Welcome Home Ely!!

The prayers of so many have been answered and today we welcomed home our little baby girl.  What a wonderful day this has been.  While it was an amazing feeling to finally bring Ely home to our house for the first time, the best part of the day was watching Matthew's excitement over her arrival.  This has been a difficult week for him since he has only seen her for a few short minutes last Thursday just after her birth.  As Amy posted earlier this week, he has been trying his best tactics to convince us he was well enough to visit her in the NICU.  It was precious to see him overjoyed by her homecoming.

Ready to Leave the Hospital

Welcome Home!

As we left the hospital, Matthew was eager to help and grabbed hold of Ely's carrier to assist Amy with her precious cargo.  He watched with careful eyes as we navigated home, and when we arrived he couldn't wait to hold her.  First order of business was to unbundle her and setup a spot for big brother to snuggle with his baby sister.  It was truly a special moment...one Amy and I will remember forever.

We have always known that Matthew has a caring and sweet disposition, but the way he has looked after her this afternoon has been fun to watch.  He has wanted to be involved in everything from changing diapers to feeding her.  He will be a wonderful big brother.

We have truly been touched this week by the outpouring of support from friends and family.  Everything you have done for us has been remarkable, but we are especially grateful for the prayers that were lifted up on our behalf.  Thank you to everyone for all that you have done or are doing for us.

On our wedding bands, Amy and I have our favorite verse of scripture inscribed -- Proverbs 3:5-6.  It says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path."  This week, we were faced with some challenging obstacles and stressful circumstances.  Along the way, we kept reminding ourselves that the Lord was in control.  We trusted Him to guide us through this situation, and He was true to His promise.

Welcome home, little Ely Marie!!!

Love, 

Brad, Amy and Matthew

Update No. 6...So Much to be Thankful For

Good Father/Son Snuggles

Today started out rough, but in the end it has turned out to be a blessed day filled with things for which to be thankful.  Matthew had a terrible night last night.  He was up numerous times with fever and cough and ended up in our bed.  He coughed seemingly nonstop from midnight until noon today.  This morning we took him to see his wonderful pediatrician (for the third time since Thursday).  We think Matthew's illness evolved into an ear infection, so we have started an antibiotic appropriate for that.  We also got some medicine to help with the cough during the day, and another for the night (one with codeine so mom and dad can get some sleep).  Having relief from his cough, he slept 3 1/2 hours for his nap today, and woke up a much happier child.  He still has a touch of fever, but he has only had one dose of antibiotic, so we are hopeful that another dose tomorrow will having him on his way back to well.

Ely sporting her gown from
Aunt Ashley and Uncle Andy

Ely had another good night last night.  This morning, we were greeted with good news.  The nurse practitioner and neonatologist have examined Ely's charts and determined that what we thought was a breathing spell yesterday morning, was in fact NOT.  As a result, they now consider her to have gone 48 hours without any incidents.  This is a huge milestone, and one for which we owe God all the praise!!

This afternoon, Amy had an opportunity to visit with Ely's neonatologist, and he told us the best news of all.  They have determined that if Ely can go 72 hours without incident, they will be comfortable to release her, provided she shows no other indications of sickness or difficulty.  With 48 hours under her belt, this will put her at a possible discharge on Wednesday morning!  There is always the possibility of a setback, so we are not getting our hopes too high, but this certainly was encouraging news and we are hopeful of a not-to-distant homecoming.

We have been surrounded by friends and family who have prayed for us all, but especially for Ely, and we believe that God has answered our prayers.  Ely has done remarkably well these last two days, even better than we thought.  Continue to pray that Ely's condition will remain stable and that she will be able to join the rest of the family at home later this week.

Another piece of good news is that Matthew is no longer snubbing Amy.  For the last few days, he has clung to me very closely.  He has wanted little, if anything, to do with Amy.  It is his way of expressing his frustration over her leaving him for so many days - something he does to me on occasion if I have a long day at the office where I don't get to see him much.  Tonight he asked Amy to read to him and put him to bed, which was a remarkable turnaround.  Good medicine for Mom's soul.

Please also continue to pray for Amy, Matthew and me.  Amy has been struggling with asthma/bronchitis-like symptoms the last few days and has all but lost her voice.  She is not feeling as bad as Matthew, but certainly not 100%.  This is particularly challenging with her being only 4 days postpartum.  She has seen her asthma/allergy doctor today and been put on medicines that should help her knock it out.  I too have been fighting off the sinus crud, but haven't yet reached the stage of needing to go to my physician.  Pray that we will all recover quickly so we will be prepared for Ely's homecoming.

Hindsight is an interesting thing.  As we have looked back on these last few days, we have come to the realization that Ely's hospitalization was more blessing that not.  With Matthew's illness, Amy's asthma difficulties and my struggles to stay well, we would have had a difficult, if not impossible, task ahead of us in caring for Ely had she come home with us on Saturday.  The Lord works in mysterious ways, and it certainly does seem that he used her hospitalization to ease our burden.

We cannot express how appreciative we are for the calls, text messages and emails that have encouraged us so much during this challenging week.  Most of all we are appreciative for the prayer support of so many.  It is these prayers that have kept us strong and focused and allowed us to see the good in most circumstances.  Thank you all!

Brad

Update No. 5...

Today was a good day over all.  Our precious Ely is still in the NICU, but seems to be making progress.  She did have two spells this morning where her blood oxygen levels dropped, but she recovered on her own.  After making it all day yesterday with no episodes, we were disappointed to learn that she had had another spell; however, the spells are becoming less frequent, so for that we are grateful.

As we come and go from the NICU, we pass by so many children who are very sick.  It is easy to get so focused on our own circumstances, and be sad that our daughter is having trouble and not at home with us, but as we look around at these children who are much worse off than Ely we are reminded how fortunate we are.  Even when times are tough, the Lord is showing us how to be grateful for what he has given us.

Today, Ely cleared a few small milestones.  She is doing well with her eating, taking 35-40 mL (about 1-1.5 ounces for those who have difficulty with the metric system) per feeding, which we understand is good.  Since she eats so well and has finished her IV antibiotics, she no longer needs her IV catheter, so that was removed today.  She is also maintaining her body temperature very well, so she doesn't need to be under the heater.  As a result, she has graduated to a bassinet!  This may sound like an insignificant event, but to us it was BIG.  Being in a regular bassinet and free from the IV line means she can wear regular baby clothes.  The sweet nurses at Baptist dolled her up today, bow and all.  She even got her first bow, and I am sure it wont be her last.  It was great to see her looking more "normal".  She is still connected to the heart rate monitor, respiration monitor and oxygen saturation monitor, but we are grateful for one less tube.

Ely's brain ultrasound came back completely normal, so that was fantastic news!  We are still waiting on the results of the echocardiogram (which we hope we will have tomorrow).  Provided it is normal, then we understand the next course of action is to give her time.  They will continue to monitor her closely and see if her spells decrease in frequency and severity, in hopes that the go away completely.  If there are no changes, then the doctors may explore other diagnostics.

Even though we have moments where our emotions get the best of us, we truly know that Ely is being well cared for.  The NICU staff at Baptist is amazing!  In fact today, they decorated her new "nursery" area to make the place all her own.  She has her own special name card, hand made by our sweet nurse, Brandy.  As a parent, it certainly eases your anxiety to see that your baby's care givers love and nurture her almost as a parent would.

Unfortunately, Matthew is still sick, and showing little sign of improvement.   He is having a difficult time shaking this illness.  Now his nose is running like a faucet and he has a terrible cough.  We spoke to his pediatrician tonight, and he would like to see Matthew again in the morning.  We are so grateful to have such wonderful doctors to help us, and feel confident that he will get better soon.

I am reminded of the verse in Jeremiah - "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord.  They are plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope."

Thank you to all for your thoughts, prayers and support.

Brad

Update No. 4... "GO DAWGS!!!"

First of all, I want to thank each of you who have left us voice and text messages, emails, and facebook comments.  Your thoughtfulness and prayers have meant so much to us.  Already, words of appreciation just do not seem to be enough.  

So today has been off to a pretty good start.  I was able to get about 5.5 straight hours of sleep at the hospital last night.  I went down to NICU around 5:30 am to visit and feed Ely.  When I arrived, Ely was looking at the wall and when I started talking to the nurse, Ely turned her head toward me.  Such a sweet moment to know that my child recognized my voice. We had great snuggle time and she ate really well.  The nurses informed me that she is definitely a night owl; so, I'm counting on them to get the day/night mix-up straightened out for us.  A perk, I suppose, to having your baby in NICU.  

Ely is still having a few "episodes," of her oxygen levels dropping too low, each day.  The good thing is that she is recovering from those episodes without any assistance.  Also, Brad got to go down for a visit with Ely later this morning.  He met with Dr. Kenny Robbins, the neonatologist.  Apparently Ely is the healthiest baby in NICU and really does not have any problems, other than keeping her blood oxygen levels normal.  They are going to continue to run every test in the book in an attempt to get an answer to what's causing this; even though Dr. Robbins has already told us that there's a good chance she'll just grow out of this and we may never know the "cause."  Transitional apnea may be the answer and the treatment is actually no treatment at all;  but requires close observation and a readiness to provide oxygen in case she needs help.  

So the most popular question of the day is this:  "When will she get to go home?" 

Well, the best I can say is that Ely has to go for several days being perfectly normal and without any episodes before they will even consider sending her home.  This could be at best a week or at worse, many weeks.  

Matthew is still feeling pretty yuck.  He went back to see Dr. Denney this morning and seems to not only be battling Strep throat, but fighting some "croupiness" as well.  His spirits are still fairly good and although his coping mechanisms are not great, he is trying so hard to be sweet and asking for lots of snuggle time.   After Brad took Matthew to see Dr. Denney this morning, it was time to pick me up at the hospital.  Matthew and I haven't seen each other since Thursday morning, so it was quite a joyous greeting at the hospital (for both of us).  He helped me pack, while Brad went down to visit Ely, and was trying to not emotionally fall apart because he couldn't go see his little sister.  We told him when he got better he could go for a visit and immediately, in the most angelic voice, he said, "..but I'm not sick anymore.  I'm all better,"  all while trying to suppress a croupy cough.  Poor thing.  It just stinks to be disappointed!  Looking out the tall window, however, made everything better.  

I've been struggling with some asthma/allergy issues for the last 2 days and Brad is fighting off a sinus infection.  So, while we'd love to have Ely home with us, we will take advantage of the time without a newborn and get some rest and try to recover as quickly as we can from all the crud that seems to be going around.  We will also be spending a good bit of time at the hospital with Ely.  It is a very busy and somewhat logistically challenging time for us right now; but with the fabulous support of our family and friends, the wonderful doctors and nurses caring for both Ely and Matthew, and most importantly, knowing that God is in complete control of everything, we are at peace with this entire situation.  

We didn't get to watch much of the, as Matthew said, Mississippi "Steak" game; but we are thrilled that the Dawgs made ALL of us proud!!!  

One last thing..... many of you have left me voice/text messages about bringing us a meal.  YES!!  I will never turn down food; however, I'm really overwhelmed with other responsibilities right now and have turned over the meal scheduling to one of my sweet friends, Kelly Headley.  Please contact her via cell phone texting or email and BE SURE to leave your name with the message (she may not know some of you who have offered to feed us).  

Kelly Headley:

cell phone:  601-720-8343

email:  bheadley@comcast.net

Thanks again for your friendship and support!  We covet all prayers and look forward to each of you meeting Ely as soon as we can get her home.  

Love to all,

Amy