4 Months

We can hardly believe Miss Eva is 4 months old today. She has changed so much. She seems to change a little bit every day.

Here are just a few of the things we love about Eva Grace:
How she recognizes our voices
Her sweet smile
Those precious dimples
Her delicious toes
Her big eyes
The way she smells
Her contented sighs
Those marvelously chubby cheeks
All that hair!!

We really didn't pose her for this picture! Honest.

Reflecting

62 days.

That's how long we were at the NICU.

Every NICU parent knows exactly how many days their baby was in the hospital.

We know how blessed we were to have a baby in the NICU that was really there just to grow and get strong. There were some sick--really sick--babies that we came across. We often wonder how Jade's tummy is doing; if Brody's heart has gotten better; if Emily, the lone triplet, has started to eat on her own and been reunited with her other two sisters who had gone home long before. We look forward to seeing them and the doctors and nurses at the party the hospital hosts every summer for "NICU graduates."

We were so blessed to have nice weather the whole time Eva was in the hospital. The snow started falling the day after we got home with Eva and we had several spring storms after that. Someone was definitely watching out for us!

We were so blessed to have many of your phone calls and emails and comments on the blog during that crazy time. We weren't always so good about returning messages or accepting offers of help, but know you understand that sometimes we weren't sure if we were coming or going. We are so thankful, also, for those of you who helped us pass some of the hours in the NICU. And we truly appreciated knowing there were so many of you out there praying for us, and who continue to do so!

We've been home almost 2 months now and have been thinking about how blessed we are to have gone through this journey. Blessed? Yes. We appreciate things that we might not have otherwise. It is something we could have never imagined. There are a couple of lines from "The Things We've Handed Down" that seem to resonante more these days:


Don't know why you chose us
Were you watching from above
Is there someone there that knows us
Said we'd give you all our love


Through all of the ups and downs, the worrying, the wondering, the tears and the triumphs, we are reminded of something one of our special visitors at the hospital told me -- God knows exactly which babies to send to which parents. We are truly blessed with our Eva Grace.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy day to all the moms, who hold our hands and guide us.

How blessed I am to be Eva Grace's mommy!

O2 Be Free

Notice anything different?

Miss Eva is free from her oxygen! She got the ok on Thursday. We did the overnight test on Tuesday night (a rather sleepless night, as we woke up frequently to check on Eva and the monitor).

It's so nice to finally really see Miss Eva's sweet face.

Since the last time

Here are a few of the things that have happened since the last time you heard from us...

Miss Eva weighed 8lbs 4oz last Monday when we went to the doctor. She's gaining about 1/2 -1 oz per day. So by now she's over the 8.5 pound mark! Any bets on when she'll hit 10 pounds? She was also 20 1/2 inches long. If those numbers weren't proof enough, the fact that Eva has outgrown virtually all of her newborn clothes is a good indicator. It's been fun to try out those new outfits.

Eva went in for her 30 minute room air trial last week. It was actually more like 45 minutes and she did well during that. Her saturation levels were good enough so that our next step is the overnight test. We'll do that this week. Pray that it goes well and we get to be done with the oxygen!

Eva has made her first visit to the library. :) She met lots of nice people who had been waiting to meet her. We'll certainly be back for story times.

We're waiting for spring to finally get here so we can spend a little more time outside. We're ready to test the stroller out around the neighborhood. As is so often the case here though, it looks like we're going from winter to summer.

This picture is from a couple of weeks ago, but it shows just how much hair Miss Eva has. It continues to grow and get thicker and is actually longer now than in this picture. You're right, Aunt Lisa, we'll certainly need chongo bongos pretty soon!!