Some pictures from today

So I think we're finally getting used to having Audrey home. What an adjustment--we've gone from being 35 weeks pregnant, to living at the hospital, to balancing Gen and Audrey at separate locations, to all being under one roof and learning about our 2-week-old as if she's freshly born!

So today I got a picture of Audrey getting a real bath. She slept through it. That one surprised me a little bit. Genevieve was very excited to help!

And I got to take a few pictures of her, which was fun. I like this one because it gives an idea of how little bitty she is!

No words needed, I think....

Check it out...

Yep, that's a carseat with Audrey in it. In my living room. It's a miracle! We're so excited that they finally released her to go home. That's her heart and apnea monitor sitting next to her--it will be her constant companion for a few months. And she is wearing her first bow. On her hat.

We are really grateful for you guys who have followed our progress and been praying for us and for Audrey! I know that you are all over the country, and some of you we don't even know! So would you do something for us? Would you leave a comment with your name and where you are so that someday we can show it to Audrey? You don't need an account or anything--just click the "Comment" link below and it will take you to another screen.

Saturday morning in captivity...

Sorry to not update overnight. I didn't really expect to be able to sleep in our little rent-a-hospital-room. But it turns out I got to sleep, and so I did.

We had a good night. Audrey did NOT like being moved at all, and it upset her for a while. She calmed down though. Her monitors only went off 3 times overnight. I expect that in the next few hours they will let us know if we are headed home or not. Big weight gain last night--she's now up to 6 pounds, 4.3 ounces!

Good news

Not trying to get your cyber-hopes up here, but it is possible that Audrey may come home soon. Of course, this can change any time for a variety of reasons. But we are hopeful. She is doing very well.

Tonight I'm staying at the hospital with her, and I'll be posting updates every so often through the night. We would just ask for your prayers that things continue to go well, that the night is uneventful, that I am able to work the monitors, and that I find comfort in this time of taking care of her with nurse supervision in preparation to take her home.

Look, Mommy! No feeding tube!

So I finally got coordinated enough to get the camera back up to the hospital today. And you can see, the feeding tube is out. She's been nursing or bottle feeding for 24 hours now. And, she's in an open crib. Things are really looking up!

We have a 6-pounder again!

Ladies and gents, Audrey is finally 6 pounds again. This makes 4 days that she has gained weight now. This is good. She seems to be making some progress keeping herself warm too, so the powers that be are discussing the possibility of an open crib instead of her heated box. {Personally, I wish I had a heated box. I don't keep myself warm all that well either.} Her feeding tube is out, but they are adamant that they can put it back in at any time. I know, I know. But you can't keep it out if you don't take it out first, right?

I keep forgetting to bring the camera to the hospital, so I don't have any pictures to post. Sorry.

Right now we are just hoping that this positive trend continues. There is always a risk of pushing her too hard before she is ready, but maybe this is the turnaround we've been looking for.

A teeny bikini....

Don't worry people, the teeny bikini is not for, or currently being worn by, me.

Had to get something else at Toys R Us this morning, and I ran across this for Audrey, which of course she desperately needed..... a teeny swimsuit. Took a picture, then realized it needed a size reference so you get the idea... hence Genny's Dora DVD being in the shot. Super cute. Looking forward to fun times at the pool.

Audrey is eating better today. They are working to wean her off the heated isolette to an open crib environment. Her bilirubin is down to a normal level, and we hope that it will continue to stay there.

Tuesday, really?

So it's Tuesday. Audrey is 10 days old today. Hard to believe, isn't it?
This morning and afternoon Audrey was too tired to eat, so we had to use her feeding tube. But tonight she was active and awake. Probably the most active I've seen her yet. She's still strugging to keep her body temperature normal, even with 2 sets of clothes and 2 blankets. But she did gain weight tonight, which makes it 3 nights in a row that she has gained. She's up to 5#, 15.6 oz now. We'll get another check on her bilirubin level tomorrow.

Getting back....

So I feel like I'm kind of getting back to myself. Audrey's 10 days old, and I'm feeling pretty good. Which means I have stories....

Now, if you cringe at the words "breast pump," you may want to stop reading. But for the brave souls, you might get a small chuckle.

So about 10 hours after Audrey was born, they wheeled an industrial electric breast pump into my hospital room. I'm sure they billed someone for this thing so I could use it while in the hospital. The nurse demonstrates how it works, then points out what she calls "its best feature." {Seriously, other than the main feature and purpose it was designed for?} She shows me how part detaches from the main unit to become a manual pump. She then explains to me that this will be wonderful so that I can take it camping. That's right, camping.

Apparently being 10 hours out of surgery, having an infant in the NICU, and having a feisty 2-year old all adds up to the camping trip of a lifetime. Frankly, I don't think I ever want the words "camping" and "breast pump" in the same sentence. But you will be glad to know that after I questioned whether or not I was in a drug-induced hallucination, I politely thanked her and feigned enthusiasm about my unexpected freedom to camp.

Monday night

Starting with a picture of Genny, who is the pinnacle of cuteness. She informed us over the weekend that Baby Audrey lives at the hospital, and she was horrified to learn that Baby Audrey would be coming to live at "her" house. Hmm.

Audrey is still continuing to do well. She gained an ounce. She is eating better. Her jaundice is returning, and she is having trouble keeping herself warm. We're just still waiting for her to get a little older.

It's Sunday

Well, today is Sunday. A bit of a letdown since we thought at one point that today would be the day to bring Audrey home. She continues to be stable--no backward progress, but no real forward progress either. At the 3:00 feeding, her nurse assured me that at some point she will just magically get it and start eating reliably and well and remember to breathe on her own all the time. I think she's just building us up for a big shock when she gets better!

So the velcro spots on the side of her head... I know it looks weird. That's how they hold on her little sunglasses in the jaundice lights. Since her bilirubin is down, they have taken off her velcro now.

Saturday's update

Things look more positive today! Audrey is not sunbathing anymore, and her color looks better. It seems like her energy level is higher, and she ate better today. Here she is in her turtle jammies.

Friday night update

Audrey ate better tonight, and she will be under the jaundice lights until midnight. In the morning they will test to see if her bilirubin levels are down far enough. Things are looking a little better, and I'm off to bed. Night, everyone!

Normalcy!

Realizing that my blog used to be (mostly) cheerful if not sarcastic and (sort of ) funny (on a good day), I'm making an effort here to post something happy.

So here's Genny and I making cookies! It was a lovely normal thing to do. She was quite excited about it. We're going to take the cookies to the NICU nurses tonight. Don't you love her chef's hat!?

Thursday night / Friday morning update

Well, last night was pretty awful, which is why it's 11:15 and I haven't posted anything yet.

Audrey is having a tough time nursing, and a tough time keeping her food down. She's not keen on a bottle either, so we are still dependent on her feeding tube. Last night she had one of the many episodes of her heart rate dropping and her breathing stopping. Usually they don't happen while we're there, but this one was while I was holding her. She was unresponsive for a short time. All of this together really made it clear--she's not ready to come home, and she may not be for a while. We had been thinking Sunday, but it's now Wednesday at the earliest.

She is still under the lights for jaundice and will continue that probably until tomorrow. The good news is that it's helping her bilirubin levels, which will probably in turn help her other concerns. We'll work on getting some good news to post tonight, ok?

Snow in Amarillo and a Baby Tanning Bed.

Hmmm... nope it's not lack of sleep making me hallucinate, it REALLY did snow (a little) last night, and Audrey REALLY has a baby tanning bed at her disposal.

Her jaundice has gotten to a point where she needs some light, so here she is getting some sun today. Don't you love the little sunglasses? Not an unexpected turn, and we're sure it will help her with her feedings if she can get her bilirubin levels down (because elevated levels make her lethargic).

Seriously, I'm not sure what day it is anymore. Surely Blogger will date this for me....

Sorry that the pictures are blurry. Can't use a flash in the NICU, and the lights are rather dim in there. Anyway, the first picture is Audrey's crib with a picture that Genny colored for her. The next is Audrey on the scale Tuesday night at her weigh-in. And the last is Robert feeding her Tuesday night.

Today has been a rollercoaster. We started the day with an unbelievably good feeding. Then in the next 2 hours, Audrey had 3 episodes of apnea in which her heart rate dropped and she stopped breathing. This was followed by a dismal feeding. ugh. As we get ready to head back up to the hospital, we hope that this evening's weigh-in and feeding will go well, and we will get to at least talk about the next steps of bringing her home soon.

And here's a little video we made for Genny to see her sister....

Genevieve comments on Dancing with the Stars

Genevieve loves Dancing with the Stars.

She cheers and comments her way through it. I think sometimes that she could fill in for Bruno.

On last night's premiere, Edyta (above) had her usual lack of clothes on. Sorry I couldn't find a full-length photo--the bottom half was weirder than the top.

Gen's comment: "That is a funny dress. Someone should get her a new dress."

Monday night update

Wanted to post a quick update--

I'm home from the hospital today. It sure is nice to be home, but it was awful to come home without Audrey. But she is in good hands, and she will follow soon. It feels like we're missing someone at home... I guess because we are.

Here's a picture of Audrey from this evening's feeding. Her color is better and they have removed her IV. But her feedings didn't go well today. We're hoping she can rest up tonight and they will go better tomorrow. In good news, she gained back 2 ounces that she had lost since birth, bringing her to 5 pounds, 12 ounces now. She is continuing to have trouble regulating her body temperature as well. We hope that tomorrow brings new progress!

Thanks to all of you guys out there that are praying for Audrey. We appreciate you!

Sunday night

Audrey has been eating from a bottle pretty well, and at each feeding they are able to increase the amount she is eating. Although her feeding tube is still in place, there is a chance they will remove her IV sometime tomorrow.

Sunday update

Late yesterday we got to hold Audrey for the first time. The nurses are trying to get her to take a bottle and meeting with some success. They have taken her off oxygen and she is breathing room air. We are hopeful that her feeding tube will be taken out today.

Audrey Kate is here!

What a whirlwind!

Wendy had been having strong contractions most of Friday. By 11:30 at night, she called her doctor and he told us to head to the hospital to get checked out. By 12:30, he said we'd have a baby soon. Baby was breech, so a c-section it was. By 2:00, Audrey was out and crying! She got a good but of fluid in her lungs and is in NICU. She's doing really great, but will stay in NICU for a while. She was born 4 and a half weeks early.

Wendy is exhausted, but doing well. I'm so proud of all three of my girls!

If you would like to come visit, please call Robert's cell phone and check to see if it's a good time.

6 lbs, 2.25 ounces. 18.25 inches.

Top 10 questions from Genny

We have reached the age of questions. Some repeated over and over and over.... here's a sampling.

10. Where did the sun/moon go?
9. Where's Daisy?
8. Can you make Daisy {fill in some action I am not going to force the dog to do: dance, sing, lay by me, talk....}?
7. Where's tomorrow?
6. Where's Christmas?
5. When is that new baby getting here?
4. Whatchoo gonna do today, Mommy?
3. What color are you, Mommy? {Translation: what color is your shirt?}
2. What's your name, Mommy? {she's become fascinated with learning people's full names}
1. Can I play a little longer?

Our little vacation

I wanted so much for us to take Genevieve on a family vacation before the baby was born--just the 3 of us. It kept not working out. About a month ago, we planned to spend the weekend in fabulous Lubbock (I know...) together, but Genevieve got sick and we had to cancel. Now I'm at a point in the pregnancy where it's unwise to leave town, but I was unwilling to give up. So I booked us a hotel room at the Amarillo Drury Inn for Friday night and packed our bags.

I told Genny we were going to stay at a special castle. She was SO excited! There was popcorn and snacks in the lobby when we got there.

She lounged with Daddy in our special room.

We went out for a special meal.

We went swimming in the indoor pool and it was great!

We played Candyland in the room.

Sprite and fruit snacks before bed.....

Maybe it wasn't the dream vacation we imagined originally, but it was a wonderful special time as a family! And the travel time was ideal!