Almost there...okay, just kidding!

Just an update: (without pic's...I'm here at the hospital and can't download any pictures...sorry!)

We were 100% sure we were going to be bringing Olivia home this past Friday. The doctors had signed the orders, there was one more signature needed (mine!), I had her room all packed up and we were headed out the door...after one last feeding so we could make the drive home. Steve was 5 minutes away from being here to pick us up...and my perfect little girl decided she wanted to stay with all her friends at the hospital. She had a pretty significant bradycardiac episode (her heart rate dropped) while eating and they decided to monitor her over the weekend. Of course I knew that was best...but my heart still felt like it had been ripped out and stepped on and then crammed back in my chest and I was expected to go on as normal. (I think the fact that I had hardly slept the night before, been up since before anyone should be that morning, and not eaten a normal meal in quite some time had something to do with my crazy emotions the rest of the day!) I was honestly fine with it...if it's what is best for Olivia, of course I will do whatever...but I still couldn't help shedding a few tears every now and again that day. What a roller coaster!

She's been okay over the weekend..a few more bradys and stuff...so we'll see what happens this week. Maybe she'll come home tomorrow...maybe they'll want to monitor her a bit more. We'll just wait and see and enjoy/tolerate the remainder of our NICU stay! :) We are still just so grateful for the amazing care she has received. Her doctors and nurses have all been great!

freedom

The other day, I walked in to see Olivia and they had taken out her feeding tube! It was so great to see her cute face - free of everything that has been attached to it over these past few months!

We went from this...

to this...

I happen to think she is the cutest thing ever...even with the tubes and all, but I actually teared up to see her beautiful face when I walked the other day. Cheesy, I know!

Countdown...

The end of our hospital stay is drawing near!!! Olivia is doing so great and we're hoping we may be able to bring her home as early as Friday. She still has a few things to work through, so it may be later in the weekend or early next week...but it is soooooo nice to know that we're getting closer!

Just wanted to update everyone...sorry for the lack of posting lately - life is just too busy to fit in the blog too sometimes! :) I have some cute pictures though...so I'll post again soon.

Week 5

I can't believe it has been 5 weeks now since that CRAZY night that Olivia was born!

Just a quick update...she is still doing so well! She is up to 4 bottle feeds, as of yesterday. She is doing great with those! I got to feed her yesterday and it is just so fun to hold her as she eats...totally beats pumping - which is what I feel like I do 24/7!!! She is up to 4 pounds 9 ounces...so she's growing quickly! Yesterday as I held her, I noticed that she had a little more meat on her bones!!! She's still super scrawny, but it was fun to notice her filling out a little bit! That can only help with the whole temperature regulation thing...so bring on the extra layers! I think this is the only time that I'd be so excited for visible fat layers on my children!!!! :)

Really, Olivia is doing amazing/miraculously well! We're anxious to get through these last few milestones and then get her home! I don't know how much longer we can keep up this crazy schedule!!! We all need life to calm down a bit...the boys especially! They are such troopers and I will forever be grateful that they are being so patient through all of this!!!

I just love this picture!

Maybe it's because her shirt declares her love for her mommy??? What a smart girl!!!

Sessel??? I mean Wrestle???

The boys are so into wrestling (or any sort of rough-housing) right now. Ethan can be heard all day long saying "Mommy, sessel?" or "Gar, sessel?" Can you guess who gives into him more??? Let's just say that Garrett is going to be sorely missed by us all when he goes back to school!

Funny Story

So yesterday, I dropped my boys off at a friend's home while I ran down to the hospital. Soon after I left their house, I pulled up to a red light and noticed a homeless guy with a sign walking down the line of cars. His sign read that he was 'looking for work, had two kids and loved God'. It drives Steve crazy, but I always hand these guys a granola bar or a bottle of water or whatever I have. I won't give them money (which I'm sure they'd much prefer!) but what mom doesn't have an extra snack or two in their bag??? Steve just laughs at me and doesn't think they'd want random food handed to them, but their signs say that they want food or that their kids need food - I just can't ignore them! And really, my kids and I can do without a snack for an afternoon to help some hungry guy out. They're usually very appreciative and don't seem to really mind the lameness of my snack options.

Yesterday though, I smiled at the guy, all while shaking my head. I appreciated the fact that he had 2 kids at home...but I didn't think I had anything to eat with me. Then I realized, I had some fruit roll-ups in my bag...so I started rummaging through the bag trying to find them. I found them just as the light turned green, so I just handed them out the window and said "Here you go...this is all I have." He looked at me, took them, and then responded "I'd rather have your phone number!" I just laughed and shook my head and said something about how I hoped he enjoyed his fruit roll-ups!

I drove off, thinking that my new sunglasses must do a great job hiding the huge dark circles under my eyes from my lack of sleep and crazy schedule these days or my new set of wheels must be pretty alluring! But then I really got to thinking about it - really, is the best time to ask for a girl's number, the moment that you're accepting handouts and advertising the fact that you have no job, no money and have 2 kids to support?!?!?!? Sure guy...here's my digits. Give me a call if you can bum a quarter off the next couple of cars in line and track down a payphone sometime to call me! I can see how that relationship would be off to a great start!!! Sooooo funny!

When I told Steve about it, he laughed really hard and then wanted to know if it was the guy who does the hat tricks while asking for handouts??? Like it would have been okay if it were that guy...since he does really cool tricks!?!? :)