2 1/2 weeks in the NICU

Eve was born 6 weeks early and with low birth weight. She ended up staying in the NICU for 19 days, which felt like an eternity! We longed to have our baby girl home with us.

We came to the hospital every day. It's a brand new government hospital with great equipment and a wonderful staff. We were so thankful that there's such a nice facility here!

It takes about 20-30 minutes to get there from our house.

After parking at the hospital, we would wait for the golf cart to come around to take us to the front door. This was such a blessing since I was still recovering from a c-section.

When the kids were with us we would take turns sitting in the lobby of the hospital. Tim and I were the only ones allowed in the NICU. Thankfully, we have friends who were willing to let Joseph and Faith come and be with them so that we both could be with Eve together sometimes. Also, when Tim wasn't able to be with them it allowed me to be there with her.

The NICU was just down this hallway.

Before going in to the NICU, it was important to wash hands. They're very good at keeping it sterile in there.

Rewind to Eve's first day in the NICU...
This was what she looked like for the first couple days after she was born. She had an IV on her hand (at one point she had two IVs...one on each hand), feeding tube in her mouth, and oxygen on her nose. She also had some other monitors stuck to her chest and foot. Poor thing!

I'll never forget the first time seeing my baby and reaching into the incubator to touch her. I wanted to pull everything off of her and hold her close.

Instead I just picked her up and cradled her. Then we found a nurse and told her we wanted to hold her.

This was the first time I got to hold her. Tim had a cold and didn't want to expose her to sickness.

A couple days later this is what she looked like. She looked so different without the cpap (breathing machine) and the feeding tube!

One day we came in and this was how she was sleeping! So sweet.

Tim would wash his hands really good and put sanitizer on so that he could touch her.

After having a few great days, she started losing weight. The amount of energy she was putting out to suck and swallow was causing her to lose weight. The doctor decided that she needed the feeding tube back. This time they put it in her nose. She would take 1/2 of her feedings orally and 1/2 though the feeding tube. It was a good decision, she started gaining pretty quickly.

A few days later Tim's cold was getting better enough that he felt ok wearing the mask and holding her. Here he is holding her and feeding her though her feeding tube.

These weeks of having to be at the hospital definitely messed up our family routine. It wasn't easy by any means having to be separated. I missed my kids and they missed us. Tim was with them more than I was and he gave them lots of extra love and attention. Overall Joseph and Faith did very well and seemed to go with the flow.

I know that they got to do some fun things with friends who spoiled them! One day they got to go to the camel farm.

Another day they go to ride on a pony.

They often had smiles on their faces when they thought about having a new baby in our family! They were anxious for her to come home.

After a few more days Eve was off of the feeding tube because she was gaining weight well. She needed to prove that she could continue gaining and thriving without the feeding tube.

A few more days went by and she graduated out of the incubator into a regular baby cot. We were so happy that she was progressing! She was even moved from the intermediate care room into the minimal care room. Things were looking good!

Finally the day arrived for her to go home! We were sooooo excited! We had worked hard to prepare the house and get ready for her. We just couldn't wait to have our baby girl home!!

I snapped this picture as we were pulling out of the hospital.

Tim took this selfie as we left the hospital!

The whole ride home she would open her eyes and look around.

Then she'd smile real big! I loved it!