She's come a long way...

While sitting incubator-side tonight we were marveling at our little girl and how far she's come in the last two weeks. Although still fragile, it's unbelievable how much girth and strength these little ones have.

Tonight, we watched in astonishment as the nurse gave her a pacifier and she suckled it for a few hours. It was incredible, she looked like a full term baby, it was SO hard not to whisk her out of her incubator and just bring her home. Of course, mommy and daddy clearly had 'baby brain' today as we forgot the camera at home. Anyways, it's a really great step for her because most babies have trouble with their sucking reflex, especially this early on. She is clearly a pro at this already! :) She is also back to exactly her birth weight of 913 grams and is up to 9ml of milk every 2 hours. I think the nurse mentioned that a full feed is 12 ml (or cc's as they say).

The small things that most people take for granted with their newborns, we cherish and view as an enormous step in her coming home one day. I remember waking up after my surgery and just crying uncontrollably. The nurses couldn't understand why. But in my mind, I just couldn't fathom how they could save a baby that was only 26 weeks gestation. In my mind, we had lost her already. So for me, it has been an incredible journey to see her grow each day, since I didn't think she would make it past the first day. I am now finally beginning to think...no, beginning to KNOW that we WILL bring her home one day...it's only a matter of time.

Anna's First Picture (July 7th at Lakeridge Oshawa)

Marta and Arthur