Don't try this at home, folks.

I don't even want to think about how much time I spend every day arranging blankets around my child inside her crib. Obviously, Emma's in the NICU, hooked up to breathing monitors, etc., so someone is always "watching" her. But I think this picture would horrify most child-raising experts and a lot of you mothers:



Yes, that's a pillow she sleeps on, covered by a blanket, surrounded by 7 more blankets (you can't see them all - some are buried). Her crib is also the storage area for a couple toys, the occasional hat or socks, and the equivalent of a diaper-changing station. Let's hope Emma can sleep in our crib at home without all this business around her.

After I posted the blog last night, Emma started crying a lot. We had no idea what exactly was bothering her, especially since we're dealing with so many problems right now. (In case you're wondering, here's the list: (1) diaper rash/raw skin down there (2) diarrhea (3) a 2" long x 1" wide x 1/2" deep infected hole at her incision site (4) an uncomfortable, boring state of being on her tummy for 19 days now and (5) increasing fluid on her brain.) Suddenly, last night, she jumped or sneezed or something, and all kinds of goop shot out of her nose. My immediate thought was, "Great. What's this, a sinus infection or a cold?" No, no, it was formula. Because Emma lays on her stomach to eat, the formula sometimes runs up into her nasal cavities. We've all started laughing during taking a drink or gotten pool water up our noses, right? And you know how much that hurts. Emma had formula up in there for a good 30 minutes to an hour. Our nurse was standing right there, grabbed the aspirator, and got even more formula out of her nose. So that was problem number 6 yesterday. We think the solution to that is trying to angle her up as much as possible when feeding her, but we were trying to do that anyway. So let's just hope that we don't deal with that again.

Praise God! I have begged and prayed and pleaded for an answer to at least one of our many problems. Today He blessed us with a nurse and a NICU doctor who decided that piggie Emma Claire is allowed to eat too much. A few days ago, someone at some point wrote in her chart that she can eat however much she wants every 3 to 4 hours. Big mistake. Huge. We're pretty sure that this has been causing an uncomfortably full tummy and some really bad diarrhea. Add to that, raw skin you-know-where as a result of the nastiest case of diaper rash imaginable, and our poor daughter has just been in all kinds of pain. But this doctor was so, so great, as was our nurse today, and they've put her on a much more restricted feeding plan. So far, so good...I'm writing this at 9:45 in her room, and it's been 5 hours since any sign of the rhea. I know it sounds silly (and maybe some people would even call it sacrilegious) to thank God for getting rid of the runs, but I'm thankful for anything that will make my daughter's life easier in the midst of all her problems.

Dr. Troup came by while my mother-in-law, Mary Jane, was here. He thinks the hole in the incision is spreading more to the left side; it WAS only in the center and on the right side. He's going to have a wound care nurse come in on Monday to look at the incision to see if there's anything they can do. There's some kind of wound care team here at the hospital that specializes in situations like ours. Troup thinks there's some kind of powder they have that helps infections and wounds like Emma's. We'll just see how it goes. Our family and the nurses think that there's more scabbing today, which I think is a good thing...I guess. I know some of you would like to see what this incision looks like, but it would probably make most of you sick. So I won't post it here...but if you really want to see what it looks like, click on my profile and email me, and I'll send it to you, ha!

Tonight she got really fussy again, and we weren't sure why. Ultimately, this was the solution:



Daddy. Leaning over, kissing her head, grabbing a hand, and putting his hand on her head and back. He saved all 3 of us twice tonight with this sweet gesture. I know that once we get her home, we can't go running at the sound of every cry, but while we're here in the NICU and she's battling all these different issues, you better believe we're going to be there for her.