It's no fun being sick

What I thought was allergies/sinus drainage yesterday turned out to be a cold or some similar unpleasantness when I woke up this morning. Lots of congestion, coughing, sneezing, etc., which means I really should stay away from the hospital for a day or two. So, I shed a tear (or two three), and I've stayed home today. I hate to not hold her or be able to nurse her, but I not only want to keep germs away from her, I don't want to spread this to any of the nurses or other babies, etc. If I don't develop a fever and I feel better tomorrow or Friday, then I will go back. Ironically, I probably picked this up at the hospital. Sigh.

Charles came home midday and went to feed Emmy and drop off milk. She ate like a champ! She is still 3 lbs 8 oz and they have lowered the temperature in her isolette and will probably turn it off completely tonight. So, she may be in a regular bassinet tomorrow! We will get some gowns and socks and hats together to take up there tomorrow. We finally can start putting her extensive wardrobe to use!

Emmy keeps growing!

Today Emmy is 2 lbs 15 oz! She's doing great and is moving back to all bottle feedings today. She also has been moved to a little room behind the room she's been in all this time because she is doing so well. There are some sicker babies coming in today, so she now has her own private "suite" and the nurses will keep monitoring her from room 6, where she has been all along. I did not ask if her feeding tube was coming out yet, but I suspect they will wait and see how she handles all bottles again for a least 24 hours before taking it out.

I'll be going in at 3 p.m. to feed her and hold her. Then Charles and I will go back at 9 p.m. as well. That's been our routine this week, which is working out well.

I went in for a doctor's appointment yesterday and I'm healing well, so I don't have to go back for 4 weeks. Dr. Larson said they missed me around there. I saw a couple of the ultrasound techs who were happy to see photos of Emmy. They all have been so wonderful to us!

Charles has a four day weekend for Memorial Day, so that's going to be nice. We're going to try and get a lot of little things done since we know once she's home our energies will be focused elsewhere.

I'll post any update and photos later on after visiting her. Hope everyone is having a good Thursday!

No more PICC!

We are thrilled that today Emmy's PICC line came out, so no more IV! Once the feeding tube comes out again, then she'll only be "tied" to wires that are external monitors. She gained weight again and is now 2 lbs 14 oz. Look out, we'll soon have a 3 lb baby on our hands! She's now getting two bottle feedings in a row, then a tube feeding, and she seems to be handling this change well.

"Aunt" Sarah came from Atlanta to visit today. She brought an adorable cross-stitch that she did for Emmy's nursery that has her name, birth date, weight, and length on it. I can't wait to hang it up! We had lunch together, then headed over to the hospital. They let me hold Emmy for a little while since the feeding schedule change meant 3 p.m. was a tube feeding. I'd forgotten my camera, so Sarah took a few photos, including Emmy's "philosophical pose" you see here. Too funny. Thanks for coming to town, Sarah!

We are so excited that our dear friends Lucas and Lisa welcomed baby William Cameron this afternoon. Congratulations you two! We can't wait for Will and Emmy to meet.

What a lucky girl!

I tell you what, Emmy already has a wardrobe three times the size of mine! If anyone was worried about us having enough clothes since we didn't know before she was born if we should buy boy or girl clothes, have no fear. Our fabulous friends and family have taken care of her, what a lucky girl!

Saturday was my "Church" baby shower, thrown by our dear friends. (Thanks Mary Ann, Stephanie, Pam, and Sarah!) Our St. John family loves us so much, it's overwhelming! I had a great time and we have so many beautiful gifts for Emmy to use. We can't wait to get her home and put them all to use.

Mom came down Friday to help out and to be here for the shower. It was so nice to have her here, even just for a day, and she got to be there when we were feeding Emmy on Friday so she had a chance to see her out of her isolette. She's a proud grandmother, for sure!


Beth and Griffin also came Friday to meet their niece! We had a great time with them and they also got to see Emmy while she was out taking a bottle Friday and Saturday. Beth, of course, came to the shower on Saturday while Charles, Griff, and Joel kicked back at the house and played Wii and drank beer. Charles was the chef Saturday night and grilled burgers for all of us after the shower.


And now, what you really want to know...how is Emmy doing? She is doing well! Unfortunately, they decided to put her feeding tube back in Saturday. The nurses had noticed (and so had we) that she was getting very tired towards the end of her feedings once they had increased her intake to 20+ and it was hard to get her to finish her bottle. Plus, her weight leveled off at 2 lbs 10 oz and she didn't gain for a few days. They suspected that she was using a lot of calories and energy eating, so they decided it would be best to let her rest every other feeding and get it through the tube. She wasn't happy about having it back in! They also increased her calories last night by adding a supplement to my milk. Today she had gained and she's now 2 lbs 12 oz, so something is working!! Dr. Brawley seemed pleased. I fed her today at 3 p.m. and at 9 p.m. and I thought she took the bottle faster and it didn't take as much work to keep her awake to finish.

Hopefully a few days of this routine and she'll gain enough weight and energy to lose the feeding tube again. Really, she'd moved so fast this past week, it wasn't a concern that we sort of had to take a step back. She's doing great.

Charles went back to work today until Emmy comes home. Then he will take some personal leave and spend a few more weeks home as we all adjust. He's just trying to catch up and get ready to be out again for a while. We're lucky everyone in the command has been so supportive. He said everyone was asking to see his wedding ring and they were shocked looking at in person after seeing the pictures of it all the way up Emmy's arm! She is a tiny little Pickle.

Thanks everyone for all your calls, cards, gifts, and concern. Your prayers helped get Emmy here safe and they are helping sustain us now. We're anxious to have her home, and hopefully she will be soon!

What a sweet face

Not that we're partial or anything...but what a sweet face! Today Emmy came off the Bili lights so the little velcro tabs that held on her "sunglasses" while she was under the lights are gone, too! Now you can see all of her face.

Dr. Brawley said that he hopes to take out her PICC line soon, and then she will be free from everything but the little external monitors. Yay!

They doubled her feedings again today to 20 ccs. She'd had her first "big" feeding at Noon, so at 3 p.m. when we went in to feed her, she wasn't quite as ravenous as she has been and it was hard to get her to wake up and eat. We think her belly was still pretty full. Not surprisingly, she did manage to finish most of it finally.

A couple more photos are up in Picasa, but I had to finish with one of "Big Sister" Rags. Charles put together the bouncer today while we were organizing things in the nursery, and Rags promptly climbed up and went to sleep. Here she is posing for the camera.

Look what's missing!

Emmy's feeding tube! They took it out this morning and they have doubled her feedings to 10 ccs (about 2 teaspoons). Way to go!

We had a good visit with her this afternoon. After she ate her "snack" we both got to "kangaroo" with her, which means put her on our chests skin to skin. It's good for newborns, but especially for preemies as they're learning to regulate their body temperature. It also helps Mom's hormones for milk production. It was wonderful and I'm not sure I've ever seen Charles look so happy.

Here's one more photo of Emmy taking her bottle. It only takes her about a minute to suck it down. What a good eater!

Eating from a bottle!

We were thrilled to find out yesterday from Emmy's day nurse, Carla, and Dr. Brawley that they had decided to let her try her 3 p.m. feeding from a bottle and she did GREAT! Carla said they would probably do a bottle feeding every 12 hours, but when we called to check on her last night, her night nurse had given her the 9 p.m. feeding on it, and after talking to Kim, today's nurse, it sounds like she's had most every feeding since then from a bottle because she's handling the nipple so well. We are absolutely thrilled! Of course, we should have known with her genes she'd be a good little eater.

I just called to check on her and they increased her feedings after rounds this morning from 3 to 5 ccs every 3 hours. She handled the increase well by bottle at noon, so they are going to let us feed her at 3:00. I can't wait!

She is still under the bili light for her jaundice. We thought they might be able to take the 2nd light off today (she was under two lights for a couple of days, but she's down to one), but she's still has to be under them. That's okay, but we'll be glad when she's done because then we can hold her more.

Really, she is just doing so well. Thank you Dr. Larson for making the best call for her health last week! We are so blessed to have such a healthy baby, especially for all she endured to get here.