Luna, meet Beach

Yesterday was a fun day (aside from the horrible parking mission). We took a trip down the shore to Belmar for the annual Seafood Festival. It was exciting because Luna got her first glimpse at the ocean. I think she liked it.

2 Months Old!

I can't believe my little miracle baby is two months old already. Although it feels like time has flown since the day she was born, I try very hard to take it appreciate each day as a gift from God. I just love waking up and seeing her beautiful face next to me every day. She is the best thing that has happened to me.

Here are some beautiful pictures of my Luna...

6 Weeks Old!!

Luna is 6 weeks old. Its amazing how quickly time flies. We have been home for a week now. It feels so good to be home. We have been trying to settle into a routine full of feedings, meds, diaper changings, naps etc. I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of all the little details that go into taking care of another human beings. I feel like we really took the NICU nurses for granted. They did soooooo much to take very good care of my little one. I know I still have a long way to go and I'm excited to learn something new everyday.

Here is Luna getting ready to go to church.

Hanging out with Abuela.

We're Outta Here!!!!

I haven't posted in a few days but we have been very busy. Last week was by FAR the most exciting week we've had in the NICU. Luna's doctors and nurses started throwing around the "D" word early in the week as they were getting ready to remove her NG tube and nasal cannulas.

This was Luna on her last day wearing her feeding tube and cannula.

Here is a picture of my daughter free of all tubes and wires (except those monitoring her vitals) for the first time in her short little life.

Luna on her way to get a routine MRI as part of her discharge requirements. Once there I was a very nervous mom as she was taken from my arms and placed in the MRI machine. Fortunately, I was allowed to stay in the room with her and the MRI only lasted like 20 minutes. She did well and only started crying as the machine was turned off.

Daddy arrived just in the time to hear one of Luna's NPs tell us that we could take her home on Saturday. We were excited, scared, and anxious since we wanted nothing more than to take Luna home, but unfortunately we arent exactly ready with all the "baby gear" one usually needs to welcome a baby home. When I was pregnant and was told of Luna's diagnosis, we decided we did not want a baby shower. I just did not want to jinx anything. The last thing I wanted was for something to happen to Luna and to have to come home to a house full of baby things. I would rather have to run around getting things at the last minute which is what we are still in the process of doing. LOL

Luna IS a rockstar!!! So much so that she was discharged from the NICU on April 28th, 2012. Just 5 weeks after being born with a severe right-sided CDH.

All dressed and ready to hit the road in her carseat.

After waiting all day, finally signing the discharge papers.

Can you tell he's happy? LOL

Walking off into the sunset. :)

After a veeeeeeeeeeeery long journey, it's finally "home sweet home" with Daddy.

I'll be the first to say that there were times when I didn't think Luna was coming home. I was scared, sad, and angry. But this journey has reinforced the power of prayer to me. My daughter is home. She beat the odds. God is so good and beautiful. I saw him in the doctors. I saw him in the nurses. I saw him at the Ronald McDonald house. I saw him in all our family and friends who have supported us. We thank you ALL!!!

Another Busy Weekend

We enjoyed another busy weekend in the NICU. This weekend we continued bottle feeding Luna. She is doing very well with that. We also experimented with breast feeding on Sunday which also went surprisingly well. Daddy and I also attended a NG tube class which is part of the discharge process. We learned a lot during the class but are hoping and praying that Luna continues to do well with her feedings and will not need her NG tube for much longer.

Here are some fun pictures from this weekend...

Snuggle time with Daddy.

Getting pretty for my weekend visitors. Thanks for my cute little outfit, Tia Denia!!!

Time for my bottle!!

Kuya CJ and Ate Serena played in the waiting room while the Pormentilla-Dumapit family visited. I also saw my Abuelo, Abuela, Great-Abuela, and Tia Lucy this weekend.

Looking adorable. This is also the moment when Luna decided she wanted to roll to her side. LOL

I wonder where she got her sleeping pose from (btw, he's just pretending to be asleep, folks).

Waiting patiently for Daddy

Well, Luna and I spent a rather quiet and mostly uneventful week in the NICU patiently waiting for Daddy to come home on Thursday night. Here are some pictures from this past week.

Lifting her head and staring at her physical therapist.

Holding her bobo in place.

Trying to get rid of the stuff on her face. She was actually able to pull out her feeding tube a few times this week. I can't blame her. I'd try to get rid of it too.

Sleeping like an angel.

Daddy left work on Thursday and drove straight to the hospital to see his princess.

Then Daddy then got to participate in the most exciting news of the week....he got to give Luna a bottle!!! My baby girl is feeding out of a bottle!!! This may sound trivial: just another baby drinking out of a bottle, right? But NO! This is a HUGE accomplishment for Luna considering the severity of her CDH.  She was able to take 1 to 1.5 ounces at each feeding today (the rest went through her feeding tube). She continues to amaze us everyday. We are sooooo proud of her. We just pray that she continues to do well on her bottle feeds so that we can get rid of her feeding tube soon.

Busy weekend

I haven't had a chance to post in a few days. We've just been pretty busy around here in the NICU. For starters, Luna's feedings have been increased all the way to 70mls every three hours which means lots of pumping on my part. Daddy and I also had to take a CPR class as part of our eventual discharge. We also had a ton of visitors again this weekend. Here are some highlights from the weekend.

Lola, Lolo, Father Jude (who married us), Tita Lee, and Tita Inday came to see Luna.

Tita Joanne, Tito Francis, and Tita Ivy paid Luna a visit also.

Although my little cousin, Ada, was unable to go in and see Luna she was lucky enough to get a chance to meet Hot Chelle Rae who were at CHOP visiting the kids.

Tita Jenn and Tito TJ also got to meet Luna this weekend.

Mama also got to meet her great-granddaughter for the first time.

"Look, Mommy! No picc line!!!" Luna is now getting her meds orally and can move both her arms freely. We're sooooooo happy!!!

QT with Daddy before he left for work. Bittersweet :/