Happy One Week Birthday, Caroline!

12:14 pm- Well, today marks Caroline's one week of life. We are so thrilled to have her a part of our life and can't imagine it any other way. I am just so in love with her, as we all are. Madeline and I headed up to the hospital this morning to give her 11 am feeding. Madeline got to hold her again which is starting to become a daily routine at the hospital. She really loves her little sister. Caroline ate great- 50 cc's. Dr. Reddling is her neonatalogist for the remainder of her stay. I spoke with him about the new plan for Caroline. He is comfortable with 2 choices and it's up to Bret and I on which one we feel is best or are the most comfortable with. Option #1- she will stay on caffeine in the hospital for 2 more days then they have to monitor her for 7 days after that and be apnea-free. This means she would be in the hospital for another 10 days. UGH! Option #2- She will stay on caffeine another 2 days and then discharge her. We would then continue the caffeine treatments at home for a month and we would go home with an apneac monitor. Dr. Reddling would turn her care back over to the pediatrician and he would monitor her progress. Bret and I really feel option #2 would work best for us but we are praying about it. One concern I have with option #1 is that even if she's not apneac for that 7 days, when she comes home, I am going to still be concerned and paranoid. I am already feeling that way. With option #2, it is the only way to come home with a monitor that will give us the peace of mind that she is being monitored in case she has another episode. Plus, we want her home desperately. Again, we are praying that we make the wisest and best decision for Caroline. The doctor told me to "mull" it over (ie. pray about it) and we could let him know tomorrow or the next day.
Here is Caroline on her birth day, August 4.

> Here is Caroline at 12:14 pm one week later on August 11. Happy One Week Birthday, Caroline! You are such a joy and we love you more than words can express.