Race for Ryleigh Grace!

This past weekend was the March for Babies walk, which was really neat. There were pictures along the walk of  babies that had survived. There was also a number of people who were wearing shirts in support of a baby. One of the shirts we saw was in support of a baby that only weighed 15 ounces at birth!!! WOW! That is one ounce less than a pound! You could see the little girl in her stroller, now almost 4 years old. God is so good!
  I was talking to one of the nurses a couple of nights ago, and she told me that years ago when a baby was born around 24 weeks or less, the nurses would just look at each other and say, "There is nothing we can do." They would let the parents hold their babies after they were born to say goodbye. She said they didn't have the technology to save the babies the way we do today. I am so thankful that we have made so many improvements with premature births!
  Today, Ryleigh is 9 weeks old! This Saturday we start bottles! We have been "nuzzling" to start gettting Ryleigh prepared for nursing. This means I pump milk, and then let her practice sucking. A couple of days ago she was nuzzling, and got a drop of milk. It made her stop breathing for a second, but then we looked down at her and she was smiling. Isn't that hilarious? She doesn't ever get to taste the milk due to the feeding tube that is now in her nose. So, that was her first drop of milk. I guess she liked it! Ryleigh seems to really like the pacifier, so I am hoping bottle feeding is not too much of a challenge.
  We are now around 4 pounds 6 oz! We will be at 5 pounds in no time at all! They have started decreasing her calorie intake, now that she is doing so well on her growth! Ryleigh is also doing well on the nasal cannula. We are hoping that she gets off the high flow one in the next few days. I think that is all for now! Enjoy the pics from the weekend!

Family Photo

Brent and Erika

Michael, Keari and Ian

Jilinda, Michael and Lydia

Sarah Kate

The Whole Kid Crew

Our Team Shirts won the Family Award for best shirts. Thanks Robbie and Kristen!

Candice and Jose

Group Photo (I was bummed not everyone got to be in the pic)

Kristen, Robbie and Kaelyn

Angie, Jason, Edie and Henry

Aubrey supporting her sis

Sweet photo of Harper

On the move...

Zack and Kate

The Griner Crew

Lori and Laci

Sweet Paula

Cox Clan

Andi and Amy

Feekes Fam

We wanted Ryleigh to sport the shirt too! This was the smallest size possible, and it looks so big on her!

Mom, Dad and I

Aubrey and Kate were so ready for the walk to start!

Sheri, Chad and the kiddos

Edie and Jason

 

Thanks to everyone who participated! Rod and I were so touched by the entire experience. We hope to take part in it each year! Blessings, Kam

 

Ryleigh is in a crib now!!!

Can you believe it? Ryleigh got moved into a crib! I couldn't help but get a little emotional when I walked in today and saw her laying in a crib like a regular baby! It just amazes me when I think about how far we have come. Carrie, one of our favorite nurses was reflecting with me upon Ryleigh's birth, and it still chokes me up. Both she and the doctor had to take big risks to save her, and either way she could of died. She said, "She truly is a miracle." Isn't that the truth! Ryleigh is 1 ounce away from 4 pounds! Go Ryleigh! She is doing great on the nasal cannula, and is gradually getting less and less pressures. She is our little fighter.

A tearful moment for mom

Ryleigh will be two months old on Saturday, which is crazy! For those of you who live in the metroplex, you should consider doing the March of Dimes walk this weekend.  March of Dimes is a charity that helps improve upon the health of babies and helps prevent premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality. There are different teams taking part, and we do have a Ryleigh team! It's not to late to register. The race takes place at White Rock Lake. I hope the weather cooperates with us!

This is the front of our team shirt. The verse at the bottom touches me deeply. "The breath of the Almighty gives me life." Job 33:4. This verse was extremely encouraging to me in the first few weeks of Ryleigh's life.

Thank you Robbie and Kristen for helping design it!

Sunday was a special day for me. For one day Ryleigh weighed the same thing I did at birth. 3 pounds and 12 oz! I never was on a ventilator or anything, so my journey was a little easier, but it was still really cool to have that bond! Ryleigh and I will also forever share our February birthdays. Her birthday is just 1 day before mine. I never thought I would be spending my birthday in the hospital this year. However, I was given the greatest gift of all. God revealed to me that "Nothing is impossible for him".

Is it just me, or is she looking more and more like Aubrey? This was Aubrey when she was a baby. Oh, this picture brings back some sweet memories.

This was during Ryleigh's first water bath. She seemed to really like it.

I love the look on her face here.

This was one of our last photos in the incubator.

Thanks to all of you who have continued to follow our blog. Your love, encouragement, prayers and support mean more than you could ever know.  Love, Kam

Happy Easter/Nasal Cannula

Rod and I had an extra special Easter this year! When we got to the hospital to visit Ryleigh, we were estatic to see that she was moved to the nasal cannula! Praise God! She looks much more comfortable now. It was definitely a tearful moment for me. We put her in her little easter dress too. It was such a blessing to get to see more of her face.  There are different levels of the nasal cannula, and she is on the high flow one for now. She is tolerating it really well though, which is a great sign. She also has started to really take to her soothie pacifier. We kind of skipped over the purple pacifier, and went straight for the soothie.She is starting to look and feel more and more like a baby to us. There have been many songs I have wrote about that touch me during this season of my life. One of the new songs that really move me is the song "Healer." The guy that wrote the song is someone that has cancer.  If you haven't heard the song, I encourage you to listen to it.
"I believe
You're my healer
I believe
You are all I need
I believe
You're my portion
I believe
You're more than enough for me
Jesus you're all I need
Nothing is impossible for you
You hold my world in your hands."
  We had some good family time with Rod's parents, and with my family over the weekend. Aubrey got to enjoy the bubbles with her Mimi. She would run after the bubbles to try to catch them. It was really cute. There was also a egg hunt at church. Once Aubrey discovered the playground equipment, she was more interested in that then the eggs. She was not happy when we took her back to the car.
  On Sunday we celebrated Easter with the Tate family. When we started the hunt, Aubrey grabbed a couple of eggs. Once she realized they had chocolate in them, she just sat on the ground and started digging in. It was pretty funny.
  It was definitely an Easter we won't forget! Rod got some video footage of Ryleigh. Enjoy the footage and pictures below.

One of our "Buddy Nurses"

Aubrey was not a fan of the Easter Bunny!

Toddler Egg Hunt with Tate Fam

I love her new dress from her Mimi and Papi

As you can see, not much success on the hunt.

Aubrey liked her Easter basket this morning from the Easter bunny! Mainly she was concerned with me opening her sweet tarts.

Tam and I tried to let our girls help decorate some Easter Eggs. It didn't turn out as we planned, but it was still memorable.

Aubrey loved playing with the chalk with Kamryn on Sat!

Aubrey with her big Easter bunny! Thank you Mrs. Jones! She loves it!