Day 2

Nothing but good news today. Brenna is able to get up and walk a bit, and she is in good spirits on the whole. The pain isn't fun, but the most frustrating aspect of the current situation is that she is not able to have Eliza with her. Hard to be separated from your brand new baby. But at least she was able to go down to the NICU and spend some time with the little one. Brenna will come home on Thursday, and we are certainly looking forward to that. There is nothing like being together.

Brooke flew in this morning, and we are so grateful to have her here. The kids love having Grandma here, and it's just such a relief to have another adult to talk to and help make decisions. We're so glad for both sets of grandparents. They do an amazing job.

As for Eliza, she is progressing marvelously. They took the oxygen tube off and she is now breathing wholly on her own. They do have a rather large tube taped to her face, though (you'll see pics below), and that is basically blowing air at her that forces her to keep her lungs open. So, they are providing help, but technically she is breathing on her own. They also have a tube down into her stomach that is slowly dripping formula to her. They will soon be using mom's milk there and that will be great. Other than that there really isn't a lot else to report today. They think we'll be able to hold her in a couple of days, and that will be so wonderful. I've said it before, but she is just a marvel. I love gazing at her.

The biggest frustration today was that we twice went down to see her and the NICU was closed because they were doing surgery on another baby. It's difficult because we really want to see our baby, but we definitely understand how important surgery is for these little people. So, what that means is we didn't get to spend as much time with her as we would have liked, but we made the most of the time we did have. We chatted with her and I softly sang several hymns and primary songs. That was an opportunity I will always cherish. I think tomorrow I will bring a story and start reading to her. Wonderful experiences. Well, without further ado here are some new pics from today:

Mom and baby. I'm fond of this pic because I think it really captures what Brenna is all about. Just a lovely moment.

More evidence of how tiny she is. Note the big blue tube at her face. That is what is blowing the air that forces her to keep her lungs open. The black eye cover is just what it looks like--giving her relief from light. She is under the bright lights for jaundice treatment, and the doctors say she is doing well. For those who know about these things her APGAR scores were 7 after 1 minute and 9 after 5 minutes.

What an experience--just holding her tiny hand.

Like I said, I love just gazing at her.

My turn to hold her tiny hand.

I love this--a little defiant fist thrown out to show she will succeed. The NICU nurses have refer to her as "feisty" and "a fighter." They also call her "the giant" because she is bigger than most of the pre-30 week premies they see. All of those names sound great to me.

OK, tomorrow is a new day. One day closer to Bren coming home, and one day closer to Eliza coming home, too, for that matter.