[simage=253,400,y,center]

Ray and Laura came down to Albuquerque yesterday (on their anniversary! congrats!) and brought a few things for us as well as a Care Bear for Emmy. Laura even held Emmy for quite a while, and she was as good as could be! Emmy’s signs were up as high as they ever were when Laura was holding her, and again when Ray was talking to Emmy. Emmy is doing a lot better, she’s off her oxygen and she knows that she has lots of aunts, uncles, and other friends who love her very much and are praying for her. Here’s a little thank you from her!

[simage=252,400,y,center]

Emmy’s second day in the NICU was a good one for her. (This picture is from Friday afternoon). She got to see her mom again and she was off her ventilator! She’s doing great, and we love her very much. She’s definitely a keeper! She gets really cozy in that bed with her nice pink blanket from Julia’s friend Erica, and now she likes to wear little pink bows on her head. The bruise on her face is nearly gone, too! She’s cuter every time we see her!

Emmy really has been a miracle baby. Everything went well with her delivery until she came out at 3:04 AM Thursday, when she didn’t start breathing on her own. It was really tough for us, and they were in our room with her for 20 minutes before they went to the little NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) room in the Los Alamos hospital. The doctor came in with updates every few minutes, and maybe 45 minutes after Emmy was born she came in and told us she was breathing. It really was a miracle, because we were preparing ourselves to lose her. When she came in she said “Keep praying for her, because whatever you’re doing, it’s working.” She was getting pinker and looking better all the time.

Emmy was quickly flown to Albuquerque where they have a great hospital to take care of newborn babies. There are about 50 babies in NICU at Presbyterian hospital where Emmy is at. She’s doing amazing!!! At first she was on a ventilator, but she decided quickly that she didn’t need that and is breathing on her own, with just a little oxygen tube under her nose. She only has an IV in her leg (they move it to a different appendage about every day) and she’s looking great. Julia was out of the hospital quickly (but not quickly enough if you ask her) and was the first one to hold Emmy today! Emmy really is our miracle baby, and she’s the strongest baby I’ve ever seen. 5 lbs, 15.6 ounces and 19 inches long. She’s amazing and we love her very much! If she keeps it up, we’ll be able to take her home soon, which is much more than we thought we’d be doing right after she was born! Thanks so much for your fasting and prayers!

P.S. – If you want to see pictures send me an email or post a comment here and I’ll invite you to our Flickr account- it’s the easiest site to publish to from here in our hotel room. There are a couple of pictures over at our gallery, but there are more on Flickr.

In less than an hour we’ll be on our way to the hospital where Julia will spend the night getting ready for Emmy! This is our first time as parents, so you can expect that we’re pretty nervous, but we’re definitely excited. Sometime tomorrow we’ll get to meet our baby girl we’ve been thinking about so much this whole year! It will be a lot of fun, but I’m sure we’ll be very tired. Wish us luck!