Happy Easter

Grandma and Grandpa E came out for Easter today...they got to hold Em for the first time, we had an egg hunt and M made supper too! Thanks!






There were lots of games to be played and smiles all around.


Not only did Grandma and Grandpa get to hold Emily, they got to feed her and...no wait, they gave her back to me for the dirty diaper. :)


Emmers with Dad


3am

Dad made a sand box for K...look at her face...she hates new things...she'll warm up to it soon. :)

My little pea pod...I don't know if you remember the ornament we hung in Em's incubator when she was little but it was a little baby in a pea pod...now I have her in my arms...my own pea pod.

K carrying her baby in a front pack...she is immitating so much!

Day 1

I know we are all looking for a family pic...don't worry, I want one too. We brought Em home at 8pm last night and we need to get a little rhythm going first. You'd be amazed at how long it takes to get comfortable with all Emily's medicines and making sure she eats her food and all that. So here are some pics from the day.


K and her baby.


6am





My little girl

After braving the NICU for 146 Days...Emily is home!

Getting Emily ready to go...

Suprisingly enough, Emily is 1 lb. larger than Kylie was when she came home...

She is still really little...

Grandma L gets to meet "grown up" Emily. Grandma L got to see Emily an hour after she was first born and that was the last time!

What the gavage tube looks like. This tube is something M and I had to put in a total of 6 times (3 times each), the last 2 days. We have been getting up at 4 am and staying until 10 pm practicing putting this in. It is absolute torture and not fun to do, especially since we mastered this after the second attempt each. Oh well, hopefully the hospital saga is over.

On a different note, discharging our child was like buying a house! Papers, papers, and more papers to sign! We brought Emily home with a warchest of drugs and have to administer a bunch of differnet proteins and oil to each of her feedings.

More tomorrow...

Something Cool

For those who don't know, my brother and sister-in-law adopted two boys from Ethiopia last year. Well, something they do is celebrate what they call "Family Day". By definition this is the day they became a family...in their case, the day they picked up the boys from the orphanage. Ever since all this happened (and it finally looked like we were going to bring Emily home someday), M and I have said that we were going to do the same thing. The day Emily comes home and we finally complete our family, we are going to have a huge celebration and every year, we are going to rejoice with God for his mercy and grace.

Anyway, that's not even the coolest part. IF she comes home tomorrow, our family day will be on the EXACT same day as my brother and sister-in-law's family day!! How cool is that? One year ago, they got their boys and one year later, we could get our girls. Even better? If it is Thursday, that will be their oldest son's birthday. What a great day of celebration! One thing is for sure...I'm not great at remembering birthdays, but I will always remember his! I guess it's a win-win.

Shall We Jump?

Here is my synopsis: (tone:sarcastic)

2.5 weeks ago: "She's going home tomorrow...after her MRI. Oh shoot, she's not coming out of her sedation very well...she just needs to eat and gain weight."

2 weeks ago: "I know we said if she gained weight four days in a row she could go home, but it isn't AS MUCH weight as we want. We need to do more tests."

1.5 weeks ago: "We can't find anything wrong. She goes home tomorrow...after her VER test."

1 week ago: "She still isn't eating after being sedated again...hmmmm...I wonder what happened. She can't go home until she is eating again."

Yesterday: "She goes home tomorrow. We can't find anything wrong (dr speak for there isn't anything left to test) and we will just send her home on her feeding tube since she is only lazy at night. You just need to be comfortable putting in the tube for her feeding."

Today: "Oh, we didn't tell you? You have to put the tube in three times each before she can go home."

Me: "So you want us to take a tube, stick it up our baby's nose, down her throat and into her stomach while she screams bloody murder because we are hurting her SIX TIMES? Basically, right now, we have to prove to the hospital that we are willing to torture our baby before you let us bring her home?"

Them: "Yes"

Me: "Can you please double check that there won't be anymore last minute hoops that we have to limbo through before we drive in four times in the next 24 hrs to find out we CAN'T bring our baby home tomorrow?"

Them: "Ma'am...(insert appeasing comments that only serve to add fuel to the fire)."

Me: Sending M in to the hospital this afternoon (without weapons) so I don't hurt anyone.

More Promises

Well...the word is tomorrow or wednesday...IF, IF, IF...

Emily is still not eating at night but all the other tests came back negative so the dr finally said she had "barked up every tree she could" and thought it was time for her to go home. So we have been learning to put her gavage tube in (the food that goes in her nose and down to her stomach) so we can feed her if she doesn't want to suck. It is pretty sad as she screams the entire time but if it means we can bring her home, I'll do it every time she needs it.

M and I are going in early so our side of everything is done before the drs round and hopefully they will start the discharge process tomorrow morning. We will see. :)