Alayna's Field Trips

Alayna's second meal (we missed the first one)

Daddy's Girl...he loves her so much

Our happy family picture

The Life Flight Team packing her up for the MRI

Mommy's first time holding her

They had to shave a spot on her head for a monitor because she had so much hair...so sad! We love her hair.

Her new room

Moving her to her new roomWe love this picture. I especially love the little bows the nurses put on her head!

Daddy got to brush her hair!

Daddy changing her diaper...the first of many =)

Her eyes are wide open...that hasn't happened too often!

The last 2 days have been very positive for us. First off, Alayna had her MRI today, but we won't know the results until tomorrow, so there's one more delay.

Yesterday was a big day for our little girl. She was brought back to normal body temperature and handled that really well. She is currently able to regulate her own temperature without a warmer, she is just wrapped in a blanket like any other baby. We also got to change her diaper for the first time, who would have thought that would be so exciting!??! I think it's because we finally get to feel like we're parents and doing something for her rather than just watching. When we're there, the nurses let us change her and take her temperature. She was a lot more alert yesterday because she was off the cooling treatments and not as heavily sedated.

Since she finished her cooling treatments, she also got to be moved to a different part of the NICU. Now she just has one roommate and shares a nurse with that baby. That room is a lot quieter and actually has places to sit down, so that's been nice. Also, yesterday I got to hold her for the first time!!!!! It was a little scarey for me with all of the things she's hooked up to, but the nurses help with that.

She is continuing to have good urine output, and her digestive system has been making noises for a couple of days, signaling it is ready for food. These are all very good signs. Her liver, which was damaged from the trauma of birth, has also healed and her bilirubin counts are perfect.

Today was another big day. She had her MRI around 10am and was transported again by the Life Flight crew to Primary Children's Hospital (which is connected to the U of U hospital, so you don't even need to go outside). The MRI took about an hour and Jeff and I just waited during that time, then she was transported right back to U of U. We were originally told the results would be given in 3-4 hours, so we planned on sticking around.

Todays milestones: She ate! They tried giving her 8ML of my milk, then they wait 3 hours and suck anything left in her stomach to see if her digestive system is working. She is fed through tubes in her nose because she hasn't learned the suck-swallow-breathe system yet. After 3 hours she had digested 95% of the milk so her digestive system is working!

The whole sucking-swallowing reflex is also a big deal, so we're trying to get that started. Until now they've had to just suction mucous from her mouth because she doesn't swallow. Today by stimulating her lip with touch and my milk, we got her to swallow a few times. She is sedated today because of the MRI (they need her to hold still), so tomorrow we should make even more progress with getting her to suck on a pacifier and swallow her own spit.

Jeff got to hold her today. It was awesome. He also got to brush her hair yesterday so he has just been on cloud 9.

We are still anxious about the results of the MRI tomorrow, but we've felt a lot of peace and comfort the last couple days. She's alive and with us, so part of us is like "who cares what is the result of the MRI???" She's made so much progress and that has been so encouraging to us, and we love her so much. We are so pleased with every nurse and doctor that has worked with her and with the care she's getting. But, just because we love the U of U hospital DOESN'T mean we love their football team! Again we are so grateful for the outpouring of love and support from our friends and family. Enjoy some pictures!