Long overdue!

So sorry it's been a while since my last update...but I've been a little busy. ;) Bella's been home for almost a week now- tomorrow (Thursday) will be one week at home! Bella will also turn 5 weeks old tomorrow. Today, I was supposed to be 36 weeks along in my pregnancy...now I can't even imagine still being pregnant and not already knowing Bella. So weird. I feel like she's only ONE week old...cause that's how long I feel like I've had her. I've enjoyed my time with her...especially today. It was the first day that it was just Bella and me for the day. It was actually quite enjoyable. :) ...now, for my first night without help....

Anyway, as far as updates go, things are pretty good. Bella's doing great! She's super sweet and still likes to sleep a lot! She's on a pretty decent schedule already- she wakes every 3.5-4 hours to eat. At night, she goes right back to sleep and during the day she might stay awake for a little while. Usually there are about 2 times a day that she stays awake for about 1.5 hours before heading back to sleep. She's a good girl.

**Breastfeeding talk ahead, so if you're grossed out by the mere mention of breastfeeding, avert your eyes **
The only real challenge so far is nursing. It has been a bit of a struggle. She has been latching on, but not in a way that allows her effective sucking- enough to get a good bit of milk. And then, after she latched (ineffectively), she usually falls asleep shortly after that! Then, after about 10 minutes of trying, I switch to a bottle and she's too darn tired to take enough for a good feeding! And the cycle continues. Today, though, was the first day that she latched on like a big girl! I saw a glimmer of breastfeeding hope today- so I hope that continues. (Prayers still needed in that department.

She's still on her monitor. We'll get the first report after 1 month of her being monitored. It has gone off a few times- sometimes for bradycardia, but most of the time for the darn leads being messed up and not able to get a good signal. It hasn't yet happened while she's sleeping, though. She's had a few bradycardias while she's been eating. It's seriously the loudest noise ever. Totally ear piercing. Here's a picture of her with her leads on. They're not too difficult to deal with, but I look forward to the day when she's not attached!! I'm getting pretty good at lugging the monitor around everywhere we go, too!

We got to enjoy some time outside the other day. Bella seemed to enjoy looking around at the scenery!
Put a cute little bow in her hair- just for fun- since she's got ALL THAT HAIR!Caught her in a yawn. I love baby yawning pics! ;)Sweet Ava with a super cute hair do- thanks, of course, to Aunt Sarah!
Looking cute as can be at breakfast!
Ava and Catcher bonding at lunch time. Catcher was just hoping for a little bite of her sandwich! :)
Ava has been incredibly helpful and gentle and loving towards Bella. I didn't really know what to expect once Bella actually came home...but Ava's been great. She's super helpful and always wants to be right there to help during diaper changes. She actually is (for real!) quite helpful! there have been many times that I've needed a diaper or wipe pronto and she's right there ready!

Here she is giving her sister some love. She especially loves the rule we have that requires her (or anyone) to wash their hands or use sanitizer before touching Bella...she'd put sanitizer on 45 times a day if we let her! Ava likes to hold her hand because Bella actually holds it back. So sweet!

Well, Bella had her first post hospital doctor appointment for a weight check and Ava had her 3 year checkup! Ava was a little shy at first but did SO great and was perfect! Here she is getting her blood pressure taken!
And getting measured. She was so proud that she's gotten "a lot bigger than when I was 2!" She's in the 45% for height and has increased to the 28% for weight at 29 pounds.

Ava was very interested in watching Bella's exam as well. Wanted to make sure everything was okay. :) Bella has been a good eater and a great grower and now weighs 5lbs 2oz after only 5 days at home! (Her hospital discharge weight was 4lbs. 12 oz). She'll go back in one week for another weight check.
Got a few pictures of Bella with her eyes open! It's not as obvious in this picture, but Bella is looking more and more like Patrick everyday. I mean, the similarities between their baby pictures are insane!!
Look at the difference in the size of their heads!! Wow!
Sweet Ave. Lately, when I ask her to smile, she gives me this HUGE toothy grin! I kinda love it. :)
Guess who took this picture?! AVA! Lately, she's really been wanting to take pictures with my camera, and this is the first time that I let her do it all by herself. (I hung the camera strap around her neck, of course, just in case). :)
Daddy's had a tiring first week back to school. He started off awake...but it didn't take long to get to this...
Ava has gone back to school! She goes Wed-Fri now; we added a day from last year. She loves it and looks forward to going! I'm getting tons of help from my and Patrick's mom to get her to and from school for a little while until I can get a little more settled with Bella. Thank GOODness for them!!
We tried out the swing just today, and she seemed to really like it. She didn't actually swing much, but she sure did love looking up at the fun stuff above her!
Bella finally had her first bath since she's been home today! I've tried to do it a couple other times, but she would always fall asleep before I could get to it!! Before I put her in, she was crying and crying, and the second I put her in the warm water, she immediately stopped and closed her eyes. I guess that's what she was used to for the previous 31 weeks! It was crazy how it calmed her so fast! Hopefully, the bath will have that calming effect for a long time- just now starting to establish a bedtime routine, but this will definitely be a part of it!
As long as I kept that nice and warm wash cloth on her, she was happy and sleepy!
Here she is all bundled up after the bath- went right to the fetal position when I wrapped her up. So sweet! Here she is being super drowsy with that seemingly huge passifier! Pure sweetness!
So, that's basically it for now. I'll try to update again in about a week or so. Hopefully, I'll have some good (or at least improved) nursing news to report by then! Until then, have a great week!

Home Sweet Home!!!

Can you even believe it?!?! On her 4 week birthday, Bella is finally HOME!! And what a HUGE relief it is! I thought maybe it would be hard having her here because of the monitors, but that's definitely not the case. The monitor isn't too bad...the worst part is that if you want to carry her from one place to another, you have to lug the thing with you. That's a little annoying, but it comes with a carrying strap, so that's slightly helpful. And, of course, it's a VERY small price to pay for having Bella home with us. :)

It took a few minutes to get her all hooked up in the carseat- so teeny!
Patrick had to come behind me and use his big muscles to make the straps a little tighter. :)

Tada! Ready to go home!!
She ever even opened her eyes during all that turbulence. ;)


Here's her sweet face...nice and comfy in her own house! The most awake I've seen her yet!!! :)
You know I love my swaddles. :)
She's already holding a pacifier in her mouth! Ava never took one and couldn't hold them in her mouth, so I'm super impressed by Bella's passie ability. But, we all knew she's a strong little thing, didn't we?!
Daddy and Bella stealing a little snooze. I have an almost identical picture of Patrick with Ava. I think one of the favorite things about having a baby for Patrick is that they give him an excuse to take a nap!
Ava got a super cute, but semi-shy, little smile on her face when she came home from school and saw her little sister at home!! She's constantly asking to "pet her." :)

She wanted to feed her babies the way Bobbi was feeding Bella. So freakin' cute!!I mean, really?! She's already such a wonderful big sister...so sweet and gentle with her. :) Such a little mommy. :)


Overall, Bella is doing GREAT since she's been home! The alarm has gone off a few times, but then we realized her lead was on her stomach instead of in her armpit!! That'll do it! :)

I'm still working on nursing, but I'm also trying to balance that will still getting her the calories she needs in order to continue to gain weight. So, we're doing both breast milk in a bottle and nursing attempts. She's better at it sometimes than others. Hopefully, we'll just keep working at it and she'll eventually be a great nurser. Please keep that in your prayers (as I'm a little nervous that she wont transition well) as well as her continued health.

Thank you SO MUCH for all the wonderful support. It has been, and still is, a great comfort!

Hotel de Hospital

(I've been having a blurry picture issue these past few days- sorry. I'll try to figure it out. I think if you click on the pic, the enlarged photo is not blurry).

So, we're finally at the sleepover night at the hospital with Bella!! YAY!!! We're basically in a little hotel room that is off of the NICU. We'll be on our own tonight with feeding and the monitor unless we need something from the nurses; if that's the case they're right next door. It's pretty nice! We've got a full bed, a TV and DVD player, our own bathroom, and a mini fridge!

We're still on track to bring Bella home tomorrow!! We've had the monitor lesson, a CPR refresher, and watched a ridiculous how-to-take-care-of-your-baby video. I mean, it has sections like, "picking up and holding baby," "diapering baby," "comforting baby," and "bottle care." Yeah- ridiculous. The nurses did give us a little hint that we may want to fast forward a bit... :)

Let me tell you that if that monitor goes off, I'll probably think we're being bombed. It's the LOUDEST beeping/alarm sound I've ever heard. No joke. It will seriously give me heart palpitations! I hope that it doesn't go off very often during the night. Talk about an abrupt wake up call!!
So far it's been uneventful, but we haven't even done one of her feeds on our own yet...we were here for the past 2 feedings (which was still in the NICU) and she, of course, wanted to sleep. I swear I must have Versed exuding from my skin...cause every time I'm here and Bella is trying to eat, she'd way rather sleep. So, tonight, we've GOT to break that habit...or else! So, you'll know by tomorrow how she did. If we're home tomorrow night, then she did better....if not....I'll scream. :)
Here she is- feeding tube free!! She's got her at-home monitor attached under her clothes. She's got two leads attached to her that are kinda sticky. They're under each armpit. Pretty simple. :)Well, it's been a little over 3 hours since her last feeding, so off I go! :) Patrick is already passed out. Men. They're kinda wussy. ;)

GREAT, BIG, FABULOUS news!!!

First, my picture taking abilities were terrible today...I was by myself with Ava and was holding Bella with one hand and trying to focus and take the pic with the other...and this is all I got! I'll do better! (And, by the way, OMG does she look like Patrick or WHAT?! I think so...totally)!

So, anyway, on to the good stuff. Bella is doing very well with her feeding tube out. She's been eating about every 4 hours now (instead of every 3 like before) and she's apparently taking the bottle like crazy! Of course, when I'm there and want to nurse her, she starts okay, but then she gets nice and cozy and wants to sleep!! It's probably good I'm only there for one feeding a day- otherwise she'd just sleep!

So.... I have lots of updates! I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but we've known for a while that when Bella comes home, she will still be taking her caffeine. She still has bradycardias (decreased heart rate) every now and then. Because of this, she will also be coming home on a monitor that will watch for these "episodes." It will monitor her heart rate and her respiratory rate. I haven't seen the monitor yet, but apparently it's a little velcro band that goes around her rib cage and connects to a small, portable monitor. It will alarm if her heart rate or respiratory rate get too low. She'll have it as long as she continues to have the bradycardias- probably anywhere from 1 month to 2.5 months. Hopefully, it'll be more like 1 month...but whatever it is, I'll just be glad to have her home. I think her being on the monitor will give me peace of mind and (hopefully) the ability to sleep a bit!

So now for the good news- her doctor would like to aim for getting her home on THURSDAY!!! Patrick and I will go to the NICU tomorrow and have a "lesson" with a company for the monitor. They'll teach us how to use it, etc. Then, we'll both stay the night at the hospital in a special room (that looks kinda like a hotel room) with Bella and will be on our own! It'll give us a chance to take care of her with the monitor and still have the nurses right next door if we need anything or have any questions. They highly recommend parents stay at least one night for babies that will be sent home on a monitor. Then, as long as everything goes well and she continues to eat, we'll be heading home on Thursday! I'm trying to tell myself that there's always a possibility that she doesn't come home then, cause, you know, things happen. But, I'm SOOOOOOO excited I can barely stand it. Everything here at the house is all ready for Bella (albeit not ideal- I mean, we weren't expecting her for another month from now, and we don't have a room for her- I'll address that in another post...). But, we've got what we need and we're ready!

I'll be taking Ava to her first day of school tomorrow...so, when I leave tomorrow morning, I won't be coming back until I bring Bella home!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! I finished up the last couple of things for Bella, cleaned and swept, moved some rugs and furniture around, and am now READY FOR BELLA!!! Patrick teased me that I waited until 2 days before she comes home to start nesting. :) The way I look at it is that I still had a month left to nest, so I think I'm doing pretty good! ;)

So, please continue to pray that everything goes smoothly and that there aren't any bumps between now and then....cause I gotta have her HOME!! I absolutely cannot WAIT!!!!

I'll keep you posted!!! :)

No more feeding tube!!!

Yahoooooo!!
Bella's doctor returned from out of town today, and I was talking to him about how, for the past 2 days, I've been having such a hard time getting Bella to wake to try to to nurse or feed her. He basically said that she isn't used to having to wake up to "eat" because she's had the feeding tube in. Many times, she "eats" while she sleeps. So, she's never had the I'm-hungry-then-I-eat-then-I'm-not-hungry-anymore feeling. She's never really had to "work" to feel satisfied. But, since she's almost 35 weeks (post conception) now and she's gaining weight beautifully, he decided that it was time to remove the feeding tube!!! Now, we'll basically wait for cues from her to let us know that she's hungry, and she'll either get a bottle of breast milk or I will nurse her. And hopefully, she'll catch on (very quickly) that when she eats, she's not hungry anymore- and then she'll WANT to eat! It's as simple as that. :) Now- she just has to do it! :)

So, we need LOTS of good eat-like-crazy prayers for Bella so she can come home! That's the last thing we're waiting for now. Hopefully, she'll progress super fast and we'll be bringing her home in a matter of days. Keep those prayers coming!! I gotta have her home!!!

Patrick's first day of his second year of med school was today, and he got out a little early. He was able to come and see Bella for a while. Isn't this picture SO FREAKIN' CUTE!?! He tries to be tough, but he's a softy at heart. ;) Gotta love him.

Will keep you updated!!

NICU Day 24

So, Bella is still in the NICU- just finishing up day 24. That's a long time for a mom to be away from her baby...just so you know. :(

I got sad today...again. I'm so tired of leaving her. But, church this morning was kinda perfect. It just made me think that....during this event that has completely rocked my world, God has been faithful to me (and Bella) and has kept her safe and strong and healthy. She's really had a miraculous course- I mean, I was barely into my 3rd trimester when she was born! Most 31 weekers don't do as well as she is. And, for that, I am forever grateful. I really don't know what I'd do if she wasn't well and was struggling. I think God knows that I might lose my mind if that were the case- so He's been very good to our family. And because He is always faithful to me, I will try (I'm only human!) to remain faithful as well and remember that He is watching over her and that she will come home when she is good and ready.

But, please, be soon.

Overall, she's still doing great- eating well, nursing well, gaining weight! Tonight, she weighs 4lbs 11oz!! She's been gaining close to an ounce every 24 hours or so, which is so great! So, there's really nothing I can complain about!

Her neonatologist has been out of town for the past 3 days (someone else covered for him while he was gone) and is coming back tomorrow. He's the one who said he thought she'd be able to come home this week, so I'm hoping that's still the case. We'll see. We brought the car seat in for her car seat test. (For preemies, they have to make sure that they can sit properly and still breath easily for a long-ish amount of time- 1 hour). She was sleeping in her car seat when I called tonight, and so far, she was doing great with no problem. They only have to do it once, so as long as she "passes" it, that's one less thing for us to worry about.

Everything else is about the same. She's such a sleepy little girl. I forget how much newborns sleep! And preemies sleep even more!!

She's had many visitors this week- Pop, Michee, Bobbi, Aunt Sarah. Ava and Patrick haven't been in to see her in a few days because they both had the sniffles, and we didn't want to take any chances with Bella's little immune system. But, I think they're good to go now, and Ava will probably go for a visit again tomorrow.

Here's our little mouth breather with her Pop. :)
WOW! Isn't it amazing that her hand is just as perfect as her Pop's...but soooooo teeny! First snuggle with Aunt Sarah!

In other news- Patrick starts back to school tomorrow for his second year of medical school. Shoot me now. But, I do think it will be better than last year for both of us simply because we know what to expect. BUT, this year, there's one little change- Bella!! :) We'll get through it, though, no doubt. Speaking of school- Ava starts back this week as well! She'll be going 3 days a week this year. Last year was 2 days and one day with Michee, but she's like a sponge right now and we thought it would be a good time to expose her to one extra day of school-ish experiences. We really love her school and she learns a lot there...so, we're happy. And she's excited!

This was a picture of Ava tonight- she had a little bit of her left over birthday cake and I had to put her ridiculous hair up on the top of her head so she wouldn't keep eating it!! That's all for now! Hopefully I'll have some exciting news for y'all sometime this week. Keep your fingers crossed....and, of course, keep those prayers coming.