September 12th

She waves, she wakes, she stares at her mama,and sleeping beauty will sleep!
News News News! I know I have lots of it. Layla is still doing great, she is 3lbs 3oz. She is almost 16 inches long. She had her first vision test. She has some abnormal development in her eyes, but this is expected for her gestational age at birth. They will follow up with several more vision test.They have lowered the amount of fluid for her oxygen to half of what it was. It is now 1 liter. So this is a progressive step towards breathing on her own completely. She has increased her feedings to 25cc every three hours. Almost a full ounce. She now has her feeding tube through her nose, so this leaves her able to suck her fingers, and hopefully soon ,a bottle.

The children have been wanting to go visit more often, I know that they are all missing her in different ways. They all have their own concerns for her. They all have questions about her health. The girls can't wait to bring her home to wait on her. Miguel can't wait to hold her and love her. We are all anxious to hug and kiss on her. The nursing staff is very accommodating in that sense for the children. They bring down the bed and take down the side so they can get as close as possible to Layla.I'm a little spoiled right now because I'm the only one getting to hold her and kiss on her.

She is steadily gaining weight now. She jumps up so quickly and you can definitely notice that she is filling out. She is starting to look a little plump. She is still so petite. Her face is changing and she is beginning to look allot like the other girls. Beautiful and Angelic. Her hair is growing and so are her finger nails. Upon breaking out of the NICU, Aunt Barbara and I will take her for her first manicure and pedicure for sure.

I know soon she will be able to maintain her body heat so we will need to bring some cloths for her. Not a shortage of preemie cloths in my house, but definitely can't wait to go buy some.I know Grandma has been shopping since we gave birth, so hopefully I won't have too much trouble finding some cloths that she hasn't already bought.

Our weekends revolve around the hospital, with the kids. They are anxious all week to go see Layla. Me and Hailey go every day after we drop everyone off. I do wish there were more hours in the evening so I could spend all night with Layla and not have to worry about not getting enough sleep. I'm finding that my balance is teetering on a small fine line. I have always been able to juggle all the responsibilities of having a large family. I admit it is not easy. I really have to stick to a schedule with all that is going on, just to stay focused and not get too stressed out. I'm dealing with the sadness from not having Layla at home much better these days. When I can't spend enough time with her though, it still hurts. It hits me in waves and,it goes out with the low tide(sleep.

We pray everyday for our little angel, because she is still fighting. She is so strong and so determined to do what she wants. We are all so pleased with her progress. We have been very blessed,not to have too many set backs. We keep waiting for the downs of her condition, pleasantly, we have not had any serious ones yet. We thank God everyday for her life. We know just how close we came to not having it at all. So far this has been the hardest thing I have had to deal with in my life. I just want to say, thank you God,because I'm still coping, functioning, and I'm accepting anything that comes my way after this. This is my revelation, having given birth to Layla...Without strength you can not endure, Without endurance you can not know how strong you are!
Love and prayers for My Sweet Layla
Kathleen