The picture above shows my baby with one eye closed. This is how she and her daddy wakes up in the morning. I love em both.


07/12/08


Today is very hectic but in a good way, we are having a baby shower. Yep even though my baby girl came early we are still having the shower that her grandmother (my mother) has worked so hard to plan!! I'm excited seeing all the pink around the house. (which i swear i didn't like before i found out i was having a girl !!) The festivities started at 3:00pm. We had a great time. So many people came out to support us and show how much they love little Amaya'. My grandma sallie, sister, neice and nephew was able to attend! I am so excited to see them. Amaya' is the first one to make my sister an aunt. My mom really outdid herself. We had personalized napkins, beautiful decor, tasty food and drink as well as fun, interesting games!! I had a blast and Amaya' got so much stuff that I shouldn't have to buy anything else. God is so good! He truly provides all of our wants and needs. As of this afternoon she is weighing 2lbs 2oz



07/13/08


This morning I called to check on Baby Amaya'and her food intake has increased from 11cc's to 18cc's!! She has also increased her weight and is now weighing in at 2lbs 3oz. Keep plumping up little one. I am so excited because today we are going to visit her after church. During church I definately had to thank everyone for their prayers and support b/c it is very much appreciated! At our visit today I can noticably tell that she is gaining weight (keep plumping up little one). She looks so beautiful! I noticed that her other grandparents went to visit her yesterday. That really made me happy, since i can't be with my little girl everyday I am glad that she has other family near her.

The picture shows her in the clothes she got from a church who makes little clothes for the premies. I think it is so cute!!!



07/04- Amaya' moved from the NICU to the Continuing Care Nursery which is a good thing :-) Amaya's stomach was swollen due to her having problems passing her first stool. Until she passes the stool they will hold off on feeding her which would cause more irritation. That night they gave her a suppository and she had a small smear of stool which was good b/c atleast they know she can go and nothing is wrong with her bowels, which confirms what the X-ray showed.

07/05 Last night she passed a huge stool!! yay i'm so proud of my pooper lol. She knocked her arm IV our so her arm was a little swollen. They moved her IV to her foot area. Her stomach is still a little extended but it's going down. I visited her this afternoon and when we got ready to leave i had an emotional release. I want to take her home and just love all on her. i dont like seeing her in pain and I am amazed I love someone so much that i just met. I prayed with her and know she is in God's hands. Later that night I was able to take a couple of drops of colostrum the nurses stated they would mix it with formula and was glad i brought it. At 8:30pm I was able to hold her for the first time!!! I held her for 30 minutes! Rudy also held her. It was so cute when we were holding her because she was working on her sucking reflex and her eyes were wide open. I can tell she is feeling better and she looks better also. I'm glad b/c i didn't like seeing my baby in pain.

07/06/08- This morning the nurse informed me that Amaya' was going to have a follow up X-Ray. The results came back good that there was nothing more wrong with her stomach. They are going to begin feeding her this afternoon. Rudy and I went back to the nursery to watch the first feeding which is going to begin at 2cc's. She is being fed through a feeding tube but the nurse put some on her pacifer and you could see her eyes light up and hear her sucking lol she liked it. The next milestone in addition to increasing food intake is to weight over 1000 g. Currently she is 880g and she was 940 when born. Hopefully now that they are feeding her she will gain weight. 1000g is equal to about 2 pounds 4 oz.

07/07- Well i'm at the hospital alone b/c Rudy had to go home last night for work this week. I was sad at first and cried alot but my mom and dad had me to look at the positive side that I will be able to stay with Amaya' for 2 more days. Today i went to the nursery by myself and stayed for about 3 hours afterwards i understood why God did what he did. By me having to stay 2 extra days due to my spike in temp I was able to bond with Amaya' and get to know her nurses which made it a little more easier for me to leave on Tuesday.

07/08- This morning I was informed that Amaya's feedings were increased from 2cc's to 6cc's so that is a good thing and might ease her fussiness she had yesterday. The nurse even tried to feed her with a bottle since she has been sucking a lot. She said it didn't quite work but she was happy with the taste of milk in her mouth lol. I hsve to leave today but i feel more comfortable b/c i know she is in God's hands and i think he specially picked her nurses whom i love.

07/09 today when Rudy called they told him that they increased her feedings from 6 to 9cc's we're so proud of our little girl!! Before you know it she'll be up to 1 ounce before you know it. (who would've ever thought my little baby would have me relearning math, pounds, ounces, cc's, etc lol) last night when they weighed her she was 1lb 15.9ounces and tonight she was 2lbs .8ounces. She is growing so good. Maybe she is ready to be home with us as much as we are ready for her to be home!!


07/10- My baby is one week old, wow time has really flown. I woke up to a voicemail from the dr of course i was in a panic and immediately called back. They did a lumbar puncture yesterday and started her on some antibiotics due to a sore on her head that had puss in it. They are thinking that it came from the internal monitor they put on her head. I'm praying that's all it is and that the meds will work and it'll go away soon. I so want to go to Birmingham and love on my baby.



07/11- Last night i called and she weighed 2lbs 1 oz which is good. This means she is back at her birth weight and can start going up from here! Her feedings were also increased from 9 cc's to 11 cc's. Every time i hear that she is eating more i get so excited and just thank God. He is truly with her and working a miracle before our eyes! She is tolerating her medicines well. Her heart rate has only dropped once, which they say is normal for preemies. The good thing is she was able to bring it back up on her own!

Catch Up

Well I'm starting this blog on 7/10 so i should probably go back and give you a brief summary of a couple of days so you won't be lost.

We attended a family reunion for my mom's side of the family the weekend of June 20th. Well that Saturday night i started having really bad pains in my stomach, this continued until Sunday. All my older aunts were telling me and my husband that i was about to have the baby. Being that I was only 8 months I wasn't really agreeing with them. When we got back home I made an appointment b/c i hadn't felt the baby move in over 36 hours. Upon arrival they did an ultrasound to make sure all was well. This is when we discovered that i had low amniotic fluid and that she was measuring 5 weeks behind schedule. I was given a follow up appointment for July 10th to go to a more advanced clinic for a comparison ultrasound and was also asked to come back to my regular Dr on June 30th. Well i went in on June 30th and they found protein in my urine and my blood pressure was higher than normal. The Dr said it looked like i was developing pre-eclampsia so he sent me to the hospital up the road for more testing. During the testing the baby's heartbeat was fine but my blood pressure kept rising. This caused the decision to be made for me to be transported via ambulance to UAB where they had a NICU since when the baby would be born he estimated she'd weigh about 1lb 3 oz. Of course through all this my family and I were in intense prayer. I wasn't nervous because i knew God was in control and hadn't brought me this far to just leave me now. Upon arrival at UAB i was put in the labor and delivery room and given an ultrasound. The results were good she had grown since the last June ultrasound and was now measuring around 27 1/2 weeks and weighing 2 pounds. Well due to my high blood pressure and diagnosis of pre-e they decided to go ahead and induce me. Little did i know that meant no more food until the baby came. OMG i hadn't eaten much that day~Well they started me on pitocin as well as gave me an epidural (i was shocked since i hadn't even dilated 1/2 a cm) so that i would be all hooked up in case an emergency c-section had to take place. This was my worst fear; however by day 3 (yes day 3) of labor i didn't care if the chef had to come cut me open i was restless, irritated, hungry and in pain (or as they said feeling pressure). So July 3rd rolls around and i know something is about to happen b/c i just feel different. however i was so tired i tried to play it off, i asked for something to put me to sleep and right after they gave it to me i felt like i needed to go to the bathroom aka the baby was coming. I remember the Dr coming in and i asked her to just knock me out from the waist down b/c the "pressure" was getting to be so much i felt like i was going to faint. She informed me that it was time to push and immediately my room filled with over 30 people. Dr's and nurses for me, pediatricians for the baby as well as specialists due to her small size. My mom, dad and husband Rudolph were also there. All i remember from here is pushing 2 times, someone saying here look at your baby and Rudy saying i did good and sounding so excited. After the 2nd push the meds i has previously asked for had started to work and i immediately blacked out and went to sleep. While sleep i felt them pushing my stomach saying something about a placenta, cleansing (or as i say scalding) me with hot water and soap and that's all. When i woke up i apologized to the nurses b/c my mom told me i was just going off on everyone. I looked at the clock and it was like 2pm or something. My daughter was born at 10:04am... after being fed i was wheeled down to see her and i remember thinking OMG she is so small and so cute. i now knew what every mother on every baby show i watched meant when they said you just somehow love them so much and it's not explainable.

So now that we're up to speed:

Amaya' Denetta Reid

2lbs 1 oz 14.5 inches long

July 3rd, 2008 10:04am