1 week birthday

Monroe is 1 week old today! We celebrated by spending the entire day with her and this is the first day both Jill and I have been able to hold her. She handled it like a champ and loved cuddling with both of us.

Jill took the early afternoon holding. After Jill held her she changed a poop filled diaper and did a great job. :)


And I took the late afternoon.


Today had lots of accomplishments. The pressure on Monroe's CPAP was turned down to 4 and she is keeping her oxygen levels up just fine. Her feedings increased to 4mL/hour which meant her supplemental feeding IV in her belly button was removed (a little traumatic for Jill to watch, and Monroe cried a little because she was not in the mood to have her arms held still, but as soon as it was done she settled right down). This was such a HUGE step for her. Because the supplemental feeding IV was removed several other sets of tubing were also removed. She just has her CPAP, feeding tubes in her mouth, and a suction tube on now. It makes it SO much easier to hold her and only takes one nurse to move her from her incubator to our arms now. Yay!

And the biggest thing to mention of the day... she is back to her birth weight on her 1 week birthday. Originally they told us they would be happy if she was back to her birth weight in 2 weeks. Here is today's care card that the nurses fill out each morning. Tawyna, Mindy and Sara took great care of her today. And Sara wanted to be sure to mention that last night Monroe pooped all over her and it took 4 diapers to contain. She's eating well!


She LOVES being swaddled and was so happy they found this little swaddling blanket for her to rest in all day. She looked SO happy! Monroe gets basic care done every 4 hours, like wiping her eyes and mouth and checking her over, changing diapers (though that happens much more often than every 4 hours) and during this time she gets to have her CPAP off and does really well without it. This might be my favorite picture we have of her so far. It makes me so happy to see her looking so content with her little hand by her mouth.


Uncle Chris and Aunt Shannon came to visit tonight too and showered Monroe with so many perfect gifts. Monroe is so lucky to have them as her Aunt and Uncle!


Last night we got a visit from my cousin Jenny and I'm so happy to have reconnected with her. I've missed having her in my life! Today our friend Jen also visited, little did we know Monroe would arrive before Jen moves to California in a couple weeks.

Monroe shared her 1 week birthday with our good friend Carrie's birthday too. Carrie has been so generous with gifts for Monroe, we are lucky to have Carrie as a friend and Monroe will be playing with her pink felt tool belt in no time while she wears her Dave Matthews Band onesie. :) Happy birthday Carrie!