Cute pics and a good appt!

Aren't these cute pictures? Carla, our wonderful photographer friend took them for us. These are just a couple and there are still more to come:)

Jocelyn had her 1 month appointment today at the regular pediatrician. She now weighs 8 lbs. The doctor asked Jocelyn if she got the memo that she was only 1 month old. She was wide awake and followed her light pen back and forth with her head and eyes! She squirmed and moved her hands and legs all around. You aren't going to believe this but I have my mom as a witness......yesterday my mom put Jocelyn on her tummy for some "tummy time". Jocelyn proceeded to roll over onto her back!!! CRAZY!!!! I told the doctor about this and she said she has never heard of a baby as young as Jocelyn rolling over from tummy to back. She continues to show us how strong she is:)

1 Month Old Already!!!

Sweet Baby Jocelyn Rose
Abby adores her little sister, Jocelyn!

Jocelyn waving hi to the camera:) We were all bundled up going for a walk down to see Daddy at work.

I can't believe that it has been a month since Jocelyn was born. She has grown so much already and amazes us each day. She is a very alert and active little girl. We had our friend take some pictures of her the other day and wanted a naked picture of her curled up on her belly. Jocelyn had other ideas! She was lifting her head and trying to crawl and push herself forward. I think she will continue to amaze us with her strength:)

This past month has been filled with every possible emotion you can imagine. We are ready to move forward with all of the services and support that is provided for our family. I think this will ease some of the anxiety. We have our first meeting set up with Regional Center to come and look at her next week. A teacher will come with her case manager and they will talk with Chris and I about infant stimulation exercises we can do with her. Then a teacher trained on kids with down syndrome will come twice a week to work with Jocelyn, Chris and I. Can you believe how early they start this? 1 month old and she has her first teacher. We are looking forward to learning along side Jocelyn. We are excited and nervous to start this life long adventure with Jocelyn:)

Abby gets a little jealous when we are taking pictures of Jocelyn. She always wants one of her too! Such a pretty little girl:)

Abby learned about jumping in rain puddles (from daddy)!

Abby riding on Peanut. We have 6 draft horses here right now while their home is a little too wet from all of the rain.

NO FEAR!!!

3 weeks old

Here are some new pictures of Jocelyn with her stylish mohawk! There doesn't seem to be a way to calm this mohawk. Any suggestions? She is a very sweet little girl and we can't wait for you all to meet her:) Big sister Abby is loving having a little sister (most of the time).

We are enjoying staying inside during our big Southern California Storm:) Our big front windows let us sit and enjoy the views of the storm rolling in. Hopefully Chris will be home soon and we'll have a fire and enjoy some family time together.

HOORAY!!!

We had a great visit at the cardiologist today. He said Jocelyn's heart sounded great and she looked really good. He was very impressed at how active she already was. His only concern was her hair....she has a mohawk! We will go back in 6 months for another eco. He was fairly confident at that time they wouldn't find anything wrong with her heart as all issues would have resolved. Hip Hip Hooray for GOOD news!!!!!

Two Weeks Old!

Snug as a bug in a rug:) I am going to try and get a pic with her eyes open soon!

Happy girls!

Sleepy time

Abby making a wish with Grandma Liz!

Abby started dance class this week. She LOVES it:)

Chris is now will be delivering human babies at the hospital.......NOT!

Our neighbors have hounds and do "foxhunting"! This is what we see many mornings coming down our road! It's a neat sight!

I can't believe that Jocelyn is two weeks old! In some ways it seems like the longest two weeks of my life but sometimes it seems like just yesterday I was having her (in the bathroom)! She has been home only a week and has gotten to see a do a lot. Jocelyn continues to do well. We went for her two week check today at the pediatrician and she weighs 7 lbs 2 ounces! Gaining weight already:) Tomorrow we go to the cardiologist at Children's Hospital to follow up on her heart. I really hope it goes well. It is comforting to know that the very best pediatric cardiologists will see her.

Thank you to everyone for the gifts, visits, meals, well wishes and prayers. We are so fortunate to have such good family and friends:)

Home!!!!!

We didn't even pose her for this picture!!! See ya later NICU!

A happy family:)

We did it:) We are all HOME!!! Jocelyn proved to the NICU that she could eat. When I arrived for the 9:00 am feeding on Monday the nurse mentioned the home word. She was a great nurse and really kept things moving and asked that the doctors looked at Jocelyn first thing in the AM. Jocelyn was the least critical in the NICU at that point and was not a priority to the doctors. There are some very sick babies there:( By 1:30 we were out of there.

We were greeted at home by a VERY excited big sister. She loves her "baby Jocelyn". Abby already wants to help with things. All the grandparents stopped by last night to meet their sweet little girl. It is so good to be home. Today we are off to the pediatrician for a check.

Thanks for all your prayers, calls, texts and well wishes. Baby Jocelyn already knows how much she is loved by so many.....

xoxo,

Becca, Chris and Abby

Rollercoaster

Our sweet Jocelyn Rose:)

A trip to the park with Abby.

Yesterday a man came through the NICU and played music for the babies. Such a sweet volunteer:)

A picture of Childrens Hospital all lit up for the holidays.

What a day! Jocelyn is off the billi lights today. YEAH!! This means we get to hold her. She is such a snuggle. Eating was hard most the day but I think we may have figured her out at her 6:00pm feeding. We have to change her diaper in the middle of the bottle to keep her awake. We also found a nipple that works a little better for her. The goal is 3 consecutive feedings at 3 hours apart where she eats 55 ml of milk. When she does this they say she can come off of fluids. She did really well at 6:00 pm and ate 62 ml (the most ever). I was breast feeding her but there was no way to accurately count how much she was actually getting. We would weigh her before and after but the nurses would sometimes find that she lost weight after she nursed (makes NO sense because I KNOW she was eating). Chris and I decided the fastest way to get out of here would be to pump and then bottle feed.

Abby came for a nice visit today and Chris and I took her to Point Loma Seafood for lunch. Abby had fun looking at the "eagles"(this is what she thinks she should call seagulls). It was nice to get away for a little while. Abby is doing just fine:) She has so many people to love her and take good care of her.

Thank you to everyone for the support. It is making this experience easier on us. We can't wait for you to meet our special little girl.

xoxo,
Becca and Chris

Big Day!

Jocelyn is looking really good this AM. We just went to feed her and learned her billi levels are down so hopefully she will come off the lights today. She is almost off of IV fluids. She is continuing to eat well. Hopefully after the Dr. looks at her today they will take the lights and discontinue IV. That's what I would do if I were the Dr....but they don't really ask me. The nurses have commented how strong her muscle tone is. She has a strong sucking reflex and squirms all over her little crib. Downs babies can really struggle with poor muscle tone and Jocelyn isn't showing signs of this. Jocelyn has very sensitive skin but the overnight nurse took really good care of her and put some vaseline on her face and her skin looks much better. All the tubes and stickers are off of her face which is so nice to see.


Chris and I are doing well. We have gotten caught up on a bit of sleep. We clocked our walk yesterday that we take to go see Jocelyn. We figure it's about half mile round trip. I can't believe I am making this walk a few times each day. I think my body knows that it needs to do this right now! I feel pretty good doing this walk. There is no way I could have done this after having Abby. Probably because I had such a good Dr. delivering her:)

I hope today is as good as I think it could be:) Maybe we'll get home in the next couple of days!!!

xoxo,
Becca and Chris

Looking Up!

Jocelyn is showing us what a strong little girl she will be. She is really getting the hang of eating, both from the bottle and nursing. Each feeding she seems to improve. Jocelyn even gained a little weight yesterday! She continues to stay off of oxygen. She may have to go back under the billi lights today as her levels have gone back up. This is nothing too serious, just something many babies deal with (Abby being one of them). She has very sensitive skin but all her rashes and bruises from being poked are starting to clear up. As far as getting to go home, we really don't have an answer. I am hoping for this next week sometime, but don't want to get my hopes up too much!

Abby came to visit yesterday. Chris and took her to a park close to the hospital. She is such a happy kid:) We can't wait for her to meet her little sister. Because of the flu scare childrens hospital is totally shut off to visitors other than parents, so Jocelyn hasn't gotten to meet her family yet. Chris and I are staying in Pat's RV on the road just outside the hospital. It is so nice to stay close.

That's about all! Thank you to all for the help and offers of help! We really appreciate everything. Keep little Jocelyn in your thoughts and prayers:)

XOXO,
Becca and Chris

New Years Day Pictures

Jocelyn continues to improve. Eating is getting easier for her at each feeding:) xoxo.....Yeah abby is here to see us!!!!

A New Day and a New Year!!

Happy New Year to you all....

Another day has passed and Jocelyn continues to make steps in the right direction. Yesterday her tests on her digestive tract came back with everything looking OK. This means that she got to start eating. Jocelyn is doing pretty well with nursing but has a little trouble swallowing. We have to keep reminding ourselves that she is only a few days old and hasn't even gotten the opportunity to try and eat yet. I have been working on breast feeding her and also supplementing with a bottle. They took her off of oxygen last night and seems to be doing OK.

We just got back from seeing her this AM and she looks good. They have her laying on her tummy a little and it was nice to rub her little back with just bare skin and not a bunch of cords (like her tummy).

Chris and I can't wait for the day she gets to come home. We hope it will be next week sometime...

Keep her in your your thoughts and prayers!
xoxo,
Becca and Chris

We will get some pics today on our camera and share them tonight.