Hello...

Just a little update for today: I had my eyes open for a long time yesterday cuz the nurses lowered my sedating meds. I was looking around and trying to figure out what kind of world I've found myself in! My mommy has a picture of my room and she will post it later. My room is really wierd. Some kind of medical/industrial/contemporary chic look. Really not my taste. I think I would rather see flowers and butterflies and birds and frogs and kitties and stuff. And pink. Lots of pink.

The nurses closed my incubator yesterday cuz my temperature kept going up and down. They had that heat lamp glaring down on me but with a lot of cross-drafts, so I was hot, then cold, hot and then cold. The downside to this, is that the nurses removed my fashionable foot wear to try to keep my temperature regulated. Also, the nurses keep putting this foam bumper-thing around me to keep me "comforted," but it is a little bit annoying because I prefer to stretch my legs completely out. The nurse came in yesterday and found me with my legs hung over the end of the foam bumer and my arms draped out over the bumper. The nurse told my mommy it looked like I was lounging in an innertube floating around in a pool. I wish... I don't even have a bathing suit yet. And the thought of a bikini right now? I don't even have a belly button yet!

I heard the nurse and doctor talking yesterday and they were talking about taking me off the ventilator! Yahoooo! It's not like I can't breathe on my own for heavens sake! OK... I did need a little help there for awhile, but I have built my strength back up, and I'm all for getting rid of that of that loud whooshing machine that's stuck to my face. Yuk.

Another friend came to visit me with her son, Max. She and my mommy went to school together, and her name is Kristie. It is fun meeting all of these new friends.

Although my mommy and daddy, and the rest of my family, knew that I would have to be in the hospital after I was born, it is still very hard for them. My mommy comes in every day to visit with me and hold my hand, and she cries when she has to go home. That makes me very sad.

My grandma Karen and my mommy posted another picture of me. It took them a long time to do it. They tried to make it bigger, but it kept disappearing. Grandma Karen finally got the picture bigger, but now it's just kinda fuzzy. But at least you can see what my sleeping arrangements are like.

The white strip across my mouth is the ventilator. The bar with the straps is attached to my tummy thing, and it helps to 'feed' everything back into my belly. There is a heart monitor, another kind of monitor (I haven't figured that one out yet), the big, fat needle 'pik' line, and a tube that goes into my mouth, and down into my tummy to empty out anything that's not supposed to be there. My mommy has better pictures, and she will post them later (it will probably take a little longer if my grandma Karen decides to "help").

Yesterday, my "gas" level was "off," so the doctors decided to turn up my ventilator. But it's OK this morning. My mommy and daddy came to see me yesterday evening. My mommy was holding my hand almost the whole time they were there. She said I didn't really like it, but she made me do it cuz she can't pick me up and hold me yet. Mommies are sometimes like that. The nurse who was taking care of me last night called in a couple of other nurses to show them how cute I was! Thank goodness they can look past the big ole tummy thing.

I have had lots of visitors. My grandmas and my grandpas, my aunt and my uncle, and lots of friends. My new friends Emily and Krista came in to see me today. They didn't bring their babies with them though. I can hardly wait to meet Emily's little girls, Natalie and Madeline. Madeline is only about seven months older than me, and I think we will be good friends. Natalie is Madeline's older sister, and she will be two this summer. They both go to the same church my mommy and daddy go to--which is the one I will start going to as soon as I bust out of this hospital!

I am exactly one week old today!

I'm still stuck in this hospital, in this incubator, and with at least a half dozen hoses hanging off me. I don't like the ventilator. I know the ventilator is supposed to "give me a rest," but I still don't like it.

The doctors are still making me lay flat on my back (one of my nurses rolled up a little washcloth and put it under my little neck for support). They have me sedated so that I won't move around too much, and so that I will be "more comfortable." I think I would just be more comfortable if I could go home and be with my mommy and daddy and the rest of my family! The doctors are still "gravity feeding" my tummy thing back into my belly. The more that goes back in naturally, the less they will have to put back during surgery.

Now the doctors are talking about doing the "paint and wait" thing. That means that they will put some kind of reddish medicine on my tummy thing, and "wait" a little longer to do the surgery. That's OK, but it also means I will be in the hospital longer.

There is a little baby in the room next to mine, and she cries all the time. All the time! Every time she cries, my heart rate goes up. It's just kind of annoying. But at least she can cry! I try to cry, but no noise comes out of my mouth cuz the tubes and stuff.

I have to go now, but I will write later. I need to take a nap.

Although no one is really looking forward to me having an operation, they know that once it is over and I am healing, they can hold me and cuddle me and smoother me with kisses. I know a lot of people--specially my mommy and daddy--have been really, really wanting to hold me. Even though my mommy and daddy have not been able to hold me yet, they know that right now--and even before I was born--I was being held in the arms of our heavenly Father because God knew me and loved me even before I was born, and even before my mommy and daddy knew I existed! And that makes them feel so much better about not being able to hold me themselves.

I know I am loved. I knew I was loved even before I was born. When my mommy put her hand on her tummy (where I used to live) and smiled, I could feel her love for me in her smile. When my daddy would bend down close to my mommy's tummy and whisper to me, I could feel his love for me in his voice. I know that even before I was born that my mommy and daddy gave me over to our heavenly Father's care because they love Him and trust Him, and because they know that He loves me so much.

I am four days old today!

Mommy and daddy were with me almost all day yesterday, and they are coming in to be with me again today.

I gave my nurse a really hard time yesterday. Every time she left the room, I would skooch down in my incubator and the breathing alarm would go off (my incubator is at a slight angle). My nurse would run back to the room and move me back up. She would leave, and I would do it again... and then again. I was just trying to get more comfortable.

I have so many boring bandages and pieces of tape on me I'm beginning to feel a little bit like a memo board. My nurse put what she referred to as a "man band-aid" on one of my fingers. It was ugly and boring and way bigger than my finger. Two words people: decorative band-aids! If my older sister, Alyssa, was here she would make sure they had plenty of decorative band-aids for me. My big sister Alyssa really understands the healing power of decorative bandaging. Pooh would be nice. Maybe a couple princess band-aids.

My doctors put me on a ventilator last night. They said that because of my tummy thing going back into my belly, it was squashing my lungs a little bit, and it was making it harder for me to breath. All of that just made me feel real tired. First they took some tests to make sure my lungs and my tummy were both clear--they were. My mommy and daddy knew I wouldn't like that! Although I'm only real little, I already know what I don't like!

The doctors are talking about doing surgery to put the rest of my tummy thing back into my belly early next week. The doctors told my mommy and daddy that putting me on the ventilator would give me a big rest before the operation, and getting that rest would make me a lot stronger!

Mommy and daddy are here!

The doctors and nurses squished all of my tummy thing back into my belly, but there wasn't quite enough room so it made it hard for me to breath. So they had to put my oxygen thingie back in my nose. Since it was too hard for me to breathe, all of my tummy thing had to come back out (I guess it was worth a try!).

Pushing my tummy thing back in my belly is like packing a picnic in a two pound container... you put in the cake, the sandwiches, the chips and the jello salad and then you try to squash in a one-pound container of potato salad. It just won't work. The cake and the sandwiches get all squished, the chips get crushed and the jello salad gets all runny and overflowy. You need a bigger container! My belly just isn't a big enough container yet for everything that needs to be in there! The more I grow, the bigger my belly-container will become, so that everything will fit a lot better!

I was pretty upset about all that prodding and poking and pushing, and I sure let the doctor and nurses know how upset I was! I kicked and I hollered just to let them know I was not happy with what they were doing. I think they felt really bad about making me feel so upset.

The doctors say I am doing real well though. They told my mommy and daddy that they will look at "everything" again next week, and maybe try all that pushing, poking and prodding again. I am not looking forward to that, but if it works I get to go home to be with my mommy and daddy and the rest of my family!

I still have to have that surgery thing, though. No matter what. They have to make sure my tummy gets closed up after all the innard bits are put back in. And I don't even get ice cream.

Another day old... I'm three days-old now!

My big sister, Alyssa, left this morning to go see her daddy, my great grandma Alice and great grandpa Henry (I can hardly wait to meet them--I just know my great grandma will make me blueberry pancakes every morning and give me ice cream, and I know that my great grandpa will take me out to the pond to show me all his fish and bullfrogs!), and all my great aunts and cousins and everybody! I will miss my sister, but I hope she has a good time, and I hope and pray that she comes back home safe and sound to be with me.

My mommy busted out of the other hospital last night and came to see me. I knew her voice. I don't think she passed out or anything on the way here. She is doing pretty good.

Right now I'm just waiting for my daddy and mommy to come to the hospital to see me. They said they would be here. Maybe grandma Karen will come in tonight to see me again! I hope I get to see grandma Mary again too!

I'm still pretty tired all the time. I've gotten used to the tube down my nose, all the monitors and the needle thing in my arm. It's amazing how soon we girls can adapt to annoyances (at least that's what my grandma Karen says).

Oh. One more thing. I don't even get to have ice cream even when they finally do surgery. Some stupid rule about my age. Age discrimination. Two day olds have rights too!!!

All in all, I sleep just about all day (all two days of every day!). Except, of course, when they poke me with needles and stuff. That is really annoying (and they all wonder why I have such an annoyed look all the time?). My daddy couldn't be in the room when they put in the 'pik' line cuz they called it a sterile procedure. I think it was because the doctors and nurses knew it would hurt and that I would cry, and that would make my daddy very sad. It doesn't hurt now though.

The surgeon lady came in today when my Grandma Karen, my big sister Alyssa and my daddy were in the room with me. She uncovered my stickie-out tummy thing, and explained to them what was going to happen next. The surgeon lady said everything was going well, and that maybe they could do some surgery later this week, or they could wait a little longer till more of my innards dropped into my tummy. I guess I keep pushing some back out--specially when I get a little angry and annoyed! Since my tummy thingie is considered 'rare,' when the surgeon lady took off the gauze, a lot of nurses and stuff came in to see my tummy.

The nurses here are so nice to me. They are very careful, and they treat me very delicately. I really appreciate that. I think they know that having this tummy thingie is just bout all a little girl like me can take at one time.

I'm exactly two days old today. I feel a lot older though. My mommy is still at Magee, and I'm still here at Children's. Mommy is going to stay at Magee one more night, and then she will be here with me! Yay!!! I already know her and love her cuz she has been talking to me for months now .

Daddy has been here a lot so that I will get to hear his voice, and so he can 'pet' me (since no one can pick me up because of these stupid lines and monitors attached to me--not to mention my innards being all gauzed up and strapped to some kind of bar going across my incubator).

The nurses finally gave me a nice bath. My hair is clean! I hated that yukky, plastered-down look I had yesterday. Daddy brought me my own little hat and my own little socks to wear. Not that the hospital ones were that horrible, but it's nice to have your own things with you when you're stuck in a hospital.

They put a big needle in my arm last night. It took them a long time to do it, and I wasn't happy 'bout it at all. I think it's call a 'pic' line. It goes into a major vein. Not that I really have many major veins at my age. Gosh... what are these people thinking?

Thank goodness they took the oxygen thingie out of my nose (that was nasty!). Except now they have another tube going into my nose and down into my tummy so that any stomach acids I get will be instantly removed. Seems they don't want me to upchuck. That's just wierd--don't all babies upchuck?

Ok. I'm here at Children's Hospital and my mommy is 10 minutes away at Magee-Women's Hospital. I only got to see her for about 10 seconds. Daddy has been here with me a lot though. That is good.

I have a bruise on my hand, and a bruise on my foot. From needle sticking. That hurt. Since getting blood out of hand and my foot didn't work, they decided to stick my heel and drain from there. I'm told this is a good thing. To big people, good is obviously relative.

I overheard the doctor and nurses talking to my daddy, and now I don't think I need surgery. Yay!

Hey... wait... rumor on this floor is that kids who have surgery get ice cream. Since I may not have to have surgery, does that mean I don't get ice cream? I have to lay here with this big thingie on my tummy, and NO ice cream? How fair is that?

I still haven't met my two other big sisters. Madisyn and Ciera. I wonder when they will be able to come and see me? Soon I hope.

My mommy is thinking about getting out of that other hospital a day earlier so she can be here with me. That's good. I hope she feels good enough for that though. I would hate to have her pass out on her way here!

They finally weighed me and measured me! I weigh 7lbs 12 ozs and I am 19 1/4" long.

I got to meet my big sister and both grandmas.

All I know is that I have to lay around all day under a heat lamp with monitors attached to every inch of my body. I think this is going to get real old, real fast!! It would be nice if I could just go home...

I am all settled in at Children's and I finally get to see my family!!! My mommy is still at Magee, but I got to see my big sister, my daddy and my grandmas!!! Yay!!!

Did I mention I got to ride in an ambulance to Children's Hospital??? No sirens though. Dang..

Well... I have been taken to Children's Hospital... already!!! My Grandma Mary, my Grandma Karen and my big sister Alyssa went to Magee to see me, but they decided to take me to Children's sooner than everyone had expected. Everyone got to see my mommy though.

I don't know when the doctors will be doing surgery yet, but I should find out soon (I'm hoping my daddy will tell me since he went to Children's to make sure everything was OK).

I was able to see a reflection of myself in the incubator plastic. Boy do I have a lot of hair!!! Cool. I can start wearing it in pigtails and ponytails within weeks...

I can't wait to meet the rest of my family, and to spend more time with my mommy and daddy. I'm a little scared of the big, scary surgery, but I know God has me in His hands and He will be looking out for me.

Oh... I need to tell everyone that after spending a few hours at Magee Hospital, I will be going to Children's Hospital across town.

Although I feel just fine, I was born with an "omphalocele." The doctor's said they would be able to fix me up in no time!! My Grandma Karen said she would just start making fancy fanny packs for me to wear, and that no one would ever notice the omphalocele. The doctors didn't agree. So off to Children's Hospital for testing and then surgery! I am NOT excited, but I know it needs to be done.

And one day I will have a belly button!

I'm here!!! I was born at 10:38 a.m. at Magee Women's Hospital. My daddy was there (and, of course, my mommy!). I don't think I was really ready to be born yet, but the doctors told my mommy and daddy that today would be the best day for me to come out of my protective uterine shell.

Although I feel a little cranky right now, it still feels pretty good to be here.

I can't wait to meet all of my family and friends!!!