Today is Jan. 3rd, 2007 -


WEDNESDAY!!!! We are very excited about our spunky new addition Lauren Reece Nesbitt! Like her mother, she already lacks patience, and decided to join our family 3 months early. (She was due on April 4th, 2007) Surprisingly, she is 2.1 lbs, and almost 14" long, which is big for her age if you can believe that. She is currently in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. Josephs Hospital, and being watched over by a fantastic team of doctors and nurses. Kaia is also in the hospital recovering from her C-section. We hope to have her home tomorrow.

We look forward to Wednesdays, as that is Lauren's weekly "birthday." (When your life is measured in weeks, each new week is an important day - and represents a new milestone in her development.) Today, she is 27 weeks old!

Today, Lauren is doing quite well. She continues to breath on her own, with the help of a bubble Cpap machine, which is great. Her heart rate remains strong, but there is some concern about the a tiny hole in her heart, which most newborns have...An echo cardiagram was taken to get a better idea of the size of the hole, and how it might be affecting her. She had her first poop today, which shows that her digestive system is starting to work. (Kaia's milk arrived, and she's been pumping and storing the milk for future use.) The docs removed one of her arterial lines, and they will most likely put in a central line in the next few days. (Hopefully, they can find a vein in her small little arm...) She has lost a few more grams in body weight, but much less that the previous day, which is encouraging. Finally, her "A/B" episodes are much less today, which is also encouraging..

Kaia seems to have more energy today, and walked to the NICU this morning and then again at lunch. She will stay at the hospital tonight, we will bring her home tomorrow (Thursday). Connor continues to eat us out of house and home, and seems to be in his normal groove of playing with everything in the house, including our cat. I've noticed that he is now taller than our dining room table. (He did take a dive down three stairs, and landed on his forehead, which produced a rather large blue/green shiner...He's fine...)

I'll do my best to keep you updated...Grant