Missing Magic?

Almost 3 years ago our lives were changed forever when we met Georgia Claire for the first time. While still in the hospital she received a musical seahorse from my cousin, Emily, which quickly became known as the 'magical seahorse.' Even while still at Saint Luke's with the factory batteries, the seahorse began transforming our lives and providing 7 glorious, uninterrupted minutes of quiet. We even own the seahorse in multiple colors after leaving it behind at great grandma Gert's over Christmas one year.

So - after our 7th night (but hey, who's counting) home with sweet Caroline (it helps to always refer to her as sweet during posts like this...) the seahorse no longer appears to be magical. And raging reflux is continuously interrupting sweet Caroline's sleep. Despite new batteries and lots of coaxing, Georgia took the seahorse to bed with her last night. 

So as you have guessed our sweet Caroline is having a difficult time transitioning home and mom and dad are struggling to get a few zzzz's. We've started the crazy reflux medication journey and are waiting out the next few days until we can get something stronger. After losing weight over the weekend during her home health visit on Monday, we are back on the 24 calorie human milk fortifier (adding it to 2 bottles per day) and trying to encourage rest. As you might imagine, reflux is not helping to contribute to her weight gain or her happiness. Next weight check is Thursday and after being up for literally 13 hours straight yesterday, her chances of performing well are not looking good.

So, on her first Halloween we're praying for a special witches brew with lots of sleeping potions so sweet Caroline can continue to grow and stay with us at home:) After a jack-o-lantern pizza and a mini pumpkin carving party with grandma, we are ready for our trick-or-treaters!

For those of you who have not heard, Georgia is going as a purple butterfly and baby sister as a sweet black spider (although she'll primarily be home bound:)) More photos to come - 

Happy Haunting ---

South Dakota Visitors

Caroline was introduced to her South Dakota cousins and Grandma Barb this past weekend, after transitioning home. Georgia LOVED having her cousins in town and I think it's fair to say she's resting just a bit longer this afternoon. Hope you all enjoy some of the photos...

Cousin Hannah enjoyed holding Caroline

Georgia introduced her cousins to the geese she loves to feed at the park

Georgia loves Hailey

Caroline - stressed out?

Aunt Amy taught us a few things

Uncle Topher caught a couple snuggle minutes

NICU Graduate

So the nurses were right - no baby stays forever in the NICU and Caroline transitioned home late Wednesday, October 24. Her feeding tube was removed one week ago on the 21st and she quickly passed all of her final assessments and joined us at home. She is home on a monitor with strict orders to continue to thrive and gain weight:)

Our transition has been just that and Caroline definitely missed her quiet corner of the NICU her first couple of nights home, but we're trying convince her home is best:) Georgia is enjoying having her home and has been a wonderful big sister - assisting with all tasks and promptly reporting when Caroline is crying.

We had family from South Dakota visit over the weekend and I'll post photos very soon of Grandma Barb, Aunt Amy, Uncle Topher and Caroline's cousins. Georgia had a wonderful time catching up with Hannah, Hailey, Hady and Hudson and wished the weekend hadn't gone so quickly. 

A big thank you to everyone who continues to pray for our family and deliver support in so many wonderful ways - we are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends. It seems as though the phone calls, meals, prayers and words of encouragement always come when we need them most - thank you. We are praying that God continues to bless each of your lives the way you have blessed ours.

With Grateful Hearts and Tired Eyes - 
Patrick, Jen, Georgia and Caroline

At home with Dad - eyes wide open

Just a few days before discharge...

Tootsies

Day 26...

Caroline continues to do very well in the NICU - she is focused on feeding and growing. She is still has her feeding tube and monitors but otherwise is wire free. She's maintaining her body temperature in the crib and just has to put on weight and learn to take all of her feedings on her own. We are focused on completing her car seat test and going to through monitor training this week while she puts on weight and continues to grow. Everyone is expecting that she will come home on a monitor for approximately one month - the monitors alarm anytime she has an 'event' where she stops breathing. Almost since the beginning, Caroline has been resolving all her events on her own - meaning - although she is forgetting to breath, she does figure out on her own without additional stimulation to start breathing again. This is again good news for her.

She is in the bad habit of pulling out her feeding tube on a daily basis, so we took the opportunity to snap her photo with one of her biggest fans in the NICU yesterday. Nurse Lori has been rooting Caroline on since day one and Caroline totally responds to her voice - she also LOVES Halloween and entertains us with a million new outfits!

I have also been meaning to post a photo of my daily drive to and from the plaza. The canopy of color along Ward Parkway is amazing - it just makes me smile each day. When Caroline arrived the trees were not even changing color yet and now today - they are just beyond their peak and will soon be thinning out. After mentioning the trees almost daily, Patrick and GA snapped this photo for me on their way home the other night. Although it doesn't do the color justice, you get the idea.

And a few more shots of mom and dad enjoying snuggle time with Caroline. She is starting to really change with the extra weight she's putting on - her cheeks are filling out, her eyes are changing, her ears have grown and she is working hard to grow into her head:) She is holding steady at 3 pounds, 12 ounces today.

Perfect Reflection

So, grandma comes through with another perfect reflection this morning - that is most appropriate to share. I hope you all enjoy it - Lord knows it's the words I need to hear and reflect on every single day. Each day I pray for patience as Caroline works so hard to gain weight and learn how to live in our great, big world. As her doctors remind me each day - patience is typically on short order in the NICU and so every little bit we can find is a blessing.

Caroline continues to do well and began nursing 1 - 2 times a day on Saturday. This is a BIG success and we're all excited as this gets her one step closer to coming home. She is back to daily 'events', where she stops breathing, but she continues to self-resolve during these, so that is great news. We are looking forward to welcoming our miracle home in the next couple of weeks.

The devotional below is by Jimmy Pena, one of the founders of PrayFit. Like many truths, it bears repeating again and again. 

Sovereign Lord, You can handle anything that comes our way. You are made strong in our weakness. We don’t need to hang on to our baggage We have something better – Your eternal love. May we learn to give You our baggage and accept Your peace in return. Amen.

Our Baggage Handler

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” –Matthew 6:34

We sure do like our baggage. Ever notice the reluctancy of airline passengers to part with their carry-ons? My chocolate lab Josey is more likely to give up a fresh T-bone. When it comes to personal property, we growl “mine”, no matter how short the flight. Separate us from what’s “rightfully” ours and somehow the sky is falling (even at 30,000 feet, which is where this entry was written).

When you think about it, the purpose of the flight is not the flight, but a safe landing. The pilot doesn’t need anything we lug on board to get us where we need to go. (You know where I’m going with this.)

If you’re like me, you’d be better off to check some of life’s luggage. Worry weighs us down and fear fogs our vision; good thing God doesn’t need a co-pilot. In fact, I think I’ll take my plastic pilot wings back to my seat. We still have a ways to go.

–Jimmy Peña

Kisses for Caroline

Kisses for Caroline - XOXOXOXOXO

Family Time

Georgia held Caroline for the first time this morning - she was a Great Big Sister! Caroline has also had several other visitors over the past couple of days - and she can get out and about since she's free from the lights and isolate. Happy stay at home days everyone! 

Aunt Kate and Caroline on her last day in the isolate

Cousin Emily and Caroline

Aunt Bonnie and Caroline

2 Weeks Old and Counting

Sweet Caroline was 2 weeks old yesterday - hard to believe that we've already known her for 14 days! I'm not sure where the time goes. She continues to grow and do well. This week has been a big week as she graduated to an open crib and now has to work hard to maintain her body temperature and she lost her billi lights, so we can hold her more often. In addition, she has moved to a new NICU and has a very quiet corner to herself, both mom and Caroline are enjoying this change.

Our primary focus is now on eating and gaining weight. She is still on a monitor and has her feeding tube, but other than that is device free and she hasn't had an 'event' in more than 24 hours. Feeding and nursing continue to be exhaustive tasks for her, but as she continues to grow stronger, we're hoping she'll figure this out. Mom took infant CPR again this week and dad is next in line - we also were trained in infant massage and Caroline is enjoying that each day.

With all of the poking and prodding that occurs each day for her and the fact that she has super sensitive skin, massage is a new, gentle type of touch for her hands and feet. Dad was a rockstar and Caroline loved it! She now weighs in just under 3 1/2 pounds and is wearing clothes! She definitely looks a lot bigger. She welcomes visitors almost everyday - she is popular. 

Most likely, a few more weeks and she'll be transitioning home after she puts on a bit more weight and learns how to eat. She is just 35 weeks gestation this week, and size wise a bit further behind - but doing exceptionally well. Mom is back to driving, so coordinating visits is much easier - although I did have some wonderful drivers:) Thank you to everyone who helped me out and carted me back and forth to the hospital.

Georgia continues to adjust and is anxious for Caroline (her baby), to actually be at home. We'll see how long that lasts:) She is your typical 2, almost 3 year old, and giving her dad a run for his money. I will try to post some new photos soon - trying to coordinate our camera, cords, phones, email accounts and connectivity is proving to be a challenge for mom:) 

Happy Friday - the time is flying by so quickly. We continue to be stuffed to the gills with wonderful meals and unexpected visitors - thank you to everyone for your ongoing support and concern. We know that we are so blessed and our family is well prayed for - we only hope that we can return all of this generosity and support to each of you. Godspeed...

Spoiled Rotten

That's us these days - spoiled rotten by friends, neighbors and family. Everyone has been so generous and our front porch is seeing lots of activities (good thing Grandma got us decorated with a few pumpkins and mums). Georgia now makes it a point to check the front step - not sure how we'll transition from this:) Oh, the trials of generosity!

A giant thank you and shout out to everyone who continues to pray for our family and Caroline's growth. She has now surpassed her birth weight and is thinking about transitioning to an open air crib. WOW! I think mom is most nervous about this - but excited to see her continuing to do so well.

Georgia also says thank you for all of the fun big sister gifts that have come her way - she is really embracing her big sister role and is excited for the day when Caroline gets to come home. She is even sharing some of hospital visit stories with her friends at school.

May the blessings that have touched our lives be returned to each of you ten-fold. We are blessed and we are grateful for our growing family, our strong support network and each of you who continue to send warm thoughts and prayers our way. We hope that one day we can return half of what we have been given. Life seems to be getting busier and busier and so I hope you'll forgive the multiple days that go without updates and know that no news is good news and we're focused on growing and feeding and wearing big girl clothes!

"The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; 

and the favor of God was upon her." Luke 3:40