Daily Dose, Saturday May 23

Hope spent a good bit of the day sleeping and resting. Her bottom is still very sore so she lounged around diaper-less with the oxygen on the tush again. Hopefully since they stopped her antibiotics today things will clear up soon.

Once Hope did wake up, she was ready to play. She hung out with mommy, grandma R and granpda R for a while and then the real excitement started. Her nurse got her a swing to play in for a while. Hope wasn't sure what to make of this new vantage point at first. Her next mission was to figure out how and why she was moving without someone holding her...this was all very new and strange.

Hope weighed in at 3830 grams today - 8 pounds 7 ounces.

Daily Dose, Friday May 22

Hope had a very good day today. She was much more comfortable over night and had fewer episodes throughout the day today. The doctors are happy with this and don't plan to make any changes to her support over the weekend. Hopefully she will have a couple of restful days and then we can look at weaning her down next week.

The only rough part of Hope's day was that her bottom is very sore. We aren't sure if it caused by the cream they are using to treat it or if she is reacting to all of the antibiotics she is on this week but her bottom was very red and sore today. In an attempt to treat it Hope got a mini spa treatment. She lounged around without her diaper on and had oxygen applied directly to her sore bum. Hope likes this treatment and thinks she will have to continue with spa treatments once she leaves the hospital.

Once again Hope had a great weight gain. She was up to 3,810 grams - 8 lbs 6 ounces!

Daily Dose, Wednesday May 20

Hope had a much better day today. She didn't need any sedation all day. She had a few small dips with her oxygen saturations but was able to pull herself back up and out of them.

Hope's bottom is still a bit raw so her nurse ordered up some special "Riley Butt Cream". It has special ointments and painkillers in it to hopefully help her be more comfortable.

Hope has decided to try and make up for all of the days early on in her hospital stay when she didn't gain very much weight. She had another big weight gain today and weighed in at 3,730 grams today - 8 pounds 3 ounces!!

Hope spent some special time cuddling with daddy this morning. Daddy had to go out of town to take care of some business. Hope is going to miss him very much but will try to be on her best behavior until her comes back.

Daily Hope: Friday, January 23

Hope: day 47

Hope yawning.... being a baby is a tough job

Hope: day 47

Hope had a good day today. She started off her morning with some good snuggling time with Daddy for a couple hours. Later in the day she had to have a new PIC line put in. The PIC line was put in through her foot/leg and will provide an access point for medications, nutrients, etc. Hope appeared to take her newly placed PIC in stride.

As part of Hope's growing process she has begun to "fill" out. Her tiny little ladybug butt now has cheeks, as opposed to flatness. Very tiny little buttcheeks, cute ones at that.

Hope also was VERY excited today because Aunt Em and Nanabug (Grandma Robinson) came back to visit. They spent just a few minutes with her when they got in tonight, but noticed how much she has grown. Apparently Aunt Em has yet to learn complete social graces as it apparently is inappropriate to tell a newborn baby how fat they are. But seriously, I meant it in a good way!!! Anyways... Hope got over it, after many minutes of therapy and apologies, and then Hope and Aunt Em had some good time together. Aunt Em began to tell Hope all about her adventures, beginning with Mexico. Hope didn't really care about Mexico, but is already looking forward to hearing all about the Inauguration during story time tomorrow.

Due to a recent request, a few tidbits of information regarding Hope's Mommy (as provided by Hope's Daddy):
1) She was born a preemie too
2) She was in the NICU too
3) She is not "fat"
4) She is still adorable