First Monthly Milestone...

At home. 

Fist bump! Aw yeah! 

This was an old blanket I found in the cedar chest that my Grandma Simons gave me. She is the one that passed away after Elizabeth was born, so it seemed appropriate to use. Happy five months Elizabeth. I love you more and more each day.

Sadly

Yesterday was not meant for her to get her button. Just a follow up which I guess shouldn't surprise me because it hasn't been 6 to 8 weeks since her surgery. We were all a little misled. But the doctor was pleased with how she looked. I was however a little less pleased with taking a long drive down there just for a five-minute appointment. Especially when we had to wade through this.

She was super adorable for her meeting though.

And we are glad to be home and having fun this morning.

What do you mean, I love my binky a little too much?

Bath Time

Someone loves bath time!

She at least seems to like being bundled in her towel. But now she's all clean for her appointment tomorrow. We'll be heading down to our favorite Tucson to get her tube changed out for a MIC-key button. 

First FHE

Christmas Lights

Meet the Doggies

She was a little sleepy.

They were both very interested in her.

But Bear seemed especially enamored. Of course, he tends to just push Maddie out of the way and block her so she might have been up there more otherwise. lol!

Home

My View This Morning

I can't believe how well she slept through the night, considering she's in a strange place. But she took it all in, played and smiled for a bit, then fell asleep. I'm hoping this is a good omen for quick adjustment when we get home. 

One Day More

Just one more prescription to be filled tomorrow and then it's discharge time. 

Comparison

For fun...

Newborn

1 month

2 months

3 months

                                 

4 months

                                 

4 Months Old

May we spend her 5 monthiversary at home, right before Christmas. 

Freedoooooom!

Today I gained a little weight...

Lost a little something extra…

Which also occurred right after I got my bag and diaper changed, so I tossed my cookies because I was upset. Fresh pajamas, hooray!

Nap time!

Tomorrow morning the clock will start for mommy and daddy to do an "In Rooming" session over 48 hours where they do everything without the nurse coming in to take vitals. I guess they want to make sure someone is available when questions come up instead of us going home and have questions there without someone to answer them. We're almost home, I can feel it. 

Thanks, Ronald

Yesterday the surgeon said we could start trying bottle feeds again, but somehow the note did not make it to her chart so the nurse wouldn't let me do it. Today, the doctor remedied that and she finally got to try it just now. She struggled a little but did better than I expected for her first try. They are bumping her up 5mL every 9 hours now instead of 12. And aside from her vitamins this morning coming up, she hasn't thrown up. Just normal spit ups like any baby does. 

As in serious going home game plan. It could be as early as this weekend, or early next week, depending on how things go. The manager at the clown house said we could stay a few extra days once she is discharged so we can be close in case anything happens right off. We might do that. And that only solidified my need to thank them in some way. I'm sure glad this turned out. 

That's Right

We finally broke 8lbs. Probably thanks to her being back on lipids, but still!

Education

Today we are going to make sure we are familiar enough with the pump and such. The nurse also suggested looking into g-tube pads so Elizabeth can have something cuter than gauze sitting under her tube port that is washable. I'm currently looking into finding cute ones for a reasonable price. Between the tube and her ostomy bag though, I have a feeling our life might go a little like this for awhile:

No Words Needed

Star-Studded Event

Elizabeth made it through her surgery very well. The rest of the day and night was spent listening to her cry out in pain though. They have been giving her morphine every two hours, but she went for four hours on her own last night at one point. I would wake up on occasion to check on her when she would cry, or when the nurse came in. In between I would have lots of weird dreams with celebrities starring in them. 

I got to see Princess Leia, 

Maggie Smith,

Robert De Niro, 

Dale Earnhardt Junior, 

who then turned into George Strait.

Lucky me, right? I would certainly have traded all of that to have her feeling better. She does seem to be doing better this morning though. We might get to start feeds through her tube today, we will see what the surgeon says.