Emily - 2 weeks old!

I have been trying to get this blog up and running since Emily arrived, but trying to describe the events and emotions of the last 2 weeks has been too overwhelming of a task....so, I decided to just start with where we are at today!

Two weeks ago tonight, Emily Grace arrived! Her first photo, compliments of Aunt Jenny, who was in the surgery with Troy and I (and about 20 doctors and nurses):

Her birth weight was 2 lb 4 oz, and she was 14 inches long!

As all newborn babies do, she lost some weight to start with. I think she was about 1 lb 14 oz at her lowest. Here are a couple favorite pics from last week:

Here is Miss Emily today, 2 lb 8.8 oz:

Overall, she has done quite well since her birth. She has had no major complications, and until recently she was doing very well with her breathing as well. She was only on the ventilator for about 24 hours after birth, then on the CPAP for a couple days, and then she was put on the lowest level of support - the nasal cannula. The doctors and nurses were amazed that a baby so tiny was only needing the cannula.

A couple days ago, she started having an increased number of spells where she stopped breathing. This is very common for premature babies, since their central nervous system is not developed enough to "remember" to breathe all the time while still maintaining all the other bodily functions! So, Emily was stepped up to the CPAP to try to stop the spells, but they continued, so she is now back on the ventilator. While we are sad that this seems like a setback, we are so thankful for how well she is doing otherwise, and we are trying hard to remember that this is normal for a baby as tiny as she is.

The good news - feedings are going well, she's gaining weight, her blood work looks great, we got to hold her a few times last week, and she is just beautiful! She will have her first bath in the next couple of days, and we should be able to hold her a little more frequently this week.