Kangarooing

Evie is getting more and more content with her early arrival into the world which is comforting. I was able to hold her for two hours yesterday afternoon and she just slept so peacefully. Tim and I went back last night and I got to try "kangarooing" which was so neat! Its this method where they literally put the baby down your shirt into your "pouch" so that they can rest skin to skin. She loved it! She laid on my chest for another two hours and didn't make a peep. Tim is going to try it with her tonight despite the fact that he thinks she will hate his hairy chest. They say that it promotes her growth and healing process, so we'll be doing it all the time. She is starting to open her eyes a lot more, especially when Tim or I start talking to her. They took off her oxygen mask and cap last night for a bit and it was so nice to get a little glimpse of the girl behind the mask! She has a ton of dirty blonde hair (Tim was a toe head as a kid). We'll have to wait on the nose because its a little mishapen now due to the oxygen mask. She has a minor obstacle to overcome now, something called a Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA). Its like a hole in her heart. All babies are born with the opening and it normally would close within about 12 hours of birth, but due to Evie's premature birth, hers appears to be taking longer to close. They started her on some medication to speed up the process so that she can be removed from the oxygen mask stuck to her little nose. The good news is that the PDA is rather small, so they expect the treatment to work really well.