Welcome to our corner of the web! Here you will learn about our family and our journey of a family member adoption. In July of 2010, after 9 years of trying to add to our family and 5 years after we started our adoption journey, we welcomed baby Emily Rose. Emily's birth mom is Sharon's adopted sister. We look forward to someday adopting more children but for now, we are enjoying our time together as a family of 4!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Daddy's Girl/NICU Parents

An NICU Mommy..... That's what they call me. The nurses...... When we imagined this time, never did we imagine that we would be NICU Parents, but we are. Our little Emily was born with a low blood sugar which isn't unusual with babies of a high birth weight. After her first feeding her blood sugar actually went lower. So the dr. ordered an IV drip of Sugar water to try to get her blood sugar to go higher. It was working great! They were even turning down the IV drip and weaning her off of it. We could possibly go home soon they told us! Until she started eatting less and less. She went from eatting 2+ oz. in a sitting, to not even an oz. sometimes half an oz. And even getting her to eat that much took work. She was getting fussier and fussier. So the dr. ordered some tests. Turns out baby girl has an infection. Not surprising since K's water broke and it wasn't until almost 23 hours later that Emily was born. They turned the IV drip back up because she isn't eatting. This way she is at least staying hydrated. The dr. detected a heart murmur yesterday, it was still there today, so an Echocardiogram was ordered. The cardiologist at the hospital reviewed the tests. we are still waiting on the official report from Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake, but according to the cardiologist here, he says that the holes in the chambers in Emily's heart haven't closed up yet, but he says because she has been sick, that isn't surprising. So according to him, it isn't cause for concern right now, but if at her first well baby check up there is still a murmur, the pediatrician will need to keep an eye on it. We'll see if the PCMC dr. agrees with his assesment. Emily's oxygen levels have been dropping off and on, and her breathing goes a little fast at times, but that is probably due to the stress of being sick the dr. says. So they continue to monitor her. We continue to spend every second we can with her, and pray for her. We aren't sure how long we will be in the NICU. K signed a release with the hospital social worker allowing us to go home with the baby when she is released since K herself will be released before Emily. The nurse said to not be surprised if we are there through the weekend. We hope she is wrong. But, we will stay as long as it takes for Emily to get healthy.


Speaking of K, she is doing well. She was having some heart trouble as well, but an EKG showed nothing wrong according to the nurse. Haven't talked to the dr. yet though. But she is doing well. Walking around like a champ. So much so that I had to tell her to take it easy. I worry about her. But I know she is in good hands. K is a trooper. Very strong, very amazing. Emily comes from her, so I have no doubt she will be o.k. K should be released tomorrow (Wednesday) so court should be Thursday. We'll know more in the morning.

No, none of the last few days is like I imagined it would be. The experiences we have had, the tears we have shed, every last bit of it, has been worth it. Why? Because of this precious little one right here:

After her first bath. 1 hour old.

1 day old. Hanging out with Mommy and Daddy in the NICU. She loves her daddy! Always so content in his arms. You can see her IV in this pic along with some of the cord. The IV is in her head because she kept pulling out the ones in her arms, and this way it is out of the way.

Please, if you would, and if it isn't too much to ask, will you keep our little one in your prayers, and our K as well.

5 comments:

Army Wife Mother of 4 said...

You have such a wonderful gift. My love and happiness for you cant be expressed with words. Emily Rose is so beautiful and you can tell she was meant to be with your family. I am so excited to see her grow up (though FB and blogger!lol) She is one special spirit who has waited for this very moment for so long to be with you. I know it is hard to just sit and not be able to make things better with just a kiss or a hug, but this time shall pass and you will be home with your beautiful baby girl dressing her up putting bows in her hair and taking pictures so you have one of her in every outfit she owns! lol. Then you will scrap them all into an album or a book titled "The book of Emily Rose: The First Month" lol! My prayers are with you and your family. Don't worry everything will be ok! If we didn't have the little bumps in life we wouldn't really be living! Love you guys!

Lindsey from The R House said...

i cannot get over her intense cuteness!!!!

Schyla and Joe said...

what a special blessing you are as always in our prayers! I cannot wait to meet your little miracle baby!

Yvonne said...

Oh wow what a emotional roller coaster you have already been through! We will pray really hard for you guys to be strong through all of this and that Emily's heart problems with heal and that she will be healthy. We will also pray for K that she will heal emotionally and physically as well. We are so happy for your family! Emily is so precious!

Anonymous said...

Just found your blog over at Shane & Megan's site. So happy for you!!! She is an absolute doll! Will be praying that she will be released soon and that everything will go well. Congratulations!!!