SGP is doing great!! As of this post, she weighs 3lbs 12ozs, but I suspect by the time you read this she'll be at least 3lbs 13ozs.

She got her first bottle on Saturday and did really well. She took 18 of her 28ccs in her allowed 15 minutes. She has to take as much of her bottle in 15 minutes as she can. And only one bottle a day to begin with. Babies at this age do have the instinct to "suck" the milk from the bottle, but they sometimes lack the ability to "suck, swallow and breathe" at the same time. It's just too tricky for them!

But after her first bottle, and a few desat episodes, she got the hang of it. On her second bottle (on Sunday), she took the entire 28cc's in 15 minutes!! I was one happy camper, as was she! She slept like a dream afterward!

Monday she got one bottle again, and by that time was up to 30cc's - of which she gladly took all of! So now today, since she's been doing so well, she gets 2 bottles!!

The sweet nurses experimented with different types of nipples for her. Started on the "preemie" nipple, which has a fast flow because preemies tend to have trouble getting good suction so the fast flow helps them. But it was too fast for her.

So they tried the "newborn" nipple, which has a bit of a slower flow, for babies that are good at getting the good suction and don't need that much extra help in the flow department. But it was still too fast for her.

So they tried the "NUK" nipple, which has a super slow flow, and more resembles the flow of breastfeeding. She did great on this one!! It was by far her favorite as she sucked the bottle dry and had a burp that rivaled some 12 year olds! And this time it was 31cc's!!

By tomorrow afternoon she'll be up to 33cc's per feeding, with twice a day bottles. Owen and I can't give her the bottle until she gets to all bottle feedings - and no tube feedings. This is because she can occasionally desat during her bottle feeding, and still has the chance she could choke. So the nurses have to give it to her until she gets the hang of it. Which is ok with me!

She's still in the isolette. She must weigh at least 1800 grams and be on all bottle feedings before she can go to the crib. Right now she weighs 1700 grams, so we're almost there. I'm guessing that she'll be in the crib by next Sunday or middle of next week. But that's a TOTAL guess. I could be way off!

And in order to come home, she must go 8 days with no Brady or Apnea episodes, and be healthy otherwise. Once she gets in the crib, they will wean her off of the caffeine and start the 8 day countdown. And every time she has an episode, the 8 days starts over. So I think at the earliest she'll be home around the week of October 12th, but I could be WAY off! So I'm not holding my breath!!

Lately I've not been sleeping well. I shouldn't say that...I sleep great...it's just not often enough! I'm not sure why, but I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that she's getting bigger and I'm having to pump more often in the middle of the night to keep up with her appetite. Plus it's getting hard to leave her at night because she's starting to fill out, and it seems like we should be able to have her home. Also we're spending all of our extra time getting the house ready for her arrival. As such we're either always thinking about her, and not sleeping...or we're busy doing something at the house...and not sleeping. I guess we're just getting our bodies ready for when she comes home. It's amazing how God still prepares us for this...just as He did when I was pregnant!

As a result of the lack of sleep, I nap when ever and where ever I can! Like today, I got to do Kangaroo Care with her twice, and both times I fell asleep! Not fully asleep of course, but it was so relaxing!!

During one of my naps, I was listening to the goings on around me, and began thanking God for how far we've come. Many of the babies in our pod are new, and I'm always overhearing those scary "possibilities" that we went through.

I'm so thankful that I can just sit with Sayla Grace on my chest, sound asleep and drooling, and close my eyes and not worry about a thing.

Below is a slide show of her recent bottle feeding! Enjoy!

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SGP is now 3lbs 9ozs!! I would've been 35 weeks tomorrow! As such,
the doctor thinks she should be ready to start once a day bottle
feeding either this weekend or the beginning of next week! I can't
wait!! It will only be once a day for now, and the nurses have to do
it until she gets the hang of it. And it will be a while after that
until she can breast feed. But we'll get to do that before we leave
for sure.

Also, she'll be 8 weeks on Wednesday, so she'll get the rest of her
vaccinations this week.

She had her 2nd eye test this past week and it came back good. No ROP
at the moment! Another check in 2 weeks.

That's about it for now. More later!

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As I sit here at Sayla Grace's bedside, I look to my left and see a grim reminder of where we came from. A tiny little baby in an open bed, on the CPAP machine, and hooked up to all sorts of contraptions.

Every time I see his parents, I see the desperation in their eyes, coupled with a small glimmer of hope. I've overheard the words "brain hemorrhage" and "blindness" from the doctors and nurses, and I'm reminded of the days when we were praying for those specific things.

It breaks my heart to watch these total strangers go through this process. I don't know if they know Jesus, but I long for the opportunity to tell them about Him.

I want to tell them how much hope He's given us. About the miracles He's performed for us over the past 2 months. How the Holy Spirit has comforted us in this time of great sadness in our lives.

Although I shouldn't say this has been a time of great sadness. It's actually been a season of great blessings! Looking back over the last 2 months I'm reminded of all of the amazing blessings we've had.

We were blessed to get an extra 2 weeks with her in my womb. We were blessed to have a healthy, pink and crying baby the night she was born. I was blessed to have no complications, after a delivery that turned out to be not so normal (my placenta got stuck and tore).

And we have been blessed these past two months to sail through all of our tests and milestones, only having one scare that, even in isolation we managed to get through.

God has blessed us immensely. And we are more than forever grateful. I'm constantly reminded of the debt His Son paid for us, and I wonder how I can possibly repay Him for these blessings that have been bestowed upon us.

And then I look back to my left. And I pray for another opportunity to share our story. I pray that even just one life can be changed for Christ through this season of our lives.

Just one, and I feel our circle will be complete. But we won't stop there. Because I look to my right, and see a baby in a crib, just a week from going home. And I'm reminded that one day we will go home. And we will put these days behind us.

I pray that we will never forget the story of grace bestowed upon us. I pray that we will forever tell her story, and continue to change lives for Christ.

Because even the smallest of hearts can change lives for His Kingdom.

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We're doing very well this week! Sayla Grace now weighs 3lbs 4.2ozs and is continuing to thrive!

She is slowly but surely making her own blood, and as of this post has not required any extra blood. They checked her hematocrit levels on Monday, and while low at 26.2, she's not been symptomatic. And her "retic" levels are at 3.1, right in the middle of the 2.5-6.5 range, meaning she is producing her own blood.

But just to be sure, they will check her levels again on Thursday, and should she be worse she'll get her 5th transfusion. This time with my blood.

Her Brady's have slowed to 1 or 2 a day. A product of the increased dosage of caffeine she's on. And she occasionally drops her O2 sats, requiring just a smidge of oxygen. Otherwise she almost always stay's on room air.

She has her second eye test tomorrow (Wednesday). This is to again check for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). Her last check 2 weeks ago revealed she didn't have it, but there is still time for it to develop. Please be in prayer that she still does not have it!

And in the next week she'll have another bone density scan to check on her "Osteopenia of Prematurity" --basically brittle bones. Babies get calcium from their mommies in the 3rd trimester, so she got cheated out of that, resulting in her brittle bones. She's getting extra calcium in her food to help with that, along with extra vitamins.

Speaking of food, she's eating 28cc's every 3 hours, coupled with 30 calories per feeding. Since there are 30cc's in an ounce, she's getting roughly 7 ounces a day (if I did that math right!!). And so far I've been able to keep up with her, but I'm worried that as she gets bigger I'll have some trouble. Time and prayer will tell!

Overall she's doing great! Still no talk of bottle feeding or going to the crib, but I suspect we'll start once a day bottle feedings within the next 2 weeks or so. We'll see!!

I've got her room almost ready. Just need some decorations and it will be complete. I can't wait to see her in her pretty pink bedding and all cozy in her crib.

And I long for the day when I can rock her to sleep in her own room!! Hopefully not too much longer!!

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Check out the comparison pictures at 3 weeks (top) and 6 weeks (bottom) during bath time.

And here's 1 day old weighing 1lb 11ozs (top) and 6 weeks old weighing 2lbs 13ozs (bottom)...

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I'm sorry it's been a few days since the last update! Always assume that no news is good news when you don't hear from us.

We have both officially gone back to work while we wait for our precious angel to come home. It's extremely hard on both of us, but we're making it. Hence the reason I haven't had time to update the blog lately. By the time we get home at night...maybe grab a bite to eat...it's time to turn around and take the 30 minute trek to the hospital. I'll be so thankful when I don't have to see the sprawling Birmingham skyline at night.

Itty Bit is doing well. Yesterday she had her DTaP vaccination. This is for Diptheria, Tetanus & Pertussis (Whooping Cough). Normally she wouldn't get it for 2 more weeks (at 8 weeks old), but since she tested positive for Whooping Cough, the Health Dept has recommended she receive it early. We were very nervous because there are lots of scary side effects, like fever, seizures and even brain damage. And since we've been living in a world where "rare" things seem to affect us, the shot scared us. But other than being very sleepy, she tolerated it well.

Her hematocrit levels are dropping again, so she'll likely need another blood transfusion next week. They are waiting until next week for 2 reasons. First, to see if she's started making her own blood, and second, they have to wait for my blood to get there.

I gave blood for her yesterday (first time I've ever given blood)...The docs originally wanted Owen's blood, so that we could minimize the donors and her exposure, but Owen can't donate again until the 24th, and we need blood now. So we ran out to the Red Cross downtown to donate as fast as we could yesterday. They have to send the blood to Atlanta for processing, so we're in a holding pattern now, waiting to see if my blood can in fact be used.

In 2 weeks she'll get another bone density scan to check on her "Osteopenia of Prematurity." She currently has "brittle bones" because it is during the 3rd trimester that she would have received calcium from my body to help her bones grow. Since we didn't even make it a day into the 3rd trimester, she didn't get any of that extra calcium from me. They are giving her vitamins and supplements now, so that should be helping. And the scan in 2 weeks will tell us that.

She's up to 2lbs 11.6oz, the little porker! (That's 1235 grams!) Only 4.4ozs to go until she's 3lbs!! She's starting to look very different in the face, and her body is getting just a tad chubbier. She's still itty bitty, but I can tell a huge difference from day to day.

I've recently started "Kangaroo Care" with her. This is where they place the baby (wearing only her diaper) on my chest for skin to skin contact. It is a very special time for me, and I cherish every second of it. There are many benefits for her...

• Normalize temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate
• The maternal contact causes a calming effect with decreased stress and rapid quiescence
• Reduced physiologic and behavioural pain responses
• Increased weight gain
• Enhanced mother-infant bonding
• Positive effects on infant’s cognitive development
• Less nosocomial infection, severe illness, or lower respiratory tract disease
• Restful sleep
• Earlier discharge
• Possible reduced risk of sudden infant death
• Normalized infant growth of premature infants
• May be a good intervention for colic
• Possible positive effects in motor development of infants

Now that she's over 1200 grams, we can hold her twice a day! That excites me to no end! I can't wait until we can hold her every time we visit with no time limit. I can't even begin to describe the feeling that comes over me when our "time is up" and the nurses take her from me. Some days I wish I could just run with her in my arms as fast as I can. But I know that's not best for her...I don't even have a car seat, so we wouldn't get far!!! (Kidding...I would never do that!) But now that she's starting to look more like a "term" baby, it's getting harder and harder to leave her there.

All in all she's doing well. Our prayers are continuing to be answered, and soon we'll have our little bugger home. That will be THE happiest day of my life.

Here's some pictures of Owen holding her for the first time this week.

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Last night the little bugger pulled out her TP tube, which is the feeding tube that goes straight into her intestines. She did it the night before too, but they put it back this time. I think she was trying to tell them she's ready to try the OG tube again...because when she did it a second time, they decided to leave it out. And so far so good. Just a trace of residual - which means she's tolerating it so far!!! They have had to decrease the amount she's getting right now, since they have to wait to see how much she'll tolerate. Right now she's getting 21cc's for an hour, then a 3 hour break. Then starts over.

Since she's in her new little house, she's doing much better! Only 2-3 Brady's in a day, and just up and down on her O2 levels...which is normal right now.

In her house she can wear clothes! So I dressed her as soon as I could! The nurses loved her outfits! We will donate them to the NICU when she's done with them. But as you can see from the pictures below, even the preemie sizes are too big for her. They are too big in the shoulders and in the bottom! But she'll grow into them. I need to stop buying preemie stuff, and start buying "term" baby sizes...otherwise she'll be naked by Christmas!!!

Here's some pictures for those that can't see the slide show...and the slide show is below. (I think if you click on the slide show, you can see the entire album at once, rather than having to wait for each picture to load. But don't hold me to that!)

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When Sayla Grace gets bigger, I'm not sure how I'm going to handle her doctor visits when she has to get shots. Yesterday, to prepare for her eye exam, she had to get 3 eye drops in her eyes, and I almost lost it. She was not a happy camper, and has an amazing ability to squeeze her eyes shut so tight it almost required two people to open them for the drops.

After the drops, (which were put in to dilate her eyes for the exam) and the army it took to get them in, her eyes were super swollen and red. And she was none too happy about it. And neither was I.

I stayed as long as they would let me, to calm her down (and to calm myself down!) and then went to run a few errands before the next set of visiting hours. During that time she got her exam.

When I got back, the nurse explained how they do the exam...the doctor has a tiny instrument that holds her eye lids open. Then he uses another tiny instrument directly on her eyeball to hold it still. You see, her eye muscles are not strong enough to hold her eyes still on her own - they go in every direction, and sometimes not at the same time! So once her eyes are still, the doc uses another tool to look into the back of her eyes at her retinas.

And then we got the report...she does NOT have ROP!!!! Praise the Lord!! At least not at the moment. She is still at risk for developing it, so she'll have another exam in 2 weeks just like this one.

She is improving on her Brady episodes - only about 2 or 3 a day, but she still has swings in her O2 levels. This is normal for her age/size. Which by the way is 2lbs 7oz and 14.5in long!! She's gained a pound and an ounce since her lowest weight of 1lb 6oz, and an entire inch in her length since her birth!!!

Since she's doing better with her Brady's and her desats are manageable, she's got some new digs!! Today when I went to visit, she was in an isolette!! This is a step up from the open bed that she was in. An isolette (aka an incubator) is a fully covered bed with 4 holes for our arms. This bed has better temperature control - so her body temp can be controlled better, and is quieter. Once babies her size get in this bed, they grow, grow grow!! Something about the regulated temp and quietness. I think because it gives them more uninterrupted sleep. And sleep equals growth.

And the most fun for me about her new little house, is that she can WEAR CLOTHES!!! I've got a basket of miniature preemie clothes that I'm taking up to her tonight. I can't wait to pick out her first "outfit" for her!!!

Her room at home is coming together slowly but surely. After a near loss of one of the dressers on the way home (it almost fell out of the back of the truck when we were getting off the interstate!), we got it all home safely. I put the crib and the hutch together (by myself!!!) and got her bed made. The 2 dressers are too heavy to bring in the house without a furniture dolly, so we will get those in the house and put together when we can get the dolly from Granddaddy Johnny's house. I'll post pictures of her nursery once it's finished!

Here's some single pictures, for those that aren't able to see the slide shows. And below the single pics is a slide show of the latest round of pics. The isolette pictures haven't been uploaded yet...so you'll have to wait just a bit to see those! Sorry!!

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SGP continues to do well. She now weighs 2lbs 6.6ozs! She's starting to "fill out" and get a tiny bit of chunkiness to her. She now has little bitty baby fat neck rolls, and tiny thighs you just want to squeeze! She's still tiny mind you, but she's starting to look more "baby" like.

Her A&B episodes are improving. They have increased her caffeine dosage to help with that, since she grew out of her last dosage. All IV's are out (for the moment) and she's no longer on antibiotics. For now she just eats, sleeps and poops!

She's eating 9cc's every hour for 3 hours, and is back down to 24 calories per feeding. They decreased her caloric intake because the 28 calories was just too much for her tiny belly. It was giving her gas and making her belly puffy. So back down to 24 we went, and she tolerated it better.

She's pooping like a champ now. No more extra help needed!

She had her standard Monday morning chest x-ray yesterday, and it came back with a good report! It's still "hazy," but it's slightly improved from last week, but still consistent with RDS. So prayerfully she's growing out of her RDS and it will continue to get better.

She will be getting a visit from the eye doctor either this week or next week. He will be checking for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), which is common in preemies. ROP is an eye disease that is thought to be caused by disorganized growth of retinal blood vessels which may result in scarring and retinal detachment. ROP can be mild and may resolve on its own, but may lead to blindness in serious cases.

All preterm babies are at risk for ROP, and since she had a very low birth weight, this is an additional risk factor. Too much extra oxygen can also contribute to ROP.

During this first visit, the eye doctor will put drops in her eyes, and look into the back of them with a special tiny instrument - I assume like at the big people eye doctor - though this will be done in her crib. He will be looking for the disorganized blood vessels in her retinas, as well as scarring. There are 5 stages of ROP, with stages 1-3 being less severe.

We are prepared that she's got some form of ROP given her age at birth and birth weight. But we're prayerful that it's only stage 1 or 2. She'll get eye exams frequently now, because if she has ROP, it will likely progress (though it can disappear on its own). They will need to keep an eye on her retinas, to be sure they don't start to detach.

If they detach completely, she will be blind. If they catch it before it detaches (which they likely will if we get to that point), they will give her tiny laser eye surgery to reattach her retinas, and all will be ok.

Laser surgery is absolute worse case scenario. Well, I guess absolute worse case is that she's blind. But from what I can tell, her eyes are working just fine. She is able to track voices with her eyes, and my finger if I put it very close to her eyes (since her vision is like 20/400 right now). So we'll just wait for the eye docs report and go from there.

Please be in prayer that her eyes are amazingly PERFECT and she has no problems with her retinas or any other part of her eyes. Pray that the doctors will be surprised by the good health of her eyes, and be forced to look on God's amazing abilities as the only explanation!

Also, in case you're wondering, they won't test her hearing until she gets a bit older. She's just now developing visible ear canals, so her ears are still forming. But I can assure you that she can hear! She opens her eyes at the sound of mine and Owen's voices, and gets visibly irritated when her neighbor's monitors beep for too long.

In other news, we're picking up her furniture today!!! I'm super excited to finally see it, because it picked it out from a catalog. Since I haven't actually been able to lay my hands or eyes on it, I'm kind of nervous about it! I hope I picked out the right thing for her! And I hope it all fits into her bedroom!! I can't wait to finally get her bedding into her crib and start decorating her room!!

Also, I went to Baby Palooza this weekend. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, so we didn't stay long. It was a bunch of vendors like hospitals, children's gyms, photographers (check out my favorite children's photog...Abernathy Photographics...in my Links to Love section!!) and the like. I don't really need any of that kind of stuff right now, so I made a beeline to the VERY few clothing vendors and bought the cutest pink smocked dress for SGP! (Pictures later).

I'll post pics of Sayla Grace (and her new dress that she won't be able to wear until she's 12!) shortly. First I've got to finish clearing out her room before Owen and Granddaddy Johnny (Owen's dad) get back with her furniture!!

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