Baby Bella Day 56

I cannot believe 8 glorious weeks have flown by so fast!!! I thank the Lord for each day He has blessed us with our child.

I got back into Charlottesville shortly after noon. After a quick trip to the apartment, Chris dropped me off in front of the hospital so I could run upstairs to see Isabella's precious face. There was only time for a quick peek at her because Cherish's service was at 2pm. It was a beautiful service and a great dedication for Cherish's short life along with the inspiration that her parents are. Just to give you an idea of how dedicated the NICU staff is, there were at least 10 of them there to show how much this little angel meant to them and impacted their lives.

Isabella had a very peaceful day again. There isn't much to report except one HUGE step. She got to do a one hour trial on the high flow nasal cannula. This is the apparatus that she will move to next from the CPAP. Bella's trial was great! She only had four desats at the beginning of the hour that were small and she pulled herself out of quickly. After that she was saturating in the high 90s. I also got to hold her while she did the trial. And this wasn't a skin-to-skin hold. I actually got to cradle her in my arms and see her adorable face at the same time. It was awesome to see her facial expressions! It appears that the little princess is going through a phase of wanting to be bundled. We noticed yesterday, even Pam last night observed, that she gets cranky, shoots her heart rate up, likes to be talked to and covered up tight. After that she is good as gold and falls back to sleep wrapped up in all her blankets. Bella put on more weight yesterday, up to 1580g which is 3lb 8oz.

In a rush to see Isabella, we forgot the camera :( SORRY! We will definitely have pictures to post this morning.

The following is a passage shared today at Cherish's service:

Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Peace be with you all...have a GLORIOUS weekend!