Hi Friends,
This is Drea today!
I got to hold my Lucie girl again!! At first, I was able to do Kangaroo care, but she was a little fussy, so then our nurse wrapped her in the sweetest knitted blanket (that volunteers made for NICU patients) and I was able to continue to hold her for a total time of about an hour. It was incredible! I was ohhh so excited and giddy, as we sat there calmly, it put me in such a relaxed state that I could almost nap with her as she fell asleep. I love getting to hear her breathe, coo, and grunt. I love getting to smell her and kiss her, sing to her and pray for her while I hold her in my arms. The hour went by tooo fast, but I haven't stopped thinking about it since, and I know I will keep thinking about it until I get to hold her again.
She has been really stable, which is great. We are now at day 5 of having her breathing through the nasal prongs, and she continues to do very well. When she does have some episodes, where she has trouble breathing, she comes back from them all on her own while continuing to strengthen her lungs. They increased her feeds again and she is tolerating them and digesting well... if you know what I mean ;). She's been growing, her weight went up again last night, and she is a little longer (from 32cm to 33cm). Sometime in the next two days, either Monday or Tuesday, she will likely have her first head sono follow up. Please join us in praying for favorable results!
It's been very helpful to have a routine of daily going to the hospital to see Lucie-Lyn, but at times it still wears us down. It's hard to not have her here with us, even though we know she is exactly where she needs to be right now. It is hard to not experience "normal" things that we were expecting to get to experience. Throughout these past few weeks, we have been constantly reminded that God is comforting us. He is with us, He has never left us, and we can be thankful for that. He is right there with Lucie too, strengthening her daily, and we can be thankful for that as well. We can't tell you who much your emails of encouragement and your prayers mean to us. I don't think there will ever be a way for us to express our gratitude to you.
Thank you for joining us on this journey and partnering with us in prayer for our sweet Lucille Carolyn.
We love you!
Drea, Robs, Lucie & Bess