Eyes Wide Open

Both Daddy and I got to spend the day with our little lady today. Sundays for most people are "days of rest." Not for Elise. She started the day with a blood transfusion. Then, she was stuck 4-5 times with nurses, doctors, and finally a nurse practitioner trying to draw blood for a culture.

The doctor suspects Elise might have an infection somewhere because her white blood count is high. However, all of her other numbers look solid...sugars are good, BP is good, and platelets are also good. These NICU doctors take no chances, and we are grateful for that. We hope and pray that she doesn't have an infection, but they went ahead and started antibiotics today just in case.

It's always a little disheartening when we are so excited to get to spend the day with our little lady, but when we get there, she needs so much work done that we don't get much hands on time with her. Today we got about 10 minutes.

After her medical team had to stick her for the 5th time to draw her blood (around 4:30), we decided she needed to get her rest and settle in for the night. It was time for us to head back to Seymour. Before we left, like always...we like to say our goodbyes and tell her once again how much we love her and to keep fighting. As we opened up one arm hole to say goodbye, she heard my voice and opened one eye and looked towards me. Then Daddy spoke and she looked at him. So glad Daddy had his camera ready!

Even though we only had ten minutes to interact with her, when she peeked up at her daddy and mommy, it meant the world to us.  This made up for all the time we had to sit and stare at her isolette today.  

Baby steps...or shall we say preemie steps?

Adoring her strength...

Hi Daddy!                                                     Hi Mommy!