Day 3 & 4 in the NICU --

NICU Baby

After we had Katherine we got to keep her with us for a couple of hours and introduce her to her brother, sister and Mamaw. Soon after, I had another procedure and was in recovery for a couple of hours so you can imagine my surprise when I was returned to my room and Katherine wasn't there waiting for me. Instead there was the current pediatrician on call waiting to explain why my baby wouldn't be rooming in with me. I was told Katherine had a positive Coombs test and had blood incompatibility causing her to be jaundiced. This wasn't the type of jaundice that Noah had as a newborn and this type needed to be dealt with aggressively. Katherine was in the NICU and I couldn't even hold her. What a shock and heartbreak to see her hooked up to an IV, an oxygen sensor, heart moniters, tiny eye covers and have three phototherapy lights on her. It was a lot to take in when I knew my baby was term and had been born two days before her due date. It was a lot to take in when I thought I would be returned to a room where I would spend the next two days bonding with my new baby girl. We would spend the next 5 days in and out of the NICU spending as much time as possible with her and telling her how very much we loved her. It was the third night that we found out that her bili count was leveling just a bit - it was hard watching her little foot get stuck over and over and watching it swell up from all the little pricks. They could only stick one side with the IV in the other foot. With her bili count leveling they began taking off the photo therapy and also decreased the IV fluids to see how she did. By the next morning she was off the IV fluid and lights and her count had only gone up a couple of points. That day was such an awesome day because I got to hold her, feed her and touch her - everything was going so much better. By the fith day we knew she was coming home -What a joyous day!

Katherine Rebecca Hornback

Katherine Rebecca (also known as our sweet Baby Kate) joined our family on Monday, March 30th at 1:33 pm. She is perfect weighing in at 7 pounds and 10.4 ounces and measured 20 and a half inches long. She has blue eyes and a headful of reddish blonde hair. The hair was a bit of a shock as Noah and Rachel were both born pretty much little bald babies. She is very well natured and seems to have a sweet personality so far. The kids were so excited to meet their new sister. Noah was just tickled and walked around with a grin on his face. Rachel was a little bit quiet but said she was happy to meet her new sister and liked holding her and giving her kisses. We were lucky to have my mom here with us to help out and she has been a great blessing as we have had a longer stay at the hospital than anticipated (but that will be in another post). All I can say is just - Wow... Our family is complete and we all could not love her more...

Soon.... Almost a family of 5

Monkey Bars and Tire Swings

We took the kids out to the park earlier this week - the weather had been gorgeous in the seventies and we enjoy watching the kids play and have fun together so much. The kids favorite thing lately is the tire swing. Rachel likes to do big swinging loops on it and Noah likes to do tight twirls that will make him really dizzy when he gets off. It's been so nice to have Spring weather finally- I know we're all ready to be spending more time outside!

We'll Miss You Abbie

We love you.

Our Abbie Dog ----- 12/96 --- 03/09

Happy St.Patrick's Day!

The one thing Noah loves to do is to make other people laugh. When I pulled out this hat and asked him if

if he wanted to wear it to school today he was very excited. When I dropped him off at school he went running into the building with the biggest smile on his face... I love my boy. He can always give me a smile when I need one. Rachel is very excited about St. Patrick's day too and we had to search for a green shirt for her... green is just not a color I usually think of for her. Thank goodness for big brother hand me downs! =)