Grandma is coming to visit

Andy's Mom is arriving today for a 2-week visit with us. I talked with her yesterday and it sure sounds like she is excited to get her little hands all over Whitney, and also see our house since they didn't get the chance to come last summer. Whitney is the first granddaughter for Julie and Larry, Andy's sister has 3 boys.

These past few days that Andy and I had with Whitney by ourselves has been wonderful, I really enjoyed my time with her. She has stolen our hearts and refuses to give them back. She continues to eat and sleep very well, and has kept up her "night owl" status. I have noticed the past two nights though she seems to be more awake during the day, so it's become a bit more easy for her to fall asleep at night. The last two nights I've also not set my alarm to get up and check on her. She is now making enough noise (not screaming yet) to wake me from my deep slumber and check on her and feed her.
As for crying, she is stringing together four or five squeals at once, which to me is pretty much crying, I'm not worried about THAT anymore.

I'm also excited that I have somewhat come in contact with a family who also has a graduate of the cooling blanket. Andy stumbled across their story when Whitney was on the blanket since we didn't know much about the procedure and were trying to get more information. Their story is very uplifting and encouraging and the birth story is very, very similar to Whitney's. I really want to get in touch with the mother (Christy, if you are reading this, how can we exchange emails?) to learn more about their daughter's progress. It would be great to talk with someone who is all too familiar with what we are experiencing.

I'll let you now with a few of our favorite pictures from the last few days.

Happy one month birthday!

Whitney is one month old today, it is so hard to believe. Since she has only been home for almost two weeks she doesn’t seem that old, but the calendar doesn’t lie. She is getting so strong and has kept most of her hair (although now we are dealing with cradle cap), and she continues to eat really well.

Yesterday Whitney had her second doctor’s appointment with her pediatrician to basically see how she checked out this past week with weight gain. I was pleasantly surprised to find out she gained 11 ounces this past week, which puts her up to 7 pounds 14 ounces. The doctor said she is probably just making up for lost time and not to worry about the gain, in fact it is a good thing. I think all mothers of newborns can commiserate on the wonder of if their child is getting enough to eat. Whitney seems to be hungry all the time, however with her weight gain I guess it is confirmation that she is truly getting enough. We have another appointment scheduled for next week and if everything goes well then, we will probably be able to start going every two weeks rather than every week.

I have kept her off her monitor during the day which I really enjoy. It’s a bit easier when I’m by myself to be more mobile with her and free to move throughout the house. We always hook her up at night for sleeping, but for days with doctors appointments or shopping or running errands I’ve found it to be much easier to be “Wi-Fi” and one less thing you have to keep up with. So far the monitor has not gone off (knock on wood) except for parent error which I already talked about.

Whitney is most certainly finding her lungs. I suspect she will be full on crying in the next few days, so I’m trying to enjoy this time as much as possible. I hope she continues to be a patient, content baby and keeps those lungs to herself, I don’t need to hear them anymore, I believe her, she is able to cry.

Saying goodbye

Yesterday morning my parents headed back to Wisconsin after being with us for almost one month.for those of you who know me, you know I am a pretty emotional person without the hormone shift that goes along with pregnancy, so you can only imagine how emotional it was for me to say goodbye to them especially with me being a huge ball of emotions right now.

I have always had a great relationship with my parents (something I hope Whitney can say about us someday...) and it was such a blessing to have them here with us during this stressful time. Their love and support through this all can not be put into words. It just goes to show you never stop being a parent. It is always hard to say goodbye but this day was especially difficult.

Whitney has begun to find her lungs, letting out more and more squeaks which are sounding more like cries. They are still cute but I'm sure in a few days they will lose their luster. She is still being a really good, patient baby. Today Andy and I were out running errands for a few hours after my doctor appt. And she was so content and basically slept the entire time. She continues stay wide awake late into the evening and usually won't fall asleep until 1am.

I will post more pictures tomorrow as I'm on the iPad right now and also give an update as to how her Doctor appointment goes. But for now, just one more Thank You to my parents for always being there for us, for being so patient and loving and just lending a listening ear. We love you guys!

Look out Daddy

Today was our last full day with my Mom and Dad, I'll go into details of our day at a later time but I just wanted to share this picture.
While Andy and Dad were out on a fishing trip, us girls did a little shopping. Whitney picked out her first Coach purse, but I explained she was a tad young, maybe when she turns 13!

Strength (the physical kind) and believing

Today I got my first lesson in believing in my child. Well, I technically shouldn't say first, I have always believed in her, but read on...

Whitney seems to have created a routine of eating and sleeping all day and then staying nice and wide awake around 8:00 pm to 12:00 am. Since we are night owls ourselves this hasn't become too much of a problem and it may just be a coincidence these last few nights. Regardless, tonight we were working on some exercises the doctors advised us to do and since she was awake and alert doing them at night is a great time. She was getting some classic "tummy time" where she lays on her stomach with hopes that she can strengthen her neck muscles and lift and move her head from side to side.

As my Mom and I set her on her stomach she looked so comfortable and content to just lay with her head to the side. I even said out loud, "I just don't see her having the strength to lift her head up and move it to the other side."

Well she already has me eating my words. Within a few minutes she was lifting her head up and sure enough, turned it to the other side. Mom and I were so happy for her, tears of joy streaming down our faces. I felt horrible for not believing in her more. The doctors told me to never treat her like an injured baby which I really really need to remember. I should not be surprised by her, these past three weeks she has been so strong, but tonight I got to actually see her in action.

Shortly after her first head turn she really just started showing off. Turning from side to side frequently and with more a gusto. We were so proud. Each day she is getting stronger, including her voice box (yikes!) and seeing her tonight with that small head turn just makes my heart burst with joy. Maybe it's the hormones, or maybe it's part of being a Mom, but I just love this girl so much and she has already taught us so much, to have our hearts and minds be strong...each and every day.

Whitney's adventures at home

It doesn't seem like Whitney has been home for almost 6 days already, we have been having so much fun together. She has been such a content baby it makes it so easy to take her out of the house and do things, unfortunately when the heat index is over 100 degrees going outside is anything but easy. Luckily the last few days the heat has subsided and we were left with beautiful days and cooler evenings and mornings to enjoy.

On Friday was Whitney's first pediatric appointment. Since Andy had to work, my Mom went with us and we were so excited for Dr. Malloney to see Whitney again. The first and only time he saw her was the night she was born and she has come so far since then. He had been keeping tabs on her while she was at McLeod but for him to finally see her was exciting. He was loving on her and kissing her, it was great to see him so involved in her life already. She truly is a miracle and he saw her through it, we couldn't be happier with him.

That evening the heat snapped and we were able to take Whitney out for a ride around the culdesac to meet the neighbors. It was great to get her outside and introduce her to her Myrtle Beach "family", we are so lucky to have such wonderful neighbors who we now call friends.

On Saturday the three generations, my Mom, me and Whitney went shopping for a few hours. She was so good and only bought stuff that was on sale, I guess I taught her well! But really, she sat in her car seat really good and the monitor never went off, thank goodness. It was surprising how well she did since we were really moving her around so much from shopping cart, to the car, to shopping cart etc. Her strength seems to improve everyday which makes me so proud.
We also made our first trip to the beach on Saturday night. We went with Mom and Dad down to the boardwalk and watched them go on the SkyWheel. There was a band playing and lots of noise and people, but of course, slept right through it.

Sunday, July 17th was a big day for Whitney, her baptism! We were busy almost all day but she did so good. We went to 11:00 church service which was followed by the baptism at 12:30. After baptism we had a cookout and so many of our friends and neighbors came, it was just wonderful. We are so very lucky to have have such great people in our lives and knowing that Whitney will become part of their lives too is especially exciting. For her to know she is so loved by so many people is just great. Andy and I have always tried to surround ourselves with good people and want the same for Whitney. God has blessed us with amazing family and friends and now a baby girl to share with them.

Welcome Home!

It feels SO WONDERFUL to having our baby girl HOME. Just typing that makes my heart jump for joy. I just need to type it again, our baby girl is HOME.

On Monday, July 11th Andy and I headed back to McLeod to try our "overnight" stay with Whitney once again. We could tell immediately that this night would be different than the last, since the nurses practically wheeled Whitney into our room as soon as we arrived. We were told she passed her second car seat test the night before so there would be no need for a car bed (yay!) and if she did well while staying the night with us she would be cleared to go home in the morning.

A representative came by and showed us how to use the apnea monitor and got that set up on Whitney. The monitor isn't nearly as bad as we were thinking and it really does give peace of mind. It is about the size of a shoebox and is very portable and easy to move throughout the house. An ear piercing alarm goes off if her heart rate gets too high, or low, as well as if she stops breathing. The alarm also likes to go off if Mom and Dad forget to plug it in and it gets low on battery, or if she is too wiggly and one of the electrodes falls off. So far only the latter has happened and she seems to be doing great.

Once the nurses left us alone it was a pretty surreal moment. Andy and I alone with this little girl, what do we do now??? The first night there was really easy and she was so good. We probably only woke up 10 times to check on her (hahaha) The worst part about the stay was having to watch a Shaking Baby movie (how horrible) but we also got to learn about CPR and practice on some test babies. The babies were in a bag and Andy got his taste on what it would be like to have triplets!

The night went fine so the doctors and nurses were OK with sending her home. We were released around noon on Tuesday and almost sprinted out of the hospital, we're free! Whitney's doctor couldn't stress enough how good she looked. He reminded us of something he told us 2 weeks ago...regardless of what all the tests and results may say, one of the best ways to judge how a baby will do later on in life with a brain injury is how they look at the time of going home. He said if someone were to be walking through the NICU and saw her, they would wonder why she was there, she looks like nothing had happened to her. She was doing and reacting just like a term baby should, we were so proud of her. Another nurse said she never would have thought Whitney's progress would happen as quickly as it did. She admitted that she would have expected her to go home with a feeding tube and many more monitors and didnt expect her to be feeding as good as she was.

So needless to say, after the exhausting few weeks it really did feel great to have her in our car and on our way home.

She has been such a content little baby so far. Andy and I have yet to hear her cry, but the doctors and nurses reassure us they have heard her and it is nothing for us to be worried about. Each day her "squeaks" get louder and louder though, so I'm trying to enjoy this quiet time as much as possible, because I think she'll get her lungs in the next few days. With her not crying it has caused a bit of stress on reading her needs and wants. Since she is so content we are just guessing right now on when she is hungry etc. She does show lots of signs of hunger and needing burping etc, but it's unusual to not hear her crying cues.

We cannot express how proud we are of Whitney and how well she has done in these past few days. The love and support from our families, friends, coworkers and so many others has been remarkable. I do believe all the prayers have made a positive impact and cannot thank everyone enough. We always knew she was a miracle but seeing now what she has gone through and the fact that she is home and doing so well really makes that miracle so much stronger.