Merry Christmas! (A Little Late)

We had a wonderful Christmas with the Sandersons, Wahlers, and Cases. What a joy it was to spend our first Christmas with Little Suzie. Of course she had no idea what was going on, but we are so thankful to have her home with us for Christmas. Here are some fun pictures and I hope to post a video of her laughing and gabbing soon...we are enjoying hearing more and more of it every day!

Blessing Upon Blessing

Five months ago our lives were shaken up more than we could have ever imagined. In less than 24 hours we went from having the most normal, healthy pregnancy we could have asked for, to having to deliver our little girl 12 weeks before her due date and having to see her in critical condition. When the doctor told me he likely would have to deliver Little Suzie within the next few days, I remember thinking that I would never see my little girl alive. I had no idea how many babies could survive being born so early. I remember the day after she was born the doctor said to us, "Your baby is very sick. We think that she may have a 40% chance of living. Let's hope that she is on the right side of the odds." Thankfully, we know that we don't have to try to "beat the odds." We have a most loving, sovereign God who has every detail of life planned from before time even began! We had no idea what the next few months would look like and now that we are here, five months later, I am overwhelmed with how gracious our Lord has been to us.

The first several weeks of Suzie's life, while she was in the most critical condition, people would always ask us if we ever struggled with asking God why...why us? This morning I found myself asking God why...why would He choose to bless us so much? Suzie has come so far and has exceeded all of her doctors expectations. As we have dear friends whose children are still in the hospital and one family that had to say goodbye to their little girl not too long ago, we see that God has shown us so much mercy and blessed us more than we could have ever even asked for. We praise Him for what He is doing in our lives through our little girl and for showing us what a privilege it is to be a part of His body.

All that to say, Suzie is doing very well:) She weighed in at 9 lbs. 11 oz. on Friday...almost 10 pounds! She is just a few days past her five month birthday. Per the doctor's recommendations we are still going to keep her from large crowds through the cold and flu season. But she is enjoying going to people's homes and having visitors come over. She is such a people person and just loves to be held...all the time:) She naps better on the sofa than she does in her crib and can sleep 7 hours at night before I have to wake her to eat. She is constantly putting her hands in her mouth, is tracking much better with her eyes, and getting a lot better at lifting her head. She is cooing up a storm and laughs on occasion. I think that we tell her how cute she is at least 20 times a day. She is one loved little girl. Here are some of her most recent pictures...my favorite is the one of her with daddy.

Sweet Girl

Thankfully Suzie is doing better these past couple of days. We tried virtually every suggestion you all offered (thank you all so much for sharing your helpful tips!) and Suzie was provided a little relief at times. We were able to go to her new pediatrician on Monday and she told us that Suzie isn't constipated, just gassy. So sad! So I am giving her gas drops 6 times a day and it seems to be helping at least a little. She is eating more and her pipes seem to be working a little better, so I'll take it!

The good news is that I really like Suzie's new pediatrician. She is located in Pasadena right by Huntington Hospital. We picked her because we wanted to be able to go to all the same specialists. The doctor was very friendly and seemed very knowledgable. She took the time to sit down and get to know Suzie's situation and had several recommendations for us. She is going to refer Suzie to a pulmonary specialist to follow up on her need for oxygen while she is feeding. She even called me personally this morning to let me know that all of Suzie's blood work was good! So I'm so thankful to have a reliable pediatrician for our little girl.

Here is a fun video of a happy Suzie...as I type this I have a not so happy little girl needing my attention:)

Poor Baby

Suzie has had a rough couple of days. We think that she is a little constipated and she has also been vomiting a little. I was wondering if it could have anything to do with the formula I supplement with. She has just been pretty unhappy and seems like she is in pain sometimes. Any of you moms out there have any advice for how to help a constipated baby?? Or tips on what kind of formula to use? Any suggestions are much appreciated:)

Other than that, our sweet girl is doing very well. We had a great first Thanksgiving with her and everyone enjoyed taking their turn to hold her. One of the best things is that Suzie laughed for the first time on Saturday! It was a very short little giggle and if I hadn't been looking at her expression I wouldn't have known it was a laugh, but she did it two more times on Sunday. She smiles a lot too, although Daddy says not often enough for him. She is starting to be awake for longer periods during the day, which is very fun (except for the past two days). She has many fun expressions and we pretty much just dote on her all day long.

We try out our new pediatrician on Monday so hopefully that will go well! Here is a video of our happy girl.