Making Progress

December 7, 2007
Today was a good day. A day of many small steps. We went to the NICU around 9AM to see Finley under the bright lights. Her billirubin levels were a bit low and jaundice was going to set in. We heard she was going to stay under this light for a while. Her eyes were protected from the light with her fancy sunglasses. The light was so bright that it played some pretty interesting tricks with the camera.






With the bright lights, we were able to get a good shot of how furry she is. Not only does she have a great head of hair, but she has some nice fuzz on her arms.










The REALLY good news of the morning was that she was totally off the oxygen. She had nothing but real air again. It seems like there are baby steps happening everywhere. Some good, some bad, but there is constantly something new with Finley, and it is all pleasant at the moment.

The second time we went back to see her today they actually removed the oxygen tank out of the room stating that she wouldn't be needing it anymore at all most likely.





That was so encouraging, and then they asked if Lindsay would like to hold her with skin to skin contact that they also like to call "kangaroo therapy". It is good for Finley and great for Mommy's milk supply. So, Lindsay and Finley were extremely relaxed and loving every moment of holding each other and feeling each other's heart beats. She is such a little blessing! They also had upped her dosage of feedings from 5 ml to 10 ml per feeding. Hopefully she'll be plumping up and getting stronger at every feeding.



The third time we went up to the NICU today we took Aunt Court & Uncle Nick as they had brought us dinner to the hospital and wanted to go in for a visit. Lindsay and Courtney went in first to see Finley and while they were in there the nurse had Lindsay check Finley's temperature, change a diaper, and then they fed her through an IV and told us that they'd be taking her tubing out so that she only gets it put in right now for feedings until she will be bottle feeding off of Mommy's pumped milk. She is just amazing!! She got her feeding of Mommy's milk before they removed the tube and then swaddled her and handed her over to Mommy to rock for a bit. We are so excited that we are getting to touch her and get to know her better, and can't wait to have her home. It was time for a shift change when Lindsay had to hand her back over, but we asked if we came back later if Daddy could hold her, and they said "sure!" so we are waiting to go back up there now. We can't wait to see her again!