Thursday, September 3, 2009

Good Day

Tonight was a great night with our girls and at the same time a hard night. They all seemed to have had a good day. Dr. de Guzman was able to remove 4 cc's of spinal fluid from Ashlyn today. We are so happy about this as this will keep pressure from building in her brain. We hope the doctors can continue to remove the extra spinal fluid by doing these spinal taps. Rachel and Ashlyn were restarted on continuous feeds with my breast milk. So far they are tolerating it well. Haley is improving as well. She had a head ultrasound today and it showed no change so that means her head has not gotten worse. So they all seem to be hanging strong today. We are so grateful for these good days. We know more are to come. The hard part of the night was leaving the girls because we have decided to go to New Orleans for the Labor day weekend to visit Thomas's parents who are currently there serving a mission for our church. It is extremely difficult to go because we don't like to leave our precious little girls behind. It will be the first time we will have not been able to see them for three days straight. Thomas took it hard. Of course mama did too! Thomas had tears in his eyes when we left the NICU tonight. We will miss them. We debated about going, but we felt a little vacation would be good for us. We also figured that we won't be able to take a vacation again in a really long time. So tomorrow afternoon we will be heading out to New Orleans. We hope to have a relaxing time and a good visit with Thomas's parents.

Here are pictures of the girls name tags for their beds. One of the nurses makes these for all of the babies in the NICU. She also made one for each of our other little ones who have passed.









Here is a picture of Haley's nurse (Kodi). Kodi is one of our favorite nurses. She is so great with Haley.

17 comments:

  1. Amanda&Thomas,

    I'm finally able to leave a comment and I'm so thrilled! As with most, I've been following your blog excessively, hoping&praying for you, Thomas, and those precious babies of yours. I can not imagine what you're going through, and hopefully I never will but I send my deepest sympathies for all the troubling times. My daughter is almost sixteen months and let me tell you, she is the BEST thing that's ever happened to me! Soon enough, you'll have her times THREE!! You all are in my prayers regularly. I'm so excited to see pictures of the girls but I do understand and support you in not exposing them to the public. They're lives should be kept as private as possible but I thank you both so much for sharing this roller coaster with me&people all over the world. I'm rooting for the girls to be home by Christmas!! Best of luck, and blow them each a kiss from me. :)

    ♥ Miranda

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have been fowling your story since the kids were born and have been praying. They seems like tough little girl and they will be just fine. My son had a grade 4 bleed and is doing awesome at 20 months old. Question...the baby bedding pic you have up...wheer did you buy the little nest thing?
    melodi
    babymagik18@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hope you guys enjoy your time away! It's hard to leave them but you know they're in good hands! And you're right, once those sweet girls are home with you, vacation will be a distant memory!

    I love the picture you've been posting by the way! Do you guys have someone lined up to take photos for you once they are home? Or even some now?? You've probably got a million people willing to do this for you, but if not, I'm a photographer (I'm in the Humble Ward so not far away) and I'd be more than happy to take some for you guys! Just let me know!

    As always, your family will be in my prayers!

    Christina McKinney

    christina.mckinney at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, I love those sweet cards the nurse made! I love that she made them for Dallin, Braden, and Kaitlyn, too.
    Hope you have a wonderful break. You will come back refreshed and able to be even better parents. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. YOU CAN TELL THAT THE NURSES LOVE THE BABIES TOO! HOW COULD THEY NOT! ENJOY YOUR BRIEF REST, THEY ARE IN GOOD HANDS!
    LOVE, Erma

    ReplyDelete
  6. We went away for one overnight when our twins were in the NICU. We felt soooo guilty, but our nurses kept encouraging us to go. They said you will never have such high quality babysitters again, so take advantage of it :-) I know it will be hard though, enjoy your time away.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Have a good break and enjoy yourselves. Looks like the little ones are good care.
    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have never met you although I have family in Humble. I have followed your story from the beginning and wish you well.
    Take a much needed break and try to relax. It will help your outlook.
    Another reason I have felt connected; I have a son named Braden (32) and a daughter named Hayley (19).
    Prayers for you and yours.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Those cards are so precious that the nurses made. I remember when our babies were in the NICU and I was sick and not able to see them for a few days it was so hard but the nurses told me that they are AMAZING babysitters and they are really good at it. Take time to recover and a little time for you guys. Call anytime and I am sure they will be happy to hear from you and let you know how your little sweethearts are doing!! We continue to pray for you and your sweet babies :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Those name cards are so cute. Have a fun time and try to relax knowing your babies are taken well care of. You two really deserve a mini vacation. I am glad to hear the girls are doing well. I continue to pray for all of you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Christina
    They already have Sunkissed Photography as stated on the front of their homepage. Although a nice jesture of kindness on your part, let's remember that the posters are here to focus in on offering prayers, hope and kind thoughts for these babies as well as support for their parents while sharing our own stories. Let's let these parents deals with their babies in the NICU and their loss of the other babies. Better the business deals and advertising be left for another day. Don't you agree?

    ReplyDelete
  13. I really think Christina was just offering a kind gesture, not a business deal. I know every picture at this point is very important to Thomas and Amanda and people only want what is best for them and the girls.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That is true- we all want the best for this family.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Rachel, Haley and Ashlyn, happy one month birthday!!! This is a milestone. Congratulations Amanda and Thomas, you are doing a great job! I understand how you feel about going to New Orleans; however, the girls are in excellent hands and you deserve a small vacation. I hope you have a great time and enjoy every minute of your weekend! Everybody will continue to send lots of love and prayers your way.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I bet that would be hard of coarse I don't completely get it cause i'M 12 and FAR away from being a mom. I love seeing pictures even if its not of the babies I still like seeing pictures. Can't wait to hear more; have fun in New Orleans,
    lindsey

    ReplyDelete
  17. "Iama"

    My post was in no way a business deal or advertising, so am I insulted you would say such. I left no link to my work or my site, but rather my PERSONAL e-mail address. Do not belittle my gesture by suggesting it was so self serving. I too pray for these children each day and like many, I wish there was more I could do. I was simply offering a donation of services, not a business proposition.

    Thank you for comming to my defense Kellie, it is greatly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for the comments! We love to hear from you! If you prefer to not leave a comment on our blog you can email us at stanseljourney@gmail.com.