Our sweet Charli Faith!

Well everyone knows I'm a terrible blogger but since I'll be spending a lot of time sitting at the hospital I'm hoping to update this twice a day to keep everyone updated on Charli and that way I won't forget anyone! Just an overview to catch everyone up:

• I was diagnosed with IUGR (IntraUterine Growth Restriction) on Monday August 13th and they informed me she wasnt growing and would not continue to grow and that we were doing a c-section the next day. 
• She was born on August 14th via c-section at 2:09pm weighing 3lbs 4oz and 17inches long.
• She went straight to the NICU where they did lots of tests on her.
• She had low platelets and needed a transfusion- they've been good ever since.
• She has a cyst in her brain which a pediatric neurosurgeon has looked at and has pretty much said he's not worried about it. She will have a follow up MRI when she is discharged from the hospital. 
• At one point they did a chest X-ray and said she may have a pneumothorax on her right lung but when they did a repeat that night it was not there. Praise the Lord!
• She weighed 3lb 4oz at birth. Weighed 3lb 2.6 oz Wednesday. 3lb 1.8oz on Thursday. 3lb 3oz Friday. And 3lb 4.6 oz today so she has passed her birth weight!
• She started out feeding through a feeding tube on Wednesday night and she got 5cc every four hours. On Friday, they changed it to 9cc every four hours. As of Saturday night, she is getting 13cc every four hours!

Everyone wants to know when she will get to come home. The answer to the big question is we don't know! We've asked a million people a million different ways and no one can tell us. There are many milestones that she has to hit before its possible. Here are a few:

• She has to be able to take a 2 oz bottle in 20 minutes without holding her breath- she is on a feeding tube right now and can not even start bottle feeding until her respirations go down and stay down below 60.
• She has to be at least 4 pounds. 
• She has to get all the sensors and monitors off. Which means, again, she has to keep the respirations below 60 and regulate her own temperature without a warmer. 
• She has to be able to suck on her pacifier during tube feedings without holding her breath before they will start bottle feedings.
• She has to pass the car seat challenge which means they put them in the car seat and monitor their breathing to make sure their head neck are strong enough to support them.

I may have forgotten some things but this is kind of an overview to catch everyone up on whats going on. Tomorrow I will start posting about her progress. Thank you everyone so much for your support and prayers. We love her so much and she really is the sweetest thing you ever saw, just in a very small package. ;)

P.S. I was discharged from the hospital on Friday night, so for now we are driving back and forth to the hospital daily. Travis is planning on returning to work on the 27th, which is good because I'm not able to drive until then!