Sunbathing Beauty

Little Tessa graduated to a private room with her own sunbathing beach! She has all her tubes and monitors removed and is now just getting all those dang Billirubin's to get out. We were hoping with all the fluids she would get to bypass the whole jaundice thing but....no. She has been a champ and has taken it with little complaint. We are hoping she gets to go home tomorrow. We were also hoping for yesterday and the day before though...so....don't hold your breath.

If you are nursing sensitive you might want to quit reading now :) I wanted to record this experience though. If you know me very well you know I am passionate about breastfeeding. I nursed Keaton for a year while I worked 45 hours a week by pumping while at work. I nursed Savannah for 16 mos. I really believe in not only the health benefits but I can never get over paying for something that I can get better for free. NOW having said that I understand there are cases where it doesn't work out ; everyone need's to do what works and is right for them.
When Tessa was sent to the NICU one of my immediate worries was about nursing. I had a bit of time so I looked on the Internet and saw little hope of picking up nursing after her stomach was stretched with formula and her getting used to that "easy" source of food. I prayed and I prayed that it would work out but if not that I would be o.k. with it and I could figure out a way to pay for formula in an already tight budget. Each time I visited her I prayed while I sat there with my hand on her. I couldn't even hold her for a day and they didn't get me a pump for almost a day. I woke up Monday about 2 am (after about an hour of sleep) and began praying again to ease my worries. I felt like I should go down there RIGHT THEN and see her. I put on some slippers and headed down to the NICU. I sat by her bed and talked to her. Her nurse came and asked if I wanted to hold her. DID I EVER! I rocked her, kissed her little head, and sang quietly to her. She hummed softly and I finally felt PEACE. It would all be o.k. I climbed back in bed and finally slept. I knew my Heavenly Father knew I needed that....Tessa was fine. He was worried about ME.
The nurse said the next day I could try to nurse her. I then had the thought to contact 2 sisters I knew from my childhood. They both mentioned they had NICU babies. I e-mailed them asking about nursing. They gave me great hope! I know we are nowhere near out of the woods but so far it is looking great. She is a natural nurser and seems to prefer it to the bottle. Maybe this seems like a trivial thing to many. Once again though it makes me feel such comfort to know where I can find peace. To know that Heavenly Father KNOWS me and wants to answer my little prayers. He has answered many prayers for our little gal over the last few month's. It hardly seems like I should ask for more.....but I do...and he hears...and answers.