Noelle's First Week Home

Our first week home with Noelle has been filled with joy and love as she settled into her new surroundings at home.  She has adapted quite well with a nearly seamless transition and overall is a very easy and good baby.  She sleeps nearly 12 hours at night and goes right back to sleep after her feedings every 3 hours.  During the day, she is content to look at her mobile, nap, listen to music, snuggle, and eat.  We are thoroughly enjoying our precious miracle; and while being at home is not free from all anxiety, God has graciously prepared us for these days, and we are truly grateful for each and every moment we have with her.  Yesterday as we thanked God for His Son, Jesus Christ, and His resurrection from the dead, we also gave thanks for 4 months of life outside the womb with Noelle.  She currently weighs 3 lbs. 12 oz. and is quickly approaching the 4 lb. mark!  She has a busy week this week with follow-up appointments, and we are hoping to get some more answers regarding the testing for her intestines.  As always, thank you so much for continuing to pray for us.  As many have reminded us, the journey is not over, but we have simply taken another path in that journey and still need prayer as much as ever.  The pictures that follow are just some of the moments we have captured during her first week in her very own surroundings.  Welcome home, Noelle!!!

~First Bottle at Home~

~First Nap at Home~

~Daddy decided to follow suit~

~First Bath at Home: She slept right through it!!~

~Snuggle Time with Daddy~

~Watching her light up ornament~

~More Sleeping...~

~Holding her own paci!~

~Napping~

~Meeting Grandma~

~Talking with Daddy~

~We took a visit back to the NICU and she weighed in at 3 lbs. 11.9 oz.  {Love Amanda's face in this one :)~

~Visiting with Meredith, one of her sweet nurses~

~Loves playing with Daddy~

~Posing in her outfit from Grandma Wagner~

~Snuggling with Grandma~

~Happy Girl~

NICU Day 117/Home Coming Day ~ (April 2nd)

What an amazing day this turned out to be, filled with grateful hearts and an incredible amount of love.  The day was incredibly bittersweet as we said "see you later" to our NICU family whom we have grown to love immensely.  No words could even begin to describe how thankful we are, not only for the care we received the past four months but also the love and friendships we now have through this journey.  I think the pictures along with the FOX 8 newscast describe that day better than I could ever communicate in words, so please enjoy these special memories captured on "film."

(The people included are not even half of the team that has taken care of her these many weeks.  We still need to go back and capture some pictures we missed with several people!! Thank you, Joy and Lori, for taking so many pictures!)

~Dianne, Noelle's nurse her last night in the NICU (Noelle loved snuggle time with her)~

~We love Dr. Tatum and are so very thankful to God for him and the role he played in Noelle's care~

~Lori, one of Noelle's awesome nurses~

~Dr. Helderman, another of Noelle's wonderful neonatologists~

~Christi & Christina: Noelle's fantastic delivery nurses~

~I asked Donna to dress Noelle in her home going outfit.  It was especially fitting since Donna was the one to dress her for the very first time!~

~All dressed and read to go and snuggling with Aunt Donna (who came in on her day off to see us leave)~

~Noelle's message for the Forsyth NICU (courtesy of Auntie Em ;-)~

~Removing Noelle's things...something I just could not bring myself to do~

~Forever bonded together (I have talked with her at least once a day since Monday!!)~

~Taking it all in~

~Amanda holds a special place in our hearts~

~Joy, one of Noelle's amazing respiratory therapists~

~Candace, another of Noelle's sweet nurses~

~I love all the memories we have with Amy, Noelle's respiratory therapist (her mother made this precious blanket for Noelle)~

~One final kiss before entering the carseat~

~Tiny feet~

~Comfy, Cozy~

~Almost ready to go!!~ 
 

~One final "see you later..."~

~Happy family~

~Home, Sweet Home~

~I think I like it here!!~

FOX 8 Home Coming Update

~Home, Sweet Home~

We will post an update of today at some point when we have some time after settling into home; but in the meantime, Fox 8 news is running a home coming update in the news tonight at 10:00.  You can watch the feed live here or it will be posted online after the story airs.  Today was an overwhelming day, a testament of God's incredible goodness in our lives.  Thank you for your continued prayers for our family.  We look forward to continuing to share with you how God works in and through this precious miracle He has granted to us.

***FOX 8 NEWS STORY may now be viewed here***

NICU Day 113 ~ (March 29th)

~Surprised.  Excited.  Overwhelmed.  Thrilled.  Thankful.~

~Still in her "big girl" crib~

These are some of the words which describe the gamut of emotions today as we heard the new care plan developed by our medical team: NOELLE IS COMING HOME!!!!!  She has basically reached all of the necessary benchmarks, and they have decided that they can do the biopsy as an outpatient procedure in a few weeks after she has put on some more weight.  The current plan is for her to be discharged on Monday if all goes well over the weekend.  The first few weeks will be busy with the adjustment and doctors' appointments, but we are absolutely thrilled to be bringing our baby girl home with us.  Words simply cannot describe the emotions after such a long journey, but we have a new family in the NICU which we will greatly miss and look forward to visiting them as often as possible.  We cannot even begin to communicate the love and gratitude in our hearts for this incredible group of people who have made this day possible for our little family, and we are excited for the day when Noelle will be old enough to begin understanding who these people are and the impact they have made on her life.  God was incredibly gracious to us in placing us where He did throughout this process, and we are so grateful to Him for His incredibly loving care in our lives.  

Noelle still had a busy day today as we began to prepare for her discharge.  She had an MRI on her spinal cord to evaluate her tethered cord {we will receive results later, and it will probably need to be monitored for some time and possibly will require surgery}.  

~Preparing to go downstairs for her MRI with Aunt Donna~

She also received her "2 month" immunizations which made her really cry and broke my heart AND her Aunt Donna's heart.  Donna was her nurse today and even had a different nurse administer the shots so she would not have to be the "big bad meanie!"  

~Daddy enjoying some of the benefits of the open crib~

We still have a few other procedures to complete and some logistical things to sort, but we are on the fast track, and I know this weekend will fly by as we prepare what we can for her to live at home with us.  From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your persistent, continued prayers before the throne of grace.  We look forward to sharing "the countdown" with you!!!