Family and Friends Visit

Uncle Roger is one the the many family members who have made the trek to the Loomis home to visit Maggie. All grandparents have been able to visit...Grandma and Grandpa Powell, Grandma and Grandpa Loomis, and Grandma and Grandpa Thomas. I think everyone is in agreement that she is the sweetest little thing. Even Great Grandpa Cook has gotten to visit her, his advantage being living in Terre Haute. Aunt Brooke, Uncle Roger, Aunt Amber and Aunt Amy have all met her. Great Aunt Linda and Great Uncle Dennis, Great Uncle Keith and Great Aunt Lorri, cousin Danielle, plus lots of Brian and Val's friends have visited...some saying that she's the cutest baby they've ever seen. It's pretty cool to have so many folks who want to come visit. Even more great are the numbers of folks who have prayed for her along the way, before she was born, while she was being born, and the difficulties after. It makes us all feel encouraged to know so many were lifting her up in prayer. She had another Dr. appointment yesterday. Val and Brian took her to the hospital lab prior to the appointment to have her bilirubin levels checked again. When the Dr. walked into the exam room he said, "Not you guys again. I'll have to call my wife to explain my absence from home." But the news they got yesterday was all good. She has regained almost all of the weight she lost, back to 6 lbs. 3 oz. after having dropped to 5 lbs. 4 oz. Her blood checked at 7.5, still going down which is good. She still sleeps lots, cries a little, dirties lots of diapers, and is alert when she's awake. I'm sure there will be times of sleeplessness and thankfully the house is full of gadgets to entertain a fussy baby. Now if there was just enough space for all of the gadgets... A friend of Val's from the Conservatory brought about 400 diapers on Monday. Val's co-workers had planned a surprise for her last day before her maternity leave. They were going to put all the packages of diapers (various sizes) all over her desk and scattered all around, a sort of diaper shower, for her. But, Val never made it to her last day and sort of spoiled that idea. But Heather came bearing the gifts, it took three trips in from the car to get them all inside. What a great idea. Thank you again for your prayers. We are indeed blessed.

Maggie had a great day Monday. I don't think she cried at all from 9 am to 6:30 pm. She was content to eat sleep and look around a little bit. Her color is much better today. Val and Brian gave her a bath this morning, too. He hair is getting a little bit lighter as the days go by. I thought it was going to be black, but it may turn out to be light brown or blond. We don't know about her eye color, yet. They seem pretty dark right now. She had a couple of visitors today and pretty much slept through both. She has to get her blood tested again Tuesday to see how her jaundice number are. We'll let you know as soon as we find out.

Coming Home!

Val just called. Maggie's numbers are down to 9.5 and so they are being released to go home. Thanks for your prayers!

Another Sunday update

We went to see Maggie, Val and Brian before church this morning. Maggie is improving and was pretty content. You can see Maggie's

"Dora" bandaid on her hand. They added a new monitoring device to her left foot that keeps track of her blood pressure, etc., and also will set off an alarm just in case Maggie needs something if both Brian and Val are sleeping. All last night Brian stayed awake because the IV mounted on her head kept pushing the eye patches down over her nose and mouth and Brian was worried she might be able to breathe very well. Also, he fed Maggie a supplemental bottle while Val was catching up a little on her sleep. The Colts vs Titans game had better be interesting or there might be some sleeping going on in the room this afternoon. Maggie is to be tested again at 3 p.m. to see what her numbers are. If they are under 10 she might be able to go home today. If not, she'll stay probably another night. I think everyone is doing well right now. So, that's all I know. I added a picture of Brian and Maggie at home earlier this week. (You can see she's sort of yellowish even then.)

Maggie under the lights

The eye patches keep her from looking at the lights. She got cold, so there is also a heat lamp aimed at her bassinet to help her stay warm. Her temperature stays about 98 degrees...still a little cold. You can't see it here, but there is an anti-theft device attached to her right ankle...just in case.

Tales of Maggie

This is going to be a sort of retrospective initial blog all about Maggie Grace Loomis. Her due date was January 8 or 9, but she was born on December 22 at 8:44 p.m. in Union Hospital, Terre Haute. Maggie weighed in at a whopping 6 lbs. and 4 oz. and was 20" long. Think noodle, and you get a good idea of her body type. Val and Brian received high praise from the OB staff and everyone was commenting about how beautiful Maggie was. Of course, they were right. The weather in Terre Haute was pretty interesting this week. Freezing temperatures on Sunday, still pretty cold on Monday, ice Tuesday...lots of ice...and then gradually warming all the way to the 70s on Saturday. Maggie's birth was timed just perfectly for travel for Val and Brian. Not so much for Aunt Amy and cousins Alexis and Kaylee. They came for the blessed event, started home on Tuesday morning, decided to return to Grandma and Grandpa's house because of the slick roads and got rear ended on highway 46 on the trip back. No one was hurt thankfully, but not so good for Amy's GMC Envoy's back bumper. Fortunately, the fellow that hit them had up to date insurance so things should be repaired without lots of trouble. Maggie was able to go home on Wednesday afternoon. The Dr. said she shouldn't go anywhere until her Dr. visit on Saturday, so the Thomas Family Christmas gathering has been delayed until January 2. We don't mind a bit, because Maggie will be able to join us. After the usual newborn sleepless nights, Saturday finally came, time to visit the Dr. Val and Brian really like Dr. Schuld as he is very gentle and caring of little Maggie. Test results showed Maggie was highly jaundiced (17 for those who know numbers) and dehydrated a little, so she made a return to Union Hospital along with Val. Brian has been very good at staying right at Val's side during all the ups and downs they've experienced. What a great Daddy! Anyway, Maggie is at this writing under the bili lights and on a bili blanket in the pediatrics wing at the hospital. Val called this morning and her jaundice number has dropped to 12. As a precautionary step, they started an IV line in Maggie's head Saturday evening just in case she needed additional hydration. That whole process was pretty traumatic for Val because Maggie is covered in bandaids and her head was the only thing untouched. Val said they removed the IV line this morning and the nurse said the Dr. might let them come home today. We are keeping our hopes up, but at the same time want her to be there as long as necessary so she won't have to go back. That's pretty much all of the news we have as of 7:30 Sunday morning.