Day 3

Mark and I are sooo thankful for all of the sweet emails, comments, and texts we've received. We have not had a chance to respond to most of yall but please know we've read everything and are so appreciative of all the kind words and prayers on our behalf. We still covet your prayers and know that Maddie is only here and doing so well because our God is so good and faithful. The more we have learned about her birth the more and more blessed we know that we are that Maddie (and I) are even here today. We would not have made it without the amazing doctors and nurses and where medical technology is today. Madeleine is not only here but she is thriving and surprising everyone by how much progress she has made! We are so blessed!

Well, I hope I don't jinx anything but it looks like 7-10 more days in the NICU is going to turn into more like 24-48 hours! Woohoo! We are super excited! Maddie's white cell count did go up but it is probably only due to her bilirubin increasing and not an infection. There were no growths that showed up on her lab culture this morning so pretty much as soon as she started the new antibiotic she was taken off of it!

Her big task now is to get her feedings all figured out and she seems to have no problems at all! I was really afraid she would have trouble since they didn't let her eat anything for almost two days. But it looks like her hard work with her giant paci has really paid off! She is nursing and being supplemented by pumped colostrum and formula until my milk comes in. As of tonight she is eating enough to be taken off her IV fluids completely. So just today she lost two tubes (the worst ones) she's been tethered to. That sure makes it easier to attend to her.

She's been pretty feisty today as well. She is fighting with having her temperature taken, taking off her bili-mask, and became inconsolable tonight when she had her IV and its tape removed. She previously hadn't even flinched at any of the above tasks. Until today she hadn't fussed when she got a new IV (which seemed to happen at least twice a day). So she is definitely feeling better! Mark and I just smiled when she cried a bunch tonight. It was great to finally hear.