Wednesday Night Update

Everything just continues to improve. As of our last post we were still awaiting test results on Hannah's CRP count (still don't know what that is exactly). Monday morning we were informed that she was at 50 (the doctor said it wasn't in units so its hard to put that in perspective). Tuesday morning the level had fallen to 26 (woohoo!) and as of today it was down to 13! So, needless to say, she did not need to have a spinal tap, and we were ecstatic about that!!

Hannah has improved so much that she looks a lot different from the pictures a few days ago. She no longer has the oxygen "hood", the tube down her mouth, or any IV fluids. The only thing they are now giving her differently from any other baby is a steady dose of antibiotics which she gets every 12 and 18 hours (2 different antibiotics).

Another very exciting thing is that we are now feeding her ourselves. We started giving her bottles on Tuesday and we were cleared to let Sarah nurse her today. That has been an adventure, but she must be doing well because they weighed her this morning and she had only lost 1/2 ounce since her birth.

Its not a lot of fun being in the NICU all the time, but we are certainly counting our blessings. We keep reminding ourselves that we really wouldn't be doing anything different if we were at home (we pretty much just hold her all day, change diapers, feed her, and take her temperature) except get more sleep maybe. So, in that light, we are just doing all those things in a different place.

Sarah got discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon. She's doing great. Somehow she has more energy than I do - not sure how that works, but you wouldn't even know she just gave birth a few days ago. Since we no longer have a room at the hospital, we pretty much just camp out at the NICU all day, find a couch to take an occasional nap in the waiting room, and crash at home for a few hours at night.

Big picture wise, and barring any setbacks, we are essentially waiting for the antibiotics to run their course and get all the necessary dosages. The doctors still anticipate that we will be able to take her home sometime this weekend, probably on Saturday. Until then, we'll plan to keep spending virtually all our waking hours there until we can take her home.

Thanks again for all the thoughts, prayers, comments, and well wishes. They certainly help keep us energized. Hope you like these pictures, we'll find time to post more soon.