Our hospital stay..not quite the Hilton...but close!

Noelle is here! Joe and I find our hearts enlarging for this sweet little one every time we gaze at her.

Our stay at the hospital felt surreal, a little long, but a lot necessary. Noelle's breathing began to improve the very first day...thank you Jesus! The nurses helped suction some gunk out of her lungs, and she coughed up a good bit too. She came into this world HUNGRY! Yay! We want to see her tummy get nice and fat. She latched on to mommy right away and sucks with fury! We had to supplement with a little formula while at the hospital, in order to satisfy her growling belly. She ended up only losing 2 ounces off her birth weight by the time we left.

I grew increasingly sore and pained as the first three days progressed. Here I am on my very first walk... a big triumph after needing lots of help to just move from bed to toilet to bed. I may have been a bit ambitious, as we decided to walk "the circle" instead of just to the end of the hall and back. The walk ended with pain, nausea, dizziness, and nurse putting wet clothes on my body. Oops!

Joe stayed with me Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night. What a man! He lifted me, tended to me, and helped me do unmentionable things. He cradled Noelle, fed her bottles, and endured medical person after person after person enter and exit our room into the wee hours of the morning. He's a master at changing her diaper, teaching her to burp (as pictured), and singing to and wooing his little princess. She's already drawn to and comforted by her daddy's voice.

Grandma Teten joined us on Wednesday and stayed with me Wednesday night. Noelle loves her Grandma already! She snuggles her head right into Grandma as she's swayed and rocked. I am grateful to have my mom close by...when you don't feel you're on your "A" game, there is nothing more comforting than a mom.

Auntie Kristine visits every day! I look forward to her visits, and I think Noelle does too! Maybe she'll get Kristine's curly hair?!

On Thursday both Noey and I were cleared to leave for home! We thanked our kind nurses and doctors, changed into our comfort clothes, and headed into the real world. Noelle did great her whole ride home...what an adventure we have ahead of us!