Never A Dull Moment

We have had a wonderful week with Olivia. She is eating very well, sleeps like a champ, and is happy to just hang out wherever we decide to set her down. Reid and I keep asking each other how we got so lucky... She is the perfect baby. I thought I'd share the many faces of our Olivia Bain - Enjoy!

After three months in the NICU, we were told last Monday that going home was just around the corner.  We were so excited we couldn't stand it! The doctor told us that he would send her home on a little bit of oxygen and a monitor, but there were still things that needed to happen - the biggest one being that she needed to start eating all of her feedings by mouth and gain weight while doing so. We really buckled down all week and I was diligent about being at the hospital for as many feedings as possible. By Wednesday the doctor was really pleased with the strides Olivia was making and with her weight gain. (To give you an idea of how well she did, on Monday, July 9 she weighed 5 lb 10.6 oz and one week later on the day we were discharged she weighed 6 lbs.) Her doctor told us to plan to room-in (stay in a room at the hospital with her for a night) Sunday night and that if all went well we'd get to take her home with us on Monday. Obviously, everything went perfectly! She's...

Olivia is home!!! Our sweet little girl is doing great - and Reid and I couldn't be more proud of her! We can't thank everyone enough for your love and support over the last 101 days. I plan to post all of the coming home details over the next couple of days.  For now, I'll leave you with a glimpse of our daughter... Olivia Bain Grandle Born on April 6, 2012 1 lb 5 oz 12.4 inches long Home on July 16, 2012 6 lb 0 oz 17.5 inches long

We made it through another month of "dates." I wish I could say those days get easier but they just don't. I told Reid that sometimes I wish I could re-live the whole experience just to get to have time with our girls again. As we get closer and closer to bringing Olivia home the reality of our loss has really set in. The past few days have made me wonder, if all of our babies had survived, who would me coming home first? Would they come home just days apart or weeks? Would they all have been laid back like Olivia? (probably not :) ) Last week, on July 11, three months after we found out Mary Grace wouldn't make it, I went and visited our girls' grave. I hadn't been since the week before Mother's Day and had been thinking about the three of them quite a bit. The last arrangement we need to make is to finalize the stone that will sit above their grave. We've put it off for months now. It seems like that decision makes everything so final and real. I wou...

My heart could burst...

Olivia is 37 weeks gestation today! She is so close to coming home that everyday is beginning to feel like Christmas Eve! Oh, the anticipation! Our Livi girl is an absolute dream baby. I can't get over how sweet she is! She is content and happy almost all of the time. Hardly cries unless given a reason - don't make her mad. :) She still hates diaper and clothes changes and her breathing treatments. She eats every three hours and has been awake and looking at her new mobile a lot more. She is a breastfeeding champ, and we are still working on bottle feeding. She does fine as long as she's awake enough to eat. Who knew that learning to suck, swallow and breathe would be so tiring?! She's on a micro-flow of .06 on the nasal cannula and doing so great with it! I think they'll wean her a little more today or tomorrow. No definite homecoming date has been set but I know we are so close. I'm sitting here at the hospital snuggling her right now and I have to pinch...

Our little girl is three months old. Three months old! It's gone by so fast and so slow all at the same time. The last three months have been the hardest of my life. But, at the same time, they've been the sweetest. My love for this child knows no bounds. Olivia, Three months ago, nearly to the hour, I saw you for the first time. You and your sisters were the smallest babies I had ever seen. When I look back at pictures it terrifies me to think of how fragile you were. You had lots of dark hair and beautiful, tiny hands. Your eyes, still fused shut, held long eyelashes and your little lips were just beginning to form. Looking at you that night, I remember thinking you were absolutely perfect. You are still so perfect in every way. I couldn't be more proud that God chose me for you. Your daddy and I love you fiercely, sweet girl. Love, Mommy

Olivia is 36 weeks adjusted gestation today! It's crazy we are already to July and that her original due date is just around the corner! Reid went back to work last week and I've been spending the majority of my days at the hospital. I get here in time to feed her at 11, hold for a little while after, eat lunch in the cafeteria, pump, go back to hold and feed again (Reid tries to meet us for this feeding), head home for a few hours, eat dinner, and come back to the hospital with Reid for her 8pm feeding. I'm thinking about adding her 8am feed to the mix to try and get her to be able to breastfeed as much as possible. Olivia is doing great breastfeeding. If she eats longer than 15 minutes they consider it a full feeding and don't supplement through her feeding tube. She has been eating for 17-19 minutes on average and is leaving her nurses very impressed. She took a bottle for the first time last night. I thought we would use Dr. Browns bottles but she wasn't a f...

It has been a big day for our little miss! Baby dedication this morning (thank you to our amazing neighbors, Christen and Don, for being there with us at church today!), drinking her first bottle (thank you mommy intuition and the Tommee Tippee), getting a new big girl crib, and hitting the FIVE POUND mark!!!! She wore her little self out! Mommy and Daddy are SO proud of you, Olivia!

Today, Olivia's picture was put up on the big screen at church along with 23 other babies born this year. It was so special for us to get to share her picture with the hundreds of people who have prayed for us over the last few months. We took some pictures of her last Sunday at the hospital to submit for the dedication. Her nurse insisted that we take all the sticky stuff, nasal cannula, and feeding tube off when she found out what the pictures were for. We were finally able to capture ALL of her sweet face! Today, I'm reminded, yet again, of God's faithfulness and sovereignty over Olivia's life. How far we all have come in the 12 weeks that she's been here. All the memories we've made as we have gotten to know our precious little girl. We are so very blessed to have such a tangible reminder of just how BIG and gracious our God is! "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for HE who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23