Happy Birthday Holly!

For our Thanksgiving week, we're extra thankful to welcome our little Holly to our family. She was born November 24, 2009 at 1:05 pm. She weighed 3lbs and 10oz and was 18in long. After an ultrasound Monday afternoon, they determined that she needed to be born so they could assist her in gaining weight. So, monday night around 7, Ian and I headed up to the hospital leaving Atley with some good friends of ours. They induced labor and I had mild contractions all through the night making sleeping slightly difficult. At around 8 the next morning, the doctor came and broke my water. Because I was preterm, it took a little while for the contractions to become regular, but once they did, Holly came so quickly. We pushed for around 5 minutes. Then I finally got to meet my beautiful little girl.

She looked really great and they were very pleased with her cry, though she was tiny. We got to see her for about a minute before they whisked her away to the NICU. Ian went with her, but they sent him back pretty quick because they had some further procedures to do. The next time I saw her, this is how she looked.

We left the hospital the next night because I hadn't been able to see Atley because of the hospital restrictions. Our little Holly did really well the first day or so, coming off the oxygen and breathing on her own. She even opened her eyes for a quick photo shoot. The following pictures and videos are really a treasure.

Since we left the hospital, we've been able to go back and visit her twice a day. The nurses that are taking care of her and really great at explaining things and telling us how she's doing. And, as any NICU parent knows, the time our baby spends in the NICU will be full of ups and downs. Currently, she's back on the oxygen and has a tube in her lung because, as I understand it, it sprung a leak. They've discussed transferring her to the hospital in Idaho Falls, but as soon as the ambulance was on it's way to pick her up, she turned around and was maintaining her oxygen levels. The doctors say that she's quite feisty and definitely a fighter. We have no idea when she'll be able to come home. We're so thankful for everyone who has been praying for her and our family and ask you to continue. Though there seems to be no long term problems, we'd like to bring her home as soon as possible and we certainly need the faith and prayers of everyone.