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.