These boots are made for walking!!

Jentry got these boots from her cousin Millie and since it was only 30 degrees when we left the house this morning I thought it was the perfect time for her to wear them...as you can see they go all the way to her knees...but she didn't fuss when I put them on her and they matched her outfit and are super cute! Thank you Millie and Aunt Tonya...too bad we can't walk yet...cause I think these boots are made for walking :)

DADDY?!?

Today when I was uploading pics to send to my sister in law Tonya, I ran across these pics...DADDY do you happen to know anything about this?? It looks like he wanted to capture how his wife and daughter sleep alike!! He tells her often that she is just like her Mommy! I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing...I guess we will see once she can talk :) Right Grandma Kauffman??!!?? You can see from these pictures Mommy isn't the only one who is exhausted!! However I do think Jack could have been doing something more productive than taking these non-flattering pictures of his wife and daughter...I'm sure there was laundry or dishes to be done :) I know I'm home all day and those are things I need to be doing...but it's hard to get it all done...it seems like everyday before I know it Oprah is on and it's already 4 pm! Ugh, where do my days go?
PS, YES I KNOW YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO SLEEP LIKE THIS WITH YOUR BABY...WE WERE JUST NAPPIN' AND DADDY WAS CLEARLY KEEPING A CLOSE EYE ON BOTH OF US!

3 weeks old already!

My how time flies when you don't get much sleep...Mommy that is...as you can see Jentry sleeps like a champ! I can't believe Jentry turned 3 weeks old yesterday! It doesn't seem possible that she's been in the world 3 weeks already. Today we went to get my allergy shot and ran into Target to buy formula and wipes...I think this is a trip we will make often :) When we got home I snapped these pictures to send to Aunt Tonya. I was thinking of her when I bought the outfit Jentry has on today...she likes things with cherries on them. I like this outfit because it isn't typical baby pink however it is still girly!

The hat Jentry is wearing in this picture was given to us by the anesthesiologist who gave me my epidural at the hospital. It fits her perfectly and is so cute, it is red and white and has sparkly yarn in it. I love it!

Good News!

Today we got good news!! Jentry has had to have her bilirubin checked almost daily for the past 2 weeks and it kept going up. Finally this weekend the Dr. called and said we need to switch to formula and see if that helps get her bili down. So I cried a bit but we made the switch to a strictly formula diet. (What a pain the butt formula is!) Anyhow, today we went to have her blood drawn and it didn't go good, she got pricked in both feet and wouldn't bleed for the lab so they sent us to the pediatric ward and the nurse there had to find a vein in Jentry's arm to get the blood, Mommy didn't like that, but she knew it had to be done. At 1:45 we went to see Dr. Miller and she gave us good news and lots of it!! First off Jentry has gained weight and finally weighs more than she did at birth, secondly her bili is down to 9 which is 4+ points less than it was on Friday, third her liver enzymes are ok, fourth her Digixon level is on target, finally we are able to breast feed some and supplement often with formula and we don't have to go back to the Dr until Jentry is 2 months old. Thank Heaven!! Our baby has been to the lab and the Dr more in her short 3 weeks of life than some go ever! I am so glad that we don't have to have her blood drawn anymore, her little feet look so painful :( Needless to say lots of prayers have been answered today and we thank God for our little miracle!

Daddy caught you!

Daddy caught Jentry smiling with his cell phone last night. She is such a funny baby! She makes funny faces and smiles often. We are lucky to have such a good baby! I think this is God's reward for our horrible 1st week without her while she was in the NICU. It is hard not to fall in love with this little face and crazy hair :)

15 Days Old Already!!

Jentry Melaine was born 5 weeks early on February 17th. My water broke at 2:40 am on the 17th however I didn't realize that is what had happened until 3am when I thought I was wetting myself for a second time, but this time I couldn't get the fluid to stop...so I said to Jack (who is still very much asleep at this point) "Honey, I think my water broke!" He replied, while rubbing his eyes, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU THINK YOUR WATER BROKE?!?" I said "I don't know, but I think we should call the Dr." So he got up, handed me my phone, and laid back down! I called the Dr and she said "The hospital will be waiting on you!" So, knowing we had a little time, Jack and I took showers and headed to the hospital...little did we know at this point that we would be staying.

We arrived at Community North at 4 am and we were told that the fluid leaking was indeed amniotic fluid and that yes in fact we would be having our baby in the next 24 hours. At 6:15 am my Labor and Delivery nurse Debbie started my Pitocin drip and the contractions started getting closer together and harder. This continued for about 2 1/2 hours until about 9 when I finally got my epidural. This was the easiest part of the process! At 9:30 Debbie decided it was time to see how dilated I was, when she checked she thought she felt Jentry's nose (meaning she was coming out face first), she asked another nurse to come and verify what she was feeling, when the 2nd nurse checked she said "No, those are toes" and they got a 3rd nurse in to check who agreed those were toes they were feeling...at this point Dr. Bean, my OB came in and also confirmed the toes and we were off to the Operating Room for an emergency C-section...ugh! I was FULLY dilated and ready to push! DARN IT!! Oh well, Jentry has had a mind of her own this whole time!

So Jack got into scrubs and I was whisked to the OR and at 10:37A.M. our little bundle of joy came screaming into the world. We only got to see her for a brief second before a team of NICU nurses and Dr's whisked her away. Her heart was beating 330 beats a minute which is about 3 times what it should have been. Jentry was born with 2 holes in her heart, an arrhythmic heart beat, and another issue that makes her heart cycle weird. She spent 7 days in NICU at Community North. Those were the hardest 7 days of my life. However the NICU nurses were awesome and took very good care of our baby girl! Meredith was Jentry's main NICU nurse and we will miss her, but we are glad to be out of the NICU. We were very impressed with both the NICU nurses and our nurses in Labor and Delivery. Both Jack and I would recommend Community North to anyone looking for a place to have a baby :)

Here is one of the first pictures of Jentry. She was born on February 17, 2009 at 10:37 am. She weighed 5 lbs 2.9 oz, and was 18 1/2 inches long. She has a full head of dark brown hair! As you can see in this picture she had many wires and IV's her first few days of life. This was very hard for me to see and deal with.

Here is Jentry's first professional picture. We took these to surprise Daddy! She posed perfectly and slept like a champ. Mommy and Grandma were so proud of Jentry!

Today we made our first trip to Riley to have the Cardiologist take another look at Jentry's heart. We learned that one of the holes has closed and the other one is on it's way to closing. Jentry still has her arrhythmia and other heart issue but we will just continue to give her the daily dose of Digixon and listen to her heart daily to make sure it isn't beating too rapidly. The Digixon is helping with that, and we are thankful for this. So needless to say Jentry and I have been to many Dr appts in the past week and we will continue to go to them for a little while!

Jack and I were unprepared to have our baby 5 weeks early but I think we have done a great job of adapting to this knew unknown, and we were thankful that my mom could come and stay with us for a few days after Jentry came home from the NICU.

Alright, she's hungry...gotta go :)

Jentry's Room

Yesterday Jack and I nearly completed Jentry's room. We only need a few more furniture items and her valance/drapes and the room will be totally done!!! I can't wait for her to arrive. We spent last weekend hanging her name...and what an experience that was! Jack and I spent last Sunday measuring her wall and computing to get her letters hung just right...so Jack got out his laser level and put marks where all the nails needed to go...hung all the nails, put the letters up...and much to our dismay they were all about 7 inches too far to the right! So off come the letters, out come the nails, the holes were all patched and we completed the entire process again. And walah, here is the finished product! We love her letters! Thanks Mom, or soon to be Mimi (Grandma)!

After hanging her letters we moved on to the flowers that are on the opposite wall, they weren't so bad to hang, but Jack feels that we need to add one more...my Mom says you always hang things in odd numbers so we only have 5 right now, but we might add another green flower before things are all said and done. We will have to see who wins this battle, Jentry's daddy or her Mimi! Below you can see her flowers. I had to take this picture at an angle so you don't really get a good idea of what the flowers really look like, but they add a nice splash of color to Jentry's wall!

Finally yesterday we bought a mattress so that we could get Jentry's crib all put together. We let it air out a bit, washed the mattress pad, and then put her bed together. Jack even helped put the bumper on! I love her bedding, it's not too babyish or too girly but is still really pretty...again thanks Mom :) My mom has been a HUGE help in getting all of the furnishings for Jentry's room...they were awesome shower gifts and Jack and I really appreciated them.

We also ordered Jentry's carseat/stroller travel system yesterday that way in case she comes early we will be all ready. Her clothes are washed and we are "ready" for her arrival...I don't know that we are mentally ready, but at least we have all of the necessities in order to bring her home!