Proud Kangaroos

My heart swells with pride for my daughter.

Just got off the phone with the NICU and she's doing great!

She's been off the endo tube for two days now and continues to breathe really well! The nurse just told me that as long as she's not squirming about she's pretty much able to sustain her oxygen levels all on her own. Problem she's gained a lot of strength over the weeks and so sometimes she'll pull the nose cannula out of her nose. Fiesty little girl. =) Thankfully, her pulling the nasal cannula out isn't as bad as her pulling the endo out. And the nurse said that even when she does pull the cannula out, she's still able to breathe well. On occasion when she is moving about her oxygen levels drop, but even then they only drop to about 80% and she's usually able to get herself right back on track. I'm thinking it's similar to when we're stretching, most of us kind of hold our breath a little bit and we come right back.

She's back up to 1302 grams today. So she's gaining weight too. I'm so thankful. And I can't wait to get back to seeing her this weekend, cause have you seen the cheeks on her? Oh, my gosh, I can barely recognize her she's so big. Here's a picture for those of you who haven't seen.

It really does the heart good to hear that Alicia's growing and getting more and more steady.

Another piece of great news is that Linda is going to start doing Kangaroo Care today! This is huge! For those of you who don't know, Kangaroo Care is a special kind of therapy that doctors recommend for young children. Kids are held skin to skin on the parent's chest with a towel or blanket placed over them to help them stay warm. Our hospital is very conservative when it comes to Kangaroo Care. They only allow parents to do Kangaroo Care after kids are off the vent, breathing on their own and stable. So the fact that they're letting Linda do Kangaroo Care is a sign that she's doing well!

Pray with us for more and more of this steady growth and increase.

I was telling a few friends yesterday that I'm starting to see the finish line. In my spirit, I feel like we're over the hump and on the home stretch. Of course, there still isn't a set date for going home yet. But I believe if all continues improve as they have been the past few days, then we'll be upstairs in the step-down unit before long. And then next step is home! =)

This means we need to start prepping the house and getting everything ready. We also need to prepare ourselves because soon and very soon Alicia will solely be in our care. Scary. But it'll be OK, God is with us. =)

Campbell