Mommy Fed Her!

We just got home, and we are bushed. However, we wanted to post a quick update to let everyone know that Taylor Grace is recovering wonderfully. She still isn't crying very much, but what does she have to cry about when she sleeps all day ony to be awoken and fed every 3 hours? Although we were told earlier that only the nurses would be allowed to feed her, they allowed Krissy to hold her AND feed her, and we have wanted to do that since she started eating. Here are a few pictures!

Taylor Grace's Continued Recovery

She is doing very well today! Taylor Grace continues to eat every 3 hours. They started her off with 5 mL yesterday around 2:00 PM (that's a little less than a 1/4 ounce), fed her 10 mL around 5:00, then 15 mL around 8:00. They have continued feeding her that amount until 5:00 PM tonight, when the volume will increase to 1 ounce. They will keep it there as they continue to observe her feeding habits, but 1 ounce every 3 hours is pretty good.

We were a bit concerned that Taylor Grace was not crying very much. Although she would fuss from time to time, she had never exhibited a nice long wailing session until yesterday afternoon, so that's one less worry. It seems that we are completely finished with tests, scans, X-rays, etc. At this point, the doctors are simply monitoring her blood levels for infection and keeping an eye on her organ recovery. All signs point to her originally scheduled discharge of next Thursday afternoon (the NICU doctors prescribed antibiotic treatments for a minimum of 10 days from delivery).

Krissy and I continue to thank God for Taylor Grace's miraculous recovery. We already knew that we had been blessed with a beautiful, healthy baby girl, our prayers were only that His will would be demonstrated to us sooner. We thank you all so very much for your prayers, love and kindness as well, and hope that they will continue. We know that we owe many people phone calls and emails, and we hope to catch up on individual correspondence this weekend. In the meantime, please continue to check this site for updates. Thank you so much!

Love,

Rusty & Krissy

Baby is Eating!

Taylor Grace's condition is continuously improving, for which we are so thankful! At 2:15 PM today, the NICU nurse began to prepare a bottle of formula for our little girl; fortunately, we had been stockpiling milk and storing it in the NICU. Our baby's first meal was 5 mL of Mommy's Milk, and when I called the nurse at 5:00 to check on the results of the feeling, I was informed that she has kept it down and will be fed every 3 hours from now in increasing volume.

Again, thank you all so much for your continued outpouring of love and prayers! Taylor Grace is getting stronger by the minute!

I had hoped to post a few videos to this site, but they seem to be too large. I have, however, hosted them at YouTube, so you can take a look by clicking the links below.

Love,

Rusty & Krissy

Taylor Grace gazing at Daddy around 7:30 on Tuesday evening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE1rUVagjUc

Daddy's First Diaper Change on Wednesday around 9:00 PM (thanks to Jenna Nerstadt for filming):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni-gIHj5Ix8

Mommy's First Diaper Change on Thursday around 2:00 PM:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdbvsBfeZcw

From Rusty & Krissy

Thank you all so very much for the kindness that you have demonstrated to us during this ordeal.  We are truly blessed to have such a tremendous support system made up of so many loving and caring individuals.  What we appreciate most are the prayers that have been spoken in support of Taylor Grace.  They are being answered continuously, and we truly hope that they continue!  God is working in our lives and making Taylor Grace strong so that she may become His instrument in this world, and we have faith that he has already blessed us with a strong, beautiful, healthy baby; we pray that He will continue to confirm this faith throughout the next week.  Again, thank you all so much for your continued support!

Love,

Rusty & Krissy

Videos and more detailed updates coming around 7:00 PM tonight!

Aug 10 @ 10:30pm

Well, I don't have much to report tonight. Krissy and Rusty just left the hospital and are headed  home...hopefully to get some much needed rest! Taylor was asleep when they got to the hospital tonight, but she woke up and they got to spend some time with her. Rusty got to change the first diaper tonight! Krissy said she made him practice on Anne Katherine this summer:) 

The x-ray of Taylor's stomach should take place sometime early in the morning, but the doctors will not be by to tell Krissy and Rusty the results until at least 10am. They are planning on trying to sleep in tomorrow...we will see how that goes! Hopefully you will get to hear from them tomorrow and they will be able to post some of their videos and pictures! As soon as the x-ray results are back tomorrow we will let you know - Kendall

Take Them A Meal

Now that Krissy and Rusty are home from the hospital, I know that there are a lot of you who would like to see them or take them a meal. I have set up an easy online schedule to coordinate meals for them over the upcoming weeks. If you would like to take them a meal you can click here http://www.takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=ALHG0869 and sign up to take them dinner. They are going to be spending much of the next 7-10 days at the hospital with Taylor so I thought it would be nice for them to be able to come home to a dinner they did not have to prepare themselves. Not to mention I think they are both sick of hospital food! If you are out of town and would like to send a meal, you can find information here: http://shop.takethemameal.com/.

 Thank you so much to everyone who has been keeping up with Taylor Grace and who has been praying for her. Krissy and Rusty are very grateful to all of you, as well as the entire Corley and Clary families!
Kendall

Aug 10 @ 1:45pm

The brain scan has been completed and the results are in... IT WAS CLEAR!!!! There were no signs of bleeding or of a stroke. Thank you all for your prayers - miracles are taking place because of you!!!

The doctors are still trying to figure out why Taylor Grace is not showing signs of being hungry, ex- crying. They did an x-ray of her stomach and said it was not completely normal. It is possible that she had a full bladder at the time the x-ray was preformed and that could have caused the stomach to appear abnormal, so they will do another x-ray tomorrow morning.

As of right now, they are predicting she will need to stay in the hospital until at least next Thursday. Continue to pray for her recovery and for Krissy and Rusty as they are headed home and leaving their sweet baby in the hospital. Of course this is not how they planned to leave when they checked in on Monday and I can only imagine how hard it will be for them to walk back into their house and into the nursery without Taylor Grace. Despite all of the emotions and heartache they have been through, both Krissy and Rusty have been amazingly strong and optimistic. I truly believe the Lord has given them a sense of peace and they are completely trusting Him to take care of their little girl!
Kendall