Little Miss Houdini & Mother's Day Weekend

~Oxygen back in the nose...not a happy camper!!~

Well, the tiny person in our household is not very happy with her mother tonight.  We had an appointment two weeks ago at which we discovered that Noelle's oxygen levels were borderline, but they agreed to watch it for a bit longer and wait until we made it through her echocardiogram this past week.  Unfortunately, the echocardiogram revealed that her pulmonary hypertension has not yet resolved, and they are also seeing a possible defect which may or may not be an issue for her at some point.  We will meet with the cardiologist in early July to determine what {if any} course of action needs to be taken, and she will probably be followed periodically for an undetermined amount of time regardless of what they decide based on this particular ultrasound.  The defect is an issue that presented itself shortly after she was born; but then because so many other critical issues arose, this specific finding was forgotten until just recently.  The great news is that she has not been affected clinically by these results.  She has presented no symptoms or major signs of distress, and so it is possible that this is her own normal; however, because it is not "normal" across the board, it will take some special follow-up care through the coming months.  They do not feel that the defect and the pulmonary hypertension are related, so our hope is that as the hypertension continues to resolve that she will be able to come off the oxygen completely again.  In the meantime, they do not want her heart working extra to help her breathe, and so they determined at her appointment today that her oxygen saturation levels are required to be higher instead of the borderline which she has been maintaining.  She is not required to wear the cannula at all times but only while eating and sleeping {which is most of the time}.  The next few days will take some adapting once again as we are "attached," but we easily fell into a system tonight for which I am thankful.  However, Little Miss Houdini has other ideas.  After nearly a month of freedom, she is far from thrilled at the accessory which again adorns her face and has tried many things to rid herself of the bothersome thing including {but not limited to} the following actions: pitiful looks, vigorous shaking of the head, sneezing, spitting, rubbing, and the tried and true good, hard yank.  The coming weeks should be quite the adventure since it will be more than a month before the appointments which address these particular issues will be upon us.

~Saturday Morning Brunch~

 On a sweeter note, we enjoyed a wonderful Mother's Day weekend as a family and spent much time together in thankfulness to God for such a special day.  Tom treated me to breakfast at one of our favorite spots on Saturday, and we actually spent part of Sunday at the NICU with some of her NICU mommies.

~Mother/Daughter Picture...and so begins the endeavor to get good pictures with a baby...~

Noelle actually fit into her very first newborn outfit for the occasion as the style still accommodated her small size.  All other newborn clothes are currently too big, but we have them washed and ready for this growing girl!  She weighed 5 lbs. 2 oz. today and is growing well in all areas, and we are very excited to pass the 5 lb. mark and enter into a "normal" birth weight range.  We will continue to update on her progress and so appreciate the continued prayers for our little miracle.  Honestly, today is not considered a setback.  Clinically, she is doing very well with no changes, and so this extra support is simply to keep her body from burning calories in an area which is not necessary for her to do.  I've included some pictures of her little outfit on Mother's Day, and thank you once again for praying for our sweet girl and helping us make this past weekend possible.  We are truly blessed beyond measure.

~Mother's Day Outfit~

~Captured one smile!!~

~Ballet Slipper Tights~

~A shot of my complete outfit~