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Lia's first photoshoot with Uncle Cliff

Clifford was so sweet to offer to do Lia's newborn photos for us. We did the "photoshoot" today and got some amazing pictures! She cooperated for a long time, but we didn't quite get to do all the shots we wanted so we are going to finish up tomorrow. Here are a few of the best from today!

Meeting Sage and Uncle Cliff

Some of our great friends, Ryan and Keri, have a 3 month old son, Sage, who has been eagerly awaiting Lia's arrival. Keri and Sage came by on Tuesday and I think Lia and Sage really hit it off - best friends already!








Uncle Cliff arrived from Denver today. he is visiting until Sunday. Lia got all dressed up with a bow in her hair to meet him! I can already tell she is going to love him to death!!

First Bath and First Doctor's Appt

Lia had her first bath (at home) on Tuesday night. She was hungry when we started, bad idea, so she screamed through the whole thing. We are going to try again when Philip gets home today and she is a little happier. On Wednesday, we had our first trip to the doctor. She was such a brave girl! She had to have her heel pricked to get blood to check her jaundice and have blood drawn from her arm to check her CRP one last time. She weighed 7 lbs 4 oz, so she has gained since we brought her home on Monday. She is still 19.5 inches long. She's in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Her head is only in the 10th percentile, which is hilarious bc Philip kept saying she had a big head so that shut him up: ) We should get the results of the bloodwork soon to make sure things are moving in the right direction.

Bringing our girl home!

After spending the day sitting by Lia's side in the NICU yesterday, we were finally discharged at about 6:00 pm! What a joyous event!! Her CRP dropped to .49 and the doctor decided that she was cleared to go home. Philip went back to work yesterday and my mom sat with me at the hospital all day, then he came at 3:00 and took her place. I ask everyone reading this to please take a moment and say a prayer for baby Sophia, who was rushed into the NICU at 1:00 with a very grim outlook. After hours of the doctors and nurses working to save her (right next to Lia's crib) a team from Texas Children's Hospital came to transport her there. It was extremely hard to watch and we said many prayers both for Sophia and for our wonderful miracle that Lia was healthy and going home. After Sophia left for TCH, the doctor was able to give us the green light to leave. We said good bye to the many outstanding nurses who helped us through every day and every long night and headed home. Philip did a great job getting Lia all strapped in to her car seat for the first time. She slept the whole ride home and I sat in the back with her just in case she needed me : ) We ordered pizza and had a relaxing evening. It felt so great to have our whole family together at home!! Lia enjoyed a little tummy time on Daddy's chest before we all went to bed. She ate at 8:00 and was awake until about 9:30, then fell asleep and we had to wake her up for her feeding at midnight. Then she slept until 4:00 and ate again, then slept again until 7:45 before she woke up hungry. So, she is doing so so good, and we hope she keeps up the great eating and sleeping routine. Here are some photos from the day. Love Katie, Philip and Lia

7/19 - Good News!

God has answered our prayers!! We received great news this morning. Lia's blood cultures were negative and her CRP is down to .81 today. We thought that below 1 was considered normal, but the doctor explained that actually below .1 is what we are shooting for so we still have a little ways to go, but it keeps dropping daily so we are headed quickly in the right direction. She also had another chest xray this morning that showed improvement. She is eating great too! Her jaundice is still a tiny issue but the doctor hopes that it will work itself out without having to treat her at all. In the morning, she will get one more chest xray and another CRP test. Provided that the CRP drops again and the xray shows improvement again, the doctor plans to clear her to be discharged tomorrow evening!!!!! We couldn't be happier and just can't wait to get her home. I go home tonight, so we will have to leave her after the 5:00 feeding today. I'm sure that will be difficult, but knowing that we will get to bring her home tomorrow will make one night without her bearable. Philip and I are so grateful for all the love and prayers we received from you all. We are blessed with such wonderful friends and family! I will be sure to post some pics of her homecoming tomorrow! Love Katie and Philip

Update 7-18 PM

Today we got some good news about Lia. Her CRP level dropped from 3 to 1.4 (1 is normal). So that is really great news! 3am on 7-19 is the 48 hour cutoff for her blood culture test results. We have been told "no news is good news" so she may be in the clear now but she will be for sure at 3am. Tomorrow on 7-19, she gets new chest X-Rays taken and another CRP test. If those come back okay and she makes it to the 3am cutoff with no positive results from the blood culture tests, then she should be able to come home Monday, July 20th. More posts tomorrow when we get results, we are looking forward to taking her home! Love, Philip and Katie