Slowly But Surely!

It's almost been a week since my last update, I'm so sorry! Let me get you caught up!

Last time you got any news, it was of the first time I got to hold my baby! <3 {Still have chills from that moment!} Thankfully, there has been a few other times since then that I have gotten to hold her, but really since then, we have been waiting for anything to happen that gives us a sign that there's progress. 

Monday, June 13th...My mom and sister came with me down to the hospital and they sat all day watching me hold Ira! (Yes, it killed them, they so badly want to hold her!) The visit from the doctor that afternoon was actually pretty short and sweet, he just explained what everyone's thoughts were as far as trying to get her weaned off the breathing machine, and a few other medications. Sadly, her blood gas count (carbon dioxide) has been high, not dangerously high, just not what the medical team would like. So, they moved her settings around on the machine hoping that would help. She's having a hard time getting all the carbon dioxide out of her lungs because her abdomen is still pretty swollen and painful from surgery, but doctors are hoping once the swelling and pain stops, she will be able to breath on her own without any trouble. It still hasn't been a full week from surgery so everything is still up and down.

Tuesday, I stayed home. I've tried to make a schedule of when I go see Ira, and when I stay with Ada. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I go see Ira Jo... Tuesdays and Thursdays I spend all day with Ada Lou, and then on the weekends Linden and I decide which night, either Friday or Saturday night, we will stay at the hospital. Then the rest of the weekend is spent with Ada doing whatever as a family!!! 

Wednesday, June 15th Ira Jo was {1 week old}!! To celebrate, she got to meet her Great Grandma Miller and her Aunt Sean for the first time! Unfortunately, she was in no mood to celebrate, she was in extreme pain. They upped her medications a little, didn't hardly move her around, and I didn't get to hold her. Her breathing machine was set higher than it ever has been set before, and you could tell by just looking at her that she was in so much pain. Her little face and eyebrows would frown, she'd try to cry, but because of the breathing tube, there was no noise coming out. She'd try and pull her legs up towards her to trying to get the pain in her belly to go away, but you could tell that nothing was helping. All day I fought back tears....my baby was in pain and there was nothing I could do. So I just sat and prayed.

Thursday, June 16th  was FULL of 'Happy Heart-attacks'!! (Let me explain! lol) I had a my first check up since surgery...everything looked great! I didn't go down to the hospital, but I watched her constantly on online. That's when I saw the nurses changed her bedding and give her a pacifier!! :):) I called the hospital and asked them to please tell me if I really saw a pacifier in her mouth or if I was hallucinating!! LOL The pacifier made all her stats come sky rocketing up! She was so happy she was able to suck on something, but they told us that babies don't learn to suck until they are 34 weeks gestation, and Ira's only 33!! ('Happy Heart-attack!') Then I saw that Ira was being swaddled in a blanket, which means the bed heat was turned off because she's now regulating her own body heat!! ('Happy Heart-attack!') YAY!! :):) Then a little while later, I was just checking in on her and I saw that they put her in a SLEEPER...clothes!! I was so excited!!!!! ('Bigger Happier Heart-attack!') I couldn't believe I wasn't there for these firsts for her, but I was just so exited!!

Friday, June 17th My mom and my Grandma Flora took me to the hospital. It was Ira Jo's first time getting to meet her Great Grandma Flora! Today she was much more awake and happy!! She had her eyes open and was moving around without any signs of pain! Thankfully that meant I got to do skin to skin or what they call...kangaroo time with Ira!! Doctor came to do his regular visit while I was there, and gave me happy news!! They are going to discuss with the surgeon at the morning meeting, the idea of taking out her gravity suction tube. (the tube in her nose that sucks out everything in her stomach) Hopefully that would allow things to start passing into, and out of the bowels. He said she still has some contrast in her bowels from the X-ray they did the very first day she arrived, so they are trying to get things moving and go on through. They are thinking that taking out the suction tube will allow things to sort of push that contrast on through. 

Well, the best part of Friday....hands down...was meeting the man that saved my daughters life. The nurses told the surgeon 'Mom was here'. After Ira's surgery, he took personal time off so I didn't get to meet him, but today I did. Then, I kid you not...the nurse walked up to the surgeon with a piece of gauze with something gross looking on it....she looked at him and said,"Is this what I think it is?" "Yep, it is." She looked at me smiled, showed me the gauze and says, "would you like to keep it?" 

SHE POOPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE POOPED!!!!!!!! I'VE NEVER BEEN SO EXCITED FOR A SPLINTER SIZE PIECE OF POOP IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!! I started crying over a little piece of poop!!!!!! The surgeon immediately told me I wasn't allowed to keep the piece of poop because as gross as it sounds, I was so exited about that little piece of poop..I actually considered keeping it!!! I called Linden right away!! People around me probably thought I was crazy getting worked up over a small piece of poop...but she did it!!!!!!! :):):):) Surgeon said, "Okay, she did it, but that's dealing with pennies, I want to deal with dollars." I told him.."Hey, haven't you heard, every penny counts!?!?!" 

Between Thursday and Friday, I never realized just how much I take for granted! I need to start viewing the small things in life as just as big of blessings as the big things in life!! My daughter can suck a pacifier, she can wear clothes, she can regulate her own body heat, she poops!!!! All of which are things that I didn't think were big deals, because Ada came out doing it from the beginning! I never realized how blessed I was with Ada, until I had Ira. I never even thought about how the other mothers felt whos' babies couldn't do what my baby could. I never thought about them, until I became one. I realize how selfish I was and still very much am, for taking such small but meaningful things for granted....I even got a taste Friday, after a 'Code Blue' went off on the NICU floor calling the first response team to come help a coding baby, of just how blessed I am to have Ira stable and making progress, versus being the mom standing next to those doctors watching them fight to save her babies life. I am blessed...blessed to have a healthy child, blessed to have a healing child. Both of which I take for granted daily; both of which shows me just how selfish I am in my prayer life. I pray for my daughters, my family, my life....after Friday, I realized...I need to expand my prayer life. Include the mom with the baby that is fighting harder than mine, include the mom across the hall from me that got the good news that her baby, who has been in the NICU since April, finally gets to go home. I didn't know why, and still don't see the whole picture of why God chose Linden and I to go on this journey with Ira, but I'm starting to see how this journey and learning experience is good for us, even though it's also very hard at the same time. 

Saturday, June 18 Today, we are home (at my parents) together as a family. I got a phone call this morning from the doctors giving me an update!! Ira's breathing machine has been turned down because her blood gas count this morning was finally down!! They went ahead and took out the suction tube from her nose, and they took her off the constant morphine drips for pain! She hasn't showed any signs of pain all night and all day so far, and if things continue to look this good, tomorrow morning she will get a feeding tube put in, and have her very first feeding!! Tonight Linden and I will go see Ira Jo and come home Sunday evening, hopefully there will be more exciting news to tell you all, if not, I will let you all know when there is!! :):):) 

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers! I am so happy that I get to share with you all that our prayers are being answered even if it is in a small way and slower than we'd like, God is listening!! Thank you all so much!! 

And of course last, but not least here are some pictures! :)