Days 3 & 4

Things continue to progress well. Lots of pictures below, but some of the highlights are that Eliza has moved out from under the full-time lights (for jaundice treatment) and into her very own condo! She no longer has the big tube blowing air at her. She now only has the small nasal attachments that are providing a bit of warm mist for her lungs. She's getting 4 cc's of milk every three hours and doing very well with that. I'm really not sure what else to say about her--she's just a champ. Given her circumstances, I don't think we could have dreamed of her doing any better.

Brenna came home this evening. They took her staples (16) out this afternoon, and she is very sore (lots of burning on her right side--they tell us it's from damaged nerves due to the surgery), but she is managing well and is glad to be home and have the chaos of Savannah, Hunter and Madison buzzing around her once again. As those of you who are familiar with the C-section process know, she has a bit of a long recovery period ahead of her. It's tough to see how difficult even the simplest of movements are, but it is encouraging to see the day to day progress because it is very real.

The children are thrilled to have mom home and showed it in the way Brenna probably would have least preferred. You'll see what I mean below.

Brooke heads back to Georgia tomorrow, and my mom arrives from Utah. What great parents we have (I may have already mentioned that, but you can't give them too much credit!). She'll be here for a week, and I'm looking forward to that.

Two other items of note before I get to the video and photos:

1. We settled on Eliza's final, full name: Elizabeth McKay Fillerup. Elizabeth because it is Brenna's middle name and her grandmother's first name. McKay as a tribute to our ward and to the period of our life we are in. We are part of the McKay Lake ward, and as I have mentioned, our dear friends have truly rallied around, anticipated every possible need and solved every problem before we could even ask (or even realize we needed help in many cases). Eliza's middle name will always remind us of these wonderful people and of where we are in our lives right now where we truly feel like a blessed part of a loving ward family. That is a beautiful feeling that we will always cherish. We'll call her Eliza rather than Elizabeth just because we like it so much. And, we're proud that she'll be in the company of John and Laurel Larsen's daughter. Can't ask for a better name-mate than that.

2. We have been looking forward to Savannah's baptism on March 1 for quite some time. But when Bren went into the hospital and we thought she would be there for multiple weeks Savannah and I had a discussion regarding whether Savannah wanted to go ahead on March 1 even if mom would not be able to be there. Well, Savannah was certainly disappointed, but no way was she going to be baptized without mom present. So, when Bren realized she would be home in plenty of time for the baptism she asked me to talk to Savannah again to see if she would reconsider. This morning I sat down with Savannah and told her mom would be home and that if she wanted she could go ahead and get baptized on the March 1. She seemed OK with the idea, but she wasn't overjoyed about it, which kind of surprised me. So I said to her that if she wanted she could wait for Eliza to come home and then she could be baptized on a Saturday and Eliza could be blessed the next day. You should have seen her face light up. She wants her baby sister to be there for her baptism. No question in her mind. We're hoping that will all happen the first weekend in May. Should be a great weekend at our house!

Now, on to the visual evidence:

Day 3

Wed morning they gave Eliza a pacifier to help keep her mouth closed so the air being blown at her wouldn't escape. She also had her firs experience with lying on her tummy. She took to it quite well.

Is it just me or does that pacifier seem a little large?

Wed evening Brenna and Brooke went down for the nighttime feeding and statistics check. Eliza was just hanging out waiting for them!

Grandma Brooke enjoying her newest granddaughter. Thanks for coming, Grandma!

Yay! Mommy gets to hold little Eliza. This really completed Brenna's day and gave her that feeling of having an emotional link with her daughter. It's been really hard on mom to not have her baby right next to her. I know you mothers out there can understand that very well.

This is my favorite picture from Wed. The only downer is that we weren't able to get any video of Brenna holding Eliza this time around because the camera battery was too low. D'oh! Fortunately, we expect many, many more opportunites to come.

Day 4

I really enjoy taking the video of her. It's just amazing to have these moments captured and to be able to share them with family and friends. Hopefully it helps bridge the distance between us all.

Amazing. She just seems like she's ready to go, but when I get up close to her and see how tiny she is I am just blown away that she's even alive. Babies are miracles. There is no other way to see it. Eliza has helped me understand that in a way that was not clear to me before. Only a few days old, and she is already teaching me. Fortunately, the other kids have already helped me understand how much I can learn from them. My trouble is I'm not usually patient enough to let them teach. With Eliza, though, I am a rapt student.

Nurse Kayla checking the vitals. We have loved the nurses in the NICU. They are caring and attentive and just great. We know Eliza is always in good hands. What a blessing. I've enjoyed seeing the work they do because it gives me a little window into the life of my niece, Rebecca. Way to go, Rebecca! You are part of an amazing profession.

As soon as Brenna gets away from the doctors, with what do you think she is confronted? More doctors, of course! Savannah and Maddie were immediately on hand to tend to her every need (real and imagined). What good helpers! Conspicuous by his absence is Hunter who greeted mom at the door with his customary affection--giving her a big smile with a hug and kiss. Then, however, it was back to the Wii in his continuing quest to collect stars and save Luigi and find Princesses and whatever else it is that he does in Super Mario Galaxy. Mom comes home from the hospital, and all he wants to do is save the galaxy. Boys! What are we gonna do with them?


Paging Dr. Fillerup. Please report to the ER.

When did you say you graduated from med school? I mean, I liked Doogie Howser growing up, but this is a bit ridiculous!

Good times at the Fillerup house.