Patience

We have learned to have alot of patience in the past 4 months. Patience while on bedrest, patience with doctors, patience with hospital food, patience in the parking garage, patience with doctors, patience with Virginia, patience with traffic, patience with life, patience in our faith. We have definitely felt tested and have been able to cope by taking this journey one day at a time. As we transition from intensive care and can start to see "the light at the end of the NICU tunnel" we are tested with a whole new level of patience.

Virginia still needs to learn to eat from a bottle, wean off of her nasal cannula, maintain her heartrate and oxygen saturations consistently, all while experiencing more and more of the world outside of her isolette. We can no longer track her progress by lab results, oxygen requirements or ventilator settings. Her progress and set backs are much more subjective these days. She is still making great progress though! She is just an ounce shy of 4 pounds, is doing great in her open crib and was even moved into the "feeding and growing" room which is less intensive than the transitional care room that she was in for the last few weeks. She isn't showing much interest in eating from a bottle and is certainly making us all work hard at it. She has always done things on her own schedule, so we knew to be patient with bottle feeding too!

We have really been enjoying spending more time helping with her care and getting to know her little personality better. It has been hectic getting to the hospital after work, but we love spending each evening together as a family.