Home

We couldn't imagine this day coming soon enough. We have been so grateful to have her home. Ari is doing well. She weighs 5lbs. 3oz. and maintaining her 17 1/2 in. for some time now. But the cheeks and those chinS keep growing.

Once she falls asleep at night, she's a good sleeper, well good meaning 5 hrs; only because I'm really not suppose to let her go past 4hrs yet. Getting her to settle down seems to be the challenge. She falls asleep by 1am on a good night and 3am on a "I just want to held" night...which I'd gladly do if I could stay awake. She's amazing. The kids are just crazy about her and so happy she's home. We are so blessed.

Coming Home Today!

Ariana comes home today! She had her tests (eyes, mri, and camera in airway) and all is well. She was put back on the nasal cannula, so she will be home on oxygen, a monitor, and medications. We are so excited yet very nervous. Thank you all again for your support during this time. Now we begin a new phase, we look forward to making you all a part of it.

Ari in Action

Here's a little video clip of this beautiful little girl God has blessed us with. I can sit and watch her for hours and am reminded of how awesome God is and everything He did and is still doing.

No More Tubes!

Yesterday Ari was taken off her oxygen, except for when she's taking her bottle. And her feeding tube was taken out. We can finally see her cute little face without anything on it. Last night's nurse said she was up most of the night. I thought it was great because she's more alert and interested in looking around but felt bad because I wish I could be there to hold her.

We know she'll be home before we know it. We are in the final stages. Monday she has an MRI, Tuesday the camera down her throat, and a 12 hour test that will check her heart rate and oxygen levels. Carlos and I get to watch a few videos on car seats, CPR, and care. Finally, we will bring our car seat in and they will begin to sit her in it to get her ready for riding in it and to ensure she maintains her oxygen levels. And the day she leaves we will learn how to use the monitor she will come home on. This week we also will begin working with the kids on washing hands constantly and using hand sanitizer constantly. All of this will happen within the next few days.

Almost 3 Months

Ariana has been taking almost all her bottles by mouth. She has also been on room air most of the time and gets a little oxygen for her feeds. Last Thursday the eye doctor checked her eyes and found that (as many preemies do) she had Retinopathy, which is an eye disease that causes blindness if not treated. He also felt it had progressed past a point than he allows before performing surgery. So that evening he did laser surgery on her eyes. Ariana was sedated which really worried everyone, since many babies have to be intebated (get the breathing tube) and we all know she had a very hard time coming off that breathing tube; only because her airway is damaged from having it in and out so many times. And she still gets very squeaky because of the damaged airway. We were extremely grateful that she did well and did not required the breathing tube. We won't really know the full results of the surgery for another 2 weeks, but we do know that she will not have peripheral vision due to the tissue that was damaged. Our prayers are that the rest of her vision will be great.

About her squeaky airway - they plan to do a broncoscopy, which is a small camera that they will put down her throat to look are her airway. Because of her squeaking noises and sometimes seeming to be breathing hard to get air, they want to make sure there is nothing they need to do before she comes home. She has to be sedated for this procedure too, so Lord willing - that will go well and we can look forward to bringing her home within 2 weeks :)