After the rollercoaster of Elizabeth’s quick arrival, we were all ready to rest.  However, that wasn’t in the cards (at least for Mommy and Daddy) just yet.

A few hours after Elizabeth was born, she had an apneic episode – meaning she stopped breathing for a few seconds.  The nursing staff decided it would be best to have her stay overnight in the nursery so she could be observed.  She had several more of these episodes while in the nursery, and was ultimately moved to the NICU.

The next time we saw our girl, after a sleepless night, she was in an incubator with an IV in her tiny hand and several probes on her chest.  It was the scariest and most confusing moment of our lives!

Thankfully, the doctors in the NICU were able to pinpoint the issue that caused the apneic episodes and her body naturally resolved the issue within the day.

However, at the same time, they noticed that Elizabeth had jaundice – which meant treatment under “bililights” to help her body process the extra bilirubin in her system.  This was also scary for us, but Elizabeth was a trooper and handled it all with ease – especially being only a few days old!  She looked so peaceful with her special shades on under the bililights.

Finally, five days after she was born, Elizabeth was discharged from the NICU.  It was the best feeling in the world to be able to take our baby girl home.

I’m happy to report that El has continued to heal and is doing great, even surpassing her birth weight this week.  Thank you to everyone who said special prayers and sent us positive thoughts for our daughter – we really appreciate it and feel so blessed!