Wednesday, October 17, 2007 - Update

Olivia is doing well today. They have increased her feeds again and weaned her vent settings to 18/5 with a rate of 18. Olivia also has to have a transfusion today because she was slightly anemic. She went about 3 weeks without needing one, so that is great. She enjoyed being held by daddy last night. Olivia is opening her eyes more and more. I tell ya, it makes it so much harder to leave when she just wants to look at you. I think she is starting to enjoy having Ryan and I there more and more. I woke up this morning with an awful headache. Of course, I freaked out thinking I might be getting sick. But, now I think it was just one of my bad headaches. I’m terrified of getting sick and it makes me not want to be around any people. If I get sick, I don’t get to see my baby girl and I can’t bear the thought of missing even one day with her. So, if anyone feels like they are getting sick, please stay far away from Ryan and me. We won’t be offended, I promise.

Thank you all for your posts. Thank you to all of the other moms of 23 weekers who make me realize that I’m not the only one going through this. Shanon, I appreciated your comment about how well Olivia is doing. I truly believe that she is defying all of the odds. She had no IVH, no PVL, her PDA closed without surgery, she’s been on full feeds, etc. She is just an amazing little girl. . .stronger than I’ll ever be. What a weight on those little shoulders. I always had comfort in knowing that Logan and Olivia went through it together. As they got older, they’d each have someone who understood what it was like to be born so early. It breaks my heart that Olivia doesn’t have him anymore. Then, I remember all of the friends that Olivia and I are making who do understand.

Ashton http://ashtonjeffreykaden.blogspot.com/
Kinnick and Carver http://www.kinnickandcarver.blogspot.com/
Olivia and Avery http://www.oliviaandavery.blogspot.com/
Conner, who understands what it’s like to lose a twin http://aboutthelarsons.com/
Serena and Edwin Jr http://my23wktwins.blogspot.com/
Kaitlyn, who also understands what it’s like to lose a twin http://lizmccarthy.blogspot.com/
Lindsey and Sydney http://www.justkima.blogspot.com/

Cooper and Logan http://furloughfamily.blogspot.com/
Cole and Paige, who lost their triplet, Kaylee http://www.chasingbabies.com/
Interesting story about Cole and Paige. . .when I first found out that I was pregnant with triplets, I was searching the Internet for everything “triplets.” I came across their website. Before I ever knew that I would need the information, I learned everything I knew about premature births. I think that was God’s way of preparing me for what was to come. This was also one of the reasons that we chose Paige as Olivia’s middle name.

How many people have that many friends before they are even 2 months old? Plus, that doesn’t count all of the neighborhood kids who pray for Olivia. She also has her cousins: Julia, Alex, Katie, Rebekah, Aidan, Isabelle and one on the way. And, the rest of her family and church and all of our friends and their kids, etc. What a support system! Thank you all so very much. Your comments and words of encouragement are so very appreciated. They help get me through each day.


I have made each of the above websites a clickable link on this page. They are listed under the heading "Friends" - Stacie

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

-Philippians 4:6