2 Weeks

Sorry for the lapse in posting...life is just a little crazy right now to say the least! :)

Here we are at day 14...Olivia is officially 2 weeks old. She's still doing great...gaining a little weight even - last night she was up to 3 lbs 3 oz! Wahoo! She's having some episodes where her heart rate drops and a few apnea spells, which they say is totally normal for someone her size and age...but it's still hard for me to hear. But overall, the trend is still upward so we couldn't be happier! We get to hold her a lot more now and get to do more...diaper changes, baths...stuff like that. So it's fun to be a little more involved than we were before...makes it seem a little more real!

The boys are doing great...still having a total blast with Grandma! We all went down to the hospital earlier this week and Garrett got to see Olivia again. Ethan was beside himself with excitement to spend a few hours with the massive fish tanks in the waiting area, so the trip was a success! Then my mom took the boys to the Children's Museum for a few hours and they all had a fun day out. So, slowly we seem to be finding the balance in all this. Life is crazy, but good. We are still so blessed and find such comfort in each and every one of those blessings.

Here we are in Olivia's new room, complete with a sleeper couch that we are sure to take advantage of in the coming weeks.

Olivia and friends (Garrett and Winky the lamb - thanks Deb!)

Now that Olivia is in a more stable area, they are letting us use our own blankets and things so this is the first time she has her pink little girly blanket to sleep on.

It is hard to appreciate her size...she doesn't look small to me but when you lift her up, you can feel how light and small she is in your hands.

balance

Well, I figured that it was time to make time for an update. That seems to be what life is all about right now...making time for all the things that we need to do. That balance is out there...it's got to be, right??? So hopefully we'll find it soon! Although, I think that balance is something that will change daily...or even hourly!!! But that's okay...how can it not when you are dealing with life on a normal basis...not just in crazy-mode like we are right now! :)

Olivia is doing amazing! She is absolutely perfect! (Can you tell, I'm slightly in love?!?!?) She is increasing her feedings and tolerating them well. She's 2 lbs 15 oz...so we're making progress! She's still on the CPAP, but doing great with it. They've mentioned trying to take her off again and see how she does with a few more days under her belt. So we'll see how that goes. They put a different type of CPAP machine on her this second time around which seems a whole lot more comfortable for her and didn't need to be adjusted because of it always falling out. It's held on by this mask thing that fits over her face...so she looks like a little scuba diver/super hero and I think it's adorable!

She was more awake yesterday than I've ever seen her...he eyes were wide open and she seemed to be taking everything in (as much as you can while laying in your little incubator box!) My mom was able to come up with us yesterday...so that was so fun to see her fall even more in love with her too. Olivia seemed to love having a new face to look at and you could see the bond form between them instantaneously! It was so fun!!!

The boys are doing great! That's been the other major balance thing in life right now. But having my mom here has been the greatest blessing. Their lives are still constant...just minus the mom and dad around the house! But they're having so much fun with Grandma that I don't think they mind! It's been nice to focus on them more though too...just to make sure they know that they are still loved as much as ever. All those extra things in life just don't seem as important right now...thus my early morning blogging - it's the only time I can justify spending more than a minute on the computer. I'd rather be with the boys while I'm home...not plugging away at all the extras!

We try and take some video at the hospital each day...so when we come home, we all snuggle up on the couch and watch Olivia, so hopefully they'll get to know her through that a bit and be able to be a part of all this in their own way. Garrett can come in to the NICU but poor Ethan is too little...so that's our way of sharing her with them. It's pretty cute though to see them soooo enraptured by the baby on tv. Ethan is always so concerned she cries and asks if she is sad. He can't quite say Olivia...which is the cutest thing...it's more like 'Yee Yaa' (I'll have to try and get a recording of him saying it and post it on here!) Garrett is enthralled by her size by way of diapers. The nurse gave him one of the teeny tiny diapers to take home and show his friends when he came up to see her and so that is how he tracks her progress. I brought home the next sized diaper for him yesterday and he was so excited by how much bigger it was! It's pretty funny!

We went out for burgers and ice cream last night...here's the boys being as goofy as ever. Yeah, I think they'll make it through all this okay!!!

So that's our life as of today! We just feel so blessed and loved, so thank you for all the prayers and thoughts sent our way from all of you. We could not make it without that extra help that is definitely carrying us through all this! We see the hand of the Lord in our lives so clearly right now, that it's hard not to be overwhelmed by the immense joy we feel even though things are so hard! The emotions and feelings are almost too crazy to describe...but even as everyday is challenging, it is also wonderful at the same time. We get to spend time with our three children and life is good!

can't sleep

So, i can't seem to fall back asleep after my 4am pumping session...probably because I always call and talk to the nurses and then my brain just keeps clicking away. And since this is basically my way of keeping track right now, you poor readers get the brunt of my early-morning thoughts - which i can assure you, usually aren't that coherent until at least noon on a good day! :)

Last evening, Olivia had to go back on the CPAP. They decided she was just having to work too hard to keep the breathing up on her own. The sweet nurse we talked to was great to reassure us that it isn't necessarily a setback and we shouldn't be discouraged...it's just them being cautious. She needs every calorie she can get to GROW and not focus so much on using them for things like breathing and keeping her heart pumping! So, though it feels like moving backwards, I am so grateful for the precautions taken and for that big ol' tube that is now back on her face! :)

It was so funny though to listen to the nurse talk about how much she was protesting it. She said they went to put it back on her, and her eyes flew open, her arms and legs started waving like crazy and she was squawking up a storm to let them know just how extremely unhappy she was about the whole thing. I love that even with being so tiny and helpless, she is so strong and knows exactly what she wants and is willing to fight for it - though maybe once we hit the terrible two's i won't think it's so cute!!! We could hear her in the background throughout the conversation still squeaking and letting us know that she wasn't too pleased to have those prongs back up her nose! So cute! But the nurse assured me this morning that she had slept soundly through the night and hadn't had any problems with her breathing levels or heart since being put back on it...so it's all great news!

So, we're back to this

from this

but it's all good! We'll take what we can get!!!

Day 5

Here are a few pics of Olivia from today...she's 5 days old now and doing great! I called the nurse around 4:00 this morning for an update and was too excited to sleep after that. They were putting in a picc line (a more semi-permanent IV) since she kept having troubles with her normal IV's. That procedure went well, so it was nice to hear that she hadn't spent the entire night in torture with the whole team hanging over her. They also took her completely off the oxygen and she was doing great with it...her breathing was completely normal just breathing in the normal oxygen from the atmosphere like any healthy baby!!! They've had her hooked up to the CPAP machine to keep her lungs open and working like they should, and while we were so grateful for that machine (and the fact that she didn't have to be on the ventilator at all), it was sooooo beyond exciting to know that it was off and she would have significantly less tubes and wires covering her cute body! Besides the first 5 minutes of her life, we haven't been able to see her whole face. She also did extra well with her feedings overnight, so it was just so nice to hear good news and know that she had a great night! It makes being apart from her a little easier to manage when the news is good!

We went down to the hospital this afternoon and we both got to hold her...usually only one of us gets a chance each day. But she snuggled right in and kept her temperature nice and toasty so both Steve and I got some good cuddle time! I think one of my favorite things in this whole experience is watching Steve hold her. He absolutely beams the entire time and you can just see that all is right with the world when she is in his arms. I knew from day one that he would be smitten with his little girl, but this dramatic entrance has sealed the deal. She is definitely a daddy's girl! :)

Introducing Olivia...in pics

As promised, here are a few pictures of Olivia - finally!!! Sorry for our slow technical delay...we really need a laptop!!! :)

Our first family photo...just a few minutes after she was born.

Here she is laying in her incubator...with all her wires and tubes to play with!

Here she and I are, the very first time I got to hold her on Saturday (two days after she was born...total torture waiting that long!!!)

Wouldn't you think she'd want to be all curled up tight??? She lays all spread out all the time! Maybe she knew she'd get a better tan from her bilirubin lights if she did it that way!!!

Just a shot of how we get to interact when we aren't able to hold her...which is most of the time. At least we can put our hands in there and talk to her.

A little shot of the diameter of her little arms...they're about the same as Steve's pinkie finger! Her little chicken legs aren't too much bigger either! So though, she is pretty good sized - length wise...this girl's got some fattening up to do! :)

Here she is today as we had to say goodbye. She was totally alert and kept looking at us through the incubator. It was so hard to leave the NICU this afternoon, knowing that we wouldn't be right back up to sit with her again until the next day.

Olivia Clara Smith

Olivia shares a birthday (July 17) with her great grandmother Clara. We have always liked the name and thought it was a perfect fit. And we love Grandma Clara who was a great woman.

Olivia has started feeding (through a tube) and they have decreased the pressure on the air being delivered to her lungs...one step closer to getting rid of the big tubes on her. She spent the day lounging around under her bilirubin lights... Since she needed to be under the lights, we couldn't hold her today :( but on the positive side, the took off her hat and we got to see her hair. It is a light brown and blond color and so cute.

Dani is doing well, up and moving around. We are still in the hospital at Memorial Hermann. I think we will be going home either Monday or Tuesday and we'll download some pics to share with you all.

Baby Girl has Arrived...a LITTLE early

I guess this is a good time for me to break into the blogging scene with my first official post. We had a baby girl at 12:16 am on July 17, 2009 (at 29 weeks and 5 days). She weighed 2lbs 11 oz (1205 grams in case you were wondering) and 16 inches long. It all happened very quickly and still feels a little bit surreal. She is doing well, basically breathing on her own. All of the nurses tell us how well she is doing and how feisty she is. She has a pretty good scream for a girl her age but it is so quiet, precious, and sweet to us.

How it all Happened

After a couple of days of not noticing the baby move very much, Dani decided to go to the doctor on Thursday just to make sure everything was ok. She checked in around 2 or 3 and they monitored the baby's heart rate. The Drs didn't like what they were seeing so they did additional tests (ultrasounds, more heart rate, and stuff). At about 6pm, while I was driving home from work thinking Dani would be following soon after, she called to tell me they were checking her into the hospital and there was a chance of C-section that night...I got the kids situated, a bag packed, and headed down to the hospital. I arrived at about 9pm (yeah I'm a little slow).

When I got there, Dani had high blood pressure and a bad headache, in her words she said "her head felt like it was going to explode." They did a CT scan on her head to make sure nothing had ruptured...everything looked ok. Around 11:30 they determined that she had pre-clampsia (sp?) or toxemia which is a pregnancy related disease of high blood pressure which can result in the symptoms Dani was having: high blood pressure, abnormal kidney function, and severe headaches with blurred vision. If left untreated, it can progress to seizures and other problems to the brain and loss of the baby. At this point they decided to do a c-section and we started getting ready. Dani did amazing! As soon as the baby was out, her blood pressure returned to normal levels, the headache went away, and she started feeling better.

Baby Girl came out very active and doing well, the Drs. were pleased to see her breathing on her own and looking pretty healthy (good color and all that stuff). We got to hold her for a few minutes before they took her away to run tests and get her all hooked up to the monitoring devices in the NICU wing. She has an IV, a tube to her stomach to feed her, and CPAP (providing air) to her nose. They gave her one dose of surfactant (or servanta) to help the lungs to be more elastic (usually happens naturally towards the end of pregnancy) and since then she has progressed very well. She is currently getting air at normal O2 atmospheric concentrations (but doesn't seem to even need the help).

Dani got to hold her today for about 1.5 hours...it was so nice to see them together, she is a precious little girl. She moves a lot especially when the nurses are moving her and poking her and has the cutest little cry. She was very comfortable with mom holding her. Now that Dani has been able to see her, we are hoping to name her soon.

I apologize for the lack of pictures, I am still here in the hospital using the Ronald McDonald House computer. She is a cute little girl with lots of hair (it appears to be brownish-blond but is still hard to tell). Her head is about the size of an orange or an apple. Her wrists and ankles are about the diameter of a quarter. Her prognosis is good, we expect to have her in NICU for a few months until around the initial due date (Sept. 26)

Mom and Baby are doing well, we have felt the tender mercies of The Lord and have felt the prayers of all of you. We are especially grateful for loving family members and friends who have provided support for us these last few days. We know we ask for a lot sometimes and appreciate you accommodating our needs in your lives.

We will try to keep you all updated and post pictures as soon as we can.

shared deliciousness

Introducing E to corn that is actually still on the cob...he usually prefers it sliced off!

But when you can munch in tandem with dad...it's way more fun!

new past-time...

Ethan is completely obsessed with puzzles these days and he is getting quite good at them! The first thing he says when he gets up in the morning (after my hug that I absolutely have to have!!!), "E-ten go do puzzle now?" He gets the all-clear and will run and do puzzles for a good hour before breakfast if we'll let him...and then again after breakfast...and pretty much all day long! It's pretty cute and fun to see him concentrating on where pieces go and which direction they need to be turned. :) I love activities where you can see the wheels spinning in their little heads!

Garrett and I picked up a new little puzzle for Ethan today while we were out...and already he's mastered it and had to be torn away from it to go to bed! Garrett chose a Mickey Mouse one, so now we hear the 'Hot Diggity Dog' song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse over and over too! Thank you Disney Channel! :)

Fortunes

Ethan's fortune cookie from a night out last week...

"Listen to the wisdom of the old."

Hmmm...not that I am claiming to be the world's wisest (or oldest) voice in his head...but this kid is so amazingly independent, that when he smashed his cookie open, I found it quite amusing to read what it said! :)

So, listen up, E! Even the cosmic forces of the fortune cookies are telling you to listen to your mother!!!