Our little miracle......

I guess it's time to spill the beans......

A couple of weeks ago, we found out about a little girl born in Louisiana. We spent days pouring over her medical records and searching our hearts to decide if she was our daughter. She was....and now, she is!

Baby M was born at just over 25 weeks - 1 pounds 7 ounces. She suffered Respiratory Distress Syndrome and a Grade III-IV Intraventricular hemorrhage. Subsequently, she developed hydrocephalus. She was on a vent for a little over a month. In her second week of life, she was transferred to the NICU at Children's Hospital in New Orleans where her care was managed for the next 14 weeks.

Little M had a temporary reservoir placed to drain her excess cerebrospinal fluid while she grew and became stronger. When she was big enough, she had a permanent ventriculoperitoneal shunt placed. The shunt functioned well and despite one minor revision about 2 weeks ago and a couple adjustments, she has not encountered any difficulties.

M did great while in the NICU and was a favorite of many of her nurses. This is evidenced by the fact that she really does not tolerate being put down......EVER! :) She continued to grow and thrive and was discharged to us on Monday, November 2nd.

It is unsure what the future holds for M with regard to her physical and mental development. She will certainly have some obstacles to overcome secondary to her prematurity, hemorrhage and hydrocephalus. The good news is that she has amazed all of her doctors and right now at just under 40 weeks gestational age, she is doing everything that a child her age should be doing.

So, here were are, in our hotel in Metairie, LA, hanging with our girl. We're praying that ICPC goes through tomorrow and we can return home on Friday. There's a little boy at home missing his mommy and daddy and a mommy and daddy in LA missing their little boy something fierce! I cannot wait to scoop him up in my arms again!It's a little scary to be travelling with a preemie who is so susceptible to colds and infections, but she is one tough girl!

Our camera and computer have decided not to play nice this week so unfortunately, I only have one picture to offer right now. There will be many, many more after we return home and get settled back in.

Without further adieu......