March 10, 2011 - 6 Days Old

Wow, exactly one week ago, Amaraa had just finished her blood transfusion. I can't believe it has been a week since everything happened. It is exciting that both Amaraa and Aiden are doing so well now, though.

Yesterday when I arrived at the hospital, I went straight up to the NICU. I was surprised to see that Aiden had been taken off the ventilator and was now on a nasal canula. The nurse said that the problem with his lungs had not completely gone away, but that it was improving. Aiden decided that he had had enough of the breathing tube in his throat, so he pulled it out. They hadn't planned on taking it out so soon, but he did okay breathing on his own, so the left it out and gave him the nasal canula. They had also taken out the arterial line going into his naval because they didn't need it anymore. He's doing so well. I spent some time with him and then headed down to Amaraa's room.

Amaraa was doing better. Dr. Anderson had been in early in the morning and removed the staples from her incision. He put some glue on it instead. That should help with the pain a little bit. The physical therapist came in and helped Amaraa get up and walk a little bit. She is so weak that it didn't take much for her to become exhausted and start to shake. She's a fighter, though, and she powered through the pain and weakness to walk a few more steps. Watching her progress over the past several days has been amazing. She improves tenfold every day. In the afternoon, she was able to take a bath. Her nurse helped her out so much and she felt so much better after she got cleaned up. After spending the day with her, I headed up to the NICU to see Aiden one more time before going home. Aiden's nurse gave me an update on him and asked me if Amaraa had been able to hold him yet. I told her I didn't know we could hold him yet. I decided to let Amaraa hold him first when she made it up there the next time. That turned out to be this morning.

This morning as I was heading to the hospital, Amaraa called me on my cell phone and told me that she was in the NICU holding Aiden for the first time. I arrived at the hospital and went up to the NICU to meet her. She was tired, but it was so fun to see her holding Aiden. My mom and dad came up to see Amaraa and the baby and came into the NICU with us. I had asked my dad to help me give Aiden a blessing. The nurse pulled the curtain to give us some privacy. Amaraa held him as we gave him the blessing. I felt a strong impression that he would be alright. I was able to hold him for the first time after the blessing. He is so tiny. He kept opening his eyes and looking around at his grandma and grandpa and Amaraa and I. Amaraa was exhausted and weak, so I gave Aiden back to the nurse and we all went down to Amaraa's room. A little later on, she got up to go to the bathroom and was able to walk all the way into the bathroom and back. The nurses helped her, but up until now, she has only been able to take a couple of steps even with help. She's a tough girl. They finally removed her catheter. That should help her get around a little better. It will also force her to walk more as she has to get up to the bathroom. She is gradually losing all of her "equipment". It won't be long until she's back to her old self, better and wiser for what she has been through.