Prematurity Awareness Day

Ive been wanting to blog more, but our days have been pretty low key and boring to say the least! But I'm not complaining!!!

Nov. 7 8:30am I was at work and got a phone call from Josh, with Brielle screaming. He said the dreaded words "I think her hernia popped again." "O no" was my reply. I called the Pediatrician Dr. Kranik and his nurse Karla, my fav, was on call with him that Sunday and she called him and called me back to say the other dreaded words "Head to the ER" SO I rushed home to get my precious girl and we headed to the ER. I was freaking out since the last time was so horrible getting it back in! I was glad Josh was with me this time, but I was afraid that they might not be able to get this one back in and then it would be emergency surgery. But the opposite happened! I was not comfortable with the ER doctor trying to push it back in. I was under the impression that the surgeon was being paged to come put it in. WRONG! So the ER doctor sat down on the bed next to her, undid her diaper and proceeded to push it back in and Brielles poor face went pitch red and the screams came to life! I felt sooooo bad!! But in about a minute it was over!!! A huge relief!!!! He said that because it was caught so early this time, instead of 4 days like last time, that the swelling wasnt so intense and it could be easily pushed back in! Way to go dad for noticing!!

Birth to 3 came last Thursday! I was alittle nervous! She has been having her hands in a fist alot! But I asked and the physical therapist looked at it and said she does relax them and she should grow out of it! YAY! They didnt see any signs of cerebral palsy YET and will be back in December! They were very pleased with her and how she is doing! Arent we all!!!

Yesterday the at home nurse was here. I offically have a 10 lb 2.5oz turkey on my hands!!!! And she thinks she may be starting to teethe! Like seriously!! Shes only 2 months!!! She chews on her hands constantly! She drools constantly! She has red cheeks and she had a low grade temp of 98.8 yesterday. And she keeps pushing her tongue on her bottom gum which is why she said MAYBE its a possibility! Sad but happy day yesterday for me! Sad because my baby is growing so fast before my eyes!! It feels like yesterday my precious babies were born, the size of a 20oz mountain dew bottle! Feels like yesterday we were saying good bye to our precious baby boy! Like I was getting ready to head to the NICU for my daily routine of caring for my little miracle baby! And now she is home, growing, holding her head up, 10POUNDS!, and possibly teething! Like seriously! When did this all happen!! When I was telling Josh yesterday he said "She will be walking soon" I got teary eyed. I know its great the my soda bottle has grown into a turkey now but I just dont know where the time has gone! O well suck it up and grow baby grow! I need to get it together and visit the NICU soon so we can see our favorite nurses and doctors that made this all possible!!

Last Friday Josh had Brielle off oxygen for 5 hours!!!!! Brielle met mama at the back door when I got home from work!!! Usually she is confined to our living room and our bedroom so to meet me in the kitchen was pretty neat! Then I had to run upstairs to get something and I got to take her with me!! We had alittle talk about how great it is to be able to go all over the house with mama so hopefully she will take it into consideration and loose the oxygen soon here! Shes been off today for an hour and 20 mintues so far and still doing good. So we just have to get her in the habit of being off little by little!

Brielle has also started to give real smiles! She loves when we kiss and blow on the side of her cheeks. That gets the most smiles out of her! Its so cute! The nurse yesterday knelt down by her swing and said "By precious girl" and Brielle gave her a big smile!! Julie said that made her day and mom and dad are 2 lucky people!! YES WE ARE! She doesnt like her daddy AT ALL hehe! He can get alot of smiles out of her when he gets home from work! Its adorable! I must say she has a GREAT daddy! He loves her more than words can say! It melts my heart to see those two interact!

Today is Prematurity Awareness Day. A few comments moms of preemies have made that are SO true and made me think: "While Pregnant moms cant wait to show their babies off to the world. Preemie moms have to hibernate and shelter their babies from the world due to illnesses that can be deadly!"
This is so true! We are So proud of Brielle and want to show her off to the world and instead we have to shelter her! Its sad but its life! We DO NOT want her to end up back in the hospital due to something that can be prevented! So this year Thanksgiving and Xmas will be sheltered in our family! We just cant have her getting sick! So far everyone has been VERY understanding! But one thing the NICU has taught me in the 3 months is to be an advocate for our daughter! So thats what we are doing! We have to put our foot down and not bring our preemie around ill people and environments! If she was to get sick it could be deadly! her lungs are VERY fragile still, hence the oxygen need. Any sickness could cause her to remain on oxygen or worse! Hopefully everyone continues to be supportive and understanding thru this holiday season! As sad as it is for us, since we LOVE to be with family and friends, its just what it has to be!