A Few Firsts

Today is Amelia's 5 th full day home. Is it possible to spoil an infant in 5 days? It seems she prefers to be held during naps vs. sleeping in her bassinet. Hmmmm...do you think Grandma and Grandpa had anything to do with that? :)
Speaking of Grandma and Grandpa...Amelia had her first babysitters last night. Ford asked my parents to watch her for a few hours while he took me out to dinner for our 3 year anniversary. How strange and fun it felt to go out to dinner knowing we had a little bundle at home we had to get back to. Surreal parenthood moment.
Another first...first bath today!! We were waiting for her umbilical cord to fall off before placing her in a tub. The lack of humidity at home has slowed down the sloughing process in the areas where the skin was being stubborn so, we thought a bath would help speed this along. It did! We were told water was good for her skin as long as she is well lubricated afterward to seal in moisture. Since being out of her tropical isolette at the hospital, we've noticed some dry skin in her cracks crevices and on her back...these are places that the humidity couldn't reach. We were told she may "slough" again, not like before, more like "flake" from dry skin. They said not to panic, that it's part of the process. Easier said than done, but we are trusting that with each step and each day, she is healing more and more. I wish I could say she loved bath time but I'm afraid she cried the whole time, pooped on her Dad when the bath was over, and then passed out from exhaustion. Maybe next time.
We are adjusting to life with a newborn pretty well. She sometimes sleeps in 5 hour stretches at night usually waking 2 times to eat. She is still sporting a healthy appetite! She likes to snuggle. And she really enjoys doing her homework. (We brought home some black and white images that her nurses hung in her isolette...she loves to stare at them, she's a genius). :)
We have not heard the results from her foot prick checking her electrolyte levels. Hopefully that is a good thing and we'll find out tomorrow. We are confident she is fine, as she drinks like crazy and has plenty of wet dipes! Still, praying for only good news.
We will keep you updated throughout the week. Thank you for your comments. We love hearing from all of you, and we love knowing you are keeping up with our Amelia's progress.
Psalm 103:3
Praying for healing,
Kim, Ford and Amelia

2 Week Check Up

Amelia had her 2 week pediatrician visit today. She's tip top. She weighed in at 10 lbs and measured 21 inches. Big girl! She is in the 95th percentile for weight, 75th for length, and 90th for head circumference. Wow! Everything about her is healthy!! Her doctor told us today that the dermatologist at Vanderbilt (whom we have not met yet) would like her to get weighed as well as have her electrolytes checked weekly, just for a few weeks to be sure she is not getting dehydrated now that she is home. So, we will go to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital's lab to have her little foot pricked so the dermatologist can have access to the results. Although she does not have an appointment until October to see the him, he has offered to meet us next week with the understanding that he won't be able to tell us anything about her condition, or lack there of, by looking at her at this stage. Just a consultation. Although we want to be informed to an extent...let's just say there is still so much anxiety surrounding all of the unknowns. A big lesson in parenthood. All we can do is continue to believe in the power of prayer and God's healing as we take care of her at home. We are overwhelmed with the amount of people who know about her story and have added her to their prayer lists. We have been told that entire congregations and prayer groups are praying for her, plus our family and friends have been spreading the word like crazy. Keep them coming!! Amazing...one little life, so much prayer. We can't tell you what a gift you all are in our lives, in her life.
Love
Kim, Ford and Amelia

She's Home!

Amelia is home! Wow, what a day. We thought we'd never get out of the hospital this morning. But finally, around noon, we pulled up to 1807 Beechwood to find a big "Welcome Home, Amelia" banner and pink ribbons on the tree out front, courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Lotoszinski. They patiently awaited her arrival and then loved her up for hours.

Finally, we can snug our bug in the comfort of our own home. And that's just what we did...all day. Making up for lost time. She was a bit more fussy today than usual. We think she might hate clothes, she's been naked for so long!! :) Her skin is reacting just fine to the open air. We still have the Aquafor and eye drops regime at every feeding. Just part of our routine for a while. We pray that things just get better and better.

It turns out the dermatologist does not need to see her until she is about 2 months old. We scheduled an appointment for October with the option to come earlier if we feel it necessary. There is definitely some anxiety associated with these future visits, but happily we get to just have some time just to adjust to life as a family for a while. Today is a good day. We are definitely sighing a huge sigh of relief now that she is home.
Please continue to pray, pray, pray...for a successful transition from hospital to home, for her continued complete and total healing and for peace.

God is good and we are so thankful.
We love you all very much,
Kim, Ford and Amelia

Homeward Bound

We got news today that Amelia will be able to go home with us tomorrow! The dermatologist paid us a visit, told us she looked great, gave us some pointers for the transition, and said we could leave in the morning. There will of course be follow-up with another dermatologist, hopefully in the coming days, but for right now her condition is stellar. She has just a small amount of the original skin left on her toes and fingertips, and this should dissipate in the next couple of days. The nice folks in the NICU found us a hospital room to stay in for the night, so we are rooming-in with Amelia tonight. She's been moved from the humidified incubator (the humidity was decreased this morning to 50%) to an open-air crib in our room. The maintenance folks checked the humidity on this floor and it was about 45%, so not a big change. Additionally, the nurses talked to someone about getting a humidifier in the room, and so that is currently running.

Amelia is loving her first few hours of freedom, which includes unlimited snuggling with mom and dad, no poking or prodding from strange nurses, and no crying neighbor babies. She is currently asleep (surprise, surprise) in her crib (see picture above), while mom and dad sit and stare at her. I guess we'll just sit here and wait till she needs us or something. We are both feeling really excited at the prospects of getting her home tomorrow, and we're both interested in seeing how she responds to the open air as well as how she responds to wearing clothes (she's basically been naked for two weeks and the NICU t-shirts were a little bit tight on her 9 pound 9 ounce body---it looked like her biceps might bust through at any moment). We'll also be keeping up with the blog in the coming days as things do/do not develop.

Kim and I are very thankful today for so many things. We are thankful for all of you and for all of your support over the last 13 days. It's hard to believe she's two weeks old in a few hours. Please continue to pray for her healing. Healing happens.

All our love-
F, K, and A

August 19, 2007

Today is day 12. It's hard to believe Amelia has been in the NICU for almost two weeks. Life at the hospital has become routine. Luckily we only live about 3 miles away. We make it home for the occasional meal, nap, and to sleep at night. Thank you to everyone who continues to bring us delicious meals. It is so helpful and greatly appreciated!
The doctors have her feeding on demand instead of a feeding schedule of every three hours. Although, she still demands every 3 to 4 hours. :) Last night she weighed in at 9 lbs 4 oz! She continues to grow, the doctors say growth is good for everything! Her "birth skin" is almost completely gone except for some on her scalp, palms of her hands, soles of her feet and some on her back. The doctors have started to decrease her humidity by 10% a day. She is down to 60% today and tolerating it well.
Tomorrow a dermatologist will stop by to take a look at her and talk a little about her care in the days to come. (We will be seeing the Vanderbilt pediatric dermatologist shortly after she is discharged...he cannot visit her here at Baptist). Anticipating these visits are a little nerve racking, all we want to hear are positive things...so please, please pray specifically for a great
visit with the dermatologist, please pray for all of those in charge of her care, and of course her complete and total healing!! We are so thankful for her progress thus far and we so believe in the power of prayer. Again, we cannot thank you enough for praying for our baby.
Love to you all,
Kim, Ford and Amelia

August 17, 2007

Double digits today. Ten days old! Just wanted you all to see a recent photo of Amelia, we took this tonight at our 9:00 pm feeding. Her "birth skin" is not yet completely gone but her face is looking great, look at those eyes!! The rest of her is working very hard. Everyday we get a little closer.
Amelia is growing before our eyes. She weighed in tonight at 9 lbs 3 oz...oh my goodness!
Her NICU doctor (we think she might be an angel), had some very encouraging words for us tonight. She is very positive about what is to come. She even said that she thinks we've been airing on the side of conservative considering Amelia's mild Collodion condition. Great to hear and conservative is fine with us. We know she is getting great care. Next to come...as the membrane continues to slough, she and the dermatologist will be discussing the "step down" process in which Amelia is weaned off of the high humidity. Also, her regime may change a bit, again we are waiting for instruction as they decide. Before the doc left, she looked Amelia over again and actually said that she thinks Amelia might be the sweetest baby she's ever seen. :) We agree. God is great.
Please, please keep the prayers coming, specifically as always, for Amelia's complete and total healing.
We cannot thank you enough for the gift of your prayer.
All our love,
Kim, Ford and Amelia

Word of the day...

Good morning.
Today's word of the day...UNLIMITED.
Here is the story regarding the word of the day verbatim per Ford..."I was standing at the unit putting on her Aquaphor, when one of the NICU nurses approached. She asked how Amelia was doing and said that she saw her when she first came in and that she's looking great. She asked how her new skin was and I told her it looks great now but we would have to wait and see. Then we got to talking about likelihoods and percentages when she said, "you know, some people believe in a higher power and those powers are UNLIMITED (as in not limited by percentages). Then she added, "Sometimes it's hard to remember that in a place like this."
So, keep that word in your minds today and in the days to come, about Amelia but also in your own lives, it's true on so many levels. We know Amelia is being prayed for by so many, even those who don't even know us...I can't tell you how that makes us feel.
God's love and power is UNLIMITED.
Thank you for your prayers.
Love
Kim