"You take the good, you take the bad, you take 'em both . . . ."

Anyone our age should be humming the Facts of Life theme song. You know, we never thought we would reference Blair and Ms. Garrett when describing how things were going for us in the NICU, especially to perfect strangers. Oh well, as we experience these growing pains, we realize it takes different strokes, and try to stay upbeat as life goes on. We just have to take it step by step and hope the kids blossom.  We believe our close family ties will cure our empty nest by giving us a full house so we can eventually experience the wonder years. (Gimme a break, that last one was definitely a stretch. We'll stop referencing 80's TV shows. Cheers!)

The good news from today is Chris went to the hand surgeon and he completely removed her cast! Chris starts physical therapy on Monday and Morgan's short-lived career as a breast pump valet is coming to a close.

"Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty
my fingers are free at last."

But with the good comes the bad, and Clara is not getting better. So far we've been lucky, but last night we received our first 11:00 p.m. call from the doctor telling us there could be a problem. Clara's oxygen stats and heart rate continued dropping and, for the first time since being in the NICU, her CRP (C-reactive protein) tested positive. This is alarming because a positive CRP test could very well signal the presence of an infection. In response to the raised CRP levels, the doctors stopped Clara's feedings and began IV antibiotics. 

We knew this would be two steps forward and one step back, but this feels like twenty steps forward and 35 steps back. Before Clara and Wilson's intestines could tolerate breast milk, they received their nutrition from TPN (total parenteral nutrition) in their IV fluids. They were weened from the TPN as the amount of breast milk they received increased. Unfortunately Clara is once again receiving all her nutrition from the TPN in her IV. To make matters (seem) worse, the nurses couldn't re-use her IV line from the second blood transfusion, so her new IV was inserted in her head. 

We don't know where this leaves us and will continue praying for the best as the weekend continues. Hopefully this is something simple and normal that will correct quickly. On the other hand, we have to be prepared for something worse, like an infection or a digestive problem. The good news is Clara's echo cardiogram came back "ok" this afternoon, so we do not think this is a result of a problem with her heart.

Regardless of what is wrong or what happens, this reminds us how hard our babies are fighting and the continued fragility of their condition. We also try to look for the positive, and we saw it tonight as we were getting ready to leave the hospital. We went to Clara's isloette and Chris placed her hand on Clara and told her how much we loved her. At the sound of Mom's voice Clara opened her eyes, looked up at us with the IV sticking out of the top of her head, and smiled. She didn't close her eyes until we put the blanket over her isolette so she could get some much needed rest.

You try managing a smile on an all-liquid diet
with a needle sticking out of your head!