Makinley: Day 5 in the NICU

Makinley has been very stable the last two days.  She has lost a little weight and now weighs 3lbs 13 oz.  Unfortunately, Andrew & I decided not to go up last night and go up today instead.  I have been struggling to gain strength back and have been dealing with severe back pain.  I have had back problems in the past but thankfully during the pregnancy I felt great.  We made an emergency call to my chiropractor and he saw me this morning and made a few adjustments.  It is hard to do too much though considering I just had a baby five days ago.  I am just hoping the pain subsides a little bit because it currently does not seem like Ibprofin is working and I am not sleeping well at nights.

We packed our bags to stay at Adam's house tonight in Sioux Falls.  We set up an air mattress in his basement and the plan is that I will stay there at night by myself once I feel I have enough strength to do so and Andrew will come join me on the weekends. It is such a blessing to know that we are only fifteen minutes away if we ever need/want to be with Makinley.  Adam has opened his house up so many times and I am thankful he is allowing me to be a "house guest" for an undetermined amount of time.  We met Andrew's dad, Dan at the hospital today.  This was the first time he got to see Makinley. 

Upon arrival the nurse also said that we could hold Makinley today.  YAY!!!  We get to hold our baby girl for the first time.  Andrew was sweet enough to let me go first.  I was so scared to take her out of the incubator.  She seems so much smaller than babies I am used to holding and she has so many cords attached to her.  After I finished holding her then Andrew took his turn.  Of course she has to show off for him too.  Pretty sure he got her to smile.  He would rub his finger on the tip of her nose and she would give a little smile and raise her eyebrows.  So cute to watch them bond already this early on.  Thank you nurse Jill for photographing this precious moment for us.  No one can ever describe what it feels like to finally hold your baby for the first time.  Holding Makinley was the best feeling ever - it made being a mommy feel real to me!  I felt like I had some control in the situation now and it made the 15 weeks of waiting for her arrival totally worth it!