Seriously, how are you still awake?

All you moms out there - when do babies start staying awake for 6 to 7 hours at a time?

Emma has now gone 2 days in a row being awake for 6 straight hours...and I mean AWAKE. Then she naps for an hour or so and then she's awake for another couple of hours. I was under the impression that babies are still relatively sleepy at 5 weeks!

We officially have a time and day for Emma's shunt - Tuesday, April 27 at 8:00 am - one week! Dr. Troup told me today that while she's under anesthesia, he'll first look at her back under a microscope - to make sure that everything still looks ok in there, especially since this white spot in her back has kind of stalled out and has something to do with the muscle flap protecting the spinal area. I'm sure he didn't want to freak me out again, but I feel certain he's going to make sure there's no spinal fluid leaking or any sort of direct passage into her spine before he puts the shunt in. There can be no other direct passage to or from the spine and/or spinal fluid before the shunt goes in; the shunt absolutely cannot get infected or then we're talking SERIOUS problems...much worse than anything we're dealing with now. So then he'll flip her over and put the shunt in. She'll be back on an IV for fluids and pain medication, not sure for how long. I know this is a whole other surgical procedure, but I just feel like we're about to go backwards 6 weeks...only worse. 5 weeks ago when she had her first surgery, at least her incision was closed. Now we have a huge open incision, 2 more small incisions from the shunt surgery, and the task of monitoring the amount of time she spends lying down versus upright.

Today's nurse was ok - she was nice, pretty attentive, but not my favorite. These nursing schedules are confusing to those of us who work 5 days a week, Monday through Friday. I went through the day by myself from 10 to 4:15 with an active and difficult-to-maneuver baby. Luckily my mom will be there with me tomorrow, and then one of our awesome day nurses will be back on Wednesday when I'm by myself again. Our favorite night nurse will be with Emma the night before and the night after her shunt surgery - you just have no idea how good that makes me feel. If I had a million dollars, there are 4 nurses I would hire personally to look after our daughter 24/7...come oooonnnn, lottery!

Now on to something really touching. Up until my high school years, I grew up with a family in Greenville, the Vecchiones. I call them Aunt Irene and Uncle Andy, and their kids call my parents Aunt Judy and Uncle Ben. They have two children, Nina and Mary Christen, and my mom is Mary Christen's godmother. Aunt Irene and Uncle Andy are originally from Pennsylvania, and they moved back up there about 16, 17 years ago. We've missed them ever since. We do still keep in touch, and we see them occasionally, but I sure would like to have them back here!! Anyway, Mary Christen lives in DC, and she's doing a half ironman (that's a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike, and 13.1-mile run) in Emma's honor. I was so floored and flattered that MC has decided to honor our sweet Emma with this tremendous physical accomplishment. Look at those distances again - this is a huge personal accomplishment, and MC is honoring Emma with this feat. Mary Christen has contacted the Spina Bifida Association (SBA), which is located in DC, and she has set up a way to donate via her website. Please visit Mary Christen's website, and support her and the SBA! Her goal is to raise $3,160 for SBA...because Emma was born on 3-16. Even if you can't give, go to MC's website, leave her a supportive message, and be sure to read the sweet things she wrote about my mom. It's all true.

While we're talking about people doing nice things for Emma, I've got one more thing that I don't have all the details on. I want to go ahead and mention it, though, to make you aware! A lady (whom I've never met) works with a close friend of mine, and the youth group at her church in Pickens is doing a fundraising dinner for us early this summer. It was originally scheduled for late May, but now an additional church has signed on for the festivities, so it's going to be early summer. This first started as a fundraising dinner, but it's now turned into something bigger...they're considering doing an American Idol-type thing, with people singing in a competition. People will pay to vote for their favorite singer(s), and then the dinner will be afterward. This will come as a shock to those of you who are used to reading these long blog entries, but I really don't have the words to express my gratitude, shock, and appreciation to these perfect strangers. Even though I know the Lord can do anything and connect us all one way or another, I still can't believe that our little baby has reached so many. Consider this - there are only four people in our circle of friends and family who have ever seen her...yet she is reaching hundreds. That's God, my friends.

I'll leave you with this picture of the front of our house, complete with a pink mailbox bow and a diaper wreath on the door. I don't care if these things are falling off the mailbox and door in shreds...I'm not taking them down until Emma comes home. Now that we have a surgery date, I really hope that I can finally take them down in two more weeks. Besides, those white diapers are looking pretty gross when you get up close and see all that pollen...