I had dilated another 4 cm. After the epidural I was able to rest for the last 2 cm and enjoy the calm before the storm. After less than an hour of pushing, Miss Adelyn Mae was born. We arrived at the hospital at 9:20pm and she was born at 4:49am the following morning. She weighed 6lbs 15 1/2 ozs and was 20 1/2 inches in length. Her head was 13 1/4 inches for those that thought she would have a big head. Since she was early they had the NICU team available to take her to the NICU to care for her. Once she was delivered we were able to hold and love her for a while before they took her upstairs to the NICU. Her first cry was music to our ears!

Her first day of life was pretty eventful. Her apgar scores were good at 7 and 8, but while she was in the NICU she was having to work a little harder to rid her body of carbon dioxide. She started on oxygen through a nasal cannula, then CPAP machine, and finally was intubated so her lungs didn't have to work so hard. After some cuddle time with Mommy & Daddy yesterday, she was doing so well. She was only intubated for 24 hours and needed one dose of surfactant, and her levels improved. She is now back to CPAP with the doctor's anticipation of going back to the nasal cannula and then room air. They are saying she is very strong and doing really well. Today she was started on breast milk and they will continue to increase how much she gets until she is able to breastfeed. Today we were able to cuddle with her more and she was making more sounds, making faces, opening her eyes to daddy's voice, and moving her mouth in a sucking motion.

This unexpected early arrival has put us into a bit of an emotional roller coaster, but we are leaning on each other for support as well as our amazing family and friends. It is a little difficult walking back to our room without her, after spending time with her in the NICU. However, it has also been nice to allow myself to recover while we know she is being cared for around the clock. She is also allowing us to get things ready for her at home. The plan is for us to go home tomorrow evening, and continue to have Adelyn in the NICU until she is well enough to go home. We were told prior to her birth she could need to stay until her due date, but most of the people we have spoken with have said probably closer to when she is 37 weeks. We are just hoping to be pleasantly surprised when she gets to come home. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and well wishes, she could never have too many!

With Love, Tim, Emily, and Adelyn!

Someone is being ornery!

These are updated photos of Peanut from our 30 week ultrasound 3 weeks ago. I haven't rushed to put them up because Peanut has decided to teach Mommy & Daddy patience by now allowing us to get a decent picture of the face. Above is a facial profile with one of the hands over the face, which did not move during the entire ultrasound. With one exception, the time when the foot was above the face. The technician tried agitated Peanut to make the hand move, but someone was pretty comfy in there because he/she didn't move at all. The picture below is the same photo only 3D from the front of the face. There so everyone can see is a perfectly placed hand. I guess Peanut is showing us that the body parts are perfectly formed and there is nothing to worry about.

The next picture is a nice photo of the foot. I guess Peanut was showing me why when I get kicked I notice it so much, because that foot looks huge! Fortunately the doctors have to told us there isn't anything wrong with Peanut. They did say at this ultrasound Peanut was estimated at 4lbs and usually is closer to 3lbs at 30 weeks. I guess Thursday we will find out how much Peanut has grown in 3 weeks. The Braxton-Hicks have started so maybe Peanut will arrive a little early so we won't end up with a 10lb baby, that won't fit in newborn clothing or diapers. Oh well, I guess we just pray for a happy, healthy baby!


This last picture freaks me out, but it just goes to show how Peanut managed to flash that hand in each close-up. The eye looks weird thanks to the thumb partially covering it. Tim laughs when he sees these pictures because he says Peanut is putting the hand there to be like, "Mom, enough with the pictures already. Let me relax in here because I know you'll go crazy once I get out of here." Hopefully on Thursday we have a better picture to show, but I definitely will not be surprised if they are more of the same.