Day 18- The Birthday Re-Do was a success!

Mom's New Birthday Outfit

Praisin Jesus in her isolette!

She was weirded out by bath time, I think

But she didn't cry at all! I think she got used to it after a minute

So my re-do birthday was quite amazing. I got to see Avery in the morning, and give her her first real bath. Not the sponge bath... in an actual tub. She was so stinking cute! Never cried once. Just was looking around like, "What are you guys doing to me??"They keep her wrapped in a towel mostly the whole time and just peel back one side while they soap her up and then another side and wrap her back up in the blanket. Keeping her temperature up is a real concern for babies that aren't full term. She looked so beautiful after her bath! I love her fresh washed hair. It is really blonde. CJ and I agreed we were only going to let her be out of her isolette 2x a day so that she could conserve her energy and gain some weight. This (while I only got to hold her about about 5 min) counted as one of the times. Then I got to go shopping (bought AG a Thanksgiving outfit I'm completely hoping and praying she is able to fit into and wear when she is home!). My body is at such a weird stage right now. I'm down about 20+ pounds, but it still hurts a lot to put pressure on my incision so I'm relegated to mostly sweatpants and elastic banded things that are not so pretty. Also, my boobs are huge. Not like, "stop and stare at the circus freak" huge but just in relation to the rest of my body, I suppose. Nothing looked right. Or good. I finally settled on jeans 4 sizes bigger than I usually wear and they were loose enough to be comfortable. I will be super glad to get back into a routine that doesn't involve the hospital so that REAL, healthy food can be a part of our every day lives again. I also got to take a nap! It was lovely! Then we went to hold Baby Girl at 5:30 before heading out to dinner. Both events were great! The japanese people sang me Happy Birthday in their native language, and the food was good. It was so nice to go on a date with my husband. We both kinda realized once Avery was home, that wouldn't happen all that often, so we relished in the moment.  All in all, it was a terrific day. Now on to Baby Stats!

• She pooped at every touch time we had! Amen!! I love it. Jesus answered that prayer in abundance and I couldn't be happier. 
• She did have a Brady episode (few and far between as they are) at around 5 AM. She was just sucking away on her pacifier and got too comfy in her isolette and forgot to breathe! 
• The most residuals she had all day was 3.5, but most of the time they ranged from 0-2 cc's. We'll take it!!
• CJ asked the doctor if he was at all concerned about her not gaining weight they past few days. He said not at all, that he expected her to gain soon and she could very well "blow up" next week! (fat baby? yes please!) He had nothing really new to say, except that we're just waiting on her to fatten up.
• Mom's birthday present from Avery was granted!! Our sweet girl now weighs 3 lbs 11 oz!!! I have to admit, I danced when I heard the news. God is so awesome!! Only 5 more oz to go to hit 4 pounds. Let's keep those prayers for weight gain coming. They are being heard and answered!!
• The nurse last night took her feeding tube out of her mouth and put it in her nose so it would be easier for her to bottle/breast feed. We knew this would happen, so wasn't a shock, and she just sneezes a lot more b/c it tickles her, but that's the worst of it : )

God is amazing, isn't He? I know we are in no way worthy to receive all the blessings He has poured upon our family, but I am so very very grateful that He has. There aren't enough "Thank You's" in the entire world to send up to heaven for everything the Lord has done in Avery's life. I know this is in no small part to our prayer warriors that continue on a daily basis to pray on Avery's behalf. I wish I could send you all cookie cakes!! (Aren't they just the best!! Thank you Mom for my bday cake!) We pray, and God is listening and answering. I know that life doesn't all work like this. I know that God doesn't immediately say, "Oh you want that? Sure, done, right now". I can't believe we've only been in the NICU for a little over 2 weeks... it really does feel so much longer. My concept of time is completely skewed at the moment! But I feel more blessed than you can possibly imagine that every prayer we've sent up has been answered in a relatively short amount of time. God is so good. 

Let's keep praying that Avery stays a strong, healthy girl! That she keeps on pooping and peeing like a champ and that she is absorbing all the calories and milk into her body, with no residuals,so  that she will continue to gain weight. Gain, Baby, Gain!! That she stays sickness and infection free and continues to be a happy baby : )

Update: Cortney here, writing from tomorrow : ) Went to see Avery this morning and Dad held her and we got to love on her. She is doing really well. Only 2 cc's residual this morning. The doctor briefly came around and suggested that at her 11:30 touch time, we start trying a bottle/breast feeding!!! I'm freaking out!! Please pray, pray, pray that she somehow has mastered the art of suck, swallow, breath (very hard for preemies to do and the biggest hurdle in feeding in the NICU) and that she takes the bottle without issue. I am so nervous. I know if she doesn't do well this time, they'll hold off a couple days before trying it again, but I would be more than thrilled if she just inherently got it this time. Please pray she does!! Thank you so much! We believe God performs miracles on a daily (and touch time) basis and have complete faith and trust that He will be with Avery this afternoon when she tries this feat. I'll write how she did as soon as I can.