Happy napper
Our primary NICU nurse, Rachel
Our primary NICU doctor, Dr. Krueger
What a wonderful group of people God has placed in our lives and hearts forever.
It's been a bit since I've posted. It seems daily life with a toddler makes the time fly twice as fast as usual!! Since being back in Nashville, Amelia has been recovering from her mysterious illness that started with a fever in Michigan. I took her to the doctor when I noticed a peculiar diaper rash and a really red throat. It seems she contracted Hand, Foot, Mouth disease during our travels in Michigan. Poor bugger. For those of you who have not experienced this "disease," it is merely a common virus that young children contract easily as it is quite contagious. Being a virus, there is nothing you can do for it except make them comfortable until is goes away on it's own. Thankfully, she had a very mild strain, and showed no symptoms on her hands or feet, in fact, she acted perfectly fine aside from one night of fever. She is pretty much back to normal aside from a bit of a suppressed appetite. She had her 12 month appointment today and she lost a 1/2 pound in one week! Nothing to worry about said the doc, just due to the illness and sore throat. She is still in the 50th percentile for weight at 21 lbs, and 75th percentile for height at 29 3/4 inches and her head circumference is off the chart! She has several teeth coming in. She is growing in every way and she's healthy from head to toe!
In other news, this past weekend we attended Baptists Hospitals' NICU graduate party. It's a party held once a year and is attended by NICU doctors and nurses as well as NICU patients/graduates from years past. It was a wonderful experience, and an emotional one for me, to be able to take her back there to see her wonderful nurses and especially her very special NICU doctor, Dr. Kreuger. I was unable to hold back the tears when I saw her, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to thank her for her wonderful care she gave as well as her immense optimism regarding Amelia and her condition. As you know, because of the rarity of this condition, the outcome remained to be seen and it seemed most medical professionals that we were in contact with right after her birth seemed to be preparing us for the worst, except for Dr. Kreuger. She held a quiet confidence and remained quite calm and focused throughout the ordeal, I will not forget her peaceful demeanor and her reassuring words. Little did she know at the time, how much hope she had given me while I struggled emotionally with what was happening. Ford and I swore, she must have been angel.
It was wonderful to reintroduce the staff to her and to see the looks on their faces when they saw her and her perfect skin. It was also a chance to give big hugs and say thank you a year later for the wonderful care we received during our two week stay at Baptist following her birth. I keep in touch with Amelia's awesome primary nurse, Rachel. She too was a great source of comfort and optimism during our stay in the NICU, just knowing she was there to tend to her every need, and knowing she prayed for her... If you remember, Amelia was only to be removed from the humidified "Giraffe" twice a day, it was crushing to me that we could only hold her during those two brief releases and that she could not be held the rest of the day/night. Rachel, however, "broke" her out on a few occasions in the middle of the night, when Amelia would wake crying while her mommy was 5 miles away at home sleeping; she snuggled her, rocked her and gave her love when I could not. I was so very grateful for this and grateful that she bent the rules. We got to know her well, and she us, during that time. A friendship I hope will continue for years to come.
I remember the day we left Baptist Hospital to take Amelia home last year at this time. I remember it being a very confusing day. I wanted only to be happy to be able to finally take my beautiful baby home with me, where she belonged. But I also remember feeling a bit angry that we had to go through what we did for the past 2 weeks and mostly, I remember how scared I felt, how part of me wanted to take Rachel and the nurses and doctor with me into the weeks and months to come...looking back now, that's exactly what I did. They remain a part of our lives just as I know they remain a part of the lives of all of the NICU families they've care for.
In other news, this past weekend we attended Baptists Hospitals' NICU graduate party. It's a party held once a year and is attended by NICU doctors and nurses as well as NICU patients/graduates from years past. It was a wonderful experience, and an emotional one for me, to be able to take her back there to see her wonderful nurses and especially her very special NICU doctor, Dr. Kreuger. I was unable to hold back the tears when I saw her, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to thank her for her wonderful care she gave as well as her immense optimism regarding Amelia and her condition. As you know, because of the rarity of this condition, the outcome remained to be seen and it seemed most medical professionals that we were in contact with right after her birth seemed to be preparing us for the worst, except for Dr. Kreuger. She held a quiet confidence and remained quite calm and focused throughout the ordeal, I will not forget her peaceful demeanor and her reassuring words. Little did she know at the time, how much hope she had given me while I struggled emotionally with what was happening. Ford and I swore, she must have been angel.
It was wonderful to reintroduce the staff to her and to see the looks on their faces when they saw her and her perfect skin. It was also a chance to give big hugs and say thank you a year later for the wonderful care we received during our two week stay at Baptist following her birth. I keep in touch with Amelia's awesome primary nurse, Rachel. She too was a great source of comfort and optimism during our stay in the NICU, just knowing she was there to tend to her every need, and knowing she prayed for her... If you remember, Amelia was only to be removed from the humidified "Giraffe" twice a day, it was crushing to me that we could only hold her during those two brief releases and that she could not be held the rest of the day/night. Rachel, however, "broke" her out on a few occasions in the middle of the night, when Amelia would wake crying while her mommy was 5 miles away at home sleeping; she snuggled her, rocked her and gave her love when I could not. I was so very grateful for this and grateful that she bent the rules. We got to know her well, and she us, during that time. A friendship I hope will continue for years to come.
I remember the day we left Baptist Hospital to take Amelia home last year at this time. I remember it being a very confusing day. I wanted only to be happy to be able to finally take my beautiful baby home with me, where she belonged. But I also remember feeling a bit angry that we had to go through what we did for the past 2 weeks and mostly, I remember how scared I felt, how part of me wanted to take Rachel and the nurses and doctor with me into the weeks and months to come...looking back now, that's exactly what I did. They remain a part of our lives just as I know they remain a part of the lives of all of the NICU families they've care for.
