NICU Graduates

Every year, Mary Birch Hospital for Women has a NICU graduates party. Any family with a child who has spent time in their NICU in the past 3 years or so is welcome to attend.

They had drinks and snacks, a petting zoo, games, crafts (donated by Home Depot), face painting and a firetruck which the firemen were more than willing to give people a tour of.

One of the best parts about it was each family had the opportunity to sit for a video spot. You state your name, what caused your child to be in the NICU and then any words of thanks you wanted to convey to the NICU nurses. I understand that once the celebration was over, each of the nurses got a dvd to take home and watch.

As is typical, I did the talking for our little video shoot and when it got to the part where I wanted to say "Thank you" the eyes got misty, the throat closed up and I could barely choke out a "You have no idea how much we appreciate you" (I am getting watery just typing this now). How do you say, "Thank you for saving my daughter's life?"

We took a few photos while we were there. The brunette is Donna - a force to be reckoned with. She was the nurse that I walked with as she transported Annabelle from one hospital to another for her spinal surgery the day after she was born and then for her shunt surgery the day after that. By the time we got back to the NICU after the second surgery, Annie was a complete tangle of tubes and wires and Donna all but grabbed the other nurses by the scruff of the neck and demanded: "THAT GOES THERE and THIS GOES HERE and CAN I GET THESE TUBES LABELED?! NOW?!" All the while I stood there in terror with my fist in my mouth - wanting to run but rooted to the spot where I was standing. After everything was untangled and labeled and Annabelle was settled, I said to Donna, "You're bossy. I love it - thank you."

The blonde is Amy, a nurse who watched Annie through the night more than once and whom I walked with when she transported Annabelle to the other hospital for xrays. She was intense - forceful - and very, very caring.

There were many more nurses that we wish we could have run into but I guess we just didn't cross paths that day.

It was a great event - good for us, good for the nurses. Good stuff all around.

As a side note, while we were talking with Donna, she said she had just been talking about us the other day - although she didn't out-right say it, I definitely got the impression that Annabelle was one of the more serious cases she has ever seen. My guess is she was bossy that day in part because she was in a slight state of panic as well and the adrenaline just kicked in.

Whatever it takes.

NICU Art #14

NICU Art #13

Annabelle Lucille is Headin' Home Today!

The PA wrote the discharge order moments ago.

I can't believe it.

Thursday, August 7th:


Saturday, August 9th:

Sunday, August 10th:

Tuesday, August 12th:

Thursday, August 14th:

Saturday, August 16th:

Sunday, August 17th:

Monday, August 18th:

My boss just stuck his head in my office door and asked how everything was going.

My reply? "I am going to go get my daughter. And take. her. home."

Thank you for your continued prayers . . .

Discharge Update

So I just got back from my lunch break at the hospital. The nurse said she is 80% sure we will be discharging today.

While I was there, a discharge nurse called the bedside to speak with me and she started rattling off info:

- Catheter supplies are being shipped to our house

- 8/20 - Dr appt with Urology

- 8/21 - Dr. appt with Plastic Surgery

- 8/25 - Dr appt with Neurology

- 9/4 - Dr appt with Orthopedics

- Near future - Two home visits from different nurses

- TBD - Dr. appt with Spina Bifida Clinic

- TBD - Dr appt with Pediatrician

She assured me she would provide all this info and more in writing in a discharge packet (which I will add to the growing stack of urgently-needed-to-be-read packets I have received over the past 11 days).

So that is the status.

After my visit with Annabelly, the wife and I sat in the waiting room and watched a video on infant CPR that the nurses wanted us to watch. I am now back at the office trying to busy myself and hoping for THE CALL.

BTW today is the day we were originally scheduled for the C-section.

There is a certain poetry there . . .

Go Annabelle!

From a text message I received today:

My co-worker bought a sticker-it's on her cubicle wall!

Thank you for your continued prayers!

The PLU - Take 2

So, yeah, not so much with the sleeping . . .

We were all up most of the night for a variety of reasons.

I think the wife and I have all the basic concepts down now - it's just a matter of getting into the routine - which is pretty much going to be impossible for us until we get everyone home for a couple of days.

And the whole cathing thing can be extremely difficult at times. The wife has done it successfully once so far and I have done it twice - we have both given up in exasperation at least once and had the nursing staff take over. We know it is going to get easier with time but right now it is a pretty harrowing experience to go through three times a day.

So here is our current status:

Sleep deprived. Tired of being at the hospital. Hoping that we can all go home today.

I have a mountain of phone calls to make today regarding insurance and SSI and CCS and all manner of programs and organizations with various acronyms that all spell out C-A-N Y-O-U H-E-L-P U-S? Not to mention putting in a full day at the office.

The crew from Annabelle's Circle has been at the house all weekend and we are eager to get home and see what they have accomplished. How do you thank people for such sacrifice? We are just so grateful.

We also have a house full of family sleeping in every bed and spare patch of floor space. We are so thankful to have supportive and helpful family around us at a time like this.

Today is totally up in the air. We generally believe that Annie is going home later today though we don't know what hoops they want mom and dad to jump through to make that happen. I fully expect to be called away from the office at any moment today to meet with Doctors and case workers to go over some nitty gritty before they are willing to let us cut the final wristbands off and walk out into the fresh air of freedom.

"Little Annie, believe me, it does get better. The whole world does not consist of the NICU where people poke and prod you at all hours. There is this restful and safe place called home and an unimaginably big and wonderful place called outside that you will love and spend the rest of your life exploring!"

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We will keep you posted! :-)

The PLU

So we had our first night "on our own" at the Mary Birch "Parent Living Unit". The dorm is about 30 feet down the hall from the NICU.

It's about the same speed as when you were a child and slept in a tent with your friends in your back yard for the first time. You were all on your own and yet your parents checked in every so often and if you got scared, hungry or cold, you could always go back inside.

Here are a couple of shots to give you a feel:



So - it went pretty well (and by pretty well, I mean we leaned A LOT).

For instance, you don't need to feed your baby every hour on the hour just because they make a squeek (unless, of course, you want a child who wakes up every hour . . .). Turns out Annie grunts and groans in her sleep for no reason just like her dad does. Poor Holly was up at every rustle and peep and fed Annie so often that Bella stopped fully feeding and just spent the night snacking . . .

At one point, we thought Annie was in pain so we squirted a full dose of liquid Tylenol into a full bottle - which Annie proceeded to drink 1/4 of. We had to throw the rest away . . .

Add to that all the changings and the pumping and you have a pretty long night (mostly for Holly - I slept through about half of it like an all-American dad).

This morning we reviewed last night with the nurses and we think we have the schedule ironed out now. The nurses want us to track all sorts of things - (temperature, time doing PT exercises, whether each diaper is wet and/or dirty, when we catheterize her and how much urine comes out when we do, if/when we give her Tylenol, how much she eats, when Holly pumps etc.) all while being sleep-deprived, of course.

Naturally I turned to my magic bullet for all things complicated - the Excel Spreadsheet. I put together a form for each day that we can hang on a clipboard to simplify things as much as possible.

We are also slowly getting used to the cathing process, I have done it twice now without a hitch and Holly has done it once without any trouble. It's only three times a day and I am sure will become a fairly routine part of the diaper-changing process.

Of course, Annabelle has surprised everyone at every turn and so we are continuing to pray that she will develop bladder and bowel control along with the ability to walk.

All-in-all, our night at the PLU was very helpful and they have offered to let us stay one more night. We will need to return to the NICU before 6am tomorrow morning so that Annie can jump through some last hoops before hopefully being discharged tomorrow evening.

That means we will have had Annie in our care for 32+ hours before we temporarily take her back for her discharge overview.

We received a very encouraging e-mail from another parent who has a child with SB and explained that once you get yourself home and into a routine, your child with SB seems more and more like any other typical child. We are already beginning to experience that and it is a good feeling.

On a side note, a number of the nurses that have cared for Annie have fallen in love with the little peanut and have been sneaking down to the PLU to visit with us an Annabelle. These visits almost always end in a round of hugs between adults who otherwise are strangers but for being pulled into little Annie Lu's orbit.

She is turning out to be quite a force to be reckoned with . . .

A Narrowly Averted Disaster

I was just walking through my darkened office while taking a swing of cold coffee and I proceeded to dump it down the front of my lucky GO ANNABELLE t-shirt.

Thanks to my lightening-quick-cat-like-reflexes, I got the coffee off the shirt before it stained.

No whammies - No whammies . . . ;-)

Saturday Update

I know - weird, isn't it?

Little Annabelle is now resting in a crib at the NICU instead of the super-duper-baby-saver-2000 bed. They moved her to the crib in preparation for our little family sleepover tonight.

So Annie continues to get stronger and eat and eat and EAT! One thing that was a little difficult yesterday was that the Urologist ordered Annabelle to be catheterized once every 4 hours. It's a real drag.

The idea behind it is that most children with Spina Bifida do not have good bladder control and end up with some sort of catheter regimen sooner or later (usually after a painful bout with a kidney infection). Now a-days the Docs start the catheter regimen right away in an effort to avoid what they feel is the inevitable kidney infection.

Its not fun. But I am sure that with some practice, it will become a routine part of the diaper change process for us. We continue to pray for her development and are hoping that, once again, Annie Lu proves the docs wrong and develops bladder and bowel control.

We had some family fly into town yesterday and more family is coming to town today. I am stuck at the office trying to make up for lost time this past week before heading back to the hospital.

Please keep us in your prayers this weekend - we are so close to taking her home that it feels like I don't want to DO ANYTHING that might "jinx" us. I am sporting my GO ANNABELLE t-shirt and just might wear it from now until the moment the little peanut is home on Monday.

I Have Never Looked So Forward To A Monday . . .

I just came back from my lunch-time visit to the hospital. The PT showed us all the exercises that we need to do with Annie today - no big deal. She said that the orthopedic people may eventually put casts on her legs to straighten them out but we will have to wait and see.

The doctor says that, barring unforeseen circumstances, Annabelle can go home on Monday! Amazing!

There are a few things that have to happen between now and then though:

1) We are meeting with the geneticist today to go over family histories etc.

2) Annie needs to be transported back to Children's Hospital this afternoon for an x-ray to make sure her urinary track is in good working order.

3) Because children with spina bifida frequently have trouble with bladder control, the nurses want to make sure that we are able and comfortable catheterizing her every 4 hours - just to be on the safe side

4) We are meeting with the urologist tomorrow

5) The hospital has a pseudo-apartment near the NICU where Holly, Annie and I will stay tomorrow night. This will give us the chance to practice being on our own while the entire NICU is just down the hall - these people think of everything!

6) Sunday the three of us will all rest and recover from what just might be a sleepless night Saturday night.

7) We may all spend a second night in the NICU dorm on Sunday - just depends.

9) A family who previously had a baby in the NICU donated three car beds to the hospital for patients like us to take home for free! It is basically what you would expect if someone took the concept of an infant car seat and converted it to a bed. This way Annie can ride in the car laying down as opposed to in a car seat that would damage her still-healing back. We need to have Bella try it on for size to make sure it works for her.

And then we go home Monday!

The discharge nurse will make all our initial appointments with the Pediatrician, Spina Bifida Clinic, Neurologist, Plastic Surgeon, Orthopedics and Urologist so we will be off and running with all the various componants of care for Annabelle starting next week.

Whew!

So we have the weekend to get the house in order, give the dawg a bath etc. - goodness gracious. Monday never looked so good!

Our First Date

Thank goodness it is Friday. I woke up this morning and felt like - well . . . it wasn't good. I am running on fumes at this point and looking forward to getting some nap time tomorrow (have to make that 6am daily check-in).

I got up this morning, dragged myself into some casual-Friday-wear and headed to the hospital.

Annie just keeps looking better and better. I got to hold her and feed her and when she was all done we had our first play date! She was awake and alert and I just held her and we chatted the morning away.

She told me that mom gave her a sponge bath last night and that it was fun! Annabelle also said that nurse Emma took great care of her last night and that she was looking forward to nurse Amy coming back today.

I told Bella that after 7 days of laying on her stomach her noggin was starting to look funny - sort of flat on both sides - and that we needed to figure out a way to get her sleeping on her back so her head will round out.

Annie Lu replied that she was drop-dead-gorgeous-just-the-way-she-is-and-that-everyone-knows-it-and-besides-round-is-not-the-same-as-smart-and-if-anyone-wants-to-disagree-she-would-be-glad-to-give-them-a-perfectly-round-knuckle-sandwich.

I said she had a good point but that violence was not the answer . . . .

The physical therapist is coming by at 11:30 today so I plan on running back to the NICU to meet up with her.

Yesterday, the PT put Annie through the paces with some exercises and I was told that sweet-pea was not pleased with it at all. Which sort of makes me glad - if she can feel discomfort in her ankles it means that there is some neuro-action going on down there.

Still no definitive word on when she might come home "2-days" seems to be the current status.

Grandpa put together her bassinet yesterday so at least we have a place for her to land when she does come home! (which reminds me, I need to survey the folks and find out what they all want to be called - grandpa, papa, hey old guy . . .etc) ;-)

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

GO ANNABELLE!

THEY ARE TAKING THE LAST TWO IVs OUT RIGHT NOW!!!!!

I just got the call at work and I am fighting back the tears. Oh man. It's a GREAT day in Annie-land!

Thursday Update (Part 2)

I spoke with the nurse this morning and she said that Annabelle had a great night - she slept and slept and ate and ate and ate and slept some more.

The nurse thought they would remove the last two tubes today which are only carrying saline at this point. She also said she thought Annie would be going home in "a couple of days".

The nurse asked about the wife and wanted to know if she had gotten any sleep last night. The nurses have really ganged up on her - passing the word from shift to shift that mommy needs to rest. Their concern was that Holly would run herself down to the point of getting sick and then wouldn't be able to enter the NICU at all.

It seems to have worked as the wife stayed home this morning to sleep in and plans on running some errands before heading to the hospital.

I can't wait to get back to the NICU at lunch and then after work to see what progress has been made.

Its like Christmas three times a day!

Thursday Update

The shifts at the NICU are 12 hours long - 7am-7pm and so on. They kick all the parents out from 6:45 to 7:45 so that the nurses going home can review charts with the incoming replacements. Each nurse is assigned to two babies during their shift.

All that to say, I am trying to get into the hospital by 6am and 6pm everyday so that I can get an update from the person who has been with Annabelle for the last 12 hours. Last night after picking up the dawg from the vet (his annual tune up) I raced into the NICU at 6:15pm to hear what news there was worth hearing.

The nurse was removing the two IV food drips as I arrived. The two tubes are still in Annie Lu's neck but they are just running saline through them to keep the lines open in case they are needed. Annabelle is now getting all her food by mouth. Just amazing.

The PT did not come by yesterday afternoon and tape Annie's feet after all. She said that actual exercises would be much more beneficial than tape and since the doctor told her we would be taking her home in a couple of days, the PT figured she would just hold off on the taping.

We still are in shock and disbelief that there is a possibility Annabelle will be coming home this weekend. I asked the nurse, "I thought that babies who were in the critical section of the NICU were then "graduated" to the non-critical side before being discharged."

Turns out that most of the babies in the NICU are pre-mies (sp?). Once they are stabilized on the critical side, they are moved to the non-critical side basically until they have the whole eating / body weight thing worked out. Since Annie is eating fine and her weight is good, she will probably skip the other side of the NICU when she is discharged.

I was relating this news to a friend and she said, "Let me get this straight, on top of all the physical miracles, now your daughter is a honors student who is skipping a grade?"

I reckon.

Annie is still having the dressing on her back changed everyday by the plastic surgeons. The neurologist has not yet changed the dressing on her head covering the shunt. Annie still cannot put any pressure on her back so how we are supposed to get her home in a car seat is a mystery to me.

I will try and snap some pictures with the camera phone when I go in this morning.

So with all the great news we have had this week, Annie is still in the NICU and, while we can't wait to get her home, the thought of having Annie at home comes with a certain amount of anxiety as well.

It is all I can do to keep from grabbing the nurse and saying, "Let me get this straight - today she is in one of the best NICU's in the country surrounded by state of the art equipment and a round-the-clock staff who had to go to medical school just to be qualified to look after my little girl for 12 hours at a stretch and tomorrow she is going to be AT MY HOUSE? IN A BASSINET? BEING WATCHED 24/7 BY THE FAMILY DAWG? GET SERIOUS!"

I suppose all new parents feel similarly. but still . . .

I know I keep saying it over and over but I am so thankful for all the support we have received in terms of friends and family basically carrying us through all this. But even more importantly, I am just so thankful for all the prayers you have been sending up on Annabelle's behalf.

As I visit three times a day, every time I see her, she looks better and better - I can almost see her healing and getting stronger right in front of my eyes. Amidst all the tubes and wires of the past week, it is as if the most important tube of all has been her prayer IV - picking up the slack where all the others leave off.

Some time ago, it occurred to be that our due-date was August 27th - just before Labor Day (hence the Labor-Day challenge cd in the right-hand column). I would really appreciate it if you would continue to pray us through the next two weeks.

I don't think we would even have her were it not for the countless prayers over the past few months. And I just can thank you enough.

GO ANNABELLE!

This little piggy went to . . . WHOA! Did you see that?!

Yesterday after work I ran to the book store and picked up Annie's first Bible:

When I got to the hospital, i went straight to the NICU on the first floor. Turns out everyone was up in Holly's room on the 6th floor. A nurse had just finished feeding Annie and she asked me if I wanted to hold her. OF COURSE I want to hold her but . . . In her condition, I figure that there must be a certain degree of risk every time you pick her up and if we are going to risk it, I would rather the wife get the chance to hold her.

I told the nurse that I was ok with not holding her.

"Nonsense. Sit down", she said while pointing at the recliner near Annabelle's bed.

I sat down and leaned back. The nurse gently cradled little Annie and laid her on my chest and then covered her with a blanket. Annabelle laid there perfectly content, looking around and alternately grasping and letting go of my fingers.

I read to her out of the new Bible I had bought and it was absolute bliss. I pictured us spending an entire Saturday like that - both of us sprawled out on the couch . . . Man o man.

As I have mentioned before, Bella is gulping down her feedings and doing great. It turns out that as a general rule, once an infant in the critical area of the NICU is off all the wires and tubes, is stabilized and eating well, she is "graduated" to the less-critical side of the NICU. We aren't sure when Annie will "graduate" but it seems like it might be soon.

The doctor in charge of the NICU talked with Holly this morning and said that we may be able to take Annie home this weekend. Which just seems too good to be true.

So, just to recap:

1) The doctors did not expect Annabelle to survive very long after birth - we are now going strong on day 6

2) The doctors said if she did survive she would not be able to breathe on her own - she needed a little encouragement to get started but, once she got going she has been doing great

3) The doctors said that if she survived and if she breathed, that she would not be able to swallow - she is powering through the bottles at every feeding

4) The doctors said that even if she did survive, breathe and swallow, she would be paralyzed from her upper back on down . . . .

This morning we met with the physical therapist who came in to assess Annie Lu. I stood there holding my breath as she poked and stretched and flexed and prodded our little miracle. As I understand it, it is hard to assess newborns in terms of their quads and hamstrings and the PT said she was not seeing a lot of action there.

Annabelle's feet are both clubbed which means they are turned inward and upward so that the arches of her feet are touching the inside of her calves. The PT explained that even if Annie does not ultimately use her legs for mobility, it would still be important for her to do weight-bearing exercises in order to develop her leg bones and muscles etc. In order to do that, her feet need to be fixed.

After checking Annabelle out, the PT remarked that she thought much of the straightening process could be accomplished just by taping her ankles with athletic tape and she said she would come back this afternoon to tape her up.

Then she said something interesting. She said that it appeared that Annie's feet were turned in part due to her muscles contacting and pulling her feet inward - which means at least some neurological signals are being received in her lower legs.

Then she ran her finger along the outside of Annie's right foot and the wife and I stood in wonder as we watched Bella wiggle all five of her toes. The PT did the same on Annie's left foot and two of her toes flexed.

The PT also went on to explain that the swelling along Annabelle's spine due to the surgery might be suppressing some of her nervous system and that we might see even more "action" once the swelling has gone down.

It was just amazing. We aren't going out and buying her first set of track shoes just yet but it was so encouraging to hear that they were going to work on straightening her feet today and I just can't explain what it was like to see those little piggies flex.

Just before the PT left, she asked if anyone had checked to see if Annie could hold her head erect. We said no one had checked yet and the PT gently sat her up and let go of her neck. "Whoa!", the PT exclaimed. "That's really good - this baby is really strong!"

That's my girl.

So that is the latest - every day brings new hope and even more fervant prayers. She is our miracle baby and when I say "our" I mean all of ours - all those who have been hoping and wishing and praying and crying and checking in for the past few months.

I can't tell you why God answers some prayers the way we want and not others - I am just so grateful for the joy and relief he has graciously given us these past few days. I joked with a friend that we had so many little children praying for Annabelle that God's didn't dare take her from us - he was at risk of losing too many disappointed future congregants.

Please keep praying - there is healing left to do and miracles yet to be realized.

And GO ANNABELLE!

Lunch Break

I am back at work today while the wife holds down the fort at the hospital with family and friends. I took a long lunch break and snapped a few pics with my phone.

The doctors are saying that once Annabelle has established a sufficient eating routine, they can remove the two IV feeding tubes.

That would mean that Bella would be completely free from all the tubes and wires she has had to endure since gracing us with her presence.

It is all happening so fast it is surreal. Is she really four days old? Great googly moogly.

Tuesday Morning - 8/12

Oh brother - I have spent the last hour trying to type up all the wonderful instances of support and encouragement that we have experienced over the past few days and I came to the conclusion that any effort to somehow list or quantify it all is utterly futile. So instead, I will just offer a couple examples just so you can get a small glimpse of our world this past weekend.

After the C-section, I followed Annie down to the NICU and stayed until she was settled. Then I hurried out to the waiting room to update whomever might be there. As I came around the corner, it seemed as if our friends were filling up half the room.

The first person I locked eyes with was my dear friend Wendy but I wasn't in earshot yet so I just cracked a feeble smile to let her know things were okay and she immediately burst into tears.

The following day, after Annie came out of her 5-hour surgery and I got the news that she had pulled through like a champ, I called my wife in her room and gave her the good news - it sounded as if everyone on her hospital floor was bursting into tears of joy.

Nurses, doctors, doctor's spouses, other patients, friends, family and an army of people we don't even know but whom have been e-mailing and commenting on the blog have all been praying and pulling for us. We are so utterly grateful. I don't know how we could get through this without all your love and support.

Not to mention things like this (you may have to scroll down to the video posted on 8/11) - good lord in heaven above. I told my wife that we are going to spend the rest of our lives trying to be worthy of the great friends we have.

That being said - I am sure you would rather hear about the girls so here is the update:

Holly was discharged from the hospital yesterday but they let her stay in her room one more night for free. When I arrived at the NICU at 5:30am this morning, Holly was sitting in the waiting room - clearly upset.

It turns out that Annabelle was in pain a good portion of the evening and did not get any sleep. they put her back on pain medication but Holly was told that she was not allowed to nurse her until Annie had gotten some rest first.

I took Holly upstairs to her room for some breakfast and she fell asleep in short order after that. I went down to the NICU and checked in on Annabelle (who was sleeping soundly) and chatted with the nurse who confirmed everything Holly had told me.

When the doctors told me they were taking Annie off her pain meds Sunday night, I was both relieved and trouble at the same time. The fact that she didn't need a bunch of drugs in her system was good news but you would think that after two major surgeries, a person would be in pain. Why wasn't she in pain? Was the neurological damage that extensive?

The doctors assured me that any discomfort would show up as an elevated temperature, blood pressure and heart rate - not to mention her little expression. I spent most of my time in the NICU yesterday with my eyes glued to her digital read-out but never saw any indication that she was anything other than comfortable. That all must have changed last night.

So while I am saddened that wee-one had a tough night, I am also relieved that she has the ability to feel discomfort.

It was a tough night for my girls but they are resting and regrouping for the next assault.

So what is the next step?

Barring any unforeseen troubles, it is all about recovering and going home at this point. Holly and Annie are bonding and nursing just fine for the most part. Holly will be going home this evening for the first time which I expect to be difficult on her to say the least ( I am considering sleeping in my clothes for the inevitable 2am "Let's go back" nudge from the wife).

Yesterday I asked the plastic surgeon when we could expect to have Annie's stitches removed and he said, "A week from Thursday when you come to the office for a check up".

Uh, wha?

Apparently he is under the impression that Annie will be an outpatient by next week. Of course, he can only speak for the plastic surgery portion - we will still need the thumbs up from the neurology and orthopedic teams - not to mention the doc in charge of the NICU.

I don't see how you go from THIS last Friday:


To going home a week later.

Then again, our little girl has been full of surprises ever since she arrived.

On a side note:

On my drive home last night I pictured dancing in the kitchen (me and my wife's preferred home dance floor) with little Annie in my arms. Then the thought struck me - "What if she isn't able to use her legs?"

"Then we will dance twice as much until she can" was the thought that immediately followed.

Then I log on this morning and find this video posted by my niece.

Thank you for all your continued prayers and support - we aren't out of the NICU woods yet but we are making progress!

GO ANNABELLE!

Monday morning update

I spoke to Heather Mercer this morning. She is acting as the Linden conduit today.

Holly is continuing to recover well, possibly at a rate too quick for her liking. She is still a bit sore and moving slowly, but they will likely discharge Holly today if all the doctors give her the expected clean bill of health. If she is discharged, it will mean that Holly will be at least 20 minutes away from Annabelle, which no new mother would be happy with.

Heather stayed with Holly last night so Matt was able to head home and sleep in his own bed. He is spending a half day at work, probably buried in paperwork, before returning to the hospital this afternoon. He will likely arrive just in time to take Holly home.

Holly was able to spend several hours with Annabelle last night. Some of the time was for nursing, but really any excuse to hold Annabelle will suffice. Heather mentioned that Annabelle held on to Holly's finger so tight it seemed it was turning purple. Annabelle clearly knows her parents voices and touch. Heather laughed as she told me that when Annabelle grabbed her own finger, it was only a quick grab before she straightened her tiny fingers to let go. Whenever she hears Mom or Dad's voice, Annabelle's eyes pop open and she searches for their face.

There is no real time line for Annabelle's discharge at this point. They will run a few tests each day to monitor her health and neurological development. I don't think they are being vague when they don't give an expected date, I think they simply don't know. Annabelle is one tough cookie, rewriting a little history each day, but she has been through a lot in her first few days. The doctors just want to be sure everything checks out before sending her home.

Please continue to check back, and keep the Lindens in your thoughts and prayers. Sean

Nursing

As you see below, Matt had a chance to get home to post among other things. He got a call to get back to the hospital ASAP - Holly was going to get to nurse Annabelle for the first time. All the surgeons had convened and give the A-OK to proceed.

Annabelle is not quite suckling yet, but when Holly tries to pull her away, she starts to cry. The girls are bonding. The doctors will likely leave the feeding tube in until tomorrow, depending on how Annabelle takes to nursing.

The waiting room is full of friends and family, and it continues to be a good day.