NICU Fun

I know, I know....title sounds like an oxymoron. There are two things you learn real quick in the NICU, we all love to talk about food and how much we all love to eat and you better learn to laugh. In all honesty, there are some very tough days in the NICU, but there are always more good days and that is what you have to learn to focus on and use laughter as a way to cope with what all goes on around you. Below are some pics we took this past weekend. I felt like I laughed all weekend long. Emma Claire's neighbor/boyfriend, Cohen, has the funniest parents! I promise y'all we laughed so hard at times, I thought I was going to pee my pants and I think it is important to share our fun with our cyber friends. Can you believe Emma already is going after the guys! Everytime we see her in the afternoon it looks like she is trying to make her way over to his bed to hang out! He is the cutest ever and his parents are becoming good friends of ours. These are just a few of the nurses and RT's working this weekend. It all started with Matt wearing his trucker Farmall cap and sunglass and then you know we had to take it one step further with getting everyone to pose with our props! Their names have not been revealed to protect the innocent!

I will write about this picture....I have a new found love of Mrs. Fields cookies and especially those with icing. There happens to be a Mrs. Fields and Starbucks right next to each other in the hospital and the lady who works them both, knows us by now! She always asks about Emma and how she is doing...anyways...they were out of iced cookies so I asked her if she would make three sandwhiches out of chocolate chip cookies. When she brought the box back with the three sandwhiches, the box probably weighed at least 10 lbs and I am not kidding! I had to scrape off the icing there was so much, but they WERE SO GOOD! Hannah wanted a cookie and this is what we brought her back and then Matt and I each had one...so much for trying to loose weight last week.

All in all, we did have a good weekend and I cannot express enough how thankful we are for the staff (all of them) which take care of her. They are hilarious and love to have a good time which makes the stress much less. We are thankful for the parents we continue to meet and their support. I feel like we need to have a party, when one of our buddies gets discharged, those are the BEST days! Our lives will be forever changed by this experience, it was one I was not planning on, but one I will never forget. God is with us each step of the way and PRAISE HIM for that!

Oh, I have an update on Emma after chatting with her nurse today: she is up to 2 lbs 4 ounces (1020 grams) and now getting 17 cc every three hours! AWESOME!!!