Preemies and Pumpkins

Here's our little pumpkin! Emily is still doing great and is now 1 month old. Her leg is completely healed (we can't even see where the infection was) and she is growing by leaps and bounds. You might recall that we were excited about her weight on Tuesday at 3 lbs. 4 oz. Well.... this little girl has been packing it on these past 4 days... she is now 3 lbs. 12.4 oz!! That's an average weight gain of over 2 oz. per day! She's nearly 4 lbs. already! Go, Emily, go!!

I spent the day on Thursday snuggling with Emily since Luke's mom was here to watch Logan and Audrey. We kangarooed together for 2 hours, and it was wonderful. I just wish it wasn't such an ordeal to hold my baby... all her tubes and wires must be unhooked, stretched, and reattached, and I have to scoot my chair as close as possible to the incubator so that everything will reach. It takes a good 15-20 minutes just to get everything situated. Finally the nurse leaves and draws the curtain so we have a little bit of privacy. I rock back and forth and sing to my baby girl as I stroke her long, soft little fingers, trying to ignore all the voices, footsteps, beeping and alarms that fill the NICU. Emily and I breathe in sync and even doze off together, and we both look forward to the day when we can cuddle in the comforts of our own home.

Since the weather was so nice today, Luke and I decided to take Logan and Audrey to our local pumpkin patch. Their favorite attractions were the baby chicks and running through the corn maze. We also picked a pumpkin for our front porch and let both of the kids go on a pony ride. Oh yes, and kettle corn was enjoyed by all!