Clara's Pacie

God came to us because God wanted to join us

on the road, to listen to our story, 

and to help us realize that we are not walking

in circles but moving toward the house of peace

and joy...The God of love who gave us life

sent us (His)only son to be with us

at all times and in all places, so that we never 

have to feel lost in our struggles but always can trust that God walks with us

Frederick Buechner

"God never promises us safety. We are never told that our lives will be free from storms, hurt, tragedies, or disappointments. Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has good plans for our lives, but this doesn't mean that nothing difficult will come our way. God says I had good plans for my Son too--but they still included a cross."

(Gerth, Under God's Umbrella)

Clara had a great day today. My favorite part of the day was when she got her first pacie. She certainly did love it, and kept it in her mouth until I left. She stayed asleep most of day, but every now and then she would wiggle and lift up those cute feet and hands. She loves to place her hands over her face, almost to cover up her eyes. It's in possible to move them. She is such a stubborn little baby.
The hand in the photo is mine. I wanted to show still how little bitty she is. You can also see how blond her hair is. Madeline had a dark head full of hair when she was born. I'm interested to see what Miss Clara will have. All the nurses think she is so cute. 

Clara is 33 days old. She weighs 840 grams. They went down on her vent settings today, just giving her less support for those breaths that she takes over the vent. She seemed to do well with that and had a great blood gas in the afternoon. 

She did have to get another blood transfusion today. I noticed she look pale when I got there, so I am not surprised they needed to do that. 

I thought I was going to be able to hold her after lunch, but she began to have high blood pressure. And it took them awhile to figure out what was going on. They just wanted to see if it was related to the respiratory. change on her vent. But it wasn't, yay, so they just decided to watch it. So....I didn't get to hold her, but I will ask again next time. 

She was not able to get extubated yesterday, as I posted on facebook. She just couldn't keep up with the breathing. Their plan is to get her a little bigger, and work on weening the vent over the weekend. Maybe try again this coming week. Its amazing what a difference a week can make. 

I had a nice day with Clara and my parents who came to visit. There were more babies in our NICU POD today. Big babies that had just been born.  New families as well. 

I did notice some new moms in their hospital gowns, riding in wheel chairs, looking like they were dazed and confused on what was going on. I just wanted to put my arms around them and give them a hug.

A few that came before or after me I haven't seen in a while, so I think they must have gone home already. I think a lot about that day we can bring Clara home. I told Madeline wouldn't it be great if she came home before Christmas.Oh how would we rejoice!!!