Olivia is 1 month old!

Olivia is 1 month old today! She seems to be awake more often and today she was looking all around and smiling while her daddy was holding her. On Monday, Howie went to the bookstore to buy her a book and read her her first story, "Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?" by Dr. Suess. Today, I read her a book that my friend Lauren sent her about a little pig named Olivia! She seems to like hearing us talk to her and it is fun for us to read to her. Over then next few days, we are going to read the Beatrix Potter books that her Aunt Amanda got her for Easter.

She has been doing really well. Even on the days that she has a rough time, she is still doing better than expected. Most of the time she is breathing all on her own, with just room air coming through her nasal tubes. Sometimes, when she is working harder to breathe, they add a little oxygen to make it easier for her. Other than that, she doesn't really need any help - she tolerates the breast milk well, recovers from the heart rate drops (bradys) by herself, and maintains her body temperature as well as a baby in her position should. She weighs 2 pounds, 9.8 ounces, 10 ounces more than when she was born.

We get to hold her almost everyday. When I remember to wear a shirt that won't choke her, I hold her against my skin, which is called Kangaroo Care. When I hold her like this, she stays warmer than she would swaddled in a blanket and it helps us bond. Even if she is wide awake when I pick her up, she usually falls right asleep when she hits my chest!

She hasn't lost any of her hair, although it has changed from black to brown. As far as we can tell, her eyes are still blue, but they are very dark so it is a little hard to tell. She is very expressive and we spend a lot of time laughing at the faces she makes. She definately has a mad face and a happy face. She also has an "old lady" face, where she squeezes her lips together and her cheeks droop down, and "bitter beer" face, where she squints her eyes and her nose crinkles up. Yesterday, she was making a funny clicking noise. It took us a while to figure out that she was moving her tongue up and down in her mouth. She must have known that we liked it because whenever we started talking to eachother she started doing it again until we looked at her! All of the nurses comment on her personality. So far, she has been called feisty, spicy, spunky, and silly. There are even a few nurses who come and visit her when they are assigned to other babies. She is quite the little charmer!

She has changed so much in the last month and we know that there are so many more changes yet to come...