Beginning the discharge process

Today began Emmy's discharge process. She had a "car seat tolerance test," where she spent 30 minutes in a car seat and they monitored her heart rate and breathing, and she passed with flying colors. She's keeping her temperature up great, despite that fact that she's quite adept at getting her hat to come off and wiggling her arms out of the blankets. Tricia, her nurse again today, said she came in earlier today and she was sleeping with her arms out and up in the air. I wish I'd been there with the camera!

Tomorrow she'll have her first photo shoot (a service the hospital offers and you only pay for any photos you may decide to order) and at some point tomorrow or Tuesday they will give us our "discharge instructions." We don't anticipate her coming home any earlier than Tuesday, and it'll just depend on her weight, etc. the next 24-48 hours. It feels like the end is finally in sight!

Emmy's Big Girl Bed

Emmy is now 3 lbs 13 oz (as of Saturday morning) and she moved into a bassinet yesterday, we hope for good this time! When we went in last night she was maintaining her temperature quite well, and was even a little warm because they've been keeping her so wrapped up. We love seeing her wearing clothes and she's only got three leads monitoring her heart rate now, so she's practically wire free!

Emmy's nurse yesterday was, fortunately, a nurse she's had a few times and we like very much. The night nurse had given Tricia a rundown on the weight/bassinet "issue" and I called and talked to her before rounds yesterday, so she asked for some clarification for us when the doctor rounded on Emmy. He said that it wasn't because she'd lost weight, but they'd looked at her growth chart and she'd had a few days of slow gain, so they'd decided they wanted to put her back in until she reached 1700 grams. Great, fine, I just wish someone has explained that to us! Also, turns out at some point Thurs. or Fri. the third doctor in the group took over. I'm sort of disappointed that he or Dr. Bartley didn't let us know. Not that it mattered, but we've not heard from a doctor since Wednesday.

Anyways, regardless of why they put her back in, she's now over 1700 grams and out again and in her "big girl bed" so it's all really a moot point. It sure was frustrating for the last few days, though.

Now we just need to hope and pray that she continues to gain weight steadily the next couple of days and keeps her temps up so they will release her!

It was a big day for us yesterday...Emmy got a big girl bed and Daddy got a big boy car! It's finally time to bid a fond farewell to the '95 Buick LeSabre he's had since college. She's been a good car and certainly the most comfortable car ever (a sofa on wheels, as we say), but Charles is ready for a new car...one that perhaps his Soldiers won't make fun of quite so much. Haha. Seriously, we wanted him to be in something that is more up-to-date safety wise if we're going to be putting a baby in the car. It's something we've been planning to do for a while and he's been researching, however we just weren't super excited about another car payment so soon after paying off the Highlander! But, with Memorial Day earlier this week and it being the end of the month, we got a great deal on a new Camry. He is very excited.

I am a bit frustrated with how exhausted I am still. I know, I know, I can hear so many of your voices in my head...several weeks of inactivity, major surgery, pumping/breastfeeding, stress, and being sick this week all provide excellent reasons why I should be getting tired easily. That doesn't mean I like it! After cleaning and doing some laundry yesterday, I needed a nap. Seriously. But just a few more days and then when she's home I promise I'll take lots of naps with her. I'm sure having her home will bring a whole new level of exhaustion. But you know what? Bring it on! We are ready to have our baby home!

As always, we cherish your prayers, calls, emails, and all your love and support. I have about a million thank you notes that I'm working on still, but there are no words that can ever truly tell you how grateful we are. Thank you!! We love you all.

P.S. Yes, it's after 11 a.m. on Sunday morning and I'm obviously not at church. See above comments on exhaustion.

No news

No real news to report, but I knew some of you would be checking back to see. Emmy's doing fine this evening. She did great nursing earlier in the afternoon and did pretty well this evening. We just both have a learning curve and her tiny size adds an extra challenge to the process. It's nice now that we can hold her as long as we want after we feed her and enjoy some time with her. And, I'm glad the nurses take her out and play with her at the NICU desk at night. She's now 3 lbs 10.8 oz!

We still don't have much clarity as to why she is not out in a bassinet if in fact she hasn't lost any weight. No one seemed to want to discuss it this afternoon, so I asked her night nurse (who was there last night, even though she wasn't assigned to Emmy) if she has any idea what exactly happened. She was, of course, there for and in agreement with Felicia's irritation last night with the move back to the isolette. She checked all her recorded weights and she said she'd talk to the nurse practitioner on duty tonight and see if they could move her back to the bassinet. If there's a reason she's not in one, fine. But, based upon what Heather saw recorded, weight/temp. should not have been the reason. I don't care if someone made a mistake, let's just go back to the bassinet.

The back and forth has gotten old. Not that it was ever enjoyable, but now that it seems we should be so close to bringing her home, I'm really so done with the hospital. She was wide awake this afternoon when I was done feeding her and holding her for a while, and it was so hard to leave her. I didn't have to leave, but there's only so long one can sit in a less than comfy rocking chair in silence and stare at those four walls.

We both know that bringing her home will bring new challenges and a new level of sleep deprivation, but bring it on. We want the opportunity to establish our family at our house and whatever level of "normalcy" that in our pmay bring. And we'd like to be able to hang out with her in the comfort of our home and pjs! So, we continue to hope that happens SOON!

It's getting close...

Here's a quick post to placate the masses. :)

Emmy is so close to coming home! There was just a bit of discrepancy yesterday about her weight, so we're not quite sure how close she is.

She was moved to a bassinet, as we expected, on Wednesday night after Charles left following her 10 p.m. feeding. Then when I went in yesterday at 2 p.m. her day nurse said she'd lost a little weight, so they thought she was burning a lot of calories trying to stay warm so the doctor decided they should put her back in the isolette and let her get to 1700 grams (about 3 lbs 12 oz) before they'd take her out again. I was a little surprised, but okay. And then...

We went in at 10 p.m. and she had the same nurse, Felicia, she's had the last several nights. She was floored that they said she'd lost weight, because she was certain she had not and had gone back and checked her chart and was trying to convince Dr. Bartley that she's ready to be out. So much so in fact her temp was high earlier in the evening, so Felicia turned it way down, loosened her blankets, and finally just gotten an order to turn off the heat altogether again just as we arrived. She was really confused about the discrepancy and she said she'd been certain she'd come in last night and Emmy would be home! She said her day nurse was saying she'd lost 90 grams, so a little over 3 ounces and that really surprised me even more.

So, we're not sure what to expect out of today. If she needs to stay another couple of days, fine, but we're anxious to sort this out. Hopefully today has brought more clarity and we'll have more news later on this afternoon.

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's Nursery

Charles put the finishing touches on Emmy's nursery this weekend, so I just had to post a couple of photos. We are so pleased with how it all turned out. (Plus, we know it'll never be this organized again!) We wanted something different that could grow with a boy or a girl, and/or be used for a second baby later on. So, we went for bright colors and fun, funky fabrics. There are more photos of the finished product, and the work in progress, in the Nursery Photos album in Picasa.


We are so fortunate to have lovely people in our lives who helped make things come together...our friend Jocelyn's mom, Ms. Irene, made the curtains, bumper, and bed skirt. A wonderful lady at church, Laverne, made all the pillows. There are two cross-stitches hanging on the walls that my Mom did for my nursery, and a new one with Emmy's name, birth date, length and weight on it that our friend Sarah brought down last week. There are two pieces of art my sister gave us for Christmas, and the little lion print was a baby gift from Jocelyn and Jason. We re-framed the train picture the McGehees gave us our senior year after our train trip. The parrot mobile was a purchase we made in Nicaragua this fall right after we found out I was pregnant. The dresser was Charles' as a child and he painted it and added new hardware. The big orange chair was our splurge purchase (it's a rocker/glider), and man is it comfy! I think that we may "fight" over who gets to sit in it first and snuggle with Emmy. It has been so much fun to watch everything come together.

I have enjoyed washing all of Emmy's new clothes, blankets, etc. the last few days and getting everything organized for her. Now we just need the baby home!

And she just keeps growing

Yesterday and this afternoon they told us Emmy was 3 lbs 5 oz, but tonight her nurse said she was 3 lbs 8.5 oz! I'm not sure if the nurse earlier today told us yesterday's weight, or if she was weighed again tonight...to be honest, we were so shocked we didn't think to ask! Either way, we are thrilled and anxious to hear what Dr. Bartley will say tomorrow. (He is the neonatologist who first had her the day she was born and that first weekend and he is taking care of Emmy this week while Dr. Brawley is off.) Hopefully she can move to a bassinet soon. They have already lowered the temperature inside her isolette, so she's being weaned off her "heat source."

Last night Charles changed her diaper for the first time, and lucky him, it was a poopy diaper! He did great. I've gotten to breastfeed her twice, once yesterday and once today. It's gone about as well as I could have expected. Tomorrow we'll have the lactation consultant come in to give me some advice, too. We'll still have to give her bottles when she comes home because she'll need a vitamin supplement at least once a day and most likely she won't quite have the energy to nurse at every feeding for a little while longer.

He's a photo of Emmy from last night. You'll see she is in a "new" isolette that's actually much older and doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the "Cadillac bed" she was in had. Because she is doing so well, they moved her because there has been an influx of new smaller and sicker babies.