To the point...

Steve was teasing me and said that I couldn't do a post without going on in my wordy style for pages and pages...so here's my update for the day:

Looks like Olivia gets to prolong her NICU stay for another week. Peace out.

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!