Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Life is Sweet...

My happy girl :)
Its been a couple of months now since my last post--mostly due to the fact that Lea keeps me quite busy! But after a few requests for an update, I'm happy to say Lea is continuing to grow, thrive and bring so much joy to our lives. Being a mom has been the most amazing experience so far, and I know there is so much more to come!

Lea's current age is 6 1/2 months, while her adjusted age (or the age she'd be if she had come on her due date) is 4 months old. She has been seeing an Early Steps therapist for almost a month now, and I can really tell a difference in her strength and fine motor skills. Her therapist sings songs with her like "Wheels on the Bus," uses finger puppets and assists Lea with tummy time that helps her strengthen her little body. She loves to stand (with a little support) and Lain and I joke that she'll probably skip crawling all together and just start walking one day. Lea also recently underwent a neurological exam that is routine for all premature babies. Everything went great, and Lea is perfect. (Like we didn't already know that ;)

DIVA.
Oh, and girlfriend is officially chunky! Lea's got a double chin, wrist rolls and fat little thighs that I have to pinch every time I see them. My ten pound, fourteen ounce girl loves to eat, and she is slowly but surely getting the hang of eating off of a spoon, although she still prefers her bottle. And she LOVES watermelon! Now we're just waiting for those tiny feet to catch up, so she can start wearing all of her cute shoes!

Lea and Uncle Jarad in Nashville

 As you preemie parents know, the NICU experience will make you very aware of germs. Hand sanitizer ruled my life the first few months that Lea was home. Now with flu season out of the way, we've increasingly become less "germ-o-phobic," and have ventured out to lots of fun places like the zoo, the aquarium and even took a vacation to Nashville, TN to visit Uncle Jarad which included her very first airplane ride.

Thanks to everyone for all of the prayers and support over these past six months. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends and family in our lives. I hope Lea's story can give hope to other preemie parents out there. I will never forget the times I sat in the NICU, not even able to hold Lea, not able to hear her cry... I want parents who are going through this same thing to know that they are not alone. God is waiting to listen, and ready to comfort you. Reach out to Him and he will get you and your family through it.

Lots of love,
Jessica