Day 25- Photo Overload!

Baby loves her new outfits every day!

Avery and her favorite nurse "Aunt Jess"

Big Girl Crib and name sticker

Hi Mom!

Mama feeding her little bear

Milk coma

She loves to burp

And she loves to eat!

What an awesome day this was. It thrills me to be able to write great news (all from God!!) about our little one. I am not so fond of writing about our little setbacks. None here today! I have to admit, I haven't been keeping up with her pooping cycle or her residuals... although I know they are low, and we are grateful for that. However, there are several awesome things that occurred yesterday, and we are excited to share!

• The doctor added a 4th bottle to her feeding cycle! Now she will eat at both 8:30's and 2:30's around the clock. I was really nervous about this, but at 11:30 she had taken her first bottle well and we were hopeful she would continue with no wet burps the rest of the day. We were a little hesitant that she would be able to squeeze another bottle in there and definitely do want to take it slow so that she is not overwhelmed and ends up taking a step backwards. But I trust that God knows the best things for her and so if a 4th bottle is right for her at this moment, then we accept that blessing. I kind of deferred to CJ about adding this to her schedule as he was more the one who wanted to wait a day. However, I am thrilled to report she took her 4th bottle at 2:30 AM and finished that sucker in 17 minutes!! Go Gracie!!
• She ended up having a Brady episode today : ( It was so small and she corrected her breathing immediately without any outside help, and our wonderful nurse Jess said that this was probably just a small side effect from her coming off the caffeine. She almost never has them, and we are praying for it to stay that way! No Brady's!!
• As of tonight, Avery Grace officially weighs..... wait for it..... 4 lbs and almost 1 oz!!! That little girl shattered through the 1800 gram barrier by 35 grams. She will move into her big girl bed tomorrow. How amazing is that!! 
• When the doctor rounded today and he added the 4th bottle, he said that if she continued on this path (held temp, moved to open air crib, added a bottle every day to two days, etc) she would most likely be home by Thanksgiving. Yes, the Thanksgiving that is in 2 weeks. And when we were walking out, another favorite nurse of ours, Cecilia, said, "Oh I'd put her home in about a week or so, the way she's going." Are. You. Kidding. Me. I could barely breathe. And to be honest, I'm forcing myself to not think about it. I have gone through the full range of every emotion you can think to muster in the past 4 weeks and I don't want to have my heart broken again. I'll hang on with my sweet girl for however long she wants to hang out in the NICU. But I'm just sayin, I have the Turkey Day outfit ready for her if she wants it : ) 

I think that's all the major milestones we've gone through today. And they are such wonderful, unadulterated proof that God is blessing our child every day. How happy can one Mommy possibly be?? We are praising God for all His grace and mercy, that are flowing abundantly lately. I thank Jesus for working in Avery and through her, to reach more people than I had imagined. If even one person has been touched by her story and how the Lord has overwhelmingly blessed her, I will be complete. If we could continue to pray that she keeps gaining weight and keeping all her bottles down, I would so appreciate it. And prayers for when she moves into an open air crib that she maintains her body temp and keeps gaining weight so that she can stay in the crib. It's such a huge step, and we give all glory to God for this victory. Thank you Lord for moving my baby in the fat baby direction!! He is so good to us.

Also big thank you to my friends Kate & Leslie, for making my few hours outside the hospital/home so much fun. I really forget what life is like away from the NICU and all things associated. It was awesome to be able to catch up, laugh, hug....things I hope we get to do more often once the babe comes home and gets situated! You ladies are such blessings to me : ) Looking forward to my mom staying the weekend with me at the house while CJ goes away for drill, and having dinner with Tanna on Saturday night. I am such a lucky, lucky girl and I don't take any of that for granted. 

Thank you for everyone that is still reading, still praying, still believing that our girl is going to come home safe and sound soon. Your prayers are being answered, I can promise you firsthand!! Don't stop these things, please. They keep our lives so happy! xox