It's OFFICIAL...

We're coming home on monday!!!!  We will room in at the hospital tomorrow night and then probably be home monday morning.  I have waited so long for this and now that's it here, I'm so nervous.  Since I had an emergency c-section and the babies went straight to the NICU, I never really had that feeling of preparing and waiting for the sweet moment when we would all be home together...I have waited and now it's almost here!  The nerves are in full swing, but I wouldn't change it.  Keep us in your prayers as we welcome our new bundle home.  I love you my darling...can't wait to love on you whenever I want!

Getting Ready!

So the time is fast approaching...AHH!  She passed her car seat test, and is still eating good.  At this point we're just waiting for her to gain a little more weight.  They want her to weigh 4 pounds 6 ounces before they send her home...and today we weigh 4 pounds 4.6 ounces!  Brian has to be out of town for the weekend, the doctor's are aware of this and told us that even if she reaches her weight by tomorrow, they probably won't send her home before monday.  They do a program called "rooming in" at the hospital.  Brian and I will take her to a regular hospital room that is right next to the NICU.  She won't be hooked up to any of the monitors, and we'll just be able to resume all the care of her.  Like normal parents.  It's just a way for parents to get comfortable and the NICU is right there if we have any questions at all.  Wow!  I just can't wait to hold her whenever I want!  My joy is overflowing today!  Thank you Lord for all that you've done for our family.  

Oh! Just one more thing...MRI IS NORMAL!!!!  This is bigger news to us than many people probably know.  This is truly a testament to how BIG God is.  He has moved a mountain for us.  

Here's just a quick peak at how far BK has come: Life started early for her tipping the scales at 2 pounds and 2 ounces.  I was on high doses of magnesium sulfate, so unfortunately she was too.  Right after birth she was intubated and placed on a ventilator.  Mommy could not be by her side...but would be soon.  6 hours later we were taken off the ventilator and placed on oxygen via nasal cannula.  We now weighed 1 pound 14 ounces.  We couldn't eat so we had an NG tube, an umbilical IV for nutrition and fluids. 

Week 1 ... head ultrasound to check for brain bleeds.

Week 2... finally we weigh 2 pounds 2 ounces again, and we begin to eat via NG tube, so IV is taken out.

Week 3...stable.

Week 4...another head ultrasound that yields conflicting results.

Week 5 ... blood transfusion.

Week 6...move to private room and oxygen comes off.

Week 7...starts to eat out of a bottle, weight now 4 pounds, NG tube out, moved into an open crib, and MRI.

Week 8...  we shall see...hopefully this will say coming home!

Biggie

So today marks a momentous occasion for two reasons: First our tiny little baby now weighs 4 pounds and 1 ounce!  What a big girl!  She is even big enough to move into an open newborn crib.  Whoa...that's right it's been a slow crawl but we finally got there!  She has kept her temperature up all day and is still eating like a champ.  Way to go BK!  Keep being a big girl so mommy and daddy can have you home and love on you!

Second reason today is so wonderful:  Because 21 years ago little baby Lauren came into our lives and things have been interesting ever since!  Shout out to you baby Lauren, we all send love your way today Biggie!

The "other" children

Dakota and B...sweet girl this is her favorite spot.
Montana as a whittle puppy!
Monty and Dakota playing in the yard...Monty wins...always!
Montana...aka Wubbie, Bobby, Ibbie, Monty, Hanna, Buppie...just about any name you can think of!

Thought I would post a few pictures of our "other" children. Poor little guys...they have been a little neglected in the midst of all that has been going on.

BK Update: She is doing wonderful and growing like crazy. She is almost 7 weeks old and weighed in at 3 pounds 14 ounces today! They are letting her take a bottle at every feeding now since she has done so well. she took the bottle for me 3 times today...hooray! The doctors are thinking that she will be home in a week and a half as long as things keep progressing like they are. We simply cannot wait! To have her home is a whole different kind of happy.

Prayer Requests for this week: That Briley will continue to grow and take her bottle at every feeding. Prayers for an MRI on monday...that the doctors will find no abnormalities or lesions. Prayers for a strong immune system especially when BK comes home. Her blood levels were inching towards the low point again, so they were thinking that she might need another blood transfusion before she goes home. Prayers that the transfusion will go successfully with no adverse side effects. Thanks to all who pray for our family! We pray for you daily and are blessed to have you as our support system.

I heart Snoodle Head

My Beautiful Mother's day gift!

Today's update will be short and sweet: all is well. 

 I wanted to give yall a few pictures of our growing girl.  3 pounds and 10 ounces rounds off the day today!  She wasn't really cooperating for the pictures.  Momma's like to think that they can fix anything.  She was a fussy girl when I picked her up today.  We stuck a pacifier in her mouth and she sucked on it like she was starving!  But she was still fussy after her bottle...it really makes you feel helpless when you can't figure out how to console your child, but daddy came to the rescue.  As soon as I put her in his arms, she was smiling and just staring at his face.  Today Daddy fixed it.   

Thanks for being the wonderful husband that you are!

Home

Many people have asked and we were curious as well...what are the requirements that Briley Kate needs to meet before we can come home?

She has to weigh at least 4 pounds (usually they like to send them home around 4 1/2 pounds)...and she has to be able to maintain her own body temperature outside of the warmer. She is still in the warmer now, but they will move her out once she reaches 4 pounds.

BK needs to be off of the caffeine for at least 2 weeks with no apneic or bradycardic (when her heartrate drops) spells that she can't bring herself out of. We've been off the caffeine for at least a week and she's done well.

Lastly she has to be able to take the appropriate amount of milk at each feeding through a bottle. This is the one that might keep us here the longest. She took a whole bottle for me the other day!! But she is really only able to take it about once a day and it just wears her out. Right now they are letting her take what she can in a 15 minute feeding and then giving her the rest through her NG tube.

I have to remind myself that while it's a slow process she is making some serious progress. Barring no set backs the doctors said they expect her to go home around 37-38 weeks gestational age which is around the beginning or mid-june. So with patience in tow, I wait for my little darling. Praying all the while that she will continue to grow stronger and will have no major setbacks. We love you Briley Kate...you have a whole family waiting here to meet you!

Yum Yum

So Briley weighs in at 3 pounds and 4 ounces today.  She just has the sweetest disposition...one that I hope will last once she gets home!  I was concerned the other day because I have never really heard her cry.  I didn't know if she wasn't crying because of prematurity or if she just didn't get fussy...luckily for us the nurse reassured me that she definitely had a temper and could let out a big ole cry, but she just has a good temperment.  That a girl Briley!   

Today she actually took 22cc's by bottle!!!!  I thought I was dreaming when the nurse told me.  They are really only trying to bottle feed her once a day because she got so worn out by the whole process, and in fact I didn't even get her out and hold her because she was so tired.  Poor baby, but at least she's trying.  She was 33 weeks gestational age yesterday, and its around this time that babies usually start to gather a suck reflex.  Slowly they will start letting her feed by bottle more and more.  So that's our big news and her big accomplishments.   Brian and I were both amazed at how much "fat" she's put on these last few days.  Eat, Eat, Eat Big Girl so you can come on home to us!

Superstar!

So here is a much needed update on things!  On mother's day I had two big surprises waiting for me at the hospital...  she now weighes 3 pounds!!!  Whoo hoo!  Also my sister had a darling dress monogramed with I Love My Mom on it.  Briley Kate was wearing the dress when I got there that morning and there was a picture of her in it that they had developed from the day before.  I"ll post a picture of the gift soon. Even though my little darling was miles away, it was still a wonderful first mother's day.  Thanks Katie for making it extra special!

She is now taking 28 cc's and they run it in over an hour to prepare her for bottle feeding.  She is still tolerating her feeds very well.  She has been off of oxygen since wednesday (so almost a week!)...yay.   Her oxygen sats have remained stable so that's good.  The next big step we're taking is discontinuing the caffeine.   She gets a dose of caffeine every morning (haha...like the rest of us!) to keep her heart rate up and to prevent any apnea spells (where she stops breathing).  She hasn't had any spells for awhile on the caffeine, so the doctors decided it would be a good idea to discontinue it and see how she does.  She has to be spell free (or able to bring herself out of the spells) for at least a week or two before we go home.  Blood work has all looked good, no signs of infection, and head ultrasound was inconclusive so we'll have an MRI in a few weeks just to make sure everything is okay.  The nurses are going to try and really start to bottle feed the next few weeks.  She is not always alert enough but we're getting there.  

I find myself whispering "thank you Lord" almost every hour of every day.  I truly am thankful for all the progress Briley Kate has made.  We love her more than words can express.  We are also so thankful for all of the people who have prayed for us, cried with us, and shared in those quiet moments with us.  We love yall. 

"The Lord your God is with you,

He is mighty to save.  

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with his love,

He will rejoice over you with singing."   Zephaniah 3:17

Hallelujah for a God who is BIG enough to move mountains, yet small enough to know every hair on our head.  Happy 5 week Birthday My Darling!!  

My Little Lady Bug

     The best face ever!


These pictures have to be some of the cutest that I have ever seen...of course i'm a little biased, but still one month old and she already knows the face to get whatever she wants.  BK weighs in today around 2 pounds and 12 ounces.  She is gaining about an ounce a day when averaged out, and this is exactly what the doctor's want.  They have tried to take her oxygen off again...however, this time instead of taking the nasal cannula off of her they just turned the oxygen off and put it on top of her nose...she has done fine with this so far.  When they try to take it off completely, she drops her O2 sats, funny isn't it?  I guess maybe its a security blanket or something?  But at any rate she is off the oxygen again.  Her feedings have increased to 23 cc's/every 2 hours.  She has shown some real interest in sucking when it is getting close to time to turn the feedings on, and that is a good sign!!  She took the pacifier for 20 minutes on monday...not quite ready to try a bottle but we're making some real progress.  Biggest news of the day:  We moved into a private step-down room...WHOO HOO!  She is still in the NICU, but the room we're in is private now with a television and just allows us to spend more time with her even if we're not holding her.  She is having a follow-up brain ultrasound today.  She had one when she was 1 week old and everything was normal...its standard procedure for preemies to have another one at  one month of age.  The doctors don't expect to find anything abnormal, but that just want to keep an eye on things.  Will let yall know when we get the results.  God is so Good! 

 Prayer requests: That Briley Kate will remain free from infections, that she will keep gaining weight, that the ultrasound will yield positive results, and wisdom for the doctors and nurses that care of our little girl.   Our hearts continue to ache for Layla and while each day gets a little better, there are many days that are not.  The Lord holds her now... He cradles her and sings to her.  She couldn't be in better hands and yet my hands ache to hold her.  Please pray that God will continue to heal.  

Keep growing baby girl...momma can't wait till you're home with her!

Just Me and My Daddy

Just a peak into first moment when Brian got to hold his baby girl.  Briley Kate was having a good day and demanded some snuggle time with daddy!  There is nothing like holding your child for the first time...an instant connection and the feeling of more love than one ever thinks possible.  Usually parents get to hold their child within the first few minutes/hours after birth, and I have to admit that I envy them so much.  Finally, four weeks after her birthday, Daddy and Briley Kate got that moment, and I was so blessed to be a part of it.  She already has him wrapped around her finger.  

Quick update:  She now weighs 2 pounds 11 ounces!  We're slowly creeping up there.  She'll gain a few ounces then lose a few, so its been a slow climb this week.  They have increased her feedings to 23 cc's/ every 2 hours.  She tolerates most of the time but tends to spit up in the mornings when they add the vitamin supplements.  The nurses have tried to take her oxygen off several times, but she seems to want to hold onto the whiff that they have her on.  The doctor's and nurses say that its completely normal...just a slow process (Patience is one fruit of the spirit that I never had, but God is teaching me).  Other than that she's doing fine.  I finally found a few outfits that fit her so she doesn't have to go naked (haha) and she's adorable.  So four weeks old today... HAPPY ONE MONTH BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!