72 Hours

When Kate first got to the NICU the nurses and doctors told us the first 72 hours would be really rough. During this time she would most likely continue to get worse. They were trying to prepare us which I totally appreciate. And they were right. She did continue to get worse but thankfully it looks like yesterday afternoon (even before the 72 hours was up) she started to turn the corner. Yesterday afternoon around 4 pm the extubated her from the ventilator!!!! YEA!!!! She went back onto CPAP. She made it through the transition great (not that she liked the CPAP but she did well on it - we caught her trying to pull it out again). And then all afternoon and evening they were able to continue to wean down the CPAP!!!! So very great news. We are still prepared for set backs and know it could happen but it is great to see some forward progress.

Yesterday was a really rough day emotionally for us because we had to leave the hospital. I was discharged around 10 in the morning. I continue to do great. Really a huge praise that I am doing so well physically. Some tears were shed at the thought of having to be so far away from Miss Kate but it is going to be ok. We had a very strange moment yesterday when we left the hospital it was just Matt and I. We were going to pick up Ben from school at 12:30 but we had about an hour to kill so what do the parents of 2 do when you have no children??? We went out to lunch. Very strange feeling to be sitting and eating by ourselves. Not really what I imagined leaving the hospital to be like but that is ok.

We are readjusting to life on the outside. It is a very hard position to be in. We are torn between wanting to just sit with Kate but also having other things we need to do and spending time with Ben. We are so grateful to have our parents helping us out so much with Ben. We would not have survived without them. We are trying hard to spend as much time with him as possible. He is dong pretty well. He seems to be more emotional the last few days. He gets upset when little things don't go his way. Pray that he continues to adjust well and that we can spend the time with him he needs. We have discovered very quickly that it takes only 18 minutes to get from our garage to the front door of the hospital. Not bad. We see other families in the NICU that live out of town and are really struggling to be with their babies so we feel blessed.

Overall things are going well. We thank you all for your prayers and great support. The emails, phone calls and visits are helping us make it through!!! We continue to pray that Kate improves quickly so we can get everyone home!!! On a good note they checked her billirubin yesterday and it was great. So no jaundice. That made us laugh because we struggled so much with that with Ben. It also made us laugh yesterday at all the nurses stopping by Kate's bed talking about how chubby she was. She is huge compared to most of the babies in there. Don't think about a 6 pound 14 ounce baby being chubby. We told Kate she was not chubby. We don't want her having body image issues : )!!

I keep forgetting my camera but I do have a couple of new pictures to share.

Not only is Kate the biggest baby in the NICU but she also has the most hair! So the nurses put a sweet bow in her hair yesterday. Doesn't she look great. I am not a bow person I thought but when it is the only thing your baby can wear it is the sweetest thing ever!

Ben and Mama hanging out. We have tried to do some fun things with him so we had a little birthday party for Kate. We had cupcakes and sang to her. We can't wait for him to meet her.

Mommy and Kate