Daily Dose, Monday June 1

Hope Getting Her Back Patted

Peggy

Hope had a good day today - a little bit different from most days.

Hope was awake early this so she got to spend some time in her swing. Although she had a good time, she ended up falling asleep for a few more hours.

Hope woke up a couple of hours later and had a great afternoon- she was held and cuddled not just by mommy and daddy, but also by Peggy! Hope seemed to enjoy time with Peggy on her stomach while having her back patted. Hope just kept looking around the room , taking in the change in scenery for a while.

Hope weighed in today at 4170 grams, or 9 lbs 3 oz! She seems to be gaining weight consistently and rapidly now.

Hope's respiratory virus panel from 2 weeks ago finally returned results - it seemed Hope suffered from a virus called CMV. CMV is a common cold virus, and requires no follow up treatment. It looks like has officially kicked this now, and is feeling better every day!

Daily Dose: Sunday, April 26

Hope had a nice, quiet and restful day today. She has gone two and a half days without an episode!! But she still seems to be a little uncomfortable and struggling to breathe. Peggy, Hope's favorite RT, propped her up on a boppy pillow and that made Hope more comfortable. Hope's broncoscopy is scheduled for tomorrow at 2:00 or 2:30. We are all hoping that this will give the doctors, and us, a clearer picture of what needs to be done to make Hope more comfortable. We pray that it goes well.

Just thought I would point out that Hope has yet another incredibly adorable ensemble on today. This piece of the Hope Collection sports a ladybug (Hope's favorite) on the front. Very cute!

Daily Dose: Easter Sunday, April 12

Hope & Grandpa R's hand: look how big she's gotten!!

Hope and her own personalized blanket!

The family

Hope's Easter Dress

Hope's Easter "play" outfit

Hope's fuzzy bunny butt!

Happy Easter to everyone!!!

Hope had a good day today. She was surrounded with family as we celebrated Easter. Hope's day started out with a visit from the Easter Bunny (not a real bunny but a surrogate). The nurses in the NICU hid little eggs around the unit for the parents to find, it was very very nice of them. Then Hope got a special surprise! Hope's favorite RT, Peggy, brought Hope a personalized blanket (shown above). Peggy embroidered Hope's name and date of birth on the blanket. It was so thoughtful and Hope LOVES it!!!

The next big move for Hope today was changing into her very own Easter dress!! Aunt Em came yesterday with plenty of new outfits, including an Easter dress. Hope LOVED the new item of the Hope Collection. It had no ruffles (Hope doesn't like ruffles) and it was very classic and stylish. Classic chic even.

After a nice family picture, with Hope sitting up working on her neck muscles, she had some snuggle time with Mommy and some successful "non-nutritive" feeding. Then it was time for the wardrobe change....

Next, Hope was sporting the "Happy Easter"/fuzzy bunny butt ensemble, also a new feature from the Hope Collection. Hope liked this outfit, minus the difficulties in getting it on. She especially liked the cute little fuzzy bunny on her butt.

Hope is getting very close to 6 pounds, so we are waiting for that big milestone. She was looking incredible this weekend, even when she wasn't always behaving. She is quite the character and such a cutie!!!

Daily Dose, Friday March 6

Hope's Beautiful Face

Hope Modeling Her First Outfit

Your eyes do not deceive you! That's really Hope!

Hope decided that she was fed up with the ventilator tube today. She was trying to be a good girl but in her own "special" way she was telling the doctors and nurses that if they didn't get the tube out of her mouth she was going to have to take it out herself. So the doctors took Hope off of the ventilator today. Normally babies are put on the cpap as the next step down from the ventilator but Peggy thought that Hope didn't need to mess with that step and so they put her straight onto vapotherm. This is just a nasal cannula that provides a little bit of pressure support with heated and humidified air. So far she is doing very well with it, and it allows her a lot more freedom of movement.

Since she was feeling so much better and seems to be completely over her infection, Hope wanted to give everyone a little bit more of a fashion show. As you can see in the picture Hope tried on her first clothes today. She got a nice bath, put on some comfy clothes and then curled up in mommy's arms for a nice long nap. Both mommy and Hope were very relaxed and very happy.

Daily Hope: Monday, January 26

Hope: day 50

Hope: day 50

Hope had another great day!! She managed to snuggle with Mommy for a few hours, which is always a good thing for all involved. Her feedings were increased to 11ml and she seemed to be tolerating that well. The feedings are definitely making a difference since today when Hope was weighed she came in at 1120 grams, which is about 2 pounds 7 ounces. She weighs a whole pound more than when she was born!!!

Hope was not extubated today, as the doctors had originally thought might occur. She just wasn't ready to do all the work on her own yet, but that's ok. She'll let them know when it is time. She has to gain weight more rapidly first.

Hope's platelet count increased on its own since yesterday!! This is great because it is the first time since she had an infection that she regenerated her own platelets, so no infusion necessary today!

As you can see from the pictures, not only is Hope looking more "baby-like" (as many people have commented) but she is again sporting part of the Hope Collection. This hat has been worn before, but is making another appearance. The lovely pink knit hat is trimmed with pink fuzz stuff (yes, that is the technical fashion term) and was made by Hope's favorite RT, Peggy. Another big thank you to Peggy for keeping Hope clothed!

In other news... Hope seems to be inspiring to others. As everyone knows, Hope Vivian (Vivian Jr) had a bowel obstruction very early in her life and then had to have surgery. Well, today it appears that Vivian Sr (Hope's Great-grandma Anderson) also has a slight bowel obstruction, or something of the sort. Great-Grandma Vivian is spending the night in the hospital so please keep your prayers with her tonight since we can't be there. Aunt Em talked to Great-Grandma tonight and gently informed her, as only Aunt Em can, that only one member of the family is permitted to be in the hospital at a time and since Hope already had dibs on hospital duty, Great-Grandma WILL BE GETTING BETTER SOON!!! Great-Grandma said she understood and promised to do her best, which she better follow through with her promise or Aunt Em will have no choice but to go "shape her up". And nooooo one wants to see that, trust me on that one.

Daily Hope: Friday, January 9

Hope: day 33

Hope LOVES her pacifier, when she got it today she threw her hand up and said: "SCORE!"

Hope: day 33, caretime with mommy & daddy

Hope's foot is still a little tiny, but it's cute (and I don't even like feet)

Hope: donning a new bunny hat, posing for the camera

Hope: day 33

Hope & her pacifier

Hope's new Bling!

Hope's newest hat, another creation by Peggy

Hope got ANOTHER new hat today from her favorite RT, Peggy. As you can see, she is donning the new addition to the "Hope Collection", coming soon to a NICU near you. The bunny hat has little bunny ears that are knit in and then tied with bows. It is INCREDIBLY adorable, and Hope obviously LOVES it! She tried to hippity hoppity around the NICU today, but she couldn't get out of her isolete, bummer. She also got a blanket change so her new blanket is pink and matches her hat. Always fashionable and practical at the same time.

Hope had a good day today, her calories were increased, still working on beefing her up. Hope also got another blood transfusion today, so tomorrow she should be READY TO GO!! As you can see from the pictures, she LOVES her pacifier. She loves it so much at times she gets so engrossed in "sucking" that she forgets to do the other important things, like breathing. So we have to work on multi-tasking, she'll catch on soon.

Hope is looking so good and especially snuggly lately. Everyone can't wait for her to be able to be held and to snuggle up in our arms. Her favorite position to lay in is on her tummy with her little butt stuck up in the air. She snuggles down, her arms tucked in, her butt in the air, and her unstuffed teddy bear right next to her. And she has the most beautiful face in the world, a peaceful and blissful face that knows none of the problems the world faces outside her little isolete.

Another highlight to Hope's day today was the added "bling" to her space. Special thanks to Aunt Em's co-worker Julie for the bling. Hope was definitely missing something, now it feels like home =) THANKS JULIE!!!!

Aunt Em read Hope another story today. We read the story of David & Goliath and how David was sooooo small and so underestimated, yet he conquered the big bad giant Goliath. Hope was telling Aunt Em how she's going to conquere whatever big bad giants come her way. I'm glad that Hope is going to fight the problems off because sometimes I feel like I'm useless and helpless, but with Hope here, there is no fear!!!!

Aunt Em is rating today another solid 7. There weren't any major progressions but good maintenance, so that we are thankful for.

Now for a personal note from Aunt Em: while I spend limited time with my precious Hope, and I have yet to hold her hand or give her a hug, just being with her is amazing. I sit next to her and she radiates hope (yes, pun intended!!!). While there are lots of things that we don't plan for, in fact, lately NOTHING is planned for, that doesn't make it bad. I'm again reminded that our plans are not the plans that will happen or should happen. Given, we can control some things, like Hope's AMAZING wardrobe, but beyond that it is really not our's to control. And so again tonight, on this Friday night in my parents' apartment/house/hotel, I lean on Hope for understanding, an understanding that is beyond my current abilities but I know that someday we will all finally realize the true reasons for today.

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. - Vaclav Havel

Daily Hope: Sunday, January 4

Hope: day 28 (four weeks old!!)

Hope: day 28

As you can see from the pictures above, Hope is the most beautiful ladybug EVER!!! And Hope has a special message today:

Thank you Peggy for making my beautiful hat and making me a ladybug! You are the best! Love, Hope

And yes, that message was directly from Hope. As you can see, Hope is modeling a GREAT new hat. Peggy, Hope's respiratory therapist, made this special little hat just for Hope because Hope loves ladybugs. So now there is a little ladybug laying on a ladybug blanket. So cute!

With this sudden onslaught of homemade hats for Hope, I have decided that anyone out there who may be reading this, you can have a special entry that Hope dedicates to you. How does one achieve this? Buy sending your homemade hats or booties or mittens just for Hope. Hope will be so thankful that she will make a special entry just for you!! So if you are interested, just let us know! Hope has lots of days at the hospital ahead of her, so lots of opportunities for hats and other homemade apparel!!!

Hope had another good day today. They were going to be increasing her feedings, but, once again, Hope has made sure that everyone knows she is stubborn and she is in control. Hope's feedings were not increased because she was having a little bit of residual. a bit more than they wanted, so she is just maintaining her feedings for now.

Today Hope's daddy gave her a rating of 6.75. Grandpa thinks it is was at least a 6.76 but we'll stay with 6.75.

In other news.... due to popular demand Aunt Em will be returning to Indianapolis to hang out with Hope later this week. I know that Hope is excited!!!!!