Today was a big day for our families. The NICU rules for the number of people allowed to see Emma changed today, and 6 people are now allowed to see her. My dad and Russell's dad got to see her for the first time! For those of you who don't know my dad, he's a former football player, so he's a pretty big guy. His hands are big bear paws, so I had to snag a picture of him holding Emma's teeny tiny little hand.







Everybody (and I mean EVERYBODY) in the NICU knows that we're going home either tomorrow or Tuesday. This is all going to depend on Dr. Troup, to an extent. He has to release Emma first, and we have to do our discharge stuff with him. Then we have to do discharge procedures with a NICU nurse, the wound nurse, the physical and occupational therapists, and the social worker. So if Dr. Troup can't get over here until later in the day tomorrow, it may very well be that all these things won't get done until Tuesday...and that's ok. I can deal with it. We said our goodbyes to the 3 day nurses who have been sent to us from heaven above. I'm tearing up as I type because I'm convinced that without these 3 nurses, Emma would be going home later than she already is. Of course, I could also say that there a few nurses who are the reason we've been here as long as we have. But it is what it is, and God has taught us so much during Emma's stay here. And I'm very thankful for the uninterrupted sleep that we've had over the last 7 weeks. Kiss it goodbye.

Emma's wound looks fantastic today! Yesterday it was only ok because the night nurse Friday night had never had her before and didn't saturate the packed gauze with the medicinal gel...so every time Emma moved, the dry gauze rubbed all over the tender healing tissue and made it bleed a little. It's not a huge setback or anything, but it wasn't exactly forward progress either. That nurse was very good, but she just didn't understand the real importance of keeping the wound wet. That's why you need consistency in nursing care! Whatever, move on...God has blessed with some great ones, too.

Emma's soft spot is getting softer, and I think the fluid is even visibly improved! She had what I like to call an Abraham Lincoln hat. You know, he wore that tall black top hat...well her head was kind of starting to do that. Now it's definitely going back down.

I hope they don't mind that I post this (if they ever read this blog), but we met a couple last night who is adopting a little boy born on Monday with spina bifida. They are not from Greenville and live about 2 hours away. They already have 2 kids in their early teens and 2 years ago decided to try to adopt a special needs child. They received a phone call on Wednesday about this little boy, and here they are! One of the NICU doctors asked if we would speak to them about our journey and about spina bifida since they have been thrown into this so suddenly. My parents have offered up their house for when they visit on the weekends (the dad is still working, not sure about the mom). They're a wonderful couple (OBVIOUSLY), and it was such an interesting perspective to see regarding this disability. It was kind of weird to talk about our hopes for Emma physically and express our disappointment and fear about this disability but then hear them take the same disability with such calmness. This is what they were asking for! I mean, not spina bifida specifically, but it's just such a different point of view to talk to someone who is still hopeful, yet expectant of something like this all along. What an amazing family...and this child will be blessed beyond measure.

We've finally gotten Emma's formula under control, or at least until all her other issues improve/heal. The doctor who said, "FINE!" the other day about changing it explained to us last night that he didn't understand why I was so adamant about changing formula. Now, though, he sees that we're trying to prevent stool from seeping onto the dressing. Oh, sorry, poop - we've been using the medical term for poop around here, but I think it sounds pretentious. Emma spit up for only the second time EVER today, and we were NOT happy. When your child isn't a spitter, it's very scary when she does. At least we were here in the hospital; otherwise, we'd be hovering over her the rest of the day. Oh my, speaking of hovering, Emma's respiratory monitor just went haywire, and her alarm went off indicating that she wasn't breathing. Well that'll keep you up for days...if any crazy letters sneak into the middle of words here, it's because I'm still shaking. The nurse is now fixing the monitors...I think I need to ask her for some Valium.