Day 6

As some of you saw on my facebook, Blair had a great day! When we arrived to the NICU this morning her C-pap breathing machine had been removed and she just had a high-flow breathing apparatus attached under her nose. Finally, she looked like a baby and not a robot. See?...

This morning we stopped by for just a little bit to see her. We decided to stop by later this afternoon because we wanted her to be calm for her blood gas test. The doctor said she is making good progress and the nurse even guessed that by tomorrow she may be on "room air" instead of the "high flow" air she is receiving now. She is still under UV lights to help with her jaundice. Tomorrow they anticipate that she will be done with that. So much progress in just 24 hours! I'm chalking it up to everyone's prayers. 

Today when we came back to visit with Blair again I got to share some skin to skin time with her and she attempted to nurse again. She got off to a decent start but then she made a dirty diaper and if there is one this I know about Blair it's that she does NOT tolerate a dirty diaper for more than 30 seconds. She wailed and wailed but she was in the middle of getting her dinner via her feeding tube. She must have been hungry as well because once her tummy started getting full she kind of forgot about her diaper. 

I'm not sure who is happier...

After her feeding was done she slept for a while and my mom got to see her snoozin. After my mom left Matt's parents stopped by and she woke up for them. I was AMAZED at how alert she was! She was studying my face and enjoyed following Matt's parents' faces as well. This is the first time I have seen Blair this alert. It was so exciting to see her watch us and soak it all in. I'm sure most parents take this step for granted but when you have a baby that has had her eyes closed for the first few days of her life you learn to celebrate the little things. I have to say I am glad she took her time opening her peepers because if she had done this sooner she would have seen one sad mommy. Today she saw her mommy and must think that she has a permanent smile on it. :)

Blair nursed again after Matt's parents left. She sucks much harder on her binky than when she does nursing but the nurse assured me that she would get it right eventually. But let me tell you when she cries I get so much anxiety! I hate to watch her be uncomfortable! This, I am sure, will be the death of me...

Before we left for the evening the nurse told us both to kiss Blair goodbye. This was the first time we both kissed our sweet little girl. I don't know if my heart has ever been so full. I am so in love with this baby girl. Here are some pictures we snapped of her before we left. She was all eyes and it was SO hard to drag myself away knowing she was watching us! 

holding daddy's hand

studying our faces...my absolute favorite picture!

getting close to bedtime! a big yawn!

Our prayer request is to pray for continued progress and no more set backs. It would be very hard to go backwards at this point especially after having such a good day with her. Pray for controlled breathing as well as an easy transition into breast feeding. I have a feeling this is going to be my next challenge but I will NOT stress about this. God is so big and so great and I refuse to doubt Him at this point!

** Matt and I decided that it would be convenient to have meals start on Monday. My girlfriend Andie will be setting this up for us online and I will add the link to my blog as soon as possible. Thank you in advance! This will allow us to be able to focus on Blair and not have to think about dinner plans. We appreciate it!