Itty-bitty toes

Baby feet…

This is a shot of Julia’s footprints and my wedding ring. 

This is the girls attending the "Ice Cream and Isolettes" this last Friday.

Here they learned about the NICU and the different tubes and things that may be used on their sibling.  They get to touch and play with the dolls. They also get to color pictures that can be put by Julia's Isolette. (The isolette is the fancy incubater/crib that she is in)  They also get ice cream, which is really the only reason that I attended. :-)   At the end of the class they got to go past the main NICU doors and look through the window at where Julia is.  They all liked it, but Alyssa really had a hard time not being able to get closer. To quote her, "It's not fair that you and Mom can go in and I can't."

This is probably the second or third time that Erin has been able to hold Julia.  (The picture posted earlier was probably her first time holding her).

Here is Julia with a hair ribbon. They can't get these things to stay on, as the humidity in her isolette is too high.

Here is Julia with a beanie that a neighbor made for her.

Tonight Julia makes 2 weeks old.  Pretty amazing.  It seems like it has been an eternity, yet so fast at the same time.  She continues to do well for a 23 gestation baby, but there have been ups and downs.  Yesterday they were able to take her off of Nitric Oxide that was helping her get better oxygenation.  This was good news as this means she was doing better on her own. This morning they have had to add it back.  She had had a lobe of a lung that was collapsing, that started looking much better. This morning a different lobe is showing signs of collapsing.  Just a couple examples of how it really is a roller coaster.

On a more stable side, she is still getting feedings, which total to 1 teaspoon of breast milk every day.  Her body is doing well with it, and she is even up to 1lb 6 oz. 

We stay very optimistic and understand that she could be in worse shape and that there is a long road ahead of us.  We'll try to get something posted every day or two so that you can have an update.

We are so grateful for all the love, prayers, and support we have received from our family and friends around the world.  It makes a difference. 

--Bill