Olivia Jane! My Little Miracle

Olivia has came such a long way and i am so proud of her. She has recently been fitted for hearing aids and have been showing some good signs of hearing we think but its still too early to tell yet. They look so cute on her, and are tiny little pink things. She is cooing and smiling so much. Liv is kicking her legs and moving great, thank you God!! She is trying to roll over little by little, but cant quite seem to figure out how to move her arm out of the way. She looks at me and just lights up, so I take it that she is recognizing me! I love that so much! I still pray each day and am asking you guys to continue to pray for her hearing. We have accepted the fact that she will not ever hear without her hearing aids, but I pray that her hearing aids are working and that she will be able to hear successfully throughout her life!! Thank you for your prayers, and please continue to pray!!

New Pictures of Liv!! YAY!

Olivia Jane is almost 10 pounds!! Thank you Lord!

Liv sleeping like a BABY! Thank you God for this sweet angel! Oh, and the leg warmers are too cute Mommy!



Olivia Jane all tuckered out, how peaceful!




Hey Everyone! Look at me, I can sit up in my Bumbo!



Olivia Jane fell asleep while watching her sister and mommy in her Bumbo! Ha!

Praise God, some good news!

Thank you Lord; Olivia Jane's shunt looks great as well as her brain. Dr. Pickett saw Liv on Monday and he told Melissa that the blood from Liv's brain bleed has re-absorbed back into her brain and that her ventricles looked smaller. YAY! That is great news, and we thank God for that! Please continue to pray for Olivia and that she has no more health concerns.

We are so thankful to all of you for your sweet and thoughtful comments, and your prayers everyday! Please keep Liv, Melissa, Mason, and lil' Vannah in your prayers. I had Savannah Sunday night, and she was so excited to see her cousin, Kaylee. However, by Monday afternoon, she was telling me that she was ready to go home so that she could see her sister, Olivia. She told me that Olivia needed her and that she was probably crying for Savannah! So sweet!

Olivia Jane, stay strong sweetheart and I love you so very much! You are truly a 'Foster-fighter' and I thank God for you everyday!

~Aunt Jessie

Keep the prayers going up!

Tomorrow, Olivia Jane will go to Dr. Pickett to get an ultrasound of her shunt; please pray for a beautiful outcome! He wants to check and make sure that everything is working properly.

On February 2, my sister and I took Olivia Jane to see the audiologist for a final opinion on her hearing. Unfortunately, the audiologist confirmed what the ENT had already told Melissa; Liv is deaf. The audiologist told us that she can not hear any conversation tones at all, and the noises that she did hear were at such high volumes. Melissa is going to get her fitted for hearing aids very soon, and hopefully she will then soon hear her mommy's voice say "I love you"...

Please, please pray that the hearing aids work, and that Olivia will not need to have another surgery for the cochlear implants! Melissa is supposed to take Liv to get a MRI soon as well, and that will tell us more about her hearing loss....like whether it is her cochlea or if it is from the brain bleed. I just want the hearing aids to work and Liv be a bouncing baby girl! Please don't forget that we still have other obstacles to face down the road. There is still a chance that Liv could face cerebral palsy, so please pray that she is going to be a healthy, running, jumping, dancing baby girl.

Thank you all for your prayers! Please continue to pray, pray, pray! Pray for this little angel's strength, health, and hearing! Also, please pray too that Liv's eyesight continues to do well; it is great right now and I hope that it stays that way! I love you so much Olivia Jane and I am so proud how much you have grown! By the way, Liv weighs almost 7 pounds now!! Go Liv!!

~Aunt Jessie

Please continue to pray!

Olivia Jane went to the doctor on Thursday and she weighs 6 lbs and 5 ounces! Go Liv! It was a weight check only, and even Dr. Kinnebrew was shocked that she had gained 25 grams in 14 days. Awesome! Please keep Liv in your prayers; her hearing appt is February 2, and that will be the final say on whether or not she is most definitely just hard of hearing or is deaf. Most importantly, that it can be corrected with a cochlear implant! I tried to help my sister by cheering her up. I told her that if Olivia Jane can get the cochlear implant, it is really a blessing in disguise. I mean, I can't tell you how many times growing up, I would have loved to have been able to tune my sister out when she was annoying me. (No Sissy, that only happened once or twice ;~) With the cochlear implant, from my understanding you can take the hearing aid part off and then you will not hear anything at all. So, when Savannah is getting on Liv's nerves in about 4 or 5 years, she can literally tune her out! How many people can say that they can do that!

Ok, so I am trying to make a bad thing good, but we do what we can, right? My sister has been such a wonderful, caring, and loving momma through this whole nightmare. In good times and bad, she has done the best she can...never missing a day at the NICU to tell Olivia that she loves her. Liv is home; my sister is so thankful to be there and for her little one. Savannah, you are an amazing big sissy and Liv probably won't want to ignore you too many times growing up. ha-ha I love you and Liv SO much! To everyone else, thank you so very much for your prayers and thoughts all throughout the day. I will get pictures of Liv up very soon in her new room and crib! Melissa let her stretch out yesterday in her crib for the first time...SOOO CUTE! She is so tiny compared to the big, giant crib.

If you know my sister, she got pictures! Olivia Jane, you stay strong and keep growing lil' one! Hopefully soon, Liv will not need oxygen, but as of now she is still on the oxygen and monitor.

KEEP PRAYING~
Aunt Jessie

Olivia Jane, Melissa, and Mason need your prayers!

Friday was a bad, bad day for us. Melissa was told by the ENT doctor that, in his opinion, and by what he could or could not find that Olivia Jane has significant hearing loss. They have ran many hearing tests and have found that Olivia does not respond to any sound waves. The audiologist (hearing doctor) will see her on February 2, and after that a MRI will be performed to see if it is her cochlea or from her stage 3 brain bleeds. The cochlea is the auditory portion of the inner ear, and is the sensory organ of hearing. If it is the cochlea, Olivia Jane will be a possible candidate for the cochlear implant. The cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who has severely hard of hearing or deafness. Please pray that this is the outcome for Olivia Jane!

Please pray for my sister and Mason too. Melissa is so depressed and just heartbroken. Our biggest heartache out of this is that if Olivia Jane can not hear, she will never hear her mother's voice say "I love you", or Savannah sing to her. She will never hear a bird chirp or her mother running her bath water....everything that we take for granted everyday! I know that this sounds so pessimistic, but when the doctor looks at you and tells you that your daughter may never hear; you are going to think of these things.

All we have is prayer...hope...faith...and trust in God that He will bless Olivia Jane with the gift of sound. Bless her, she has been through more than what some people go through in a lifetime. Please don't give up on Olivia, please pray for her and her precious hearing. God, I praise you for your blessings that you have given my family! I love you and I pray that you will protect Olivia Jane, for only you know her destiny. Olivia Jane, I love you so much precious angel! God has His arms around you; He will protect you!

~Aunt Jessie

First pic of "wabbanubs" donated...........THANK YOU!



It is hard to see, but the picture is 50 of 120 Wabbunubs donated! I will have the other picture up by tomorrow evening! It will be a better picture to look at because they are literally all over my sister's couch; all 120 of them! It is amazing at how generous and caring people are and can be for such a lil' blessing that they didn't even meet! Thank you so much to all the people that donated! The NICU thanks you and Olivia Jane thanks you!  There were so many donations that came in, it was impossible for me to thank all of you personally on the blog!



She's home! Thank you God!

I spoke to my sister this morning and Olivia Jane is doing great! Olivia went to see her pediatrician yesterday morning and Liv weighs 4 pounds and 12 ounces! Go Liv!! The NICU doctors said that it would be best for all of us to stay away for a few months so that we do not give her any "bugs". I totally agree but it is still very hard to stay away! :~( Olivia is still on oxygen via nasal cannula and will be for a awhile as well as a monitor.

I will get pictures of Olivia in her new home as soon as I can get with my sister. They are playing "hermit crab" right now and for good reason! I didn't want anyone to think that we are done with giving all of you updates and praises for praying. I am so thankful for you guys and all of your prayers! Thank you God for my sweet Olivia Jane! Savannah is so happy to be a big sissy and for her lil' sissy to be home. She has been changing diapers and loving it!

Hopefully, I will have pictures very soon, and also have pictures of the Wabbanubs! I have not forgotten to put those up, but I have just not had a minute to do it! Again, thank you for your prayers! I love you Olivia Jane and I am so happy that you are home angel!

~Aunt Jessie

Olivia is coming home!!!!!!!!! :)

Oh My GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot believe the day has finally came to take my babygirl home. After 75 days in the NICU Olivia Jane will be coming home officially on Saturday, January 8, 2011. I am still shocked and excited and happy and i cannot get the smile off of my face. The doctor decided to just go ahead and send Olivia home on oxygen. She is doing so well with everything else so she will just come home on oxygen and that is that. It is so exciting! I am so ready and could not be more happy. I have been through so much with Olivia these past 2 and a half months that her coming home on oxygen is nothing. Its just crazy to think that she will really be home this weekend. I dont think it has really and truely hit me yet. I dont think i will sleep for the first couple weeks i am going to just rock her all night. Her big sissy is so excited too she has not stopped talking about how she is going to change her diaper and feed her and give her a bath. It's so cute.

I just really want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for always praying for Olivia. I am and will continue to pray each and everyday for her and i hope you will too. I could not have gotten through all of this without God and thanks to all of you God heard all of your prayers and because of that she is coming home where she belongs. I know it may seem weird but I am going to miss the NICU and all of the nurses. They have become part of my family and i love each and every one of them and have such high respect for them. It takes a special person to do what they do and i thank God everyday for them.

Thank you again to everyone for all your thoughts and prayers. It truely means so much to me I can't even put it into words.

~Olivia's Mommy

Olivia after surgery........

This was Olivia after she came off of her oxygen and her feeding tube. She looks so beautiful. Please pray that she can get off the oxygen again and come home to me just like this!!

70 Days and Counting.........

Olivia has been in the NICU for 70 days now. I am very very ready for her to come home. She was moved up to an open crib yesterday because she is holding her temp so well. I was so excited to see her in her big girl bed. She is still taking all bottles and eating up a storm. She is now 4 pounds and 2 ounces. She is doing all the things she needs to to be able to come home except her breathing. Yes Olivia went back on oxygen and has not been able to pull herself off. It is so frustrating because everything else is doing so great. I have prayed so hard that she could come off the oxygen and just come home. There is a chance she may just come home with the oxygen and the monitor but i really hope she is able to get off of it all before she comes home. Please pray that God strengthens her tiny lungs so she can breathe on her own.

I love you Liv,
~Mommy

Olivia Jane is doing great!

Since Olivia Jane's Christmas present to her mommy....(being off of everything) she has been put back on oxygen today. She is still not on a feeding tube, so she only eats by bottle. This is definite positive; however, it is tuckering Olivia out so much that she needs help via nasal cannula. This has really upset my sister, so please keep her in your prayers as well as Olivia Jane! Olivia has been given the 'ok' to eat however much she thinks that she can handle now. Please pray that Olivia just needs a little boost of oxygen and that she will come home soon....healthy and breathing on her own!

Thank you to everyone for donating...my sister should download the pics sooooon! As soon as she gets a second to do so, I will get the pics uploaded! The nurses were so excited and shocked that so many people donated!

I love you Olivia Jane! Stay strong and keep getting healthier everyday sweetie! I can't wait for you to come home!

~Aunt Jessie

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!! Well Olivia did good through her surgery. It took about 45 minutes for the whole surgery. Dr. Pickett replaced her temporary shunt with a permanent shunt and made another incision in her belly to lead the tubing into her abdomen, where the fluid will flow. She came off her pain meds this morning and seems to be handling that well. They were not able to take her off the ventilator because she was still so medicated and was not wanting to breathe on her own. But now that the pain meds are off we are hoping she will be back on the nasal cannula tonight. I am really hoping they will restore her feedings today but we will see. The nurse said that the muscles and the digestive system is the last to wake up after surgery so they don't want to rush into feeding and her little belly not be ready, but i cannot wait to feed my baby again. Please continue to pray everyday for my baby. She still has a lot of obstacles to overcome before i can take her home. Thank you so much to everyone that has continued to pray for her.

Today is the day that the preemies of the NICU will get their Christmas present from Olivia Jane! I will post pictures of the precious moment as soon as I can! Thank you all so very much for your prayers and for any donations that you gave for this wonderful benefit!

Prayers Needed!!!

Dr. Pickett came in today to tap Olivia's head to drain some more fluid and as soon as he tapped it more filled in. He was able to get 25 cc's off but it is still full. So Olivia will be having her surgery to get her VP shunt tmrw. He told me that he would take the temporary shunt out and replace it with a permanent shunt that has a tube attached to it. The tube will be placed down the side of her neck and another incision will be made on her chest to guide the tube into her abdominal cavity, where the fluid will flow and be reabsorbed by the body. She will go back into intensive while she recovers through all of this and I pray that she recovers fast. Please pray for her that she does well with this surgery and that there are no complications with the surgery and she recovers quickly. I'm hoping that after she recovers she will start eating even better and gain more weight and i really hope this helps her get off the oxygen. She has been up and down with her oxygen the past couple days but i believe it is because of the fluid on her brain. So hopefully the shunt will fix all of that. Please pray extra hard the next few days for my angel. I love her so much and i want her home so bad i can't explain it. I know she is so strong and i know God has been by her side every step of the way. I prayed to God today as i held Liv to please take care of her and keep her strong and let her come home to me soon. Thank you so much for all your prayers. I am so blessed to have everyone care for her so much.

Olivia,

I love you so much babygirl. I am so proud of you and you have come so far. You are so strong and i know you will be ok. I never realized how much strength i had in me but you have definitely made that show through this. I have to be strong for you and i will always be that for you. You are so beautiful.You and your sissy are my whole world and i dont know what i would do without the two of you. Thank you so much for letting me be your momma. I feel that i am the luckiest woman in the world to have the honor of having two beautiful, amazing little girls. I love you more than anything in the whole world Olivia Jane.

~Mommy

And here comes another part of the roller coaster....

Ok, so we thought that Olivia Jane was doing so good that she may not need the permanent shunt; however, Melissa was told today that Olivia will need the shunt. The surgery will take place next week. She was doing so good, but she is swelling again. They drained fluid from her head today, and it soon began to collect fluid again. Melissa is very upset, so please keep her in your prayers as well as Olivia. Dr. Pickett was really hopeful, but it seems that God has other plans. Once again, I am trying not to ask why, but it is so hard when I see the pain that my sister goes through. I just pray that when she has the surgery, Olivia can come home very soon.

On a happier note, her eye test was performed today and it came back great! She still has premature eyes, but they are great right now. Thank you God! Thank you for your continued prayers, and please continue to pray for Olivia! Olivia Jane, I love you so much..please stay strong sweet angel! God, please protect my precious niece!

~Aunt Jessie

Olivia is a chunky monkey!!! :)

So Miss Olivia is now weighing 3 pounds and 10 ounces! I am so excited. She is finally getting up there. Her little cheeks are filling out and she is just adorable. She is taking her bottles very good still and is now up to three bottles a day. Over the weekend i was giving her a bottle and she finished the whole thing in 7 minutes. We were shocked. She must be getting the hang of this a bit more. :) I am so proud of my babygirl.

She was not feeling very well yesterday. She just seemed very tired and she looked kinda pale so today they are checking her blood to see if she is low on red blood cells. The nurse said she is showing symptoms that she is low so she will more than likely get another blood transfusion today. It should make her feel better and hopefully help her get off of the oxygen a bit better. Dr. Pickett is supposed to come in today to look at Olivia's head and take the stitches out. I hope he still thinks her head is doing good. Please pray with me that she will not have to have the permanent shunt placed. I just really don't want her to have to go through that. Please everyone pray that she will not have to have that done.

Santa will be visiting the NICU today. It is going to be so cute. He is taking pictures with all of the babies. Im so excited ........... Liv's first picture with Santa! That will definitly be going in the scrapbook.

Thank you to everyone who has donated for the wubbanubs! They are ordered and should be in any day now. I will post a picture of all of them when i get them in. I am so happy with the turnout and i can't thank yall enough for all of your donations to help make this come true.

I love you Olivia
~Mommy

Pictures of Olivia Jane

Olivia is doing so well with her bottles. She is now up to two bottles a day. Go Liv!!!! Mommy is so proud of you angel!

Olivia with her Wubbanubs....... She loves her little giraffe and caterpillar! :)

Olivia is so Beautiful. I love her so much!

Olivia is a STAR!!

Olivia was in her first commercial today. Amy and Chris George visited the NICU today to do the commercial for the Melissa George Neonatal Memorial hockey game. This is the game where the jerseys will be auctioned off to buy Giraffe Omni Beds for the NICU. They filmed Olivia while she was sleeping and while I was at her bedside. She looked so beautiful. I willl let everyone know when they are going to air the commercial so everyone can see Olivia in action!   :)

Olivia has gained a bit more weight and is now at 3lbs 5.6 oz. YAY Olivia!!! Im so excited I really hope it continues to go up. I was able to give her another bottle today and she did wonderful with it. It was such an amazing feeling when she was eating her bottle because she was just staring at me and it was like she was just telling me "I love you Mommy". I will never forget that moment. I fall more and more in love with her every day. She started to get a little tired at the end of the bottle but she managed to finish it. All that work tuckered her out though because she was snoozing after that. Dr. Pickett came in again today and said her head still looked really good, so that is very good to hear. Please continue to pray that she will not have to go through with the permanent shunt surgery. We still have not heard for sure but I am still praying throughout the day everyday that she will not have to have that surgery. Thank you all so much for your prayers for Miss Olivia. She is such an amazing, beautiful little girl. Please keep her in your prayers everyday.

I love you Olivia
~Mommy

Liv's First Bottle

I got to give Olivia her first bottle today! I was so excited. The nurse told me that we were just going to try the bottle and see how she did, but not to get dissappointed if she didn't take it because we just have to try. Well Olivia showed us because that little girl drank that whole bottle!! I was so proud of her. She did so good. The nurse was even shocked because she drank the whole bottle in 20 minutes. GO LIV!!! So now i get to give her a bottle once a day and we will gradually move her up to more bottles a day and finally get rid of the feeding tube. I am so excited.

On another note Amy George with the Melissa George NICU Foundation came by yesterday and asked if it would be ok if Olivia was in the commercial for the NICU Havoc game. Every year they hold a Havoc hockey game where the players where special pink and blue jerseys to be auctioned off to raise money for the NICU. The money have been used to purchase the Giraffe Omni beds. These beds are incredible and have saved many lives including my babygirl Olivia. The beds are not cheap by any means so the money is very much needed. I hope everyone that is reading this comes to the game. It will be held January 8, 2011 at the VBC. So come help support our Huntsville Havoc and support our babies at the NICU.

Please continue to pray for Olivia! I know everyone has been so amazing through all of this and i want to thank each and every one of you. It means so much to me. Olivia has came a long way and i know that God has heard all of our prayers so please don't stop whatever you do. Pleasse pray that Liv will not have to go through with the permanent shunt surgery. That would be absolutely amazing. I have prayed hard about that so please pray with me. I should know more about that later so i will keep everyone posted. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for praying for my babygirl.

I love you Liv
~Mommy

Thank you GOD!!!!

Ok so i called up to the NICU this morning to check on my little angel and Jenny , her nurse, said that Dr. Pickett just left from visiting her. He said that her head looked good and the size has gone down so that is great news. He also said that her head looked so good that we may be able to take this temporary shunt out and not have to do the permanent one!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! I could not believe what she said. This is the best news i have ever heard in my whole entire life! I know it is not 100% but oh gosh it felt so good to hear that. Olivia has not had any more seizures and her shunt is draining well so that is great news. I have prayed and prayed that God would heal Liv's lil brain and she would not have to have this permanent shunt. I truely believe God is listening and i am asking each and everyone of you to please pray that this comes true. Pray that she does not have to get this permanent shunt and all is well with her brain. I cannot get the smile off my face right now. To hear good news is just an incredibly, amazing feeling. I cannot express enough how much my girls mean to me. I live my life for my two girls. God please please please take care of Liv and be by her side. I pray constantly that Olivia will not have to have this permanent shunt put in God Please Hear Me !!!!!!

Thank you all so much for praying for my babygirl! Please continue to pray for her everyday and please pray hard that she does not have to get that permanent shunt. That would absolutely amazing!

I love you Liv
~Mommy