10/19/11 Day 18

I finally got a picture with her eyes open, but it wasn't a great angle.  Natalee has been having many great days.  Today at her weigh in she gained 2 oz even though they think some of that is fluid.  It was great to see her gain since she hasn't gained in the last 2 days.  So this was a huge jump for her and now she weighs 1 pound 8 oz.  She is getting hydrated and her skin is looking really good.  She is looking great and we are so excited to she her progress. It looks like her cheeks are starting to fill out.  She looks pale in the picture but she isn't pale like that, it is from the flash of the camera.  So many of the Nurse Practitioners and Nurses always makes comments on how cute she is.  They mention all they time they can't believe how long her eye lashes are and how they curl up.  She is our cutie patootie!  There was a baby admitted next door to Natalee today and you would never guess that the baby's name is Natalee (yes, even spelled the same way). I couldn't believe it!  Our Natalee's nurse said they haven't had a Natalee/Natalie in years and never had one spelled the way we spelled it.  What are the chances of that?

10/16/11 Day 17

It's been a couple of days since I gave an update, but Natalee had a few rough days.  On Friday she was really working hard to breath and she was wearing herself out.  They put her on the C-pap machine to help a little more with her breathing.  Early Saturday morning she was still having a hard time breathing so they decided to put the breathing tube back in her mouth.  She had some swelling to her neck and that was something new.  After having an ultrasound of her neck they figured out that her PICC line (a long IV that goes in a vein at the bend of the arm all the way up to a larger vein near the heart) was leaking (infiltrating) into her neck resulting in her having a hard time breathing and her blood sugars being elevated.  They took the PICC line out and put a new one in her left arm.  She is doing much better today, the swelling in her neck has improved, and has been very stable and more active. There focus at this point is to increase her feedings so she will gain weight and then take her off the breathing tube.  I am grateful for that, I want this little girl to be a chunky monkey! I can already see a difference between this picture and the picture I took of her of my last post.  Keep growing our sweet Natalee!

10/13/11 Day 14

Natalee is officially 2 weeks old!  Natalee had a better day today.  Her oxygen level has been better.  The last few days they have cut down on her feedings and her fluids since her blood sugars have been high.  So since she lost weight today they are starting her back on her fluids/feeding and going to give her some insulin to bring down her blood sugar.  It has made me sad to see how dry she has been so I was glad to see them restart her feedings/fluids.  I am sure she will become more perkier than she has been the last two days.  She is wrinkling up her forehead since she didn't like the flash from my camera.  I just have to say that I love her head of hair...so cute do you think?

10/12/11 Day 13

Natalee taking a snooze.  Her skin is so dry from the light therapy and the heated incubater.  I just want to butter her up with some good lotion!  My time with come soon.  Natalee had a little of a rough day today.  She had multiple apnea spells where she slows down on her breathing and her oxygen levels go down. They nurse stuck her multiple times to draw her blood.  I had to leave the room since it made me so sad.  Her white blood cells count was a little elevated and they think she might be getting an infection.  They are going to start her on some antibiotics today.  She is such a fighter I know you will over come this. We were told in the beginning that we will have lots of ups and downs and after almost 2 weeks we had a first set back.  You are so precious our Natalee Haws!

10/11/11 Day 12 A great day with Natalee!

 We had such a great day on Tuesday.  Today was the fist day I got to hold our little Natalee.  They use this "Kangaroo Care" technique using a skin to skin contact to cuddle with your little one.  I was so emotional through the hour I got to hold her since it was the very first time I got to hold my baby girl.  It was unexpected since I thought this was weeks down the road since they took out her breathing tube just 3 days ago.  The doctor came in to see Natalee and he said how happy he is with her and her progress.  He said "On how well she is doing on a scale 1-10 I would give her a 9.5.  Awesome Natalee!  Your first A!

I love this picture.  You can see how long her fingers have gotten in this short amount of time.  Natalee is covering her eyes with her hand while the nurse works on her as if she was saying, "Oh man, not again."

10/10/11 Day 11

Natalee's eyes opened today.  The swelling around her eyes has gone down.  It is so beautiful to see her fully.  I haven't gotten a picture of her eyes opened but when I do I will post it.

10/08/11 Day 9

I had the chance to go home for the weekend to spend time with my other girls and give Brit a chance to be with Natalee.  He called me when he got to the hospital after seeing her and was crying.  He couldn't believe how well she looked and how much she has grown in the short amount of days he has not seen her.  Today they took the breathing tube out and put her on Vapotherm flow which is a way to deliver oxygen through the nose and it is pressurized to help her with her breathing.  The green tube you see is the feeding tube. We were very excited to see this happen so soon!  Keep it up Natalee!

10/07/11 Day 8

I love this picture.  Natalee is still getting her photo therapy for her jaundice.  She has her shades on just chillin'.  Natalee pulled her breathing tube out on her own.  She was able to breath for awhile but wasn't able to sustain her oxygen levels.  So they had to replaced her breathing tube.  She is definitely a feisty one! Many people have said that she is lucky she has some of Brit's genes in her since he has such a competitive nature.  She definitely has some of her daddy in her.

10/04/11 Day 5

Today Natalee had a day of rest after all the tests she had from yesterday.  Her ventilations settings stayed the same.  Since they have drawn so much blood from her for all her blood tests they had to give her a blood transfusion today. 
Todays weight: 620 grams

10/03/11 Day 4

Natalee had an Echocardiogram to find out if the hole has closed in her septum.  The results showed a small pin hole in the septum and the doctor said it will eventually close up on it's own.  She also had a head ultrasound and this is how they check for a bleed in the brain.  If there is a bleed in the brain the chances of the baby having neuo problems like Cerebal Palsy goes way up.  Natalee's ultrasound was normal!  Whew, we were holding our breath for that one.  The doctor said she was doing so well he didn't think that she did have a bleed in her brain.  Today they turned down her ventalation settings and they stopped her blood pressure medication (Dopamine).  She still has some swelling around the eyes.  Looking forward to that going down.  We are so proud of you Natalee!

Today's weight: 640 grams

10/2/11 Day 3

 I was discharged on the 3rd day after I had Natalee.  The girls got to come and see Natalee and this was Brylee's first time seeing her.  Kenadee just can't believe how tiny she is. 

 Brylee would call her her baby Nayee. 

 She wanted to touch Natalee so Daddy let Brylee touch her foot. 

 The nurses have been so amazing!  This is Debbie who is one of our favorite nurses that has been taking extra good care of our Natalee.  Thanks to all the great nurses here at Thunderbird Medical Center!  We love you!

 I thought this was cute that they hung up her name on the cupboards.  It is great how they personalized Natalee's room for her.

Natalee's wt: 640 grams.

10/01/11 Day 2

Natalee had lots of visitors today!  Uncle Nick and Dad gave Natalee a blessing.  Brit said that he had a great feeling of peace knowing that everything was going to be ok after the blessing was given.  We are so greatful for the power of the Priesthood,.  Visitors that came today were Nana, Kenadee, Aunt Shelley, Aunt Shaunae, Aunt Sherry, Aunt Shannon, Uncle Joe, Grandpa Haws, and of course Mom and Dad. Only one visitor is limited to the room at a time so it took some time for everyone to come and visit and meet Natalee for the first time.

Welcoming Natalee

 September 29, 2011 7:04 Natalee Taylor Haws was born at 25 weeks and 4 days.  On September 22 at 9:45 p.m. my water broke.  I couldn't believe it!  There were so many memories that came back to me when lost our first baby at 24 weeks.  I was it total shock.  I started thinking how this could happen again.  Wasn't going through this trial once be enough for a life time.  Brit rushed me to the hospital and after being examed by the doctor I was only dilated to a one and not having any contractions.  They quickly started an IV and gave me a medication called Magnesium Sulfate to stop any labor.  They air vac me to Thunderbird Medical Center where they had a level III NICU.  When I was there I learned that they would try to stop me from going into labor and try to keep the baby in the womb as long as Natalee tolerated it.  They gave me a steroid shot that night to help her lungs develop and they would give me a second steroid shot 48 hrs later.  So they wanted me to at minimum keep her in the womb for 48 hrs to get the steroids working for her.  I was on complete bed rest for 1 week in the hospital while they continued to monitor Natalee's heart rate and movements.  On the 8th day of bedrest Natalee's heart rate kept going up to the 170's and then down to about 115.  So they knew she was rolling on her umbilical cord and she was in stress.  At 6:45 the doctor came in and told be that she needed to be delivered.  So I was prepped for a c-section, had a spinal put in and Natalee was born 19 minutes later.  Her Apgars were 7 and 9 which is excellent for a baby being only 25 weeks gestation.  She has the black goggles on since she is having the light therapy for jaundice.

 Our Natalee came but she was still not fully developed, but she was still perfect.  She had ever detail to every body part.  She weighed 1 pound 7 oz and was only 11 1/2" long.  Look at her size of her arm to Brit's wedding ring.  They had to put a breathing tube in her mouth to help assist her while she get enough strength to be able to breath on her own.

 We were very excited that they didn't have the restrictions up at the hospital for young children to come and visit.  Here is Kenadee peeking in at Natalee during her first visit with her new sister.  She kept saying, "She is so tiny."

 Brit was right there with her every step of the way.  He was so excited to help with her diaper changes and even got to hold her for one split second while the nurse was zeroing out her bed scale.  He rubbed that one in!

 So small, yet so perfect.

 On Kenadee's second visit she got to touch her foot. 

 Of course Brylee wanted to touch her too!  She calls her "My baby Nayee".  Too sweet!

She has a lot of blond hair which both my girls had a lot of dark black hair.  Her eyes are not yet open and still have some swelling around them.  Of course she has my nose.  That is one strong gene!  Natalee will continue to be in the hospital until around Christmas time, which is close to her due date.

We have had so many people reach out to us, many phone calls and offering of service to us, and had multiple floral arrangements sent to us.  Thank you for all your love and support and especially for your prayers.  We have seen Natalee make huge strides and we owe it all to the many prayers that have been said for us and to our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. Happy Birthday Natalee.  We will be with you every step of the way, through all your miles stones you make, and through all the ups and downs.  We love you and can't wait to hold you and kiss those cheeks of your. You are our precious girl!