An Update from Mimi

I am sorry this has taken two days to write - time just seems to get away from us quickly.

Hello to all our family and dear friends -
Yesterday was Emily's very first Easter! She dressed up in her pretty yellow bunny dress, and two somebunnies gave her little bunnies to hang out with her in her isolet. She looked so precious, I wish you all could have seen how sweet she looked. We think we took a picture (but it was a hectic day) and if we did, we will try to email it out soon. It was also Samantha's birthday and Emily had a surprise for her mom hanging over her bed. She had helped her nurse Mary make a birthday card! She contributed two little handprints and two little footprints and I'm pretty sure she told Mary to write the birthday greeting. Sorry to bore you, but it was so nice. You see why we say God has sent special angels to care for all of us, not just little Emily!
Here's our latest praise list:
Emily is now in a regular isolet! Goodbye Omni bed, hello Holiday Inn! She is maintaining her body temperature all on her own!!
Emily is learning to eat very well, and is taking 2 feedings a day from her mom or a bottle. The rest of the feedings are still with the feeding tube. The nurse said the exhertion from one feeding is the same as us running 5 miles. This is the reason we are having to go slowly with only 2 feedings out of 8 - we have to conserve calories and gain weight instead of working it right off again!
As of last night, Emily weighs 4 pounds and 6 ounces, and is 18 and one quarter inches long. She is growing! They said the weight can fluctuate several ounces, depending on when they weigh her, but they want her to start gaining one half to one ounce a day now. It doesn't matter, as long as she stays on an upward curve. There is no magic weight for going home. It unfortunately is much more involved. Emily must be 5 days without a brady. We are not there yet, so please keep praying specifically for this. Also, she must be able to take her feedings without the gavauge - either from mom or the bottle. This will be the slowest because of what I mentioned above.
Last night, Samantha and I went to the hospital for Emily's 8:00 feeding and afterward her nurse Mary suggested that Samantha give Emily a bath! I wish you could have witnessed this event! We were nervous at the prospect, but Mary seemed to have such confidence in Samantha that she gave it a try. When you go to the NICU, you really never know what to expect. You may be told not to pick her up so she will be conserving calories, and you may be asked if you'd like to give her a bath! It occurs to me that this is where the nurses are so wonderful. They want the moms to learn to do the routine daily things and not be nervous because their baby is so tiny. They orchestrate things for success, and gently guide and help, the whole time making you feel as if you just accomplished the greatest feat! After the bath, we were even on our own (I saw Mary watching us on the other side of the curtain) to reattach all the monitors. Then we couldn't figure why the machine didn't start giving data. You have to laugh at how carefully and seriously you try to do everything just right, but forget to turn the machine back on!
We can't express to all of you how much we appreciate you. We thank you for the uplifting emails and for the encouraging phone calls. Most of all we thank you for the prayers.
We are so thankful Emily is doing so well. Please continue to keep all of us in your prayers.
Before I close, I want to ask for your prayers for Samantha. Because of the schedule she is keeping right now, I know she must be exhausted. One of Emily's nurses reminded Samantha that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. Of course Samantha's main concern right now is Emily and getting Emily home.
Please pray for Samantha's health, for her appointment on April 17th, and for the peace that comes with taking one day at a time as we put our trust in Him for all things.