No weight check today.

We were supposed to take Marleigh for a weigh in this afternoon. Our pediatrician has an office here in Larned. We loaded Marleigh up & headed to the office. Well, the clinic here in Larned is only open the first 4 Thursdays of the month. So, no weight check today.

Yesterday was my original due date. It really is weird to think that the girls should have still been in my tummy until now. Marleigh is so expressive & has such a big personality. Her facial expressions are priceless! We are so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl as our daughter.

Eyes are perfect!

We had our final ROP exam today. Marleigh's eyes were perfect. She was in her carseat basically from 11:00 to 8:00 & she was such a good baby. We are so proud of her! We got to see the framed book & plaque. It was so thoughtful of Eva. Here are pictures of that as well as a few of Marleigh! The second to last picture is of Julie & Marleigh. The last one is Eva & Marleigh. :)

Finally!!!

Marleigh was wide awake yesterday from 2:00pm until almost 7:00pm. We were hoping that would lead to her sleeping more during the night. Well, last night we fed Marleigh & put her to bed around 10:00. Marc said he would stay up with her. I told him I was feeling lucky, we should both go to bed. Little girl slept clear til 2:00. I got up & fed her at 2:00 & she slept until 6:00! It was pure heaven!!! She was awake this afternoon from 3:00 until 7:00 & full of smiles. Hopefully tonight will be a repeat performance!

We go tomorrow for her final eye exam back to Wichita. We're pretty sure she's in the clear, but have to check once more. We're going to stop by the NICU. One of our favorite nurses, Eva, framed our favorite book "God Gave Us You". She hung it along with a plaque in honor of Marleigh & Natalie. It was incredibly sweet of Eva. We can't wait to see it hanging. I'm sure all the nurses will be amazed at how much Marleigh has grown in the last 3 weeks.

Marleigh christened Grandma!

Grandma came in today to spend some time with Marleigh & give us a little rest. She was changing Marleigh's diaper & apparently wasn't going as fast as Marleigh would like. She pottied all over! We had to change her outfit. It was too funny!

Marleigh likes it when Grandma comes to visit. She knows she can sucker her in to picking her up by making the smallest whimper. It is so good to have family near by to help!

Marleigh's new meds are awesome! Not only is she more comfortable, she is eating larger quantities more frequently. Plus, she's not spitting up near as much. Hopefully she'll really start packing on the pounds!

Please pray that Marleigh figures out that night time is for sleeping. She was up from midnight to 5am last night.

Woo Hoo for Zantac & Mylocin!

I can't believe Marleigh is 3 months old today, yet she still shouldn't even be here! My original due date was April 29. It is crazy to think that little girl should still be in my tummy.

The doctor appointment was about what we expected. We are off of the diuretic & caffeine. Let's just pray that she doesn't start having any apneas being off of the caffeine. If she goes 2 weeks with no A&B's, then we can lose the monitor! We also adjusted our phenobarb dosage. Marleigh was getting 1.125ml twice a day. Now we give her 1.4ml twice a day. Dr. Williams also put Marleigh on Zantac & we got some Mylocin drops. It is insane how quickly they seem to help! Marleigh is sleeping more peacefully right now than she has slept in the last 4 or 5 days! Her attitude was better when she was awake, too!

Marc unplugged Marleigh's monitor tonight & took her on a little tour of the house. Previously she had basically just been in the living room, the bathroom, & her bedroom. Marc showed her a picture of us from our wedding & she just stared at it with a perplexed look on her face. Then we put her in front of a mirror. She studied herself for quite some time. It was so cute!

Any advice?

For the past few days Marleigh has been spitting up quite a bit & seeming unsettled. We're pretty sure it is reflux. We've tried feeding her smaller amounts more frequently, burping her really well, & holding her upright for 30-45 minutes after feedings. No dice. Nothing seems to help. Any advice? She's not spitting up very large amounts, but its pretty frequent.

We head to the pediatrician for a check up tomorrow. They'll weight adjust her phenobarb. The last time it was adjusted was when she was 4 lb 11oz, so it is much needed! Hopefully we can get rid of the diuretic & caffiene tomorrow as well. That would mean only 2 meds instead of 4!

We'll let you know how it goes!

Introduction

Welcome to our new blog! I never thought I would have a blog, but it was a great way to keep everyone updated during our long stay in Wichita.

We have been home nearly two weeks! Time has flown by.

Marleigh is doing pretty well. She still has some choking issues every now again when she eats, but it is nothing Marc & I can't handle. She is still on her apnea/heart rate monitor. So far, the alarm hasn't really gone off, except for a few times when the patches aren't picking her up. I can't wait for the day she doesn't need it anymore & I can pick her up & carry her around the house without worrying about her cords!

Marleigh is getting more active. Especially in the middle of the night! She parties all night & then wants to sleep all day. Back in the NICU, Marleigh spent a lot of nights with Eva, so we'll blame her! Ha ha!!

We had a weigh in for Marleigh today. She is now 5lbs 8oz! It is so good to see her getting chunky. We have her 3 month checkup (wow... can't believe she's that old) on Thursday.

Marc & I are slowly getting back to work. It is difficult with her feeding problems. For now we both have to be herewhen she eats, because when she does choke & require oxygen, one of us has to stimulate her while the other administers the oxygen. We're hoping that she'll grow out of that in the next couple of weeks.

I'll try to get some updated pictures in the next couple of days!