Daddy's Turn

Our little girl is four days old. Unbelievable. She's still in the NICU but she's doing well, so they report to us. The CPAP has been off since Thursday and so far she's breathing well on her own. Thank goodness for those steroid shots a week ago - just in the nick of time. They tell us that she has or is about to be officially "graduated" into intermediate care, though she is still physically in the NICU. They're waiting for room in the other nursery. We've been able to hold her for a little while every day, but she's still a little bit jaundiced so she's relaxing under the blue light with her little eye cover on, getting her beauty rest. She's feisty, they tell me, and she's active. She likes to stretch out and kick. We're hoping she's not burning all the calories she needs to gain weight!

I "preached" this morning. I put it in quotation marks because I told my church that it was more of a theological reflection than a sermon. We/I reflected on the extremes of life as Heidi pointed out in one of her comments here. Right on point, thanks for that. It was also a communion Sunday which was extremely fitting and timely. Maybe I'll post my words in another post but I don't have the transcript on this computer. After church we had cupcakes that were made by one of our neighbors and I think they were a hit with everyone. Good stuff.

So here are the documented photos of my first time with my little girl. She's already melting my heart. When I walked in to see her today the nurse on duty said, "You must be Ellen's dad. She's a spitting image of you." I was pleased. Here we are.