Continuing to Show Tiger Stripes

Elise Diane Olsen is one week old today!

We had a big day today. Results of Elise's head scan and heart ultrasound came back this afternoon. Her head scan showed a possible grade one head bleed. That sounds scary (believe me, I know), but it's actually as close to "no problems" as possible. When a radiologist reviews a head scan, it can really be subjective at times. You might see a cloudy spot, but another radiologist may not. The way Dr. Whitman described it to me was...it is very, very reassuring that the radiologist said possible.  She went on to say children with grade two head bleeds hardly ever have complications down the road, so with a possible grade one we should not be concerned. They will repeat this scan in one week to check again.

As for the heart ultrasound: Elise's PDA last week was considered large in size. Today it was considered medium-sized. Since she is having no other complications and it's best to resolve the PDA during the first few weeks of life, they decided to start the medicine to help close the PDA. Thank God no surgery!! We would have loved to hear it was closed on its own, but even then- that's not a sure sign it's closed...it can always re-open. The medicine is not a 100% cure for closure either, but it is taken well by many preemies. As a mother, I use common sense to say, if it was large last week, medium this week, then with medicine I'm confident we'll get it closed by next week. We will hope for the best.

The doctors wasted no time at all...the medicine was given 2 hours after the ultrasound came back. The medicine will be given in 3 doses and end Friday with another ultrasound to check the PDA.

For 2:00 hands on time we took G's wedding ring and placed it on Elise's arm. Another great perspective photo! After taking the photo, I reached in to take off the ring and hand it back to Daddy. Our strong tiger gripped her arm next to her little body and would NOT let me lift up her arm and remove Daddy's ring! How cute is she?! She already loves her Daddy...and since I gave him that ring, I hope she loves me too! HA!

She also has Daddy's black hair (and hopefully Mommy's curls!)...if she would have had enough time in the womb, she would've come out with a FULL head of black hair. Hopefully by the time we take her home, she will! 

After some time spent at the hospital, we decided to go register little lady at Buy Buy Baby (something Suzi and I were going to do 2 weeks ago when our lives came to a screeeeeching halt). We must say, it wasn't near as fun registering for a baby that is sitting in the NICU as you try to look at all these cute things and be "happy." It's overwhelming at times to try and think way down the road to when she will be 6 months or even 9 months...we just don't know where she will be physically and what will be most needed. If you've ever looked for preemie things, you know they are not in abundance in most stores. However, it was nice to get a basic registry going and then ask our night nurse a bunch of questions at the 8:00 hands on time. Which car seat is best? Stroller? What about a pacifier? Will she be considered a "newborn" when she comes home or still a preemie? Ahhh the questions! I highly doubt these will be our last questions...just a tad overwhelming tonight to do something that is usually so fun, but your mind is going in a thousand directions and always traveling back to your little 1 1/2 pound baby sitting in the NICU. I'm hoping all the experienced moms in my life will know what I need!

On a side note, I met another NICU mother today while washing our hands (something we do NON-STOP all day long!) She was 24 weeks along with twins when she started pre-term labor 11 weeks ago. Unfortunately, her son passed 3 hours after birth. Her daughter is still in the NICU. They are from a town in Ohio 15 minutes east of Richmond, Indiana. They spend every Tuesday through Saturday here. Their little girl is going to have eye surgery tomorrow. Please pray for them as well. These were their first child(ren) like us. We talked about how our lives went from normal/routine to wacko in the matter of days. It was nice to meet one of the other families and share our experiences. I'm sure we will get to know many other families as we spend more time watching over our little lady.

To close tonight's post, we must say we take today's news as a huge blessing! This has not been a "valley" day in our minds. Our tiger is continuing to show her tiger stripes! We have to expect these slight dips in the road...and we will take dips like today any day over the big "Grand Canyons" some of these parents have to go through.

We want to thank the Fallis family for the beautiful monogrammed blanket! We placed it on top of Elise's isolette to keep her warm..."thank Heaven for little girls." Amen to that.