Life at Home

It's been two weeks now since Olivia came home, and it has absolutely flown by. We have been keeping so busy and having so much fun with Olivia that we have neglected the blog, so it's time to provide an update! As you can imagine, Olivia has had a lot of "firsts" over the last couple weeks. To name a few: watching her first Penn State football game on TV with Daddy, taking her first (of many, I'm sure) trips to Target, going on her first stroll around the neighborhood, etc. And we've documented it all with pictures along the way of course!

We've settled into a pretty good routine with Olivia--she and I stay home during the day and our main activities are eating, cuddling, hanging out (with Olivia in her little Boppy bed on top of our bed), playing with her various toys, looking at her red/black/white flashcards that Daddy made for her, changing lots of diapers (and outfits...somehow she often manages to soil a couple outfits per day!), and then getting lots of special time in with Daddy when he gets home. Fortunately Chad's managers at work have been so wonderful and understanding, so he has had a lot of flexibility in his schedule and gets to join almost all of Olivia's doctors appointments and just generally spend lots of time with us.

Here are some pics from the last couple weeks:

Daddy & Olivia walking around our 'hood on a nice cool evening


Miss Olivia in her bouncy chair getting inspected (a.k.a. sniffed) by Chip--he is very interested in and very protective of his little "sissy"

Olivia & Daddy on college game day--Penn State beat Temple 31-7!


Olivia's first time wearing a dress (thanks Gramma Mary!)



One of Olivia's new favorite pastimes--napping with Daddy! This was nap #1 captured on film...

Nap #2...

and nap #3!


Of course sometimes Mommy and Olivia like to nap together too...

Who knows how long it will be until we post again, but we'll try our best to keep up with it, in between all our activities with Miss Olivia! Thanks to all for your continued interest, thoughts and prayers--we appreciate it now as much as ever!

Olivia's Homecoming!!

We almost can't believe it finally happened, but it did...Olivia came home today! After 8 long weeks of being in the NICU at Texas Children's, our sweetpea finally got discharged. It was such an amazing feeling to have our nurse disconnect her from the monitor that's been tracking all her vital signs for the last two months, and to finally get to put her in her car seat and stroller. I can't even explain how happy we were just pushing her down the hallway toward the parking garage, as we finally felt "free" of the confines of the hospital (great as they've been) and were able to expose her to an environment other than the NICU, which is all she's ever known. I think tomorrow we'll attempt our first outdoor excursion--maybe a little stroll around the block, nothing too crazy, but just to let Olivia feel fresh air and sunlight on her skin will be so wonderful!

So after we drove home very carefully and got Miss Olivia home safe and sound, we basically just reveled in having her at home finally. We hung out with her for about 10 hours straight, just trading her back and forth between the two of us. We held her on our bed, rocked her in the gliding rocking chair, propped her up in her Boppy on the bed, etc. We did some tummy time on the bed, played with her with some of her toys, and Chad even gave her a little massage. Today was all about enjoying Olivia and making her homecoming as fun and comfortable for her as possible! And she really seemed to enjoy it all--she was more alert today than we've ever seen her before. She was awake almost all day, just looking around our room, taking in all the new sights and sounds, etc. Every time she seemed to be about to doze off, she would get a new burst of energy! It was awesome just seeing her soak it all in for the first time. I can only imagine what she'll think of the great outdoors tomorrow!

Here are some pictures of our big day...

Olivia in her car seat, getting ready to leave the NICU


Daddy, Mommy & Olivia right before leaving the hospital


Mommy & Olivia hanging out on the bed


Daddy & Olivia doing the same


And finally...bedtime! All swaddled up and comfy in her Pack 'n Play bassinet next to our bed.

And this little video below isn't from today, but it is just so cute and I have been meaning to post it, so I figured I'd slide it in too...

Thanks again to everyone for all your prayers for Olivia's health and well being and for this much anticipated day to come...it all paid off and the big day finally came! We'll keep you posted on life at home with Olivia, but so far it's all we've been dreaming of and more!

Almost Home

Little Olivia is no longer so little, as of last night she's up to 2700 grams or 5 lbs. 15 ozs.!!!!! She's almost to the 6 pound mark and we're finding out that all of those clothes that used to be so huge on her barely fit. The past few days we've discovered that Olivia has grown out of a few onesies, I guess that's something that was inevitable but I can remember a time when I thought that it would never happen.

Even better news...with any luck we'll be taking Olivia home next Tuesday. Of course, that could change but we're cautiously optimistic that she'll be home soon. For all of you in Houston, please drive extra safe on Tuesday and if you see a silver 4Runner going VERY VERY slow don't get mad, it might be us with our little girl! We're so excited to bring her home after 8 weeks in the hospital. We know that we'll have to take her to the hospital quite a bit for a little while, but it's better than paying rent at the place like we are now. To start, Olivia will be on oxygen and still tube feeding but we know that won't last for ever!

Mommy and daddy continue to plug through the day to day slog, so please keep sending your wishes and prayers. We can't tell you how much that has meant to us! Thank you!

OK - now for obligatory fashion show of cute little Olivia and her burgeoning wardrobe. I swear, she has more clothes than me!


Miss Olivia with Mommy in her Boppy bed!



Front view of "My Daddy Loves Me" outfit (It's true!)



Rear (end) view of "My Daddy Loves Me" outfit



Olivia's Strawberry Shortcake ouftit (Thanks Gramma)

"I'm a little lady"

Olivia had a great surprise this week, Gramma and Papa Stevens came to visit from Pennsylvania. It was the first time Olivia had met them and we were so happy to have them here to spend time with us and Olivia. Although Gramma loved holding Olivia and Papa was afraid to touch her because "she was too small", we all had a great time. Thanks for coming mom and dad!

I'll just get right to the other point on this posting, Olivia already has quite a wardrobe. Some of her favorites are her "I'm a Little Lady" onesie, her yellow onesie with yellow ruffles on the toosh, and her doggie onesie with dog feet. All of the nurses crack up at all of her clothes. In fact, she has so many outfits at the hospital that they brought us a three-drawer rubbermaid container to hold all of them (and her assorted hospital supplies.)

Here's a sampling of her favorite outfits. Of course, you've already seen her favorite outfit...her Penn State onesie!


Doggie outfit w/ Aunt Lisa!



With Gramma and Papa Stevens!



Sleeping in her Boppy bed!


Another cute one!



One of her few non-pink outfits.

It's been a while...

A lot has been going on with little Miss Olivia, so much in fact, that we've neglected our blog a little bit (sorry!) to keep up with her.

Last Wednesday, Olivia had her first surgery. The great doctors at TX Children's inserted a more permamnent feeding tube into her cute little belly. This replaced the tube that was in her nose that had been feeding her. She did a great job and showed us that she's such a little fighter. Even at 6 weeks old, she's already stronger than most of the people I know. She's such an amazing, resilient little girl.

Since her surgery, Olivia has been recovering (very well) and we've been looking forward to having her come home. Our previous doctor (they rotate monthly) had hoped we could come home this week. Unfortunately, that isn't in the cards. Our new doctor is hoping to have her home in the next few weeks. That has been extremely frustrating to us as we were looking to have her home, but we'll be patiently waiting.

So we've been at the hospital for going on 7 weeks now, and it's pretty frustrating. I'll spend the last few sentences of this post asking everyone for continued prayer for little Olivia to continue to grow, get healthy and do all the things that little babies do. A secondary prayer, much less important to us, is for our sanity through this process. Just when we think we see the light and the end of the tunnel, the tunnel gets longer! Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers, hearing from everyone helps us manage this process better!

Love - Chad