You know you're old when...

1. You are most at peace when everyone is safe and sound under the same roof. My mother in law checked on her kids at night until the very last one moved out. Now, she didn't get up and check in their rooms every night. But she was certainly listening for the garage door to go up when we arrived home safe and sound. I never really understood this until now. Not that my MIL is old; but hello, adulthood, when did you get here?

2. You feel victorous when calling an appliance repair outfit to repair your dishwasher instead of blowing a ton of money on a new one. In my previous life, I have spent more money on a pair of shoes or a handbag than it was to repair my dishwasher today. SIGH.

3. You actually consider job security in a new position. Never before have I actually thought; now will this job be here 5 or 10 years from now? But now I do. Because I have a baby to feed and diaper. And maybe just a little bit, so I can splurge on expensive shoes or a handbag. Just a little.

Love Y'all

We're Still Here!

Elsie and I returned from our pilgrimage to Colonial Beach, VA last Wednesday. We had a great time, and I am so glad I bit the bullet and took her. More pics to come but this is a favorite my cousin Roxanne took. Isn't she cutie patootie? My sister in law gave her the car seat toy; this trip Elsie started using it as a pull up bar. It was a life saver on the 12 hour car ride. Thanks SB!

In other news, we (finally!) received our final bill from the hospital for Elsie's NICU stay. After many phone calls explaining that we SWITCHED insurance plans beginning in 2010, and no WE DO NOT have secondary coverage; they finally got the claims submitted successfully.

At this point, I need to take a moment and thank BCBS. We would certainly be facing financial ruin if we did not have such great coverage. We work hard and are fortunate that both of our employers offer great health insurance. To our friends and families that work at BCBS; think of us the next time you get frustrated in your daily duties. We are why you do what you do everyday. Thank you.

Love Y'all!

Ellen

Bad Things Happen in "Threes"

The last two weeks in this household have been crap-tastic to say the least. My mother always said that bad things come in threes. This HAS to be number three, Internet.

I will write more about the professional side of the insanity later.

Most of these issues revolve around the joys (read: OMG moments) of home ownership. Saturday we had to get the garbage disposal replaced. Fine. Not a huge deal. I can TOTALLY live without a garbage disposal. A huge check for such a small job in my opinion, but whatev.

Last night as I was laying in bed I thought "hmm, it's pretty warm in here." So I turned down the thermostat and got nothing. Nada. For those of you who know our history; me and the AC don't get along well. This is the SECOND time it's gone out since we've been in this house. The unit is original to the house (almost 11 years old) so I am always in a panic when the temperature outside rises in fear that our unit is going to give out.

Luckily, John Moore (whom we may actually own stock in after these shenanigans), was able to get someone out here today and fix it. Well, rig it up so it is fixed. For now. It is our AC Circuit that needs to be replaced. The nice technician said "this is only the fourth time I've seen this." Of course...because that's what happens in Baileyville. Whatever wild and crazy scenario that can go on, will go on. Especially when my husband is unable to deal with the issue.

So an electrician will be here tomorrow to repair the circuit.

And for those of you who are counting, number three is: someone stole my debit card number and tried to drain our entire checking account. Entire. Checking Account. Thankfully, we have "flags" on our account if someone tries to spend over a certain amount of money. So when you try to spend over $900 at Amazon.com Bank of America is going to shut you down.

Trying to stay positive: Bank of America has been so helpful in dealing with this situation and at this point it looks like they only got a small sum of our cash money. Which will be returned to us. Secondly, thank you John Moore for fixing my garbage disposal and rigging my A/C unit and sending out an electrician. You are one stop shopping for home repair issues, and for a stay at home Mom, it doesn't get much better than that. Thirdly, thank God we are all healthy, and for the most part happy.

Love Y'all,
Ellen

No one Tells You

That they sent their child to daycare because it is easier than staying home with an 8 month old. They tell you it's because they needed the income and had to return to work. Which, I'm sure is true.

However, after almost seven months of working part-time (from home), and taking care of my child full time; I've come to a conclusion.

It is easier to send your child to daycare than to stay home with said child full time. Meaning, you are not running around like a wackadoodle trying to feed, change diapers, and entertain all day.

Don't misunderstand me. I love that I am able to stay home with Elsie Lou.

I'm just sayin'.

Love Y'all,
Ellen

PIZZA!

We are big fans of pizza (really who isn't?). It is definitely one of my weaknesses. This weekend Ryan asked "wanna order pizza?" when discussing lunch on Sunday. Of course I do! This is from a new little pizza joint right down the street from us. Ryan called in our order, and I hear him say "24" and I'm thinking what in the world do we need 24 of? There's only the two of us. He completes the order, so I ask him. He says "Pizza. It's 24 inches."

WHAT?

"The pizza size is 24 inches." To which I exclaim, "you got us a pizza that is two feet in diameter?"

Then it hits him how huge this is.

So when he goes to pick it up, he calls me from the car and says "dude, you are not going to believe how big this pizza is. It almost didn't fit in my car." I laugh and meet him at the door to the garage to see for myself. Indeed, it is huge. The box is almost too big to fit through the door from the garage to our utility room.

I had to take a picture. For reference, it is sitting on top of our stove. :)

We ate pizza for days. I cannot even explain how big the pieces were. Had to share.

Love Y'all,

Ellen

Day 2

Most of y'all know Elsie has awful reflux. She takes medicine five, FIVE, times a day. As soon as she started to show signs, we started solids. It's taken her a good five weeks of 'practice', but I think she may have gotten it!

Yesterday was the first day on no Bethanecol; one of the reflux medicines. She hardly spit up and slept well last night. We also started cereal at night. I mixed it with homemade apples and she loved it.

She is getting so big and may be outgrowing the reflux!

Similarly, but different, I'm always a little sad when she outgrows her clothes. Right now she is growing out of her 3 months stuff. Fortunately we got a TON of clothes from friends and family (who doesn't love to buy a little girl a dress?) so it's fun to look forward to the next size :)

Love Y'all,
Ellen

Summer is here again

If you live in Southeast TX, summer sometimes stretches from the beginning of May to Thanksgiving. This weekend is supposed to be one of the hottest yet. So what do you do when it is so hot? Get in the pool! Ryan convinced me that we needed a pool when we were discussing requirements for a home. When we saw the backyard on this house, with the pool, we were in love. I do not know how people in the greater Houston area survive in the summer without one. As my Dad, a former pool care taker, says :"it's a bottomless hole into which you throw money." And this is totally true; but goodness gracious isn't it worth it? To me it is.

So last weekend was Elsie's first official pool experience. We took her to the pool with the girls. She was not a fan of the cold water until she got used to the temp and figured out it would cool her down. When we got home I started looking on line for infant pool floats with a shade on them. I ordered one on Tuesday and it came on Friday. Gotta love Diapers.com and free two day shipping!

Yesterday afternoon I put her in it. She loves me pulling her through the pool as she kicks her feet! The pic is of her "lounging" while her butt sits on the first step. So funny. Nothing can keep her fingers out of her mouth....

Love Y'all,

Ellen

Back in Business

We made it to and from Conway to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend. Each year Ryan and his Dad play in a golf tournament and the girls go to the parties and lay at the pool. It's a tough job, but someone's got to officially welcome Summer. We had a great time. Team Bailey dominated and won their flight!

Elsie has been eating cereal in the morning for over a week now. She seems to have finally gotten the hang of eating from the spoon; but still insists the cereal is warm. Funny how even at only seven months infants can prefer warm food to cool/cold. I wonder, will she hate ice cream? So next week I think I'm going to add sweet potatoes to the cereal at dinner and see what happens.

I hate how spending several days in a row with your family (that lives out of town) makes you really really miss them when you get home. We love The Woodlands, don't get me wrong. Just every time we come home or they leave us to go home; we wish they didn't have to. We have a great time and I love seeing Elsie with them.

If it takes a village to raise a child; can my village include Birmingham, Conway, DC and The Woodlands?

Love Y'all!
Ellen

Overwhelmed and Sleep Deprived

Are not a good combo. I could handle the to do list; if I could sleep. I could sleep if my seven month old would sleep. My child has been such a good sleeper up to this point so I'm not exactly the best living in a constant haze of sleep deprevation.

We are traveling again for the holiday weekend. I am excited to go and see the newlyweds after the wedding. I was picking out a pool book and thought "I have a baby; will I even have time to read a book?" I did buy one. The Carrie Diaries.

Looking on the brightside: the cleaning ladies come this week. The house will be clean when we get home; and I won't have to do it. So I am not only packing but picking up the house so the ladies can clean. Don't you love multi-tasking? Even as I'm writing this I'm doing laundry and thinking about dinner.

So here's to a pool book and a nap :) and maybe getting a tan while I nap?

Love Y'all,
Ellen

7 Months!

Last Friday Elsie Lou was seven months! This is a pic Ryan took on Mother's Day. This has to be my favorite outfit we've received thus far. It is a blue and white zebra print with a smocked collar and flutter sleeves. Yes, that is a feather on her head! It's a little clip with a feather and rhinestones that you can put on any headband :)

I have a lot of fun dressing her up.

Lately, she's not been sleeping well. No idea why; just wakes up at about 3 am every fricking night. Maybe it's a growth spurt? I sure hope so because Mama needs her beauty sleep. It is tough around here most mornings. :) We are also starting rice cereal. I am putting it in her bottle in hopes she will sleep better; but also feeding it to her with a spoon. For those of you counting, her corrected age is four months. She is taking almost 32 oz of formula a day, and at seven months should be starting solids. So I am really trying to teach her to eat. I read online somewhere that if you don't get babies to start chewing between 7-9 months it could lead to issues down the line. What kind of issues? Who the heck knows....but I cannot find anything on teaching a Preemie to eat that is applicable to our situation. So we are starting solids...

In other news: Ryan is home sick today with a head cold. He came home early yesterday and got in the bed after taking meds. If any of you know my husband, you may also know that he rarely takes meds. So he must be feeling bad. Let's all cross our fingers that this sickness isn't passed to Elsie (or me).

Love Y'all

Let's Try This Again, Shall We?

Elsie and I returned from a whirlwind tour of the Southeast last week. We went to Conway first, to help with and attend Ryan's younger sister's wedding. If you were there, you know this was a great event and a great time was had by all. Elsie was an 'honorary' flower girl, and got the prettiest little Strausburg dress to wear. The collar is smocked with seed pearls. Unbelievable. I just open her closet to look at it. Thank you, Fancy.

From there Elsie and I road from Conway to my hometown of Birmingham, AL. Elsie had not been to the great state of Alabama yet; and the drive is shorter from Conway than it is from The Woodlands. It made sense. When we were planning the trip. Two weeks and two days later...mama and baby were grateful to be home! We had a great time seeing everyone while we were there.

While on our travels there was a common theme: people liked this blog. So I thought I'd better update it. I am still working Part Time and hating every single second of it. I need to find something that I like to do. I like writing this blog. However, it's not paying the bills. So in an effort to identify what it is that I like to do; I'm going to update here more often.

Also, Elsie had her six month check up last week (she is actually 6 and a half months). She is 11lbs 11oz, and 23 inches long. Still less than the fifth percentile....but definitely progress. We are trying rice cereal as her reflux is still awful.

Love y'all,
Ellen

Synagis, Reflux, and a Soapbox...

Today Elsie got her last Synagis shot for the 2009-2010 season. Whoo hoo! BCBS is cheering (can you hear them?). She doesn't get another until September. That sounds like a really long time, doesn't it? She weighed 9 lbs 7.4 oz. Almost 9 and a half pounds!

Over the last week Elsie's reflux has gotten worse. I haven't done anything different...and the poor girl was obviously hurting. So the last few days I have been frah-zzled. Today at her check up our pediatrician put her Bethenachol in addition to Prevacid. Let's hope this works...because GHUL, I don't know what else to do.

There is no way you haven't heard about the historic health care reform bill that passed earlier this week and is now going BACK to the house (what the heck is that about?). My FB friends are passionate about this subject. However, to my knowledge, not many of them have an intimate relationship with a healthcare provider(s) or their health insurer. And since this is my blog; this is where I get on my soap box. If you don't like it...don't read it.

First, I acknowledge there are some great parts to this bill. Especially the item regarding "pre-existing conditions" related to children, and the fact children cannot be dropped when they get sick. Obviously we have seen children who have been denied due to some ''pre-existing condition," and cross our fingers we do not get a diagnosis in the future that would cause our fantastic insurance plan to drop us.

The issue I have is with the taxation to pay for all of this. My husband is blessed with a fantastic employer and a job he enjoys. Even better, he is compensated pretty handsomely for his almost 30 years of age. Our Medicare taxes will go up by 30%. This is my point people. Who decided the line in the sand? Who said that x amount of dollars is enough that YOU have to pay more than someone else? Because let me tell you: that amount that sounds unbelievably wealthy...doesn't go very far in 2010. Definitely not far enough that we won't feel it (like a punch in the gut) when our taxes go up by 30%.

We are blessed even further to have fantastic health care. Which will increase in premiums because they've got to pass the increase in tax on "cadillac" plans to the participants. Why do we have to be penalized for having great jobs that happen to have a great health plan?

All of this makes me want to vomit. I wish our President and Congress had more experience down here, in the trenches. See how far your money goes when you have to work like a flipping maniac for it. Then have to give 30% of it back. See how that makes you feel.

All this being said. I agree there is significant need for reform. I just don't think this is it, peeps. Please let this be a jumping off point.

Love y'all,
Ellen

A Year Ago...

We moved into this house. I still don't have dining room furniture, and the walls are stark white. When we moved in I had all these plans....color schemes, what kind of furniture we needed. What is it they say about "the best laid plans?" Well, they pretty much went out the window.

We were pregnant (barely) when we closed on this house but didn't know it. Ryan and I were so proud. We had worked hard, and were finally purchasing a dream of a first home. We are still proud, and I love this house. Part of me wonders how long we will fit in it, but that is a whole can of worms we'll think about in a few years.


I've been reflective lately. I feel like us moving into this house was the beginning of our story, or at least, the most recent chapters. The past year has been a doozie, needless to say. When I was in Conway a lady who is a regular reader of the blog pointed out what a powerful testimony we have; and how it has changed us. This got me thinking. She is right.

What has occurred in our lives over the past year has been unbelievable. Some awesome (we bought a house! We had a baby!). Some truly hard to stomach; Riley Dog took his leave, and Elsie was born a micro preemie. But the bottom line is we are all alive and healthy (except Riley). After everything Ryan and I are happily married and have a daughter that is doing well.

You really can't ask for more than that. I can't help but wonder what the next year will bring. How will He use us next? How will what has happened impact us going forward?

One thing is for sure. Whatever happens we can handle it. That we know. We will freak out a little bit, but we can handle it. :)

Love Y'all,
Ellen

Road Trip

Apologize for the pause there, y'all. I took Elsie on her first road trip last week! My sister in law is getting married in April and I wanted to attend her wedding shower since I will be unable to attend the Bachelorette Party. I also wanted to introduce Elsie to her aunts and cousins, as well as her great grandmother (and name sake) prior to the wedding. Y'all know how nuts things can get before a wedding. This time we were able to really visit and enjoy the company. I was so glad I made the trip.

I'm not going to lie, the trip up was pretty stressful. So, I stayed with my in laws for a week so I could recover and build up the strength to make the haul home again. For those of you wondering, the drive is eight hours...and yes I drove all by myself. It took us about 10 hours. Any new moms traveling by car with their infants email me and I have all kinds of lessons learned if you are interested!

For those of you who don't know Elsie is named Elsie Louise after Grandmama (Ryan's Grandmother). She finally got to hold our sweet baby girl last week and it was so amazing to see. Grandmama prayed so hard while Elsie was in the hospital. I told Elsie all about Grandmama when she was in the hospital. Now they've met and are great friends. May we all be so lucky, people. To one day be old, and surrounded by our family and friends. My Dad would say "Lord willlin' and the crick don't rise."Amen.

I was also appreciative to see some of the Conway crew who have prayed so hard for Elsie. My family is truly a testament to the power of prayer and they have a lot to do with that. It was great to see them and tell them how wonderful she is doing. Thanks Ladies! If you missed Elsie, her official debut will be at the wedding. See y'all then!

Elsie did not actually go to the shower, but I did dress her up to take pics with the girls afterwards. Here she is in her dress! Her cousin asked "why you got that big dress on that little bitty girl?" Because it's pretty....

Love Y'all

Ellen

Read my Guest Blog at Momversation!

http://www.momversation.com/blog/everything-i-know-about-baby-care-i-learned-nicu-nurse


And check out the information from other moms and the panelists.

Happy Friday!

Me and My Big Mouth

I read a blog called Dooce (link on the right) regularly...and found Momversation.com through her blog. It is a great site for moms. The women on here talk about everything you could ever think of when it comes to being a mom, raising children, marriage, etc. They are some pretty funny ladies.

So the other day when looking for preemie stuff that was not as depressing as the March of Dimes share site (no offense, but it can get doom and gloom on there) , I went to Momversation and searched "preemie," "prematurity," and "premature baby." The closest result was a pice on the Octomom that well, wasn't exactly what I as looking for. They have a "contact us link" and a generic email address. So I sent an email letting them know they could really use some more info on preemies that is not so depressing as other stuff out there.

Long story short....I will have a guest blog posted tomorrow on their site. I didn't feel like I could suggest they need more information and then say no. Right? It is a post about my experience in the NICU. I was determined not to dwell on the ugliness that everyone always talks about. Not that it was all roses and champagne, because CLEARLY y'all know it wasn't. So the post is about how the nurses taught me everything I know about caring for a baby...and how they made our NICU experience much less painful.

I'll post a link once the post is up. They will also post a link to this blog. Which could get interesting.

Love Y'll,
Ellen

Come Here Often?

SO it's been a while. Elsie is doing so well it is scary; the doggies are still offthefreakingwall; and I'm back working PT from home. Which I hate, but that's a whole other can of worms, people. It's still enough money to pay utlities for a month. Which is a considerable monetary contribution to a household. I know SAHM's that would LOVE to work from home part time. It's not that I hate working per se; it's just going from the NICU back to a job where people are all up in my grill about someone receiving a piece of paper on the 10th of the month instead of the 9th is really hard. I mean, I've seen and dealt with some crazy stuff in the last four months. This makes dealing with mundane, meaningless, pieces of paper almost unbearable.

Thank goodness it is only four hours a day...or I may have a come apart.

I probably shouldn't type these words; but you know I'm going to. I also feel kind of cheated. Before you go all "How can she say that?" Hear me out. The other new moms that were due at the same time I was (January, 6 to refresh your mems) aren't working part time while also taking care of their seven week olds. Nope. They are in new mommy bliss. They don't have to get their butts out of bed and work in the morning while their child sleeps so they can be up with her when she wakes up in the afternoon. This is just a new addition to a long list of "life isn't fair" that we've discovered in the last four months. But, as my Daddy says. "Hey, life ain't fair. Move on." (Hey, Daddy!)

But I digress. I've got a job. 9.7% of the country doesn't.

Ryan is working like a maniac. God Bless Ryan. He works so hard and then really does help when he is home. He is smitten with Elsie. Some times when he is steering a rig he will be up working when it is time for Elsie's midnight - 1 am feeding. He'll change her diaper, give her a bottle, and burp her so I can sleep. Say it with me people: "GOD BLESS RYAN." He is a great husband and a great Dad. Elsie gives him a little giggle when he tells her bye in the morning.

Tommorrow we go to the pediatrician. Synagis shot #3, and the remaining four month immunizations. Of course they will weigh her. We hope she is close to eight pounds. I'm going to guess 7 lbs 14 oz. To give you a baseline: last visit (two weeks ago) she gained 1 lbs 2 oz in two weeks. Her biggest two week weight gain in her life! :)

So if anyone is still out there....talk at y'all then!

Love y'all,
Ellen

This dog is going to drive me nuts.

When my mother said we were nuts for getting a puppy the weekend before Christmas she hit the nail on the head. Bibi (Beatrix) is only three days younger than Elsie. She and Rudy are big buddies. They play all day. This was the whole idea. Get Rudy a new friend after we had to put our dear Riley dog to sleep. However, you forget how annoying training a new puppy can be, until you are in the midst of it.

Bibi is kind of "duh" as my Daddy says. Actually, he said he doesn't think she's stupid...just a puppy and learning. Gah, I hope so. At any rate, the first week we had her she ran full speed ahead into our pool. Like, she didn't notice the large body of water in our backyard? When she is ready to come back in the house from doing her business outside, she will run smack into the glass in our sliding glass door. If she is on the screened in porch for a little while and wants in the house and I cannot get there right that minute, she will launch herself into the glass sliding door. This is particularly hysterical because it makes a soft "thud" against the glass. To further my suspicion that she may be stupid, she doesn't even know her name yet. This is almost a month after using her name hundreds of times each day.

But the thing that grates on my nerves the most: bark. It is the most high pitched, shrill, loud bark. Such an assertive voice for a small dog. She uses her voice all the time. It is enough to drive a girl crazy couped up in a house with two dogs and a baby all day.

Let's hope she's not stupid, because as my Mother says "you can't fix stupid."

In other news: my family left on Saturday. They were so helpful while they were here. We have a freezer full of food my Mom cooked while she was here. She accompanied me to the Pediatric Opthamologist last Thursday. Elsie had been diagnosed with a mild case of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) while in the NICU, so we had our follow up last week. Elsie has no more signs of ROP and does not have to go back until July when she will be nine months. This is just to check that her eye alignment is correct. Here is a wikipedia link about ROP if you are interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinopathy_of_prematurity

The appointment went well. We had the first appointment of the day, and the nurses let us wait in the examination room so we weren't in the waiting room with the other patients. This was the first time I used our stroller, the Bertini B5 and it was great. If you are looking for a single stroller, I recommend it. The way the car seat clicks into the stroller is so amazing. Both the canopies on the car seat and the stroller are generous. I put them both down, so no one could see Elsie and ask "oh can I see her?" No ma'm.

We have an appointment with Early Childhood Intervention on Thursday. They will weigh her. I am anxious to see how much weight she has gained. Part of me wants to buy a scale so I can weigh her regularly, but on the other hand I think it would just stress me out. I'm just going to do the best I can and see what the pediatrician says next week. She has an appointment next week to get her second Synagis shot and take her blood to check her Hematocrit.

Love Y'all,
Ellen

Our First Week

We survived our first week. Elsie is a big fan of her swing and the bouncy seat. I have learned that I can set the swing in our bath tub, put her in the swing, and then quickly take a shower. We are on our second bottle warmer. PS...when the box says you need AVENT bottles, the Dr. Brown's bottles are probably going to break said warmer. I got a new one that you can use with "most bottles" that is working beautifully. Since we took Elsie home from the hospital on January 3, I've been to Wally World, Target, and the pediatrician's office for a total of 4 hours outside our home. It doesn't help that we recently experienced the coldest weather since the late eighties in Southeast TX.

Elsie still sleeps a lot. Like 20 hours out of 24. It is insane. I am working on getting her days and nights straight. She is definitely more alert at night, but puts herself to sleep in about 30 minutes after I lay her down after feedings in the middle of the night. Today she was up from about 2:30 until 5:30 so maybe she'll sleep better tonight. Tummy time was fun and hopefully wore her out.

My family is here this week. We are having a good time cooking, cleaning, and organizing among the regular baby duties. My mother is doing the cooking and organizing. Chicken and Dumplings are on the menu tonight. Yums tums.

What else? Work has agreed to let me work part time from home for a while. I am to work 20 hours a week on a laptop they provide. This deal has been in the works since the week after Christmas and they are still working on getting a laptop for me. Gotta love corporate America. In the mean time I am enjoying not having to work and taking care of Elsie Lou.

This makes me wonder though. Those of you who are stay at home moms: what do you do to earn money (if anything?). Friends of mine make and sell jewelry, others monogram, embroider, and smock cutie pie kids clothes. What do you do besides take care of the kiddos ?

Love Y'all,
Ellen

Today is My Original Due Date

When I was pregnant with Elsie my due date was January 6, 2010. In preemie world, this means today is Elsie's "adjusted or corrected" birth date. Today she is 40 weeks, full term. This means for milestones (such has holding her head up) we use her adjusted age. Not her 12 week chronological age.

We went to our first pediatrician visit yesterday. He advised that we treat Elsie as a newborn. Bascially, if she is eating, sleeping, crying, pooping, and peeing that is good. She is doing these things. The only thing I've noticed thus far is she has her days and nights mixed up.

Next week we go to the Retinologist for a follow up of her eye exams. Like a lot of preemies, Elsie has a mild case of Retinopathy of Prematurity. The blood vessels in her retina are continuing to grow normally and the Retinologist expects that they will grow and correct themselves. You may or may not know that the eyes are one of the last things to develop in the womb. Full term babies can even have problems with their eyes.

Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) will come to our home in two weeks to do an inital visit to determine if Elsie is developing as she should. The occupational therapist in the NICU determined that she is acting a little younger than her 39-40 weeks. So ECI will come out to determine if she is continuing to develop, and do an assessment to identify if any additional therapy is needed.

You thought we were done with the doctors, right? At least now we don't have to drive to the hospital. I am really enjoyng being able to care for Elsie in our home. She has such a sweet disposition thus far. She really only cries if she is dirty or hungry.

Love y'all,
Ellen

She's HOME!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Right now she is waking up and hungry. Just wanted to post a few pics and tell everyone thank you thank you! Elsie is proof of the power of prayer. Thanks to all of you for the prayers, thoughts, and kind words. Certainly we could not have done it without you. Once I've had time to process everything I'll post more. For now, enjoy the pics!

Love Y'all,

Ellen, Ryan, and Elsie Louise :)