To the Mailbox!

We had some uncharacteristically warm weather here the past couple of days. It was in the mid 50s to 60s. This of course prompted a couple of trips outdoors since Gracie is 3.5 months old and does not have much fresh air under her belt.

We hiked all the way to the mailbox at the end of the driveway twice and spent about 10 minutes exploring the back porch with Preston. This was between wet spells since the warm weather brought a lot of rain and wind with it. While exploring the pond in the backyard we found that Jaws, one of the koi fish we bought a couple of summers ago, did not survive this winter. Poor guy was floating belly up. I'm glad Gracie's not old enough to remember it. We have yet to see if Miles, the other koi, is still living.

Gracie is fully recovered from her bout with bronchiolitis. She no longer coughs or wheezes in the slightest. She has not, however, found her way back to sleeping ten hours at night which is making me a bit weary. I've decided the hardest part of being a mom is not the physical stress but the mental game of it all. I'm constantly thinking, "Should I let her cry or pick her up? Should I try and get rid of the 5 am feeding or let her do it on her own? Should I make her nap in her crib or let her sleep in the swing?" These times are when I really wish babies came with instruction books. I'm really good at following instructions. I've read several books about babies but not one of them says, "Do this." This stresses me out.

I'm anxious for our four month check up in a couple of weeks because I have a laundry list of questions to ask the doctor. Until then I'll just do whatever feels right and pray I'm not doing something wrong. At least I know she's a happy baby. Whenever her face lights up all the questions just go away and I bask in the sunshine that is her smile.

I've posted more photos and videos on our media sites.

Home Sweet Home

We're home! Yesterday morning the doctor took Miss Gracie off of the oxygen to see how she would do. Her numbers were still lower than normal but nothing to be worried about. We were thinking we'd get to come home then but they wanted to monitor her for 24 hours to make sure she'd do fine without it. I did not like that hospital room but if I had to live there for the rest of my life in order for Gracie to be well I would.

She did well all night and this morning at about 9 the nurse checked and she was at 100 percent! The nurse said, "I think you've just earned your walking papers." Apparently we won the award for the longest stay and the first discharge of the day. Yippee!

Gracie is still coughing and not exactly her old self again but she is doing so much better. She's even back to her smiling/cooing ways. It's kind of funny though because she can't hit the high squeal notes right now because she's still hoarse so it just comes out as a small breath of air. She's also having trouble eating because she's still struggling with breathing. The doctor said that it could take about a month for the coughing and congestion to subside and for her breathing and eating to be completely normal. I really hope it doesn't take that long. I just put her to bed in her crib. She had to go down with her paci which is not normal. That's one way I know she's not feeling quite up to par. I'm getting to know her better everyday which basically means that I love her more everyday.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Gracie. We really appreciate all of the support from family and friends. I don't know how people without a strong support system get through things like this.

I'm looking forward to being able to post about some more upbeat things like her first "reach" and rolling over before too long.