1 Month Old

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!

2 pounds 5 ounces

14 1/8 inches

What a girl! As you can see there is not a big CPAP on her... Oh, she decided this morning that she didn't want it anymore and stopped breathing. For 1 hours this morning she had to be continuously stimulated to breath! What a peel. After having a good few days she was tired. So this morning on her 1 month birthday they re-intubated her. After doing tests her hemoglobin is good, so no blood transfusion as of right now. White blood cell count is good, so as of right now there is now infection that they can 'see' and they are waiting on the lab of her throat to make sure all of the pneumonia is gone. Basically it comes down to her being tired and her mom wanting her to grow up too fast! So, we'll give her another break and just give her time. Really that is all she needs, is time. Time to grow and mature.

I figured I would give you a list of what she does:

• Pees
• Poops (sometimes with some help)
• Throws fits
• Cries (when she is not on the vent)
• Breaths sometimes
• Sleeps a lot
• Opens her eyes
• Grows
• Lifts her head, wiggles a lot and is good at moving positions in her bed sometimes we wonder if she is trying to roll over and crawl!
• Loves being held
• Doesn't like being left alone, but doesn't like being bugged. She is already very girly. :)

 This is Miss Olivia getting a little break from the CPAP the other day. She was mad and pushing our hands away.

 Here is our girl breathing like a big girl. She did really good until she got tired. She was just acting pooped!

 Here she is today, her little face is recovering from the CPAP so she looks like a little old lady with her wrinkles and puffy eyes! She's so big though!

 Here is her board. She is the Queen of the unit! She is pretty spoiled around her, the staff her like her.

Here is her door. She is in the 1000 gram club. She is 1050 grams and growing! Her feet have grown also! :) 

Well Happy Birthday Olivia! Keep working hard and know that your Daddy and Mommy love you so much.

30 Whole Days!

I would feel bad if I didn't remember my sweet Alice today. It was 10 months ago that she was born in the same room Miss Olivia was born in, right here in the hospital I am sitting in. I miss her so much and love her so much. What a blessing she has been to our family. We love you Alice!

It's been 30 days since my sweet baby girl came to us. She is just growing and breathing and being amazing. Dr. C said today in rounds (everyday we get to meet with everyone helping her) "I don't want to jinx anything, but shes been a SUPER STAR." No worries on jinxing, no matter what she does she is a super star. She is doing such amazing things if you ask me.
She is breathing pretty good, but she has these spells off and on that makes everyone crazy. She will breath all funny and slow and her heart rate will drop and her air saturation will decrease and then we have to talk her into coming back up, which she does. Once we get past these episodes she will be on the road to going to high flow, which is a lot more comfortable. So, everyday I give her a little pep talk, hopefully it works.
Sorry these are from the other day, but she's still cute. 

 Cute little feet.

 This is her famous pose, all the nurses just love it. She loves her arms up and legs stretched out.

That is the CPAP, it isn't that big, but to keep it on her they have to strap it down. She hates it, but it helps her remember to breath and gives her the oxygen she needs when she's not doing it her self.
Well friends and family thank you so much for supporting us on this journey we are taking. It has gone by fast because of your love and support and constant reminder that we all can do it. Thank you a million times over for caring!

Big Chubby Olivia! :)

If this picture doesn't make your heart just melt, I don't know what will! She's adorable.

Here is our little princess, look at that frown. It is the best frown ever. She was a little upset that everyone was messing with her. This was the day she was extubated! She was put on the CPAP on Friday and thus far she is doing great. The CPAP looks a lot worse (picture below), but it is a lot better for her. It helps remind her to breath and still gives her the oxygen she needs(sometimes she is on room air, meaning she is saturating her oxygen in her blood herself), but it's not as invasive. the vent looks cute because we can see her face, but the tube it in her lungs! Now she is trying to breath like a big girl!

Here's the little one taking a nap before the big switch. We wanted her to be as rested as possible before she was put on CPAP because it takes a lot more energy to breath more on your own. So, we let her rest. I just have a say that I love her so much!

Her squished face while I am holding her! She is getting so big, I promise!

I hope by the two pictures above you can see how much bigger she is. The first from Friday and the second is from August 30th! She looks so much different and so much bigger!

That is one of the RT students holding up the measuring tape to show some perspective. She is looking more and more baby like!

RT student J, RT G and Nurse T are all working on getting the CPAP on well and secure, because Olivia likes to pull it off! :) They are amazing here at the NICU, we feel so blessed to have such great people working with us and helping Miss Olivia.

There she is in all her glory! That is right after they pulled the tube out and getting ready to get the CPAP on. Her cheeks are chubby!

Look at all those hands messing around! She took it like a champ though! She really is a rock star and we are so proud of her for doing so well. I was talking with Nurse M today and she was telling us that she is doing so well and progressing well. Sometimes I won't lie I am a worrier and a think too mucher, I know it comes to a shock to ya'll :) But, I want to make sure I made the right choice putting her through all of this and I know that sounds weird to say, but it's hard to watch her go through so much, but the nurses are so good at reassuring me that she is wonderful and strong and a fighter. It makes me know that she is here for a reason and she is going home with me. She has the best two angels you could ask for looking after her and cheering her on and I am so proud to be the mother of them also.

Here is the proud Father of Miss Olivia Renae! He's a great man and I love him so very much! 

On another note, I am glad this week is over. It has been quite an adventure. Going home and making it official that I was not going back to work was just the beginning. Olivia going on CPAP is a little stressful also and on top of that I found out that I was being released from my calling at church. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but as weird as it might sound I enjoyed being the Relief Society president. It was a calling that let me love everyone and do things for so many people and really I like that kind of stuff, plus all those ladies in my ward taught me a lot more then I taught them. Not only that I got to hang out with some really amazing women. Being the RS president was more to me then just a church thing but it was something that I could focus on when I was stressed about all of the pregnancy things and stuff. It made me feel like a part of the ward family and gave me an excuse to visit people and talk with people. I just loved it I guess and I'll miss it, but I know it is right and I know that the new president is going to be AMAZING! She has taught me so much in the short time I have known her and am so glad she is in the position she is in. Thank you to all those in my ward that helped me be able to do that job and allowed me to figure it out ( I don't know if I really did yet) and loved me along the way. Thank you thank you! Love the 14th ward!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!!

After Nurse S weighed her this evening her weight is...

1020 grams
which is 1.02 kg.

which is 

2 pound 4 ounces! 

GOOD WORK OLIVIA 

New length coming soon...

I LOVE Cedar City

I got to come home for the day today and it is sorta hard, but really it makes me totally regenerated. I have such a wonderful support system here. Cedar is my home and I am totally attached. I miss it and I can't wait to show Olivia her real home. ;)
I was fortunate enough to go to work today and sit in the center, what a great place. No wonder I have spent the lat 5 1/2 years there! :) The students that spend their time there are great people, people you want to spend your time with, people you would let babysit your children. I went to lunch with Pam and it was great to catch up and talk with her. I am going to miss the center a lot... Yup I am making a huge step in my life I'm not going to have a job! For some of you, you'll understand that, that is a big thing for me. I am bit of a workaholic (thanks mom ;) It will be good though, my dream for the last forever is to be a mom and now I finally get to do so. I've had a few just kidding moments and now it's gonna happen, which makes me happy, but it is a lot of change. So I'm gonna dive in head first and figure this all out. I'll be looking up to you moms that have done this. :)
Well sorry no pictures, this was more of a personal post, but I'll still let you know that Olivia is doing well. She is finishing up her medicine for her pneumonia and thus far it seems to be working. She is breathing more and she is a lot more active again. She also got some good compliments today from the nurses... they told her she looks SO BIG! Which really, that is a compliment that melts a NICU mothers heart.
Have a great weekend and I'll post more pictures soon!

MORE PICTURES

I have heard several times how much everyone loves pictures, so I will give you some more! Some of these are not of Olivia, but you can love all of us! :)

Tay with miss Olivia, look how sweet! XOXOXOXO

Here is some of the amazing people that take care of Miss Olivia. You see a nurse, an RT student and the RT putting her back in her bed. For being so small it sure does take a lot of people to put her in her bed.

Here is her bed! The nurses are so good and making her bed with the cutest prints. This time they chose her bedroom colors!

Tayce doing his homework! Good job Tay keep up the good work.

Here is the darling hat that NNP B made her. It is so cute and her eyes are open a little bit.

Went out to lunch with Shayla and her Aunt Cyndi. We had a good Saturday together. We love you Shayla!

First time Tayce has been to Krave, so I had to take a picture!

We wrote Olivia a note on the Krave wall. We hope everyone loves our message!

We want to ask for some more prayers. Aunt Cyndi is in the hospital and needs some prayers. We are grateful we got to spend the day with her and Shayla and hope all goes well for them. Much love to you all!

Miss Olivia aka: Miss Thang :)

What a girl we have. I am so thrilled to have this little one in our lives. She makes me so happy. She is growing so big! Drum roll please....

1 pound 15.5 ounces!
a couple centimeters off of 14 inches!

It is totally normal for her to fluctuate in her weight, so she could go down some a little, but we are thinking she'll be solid 2 pounds by the end of the week! So happy. 

So, she's had some roller coaster ups and downs, but she's taking them like a champ. (She'll do good at Disneyland ;) Her first infection is gone, but she wasn't breathing well and we couldn't figure out why. So, Nurse K one night decided to do a lab on some of the mucus they were getting out of her vent tube, it came back with and increase of white blood cells, which is a sign of infection. This infection ended up being a form of pneumonia. It is sad that she got it, but a blessing that we found out what it was. Now it is being treated and she is already breathing better. She is nice and pink and growing growing growing, which is what we want. We want her to be a little bigger so when we switch to the CPAP again she will be able to handle it better. And don't you worry I give her little pep talks about breathing. I tell her if she breaths like a big girl she won't have to have that CPAP on very long, I tell her this because I know she doesn't like that CPAP at all, it covers up her pretty face and she doesn't go for that. :) 

Now she is pretty spoiled, not just from me, but everyone. Last night she was being fought over by the nurses. :) Nurse S and Nurse W both love her they told me and just love to be her nurse. It was cute, they are good women. She is also spoiled by all her friends who give her so many gifts and from her family. Her Aunt LeeAnn made her baby booties that are her size (well she's starting to grow out of them already, but we got a photo shoot of her wearing them.) So here they are... 

She loved having everyone coming in and telling her how cute she is in her little booties! I love them. Thank you Aunt LeeAnn!

Here she is! She looks bigger to me. She loves being held, mostly I think she loves getting out of her bed. Changing things up a little is always good. Tonight Tayce is going to hold this little one again. We are trying to take turns you know. :) We love her and are thankful that so many of you do also. Thank you for the prayers they really are working.

FINALLY FRIDAY

Can't believe it is already Friday. :) Days are going by fast and really I'm okay with that. I know that moms always tell me that they hate to wish away their babies lives, but everyday she gets older the happier I get. I want to remember every moment, but I also want the moment we go home to get here. :) I know it will, yesterday I heard the nurses already discussing Thanksgiving! That's sweet because that's about when we will start thinking about going home!
Today we had another head scan to check on her brain bleeds. They are looking about the same as last week, some are doing better which is good. Some of them the doctors are still concerned about, but all we can do is watch and wait. She is not showing any signs that her brain is effecting her right now. They thought that maybe the brain issues were causing her apnea issues, but once they put her back on the vent and she started breathing again and her apnea went almost all away it showed them that she was more tired. The doctors have told us that problems stemming from the brain do not come and go and they don't go away, so her apnea is not from the brain! Which was wonderful news. So, what we do now is just keep praying and and waiting and watching. She is doing so well and trying to grow!

Daddy got to hold Olivia this afternoon (actually as I am typing this he is holding her! That's the only way I could get the computer :) They are awfully cute together and she is doing so well. She knows her Daddy that is for sure. Tay was telling me that it was more important for me to hold her then him, but I think I disagree. I think she needs us both to hold her and love on her.

From up and awake to taken a little snooze!

This is me holding yesterday. I got to hold her again for more then 2 hours. She is liking this holding stuff which is a dream come true. I was afraid she might be like a little friend of mine who spent some time in the NICU who didn't like to be  held. ;) That little ladybug knows who she is.
But if you look close to the picture above you can see those little eyes!  So I cropped it to show you her eyes really are open! Thank you nurse M for the great picture.

There is our little beauty with her adorable hat on. It is now her holding hat, so she doesn't get cold. But those eyes are wide open and she loves to look around. I tell you when she is looking around she looks right at me and sometimes she smiles. I don't know if it is involuntary, but I think is is a little heavenly hug telling me "I love you mom" I just have to believe that. Yesterday I was singing "You Are My Sunshine" and she smiled! She knows that's her song. She is my sunshine and I smile every moment I think of her and thank my Heavenly Father for letting me her mom.

I'm Growing Big!

This morning I came into Olivia's room to a great surprise! She is up to 1 lb. 13 oz. and very content with life right now. She had some ups and downs the last few days, but such is life for a wee little one. They tried to put her back on the CPAP, but she only lasted a day on it. She told everyone loud and clear that she was not ready to do all the work when it came to breathing. She was going apnic over and over, so they put her back on the vent. Now she's have little to no apnea spells and growing like a weed! She got her PICC line out so one less wire, which is another good thing. Her getting rid of that is a good thing because that means no more infection! She hasn't had a fever or any labs come back with any signs of an infection. So, our little one is getter better.

Miss Olivia is wearing a fashionable hat made by Kayce and it's adorable. This is me holding her Wednesday night and it was wonderful. We sat together for 2 1/2 hours and loved it. The night before was a horrible experience because her CPAP was falling out and pulling at her nose and she was uncomfortable and it was so sad to see her so unhappy, but it was all good when we got to have a great experience the next night. I don't know if I am going to know what to do when I can hold her without the help of several people. :)

This is our Princess after she got the vent put back in. Anytime we would try to do anything in her bed or talk this is what she would do. So this is her I'm done leave me alone pose.

It is super hard to get this little one with her eyes open so this was as good as it gets as of now. Believe me though she is wide eyed and adorable. I love it when she looks around and when you talk to her she looks at you like I know your voice. It is so sweet and I LOVE it.

This is a different day, but again she loves her I'm done with the day pose. :) Makes us smile and the nurses too.

She was happy as can be laying on her belly this morning. Thank you Nurse W and Nurse M for taking such good care of her the last few days!

Really I love her more and more every single day. Some days in this place are so very hard and I get so down, but really I look her alive and growing and it all melts away that she is here and doing so well. She is amazing and the people that help her everyday are too. What a blessing it is to have this modern medicine to help this sweet baby and thank goodness for prayers and faith of so many family and friends. My testimony is strengthened by you all and I am grateful for your love and support. We love you so much!
P.S. I should of taken a picture of my car and put it up because it's having more troubles then Olivia. We got it to the car last night and it was having some struggles starting. It could be a battery issues and it isn't an alternator issues, so we are hoping it's not starter issues, but I'll let you know. She's at Lloyd's in Cedar right now getting a check up.
And Tayce just called me as I was typing this to tell me what is wrong. The battery was leaking on things which was causing some issues, but it is a lot better then a starter issue. Thank goodness!

Video!

Hope this works, I've never done a video on blog before. Here is our little miss at 14 days old!

2 Weeks and 1 Day Old!

Sorry for the delay in a post. There's been a few crazy days and it's hard to get to the computer and the internet at the same time. Last night I was going to post, but I got to hold Miss Olivia. Which, really it's so much better to hold her then post. :)

 Miss Olivia is still on the Ventilator which is helping her breath. She has decided to be tired. She's tired because she had a no good very bad day the other day.
She was intubated (put on the vent) because she was acting a little sick and not breathing, she acted tired so they gave her a break.
She then had a fever of 100.5
Which means she had to have labs, which came back that she had an infection.
Started an IV with anti-biotic
More and more blood labs. 
Stopped peeing, had to figure that out and had to have a pee bag thing to check her urine.
Had a spinal tap to make sure no infection got to her spine. (Thankfully no infection)
Got an IV in her head.
Had to get another PICC (a central line for her medicine)
Now she's just hanging out and still acting a little sick. We are just waiting for her to perk back up and get better!  

 Wanted to show off her full head of hair! It is beautiful and I love it!

 There is little miss sitting with Mom! She loves being held and really I love holding her. :)

 Mom and Olivia

Nurse B found her a flower to wear! SO cute! She had a little bit of a chubby face this day because she had an IV in her head so some of the fluid made her face a little chubby, it was cute. But, I was very happy when they took the IV out!

Dad taking a little nap! It was Sunday so I don't blame him. :)

 Olivia's little hat from Auntie Joan! It's so little which is good that means she's big!

Olivia's second hat from Auntie Joan! It is the perfect size for when she goes home! :)

OH AND HER EYES ARE OPEN! Can you see a little? I'll try to get a better picture of her eyes open.