The Bear in the Bathtub

~The Happy Bear Cub After a Nap~

A little she-bear cub has come to reside at the Aguiar residence lately.  I think she ate the little bird that used to coo so sweetly and softly, although I still hear that bird faintly every once in a great while.  This little cub growls all.the.time, but only when happy or extremely excited about something or just carrying on a simple conversation.  Unhappiness or urgent opinions are still expressed with fussing noises.  The cub is cute, so we have decided to keep her...as long as she lets the little bird come out and sing once in a while.  She made quite the mess this morning and needed a bath, so this is our happy little cub enjoying one of her favorite moments of the day.  Enjoy!!

Six Months Old

~Yeah for 6 months old!!~

The days pass so quickly these days as we settle into life at home and attempt to develop a consistent routine with our little girl.  You would think that after two months, we might have this down by now; but I think {I hope!} every new set of parents goes through this during that first year with a new baby.  The adjustments have been compounded with the barrage of appointments those first several weeks; but with that part starting to wane, life is seemingly more calm these days, and Noelle especially seems to like the predictability of her days.  She actually seems to be turning into quite the little homebody!  While I have attempted to keep various noises going throughout the day and night so that she does not become accustomed to pure silence, there is no getting around the fact that our home is a fairly peaceful environment.  Music, cooking shows, talking, fans, the washing machine and dryer, and even the vacuum do not make up for the alarms, multitude of voices, various machines and other babies' cries which she heard in the NICU at any given moment {often, all at the same time!}; and now that she has had consecutive days of being at home, she really seems to like and prefer her own space.  That is not to say that she still does not do well when we are out with her.  She still does quite well as long as we are not in places which are overstimulating for her {preemies overstimulate extremely easily, even months after discharge from the NICU}, and so we are slowly and carefully venturing out into uncrowded places so that we can not only accomplish a few things but so that she can also begin to slowly build her own immunities.

Noelle turned 6 months old this past week and weighed 5lbs. 11oz. as of Sunday.  I felt a small twinge of disappointment when I saw the number on the scale as I was hoping she might reach 6lbs by her six month birthday and thus average a pound a month.  However, she is very close and has had good, consistent and proportional growth, so I truly cannot complain.  It does mean that we will probably not be making Father's Day our first Sunday at church but just knowing that she will be home with us for Father's Day is gift enough.  This little girl becomes more and more precious to us each day, and we are loving every minute of watching her grow and change.  The pictures that follow will better {and more interestingly} show the changes in this sweet little miracle God has given to us.  Her expressions are priceless!!  As always, we continue to appreciate your fervent prayers for this blessing of which God has allowed us to be stewards.

 Bath time is still the most exciting part of the day...

~Goofy Tongue Grin~

~Really?  You want ANOTHER smile?~

~Well, okay!!~

~You can have as many as you like!~

~Bath time is the best!~

~Perspective~

~Sparkling Eyes~

~Bath time brings out the talker in me!~

 These pictures were taken on her official 6 month birthday...

~I LOVE my frog!!~

~I found my hands....they absolutely fascinate me!!~

~I can't figure out why he doesn't talk back....~

 We always love visiting Gigi and G'Pa....

~Snuggling with Gigi and showing off my pants from Aunt Barbie~

~I love G'pa's noises~

~Visiting with G'pa~

~Talking all about my day~

~Oh but wait...Daddy has the camera???!!~

~...I must say hello...~

~...and flash a cheesy grin!!~

~ Five Months Old ~

~First family outing: a walk outside~

Some days I wonder where the time has gone these past months; other days, it seems that we have been in the midst of this journey for as long as I can remember.  Long or short, either type of day is still a good day and one for which we are very grateful to God.

~Cozy and warm in the stroller~

~Tuckered out from a long day of appointments~

~Ready for our walk~

Noelle is continually changing before our eyes, and we become easily excited at every little sign of growth that we see.

While life is still quite hectic as we have multiple doctor appointments to attend {5 this week alone!}, we are starting to see things settle down and are beginning to figure out life as a family of three.  Our precious bundle continues to adapt well at home in her own space, and she is beginning to communicate more and more each day with smiles and tiny noises.

~Checking out new toys~

~Helping Daddy work on the computer~

~Very focused..~

She weighed 4 lbs. 9 oz. last Thursday, and we are looking forward to seeing how much more weight she has gained at her appointment tomorrow.

She still is not close to fitting into newborn clothes, but she is filling out her preemie clothes more and more each day, and we cannot wait for the day when she completely outgrows them, and we can pack them away to be used for her doll clothes when she is older.

~Relaxing with Daddy~

~Sweet snuggles~

At the end of this post, I have included some extra photos of Noelle from her bath tonight in which she was all smiles, so I hope you enjoy them almost as much as we do!!

~Reading a bedtime story with Mommy~

As always, thank you for your continued prayers, and we look forward to reporting having reached the 5 lb. mark very soon!!

~Tiny but growing!!!~

~Sweet, Happy Girl~

~My face is starting to fill out!!~

~I like to smile with my eyes!!~

~...and I'll wave at you too!!~

NICU Day 102 ~ ( March 18th)

~Getting Warm after Bath Time~

Noelle had a pretty uneventful day as she continued her trend of growth.   Last night (after our blog post), we called the hospital to get her weight, and she had gained 20 grams.  Tonight we weighed her before her bath, and she had gained another 20 grams for a grand total of 1, 290 grams / 2 lbs. 13.5oz.  We are very excited that she should reach 3 lbs. this week!!  We are still praying for wisdom for her medical team as they seek how to handle her possible tummy issues.  Our prayer is that when they repeat the x-ray test that they will be able to make a definitive decision and not have to move forward with a biopsy.  She should be big enough for them to re-test in approximately one week to ten days, and we're thankful to be getting closer to decision points on which our home going hinges.  We are thoroughly enjoying our growing baby girl and are amazed at how "big" she is each time we see her.
My favorite parts of today include the following:
~Her Aunt Donna snuggling her while I had to be gone for church
~Bath & Snuggle time
~Her night nurse letting me know that she would snuggle her tonight when she got her out to feed her

~Sleepy, Snuggly Girl~

I'm so incredibly grateful for the nurses and other medical staff (respiratory therapists, nurse practitioners, etc...) that take care of our sweet girl.  Words could never begin to express how much these people mean to our family.  We love you, NICU family!!!

NICU Day 100 ~ (March 16th)

How do you celebrate day 100 in the NICU?  My first thought was to bake 100 cupcakes for our NICU family to enjoy (Yes, my husband called me crazy.  Maybe I will do that on day 100 of being home!).  My second thought was to take a good nap.  Neither happened, and it was a busy, "normal" day but one filled with grateful hearts for how far God has brought us along in this journey.  It is easy some days to try and look ahead and figure out how much longer this particular part of the path must continue, but this makes us weary in the process.  Days like today make us stop and be thankful for each step that has already been taken and praise God for His incredible goodness to us.  Noelle celebrated today by doing the following things:

~Wearing a pretty outfit from Grandma McDowell (it almost fits her now!) and headband from Chastity...

~Getting her picture taken with Dr. Tatum (the neonatologist who has been the face of comfort for us since before she was born.  We cannot say enough good things about this doctor who has taken such wonderful care of our daughter.  She has not made it easy on him!)...

~Getting her picture taken with her nurse, Jennifer, who was the first one to let Mommy hold her (in her hands for a few short moments) just a couple of days after she was born...

~Taking a bubble bath (which she really liked this time!)...

~And settling in for the night with a bottle...

While today marked day 100 in the NICU, she will actually turn 100 days old tomorrow at 11:27a.m.  We thank God for each day with our precious daughter and look forward to the days He allows us in the future.  Thank you for praying.

NICU Day 98 ~ (March 14th)

A Day in Pictures

Noelle had a very busy day today amidst all of her normal eating and sleeping times.   She conversed with Daddy....

...played airplane pacifier with Daddy...

...took a nap with Daddy...

...took a bottle from Aunt Donna...

...snuggled with Aunt Donna...

...cuddled with Mommy...

...tried out her doll swing (outside of her isolette) while Mommy was busy and could not hold her...

...(this picture gives some perspective of size)...

...visited with Uncle Jim...

...listened to stories on her recorder and took a nap in her swing...

...took a quick bath and weighed in at 1,200 grams / 2 lbs. 10 oz.!! (They usually weigh her in the middle of the night but tonight we got to weigh her early since it was bath night.  She weighed in at 1,180 grams last night and gained another 20 today!!)...

...took another bottle and went right to sleep.

We love and miss you, sweet girl, and cannot wait to see you again tomorrow!!  Good night...