Baby Mine

My family of four and our luggage cram into Grandma Lynne's compact car every weekend.  To help us out, Grandma Lynne temporarily traded her car for our minivan so that we could save money on gas.  I cannot tell you how much JR and I appreciate this - We have saved so much money. The cost of filling up her tank is about $30 versus $65 for ours.  My only complaint is that it doesn't have cruise control.

I would describe myself as being somewhat of a backseat driver.  I recently scolded JR for getting pulled over by the police for speeding on the way back from Peoria. He was lucky and received a warning. Right before we were pulled over, I had been telling him over and over about watching the speedometer. I would look over and the dial would be close to 90 mph! He was driving me crazy, literally! The day after this happened, Grandma Lynne received a speeding ticket in the mail from one of those speeding cameras. Guess who was driving her car when the picture was taken? Me.

Hopefully,  I will not need to worry about speeding tickets for much longer.  We were told that Anna may be ready to come home within the next month as long as everything keeps going in the right direction.

Anna is doing great.  Right now, her goal is to take her bottles at 100%.  She still does not drink everything, so the nurses have to slowly pour the remaining formula down her feeding tube with a pump. She has a pump now because she has acid reflux. Worrying about acid reflux is a piece of cake compared to what she had been going through! 

Nurse Amy, Anna's night nurse and another one of our favorite nurses, moved Anna into an open crib (meaning no more incubator!). Moving to an open crib means that she is able to maintain her temperature consistently and that she is healthier.

Anna was also moved to a room with a window....finally!  Before, her room was dark and depressing.  The natural light will be a good thing for her and for us when we come to visit.  I am hoping the natural light will help her become active during the day and help her sleep through the night.  My fingers are crossed!

The adoption is moving along like it is supposed to.  JR and I received confirmation that the parental rights termination hearing took place.  Our adoption agency also notified us that we may be able to transfer Anna to a Level II local Iowa hospital within the next few weeks!  St. Francis is considered a Level III hospital because they specialize in the care of extremely premature babies.  In order to do the transfer, an Interstate Compact Agreement must be signed and approved between Illinois and Iowa.  If this is approved, Anna will be transferred by an ambulance.

JR and I received Anna's medical records from the adoption agency this week.  I was absolutely shocked when they were placed in my hands.  A two month old's medical records should not be such a big file.  Her file is about the size of my medical record file and I have had 30 years to work on mine.

I was thumbing through Anna's medical records the day I received them and my eyes stopped on the words "traumatic birth".  I could not believe my eyes as I read through the details.  Anna's gestation and birth were so much worse than I had originally thought. JR and I had asked about the birth on multiple occasions, but no one would tell us the details.  The nursing staff wanted so badly to tell us, but they could not disclose the information.

I am glad that I finally know the truth and that I found out while sitting in the privacy of my own home. I was able to clearly think about how Anna came to be and how her entry into this world was something you would see in a documentary. She is lucky to be alive. She is a living miracle. God put her here with our family for a reason and I am so very thankful. I plan to tell Anna about her birth some day, but she will need to be much much older before I have that conversation with her.  For now, my conversations with Anna consist of cooing and singing "Baby Mine" over and over. 

Tonight, I am sitting on my couch and thinking about the upcoming weekend.  What a perfect weekend to celebrate life. We are planning to have a nice Easter brunch buffet at Granite City in Peoria.  After brunch, we will head back to the hospital and spend the rest of the day with Anna. 

Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine
Little one when you play
Don't you mind what they say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine
If they knew sweet little you
They'd end up loving you too
All those same people who scold you
What they'd give just for
The right to hold you
From your head to your toes
You're not much, goodness knows
But you're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine

~From the Disney soundtrack, Dumbo

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