Photo shoot

All wrapped up after the bath.

This one is my favorite. I used it for her birth announcements. They should be in soon.

Here are some pictures from Ciara's bath this morning. Enjoy!!!

A big, big girl!

Aaliyah talking to her kitties.

Chubby, chubby cheeks.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at an outstanding 5lb 4 oz!!!! The home health nurse came this morning and weighed her. I had her do it twice because I couldn't believe my eyes. She is adjusting well to home life but she still has her days and nights mixed up. Today she slept 3 1/2 hours but does not sleep longer than 2 hours at night. Oh well, she is home and that's all that matters. Right now she is suffering from a horrible diaper rash. It is actually bleeding. We have tried a lot of products for her. The pediatrician called in an antibacterial ointment today so hopefully this will work. She screams every time I change her diaper.

This week has been pretty uneventful for Ciara. She has not gone anywhere. She has been a homebody this week.

Aaliyah is doing well with her potty training. She has not actually gone in the potty, but she sits on it and reads. I am thrilled because she refused to get near it before. She is just like her mommy and hates change, so this is going to be a long process. I completely understand and I am a pretty patient person. When she is ready she will do it.

Thank the Lord our little one is doing so well. She is definitely up for visitors, so feel free to come and see her!

Her first cook out

When I would kiss her she would suck on my lips!!!

Whoa!!

Aaliyah eating bubbles.

Aaliyah on the potty!!!!

Ciara and her cousin Jack. Jack is only 6 weeks old and he weighs about 11 pounds. Ciara is three months old and she weighs 4 and 1/2 pounds!! It was quite different holding Jack and Brooke noticed a difference with Ciara as well. I believe she said it was like holding a feather!

All four of the Benson great grandchildren-Hayden and his mommy Kristy, Jack and his mommy and daddy-Jeff and Brooke, Aaliyah, and Ciara with Corey and I.

Jack and Ciara again.

Ciara with her Aunt Kristy.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 4lb 9oz. She had to go back to the doctor on Friday because she woke up with a runny nose. Aaliyah just got put on antibiotics on Thursday for a sinus infection. I called the pediatrician to let them know she had a runny nose and the insisted on seeing her. Fortunately the doctor thought she was fine and I have been cleaning her nose out to keep things flowing.

On Sunday afternoon we took Ciara to a cook out on Benson hill. We had mountain pies and visited for a while. She got to meet some of her cousins and got some really cute pictures taken. Of course I forgot my camera, so Aunt Chippy was gracious enough to share her pictures with me. Thank you Aunt Chippy!

On Monday morning the Benson's had another cook out on the hill and made breakfast over the fire. I did not plan on taking Ciara to it because she was out the day before and I didn't want to wear her out. But Aaliyah didn't want to go with her dad at 7:00 a.m. so I took her over when she got up. We did stay for a little bit and visit and fortunately Ciara tolerated it ok. Today my mom came over and stayed with girls while I went to Indiana to see my urologist. The girls were both very good for her and she even got Aaliyah to sit on the potty!!! Believe me I will keep trying with her. I am glad she will do it for my mom.

We have been enjoying the company and hope that you will be over soon to witness our little miracle. God is good!!!

She's home!!!!

Aaliyah and I decorated the house for Ciara's homecoming.

Look at her folded hands.

On our way to her first doctors appointment.

I just wanted to show you how big a bib looks on her.

In her bouncy seat.

We went for our first walk.

Praise the Lord, our baby girl is home!!! Ciara officially came home on Saturday afternoon. Things have been pretty hectic around our house with a newborn here. We are absolutely thrilled to have her here with us. Although, I must confess I forgot how much work it is to care for a newborn. Also I forgot how many diapers they go through!!! I had to go to the store this evening to get more preemies. I tried a newborn diaper on her and she was swimming in it!! Ciara had her first doctors appointment on Tuesday and she weighed in at 4lb 8 oz. I was thrilled to see that on the scale. On Monday the home health nurse came to check on her and her scale said Ciara was only 3 lb 11 oz. I was flipping out!!! When she was discharged she weighed 4lb 3oz and I was so upset that she was down so much. Well it worked out that her scale was wrong. Thank God because I was afraid she was going to have to go back in the hospital. She is now 17 1/2 inches long she has grown 3 inches.

Aaliyah is absolutely in love with her sissy, but she is also jealous. She has a nasty cold and hasn't been feeling herself lately. Yesterday when I was breastfeeding Ciara she threw herself on the floor and started yelling "Put Sissy down" over and over. She wanted me to hold her instead of Ciara. I felt horrible but Ciara can't feed herself! She is slowly transitioning though. She loves to hold her sissy's hand. And lately the only way she will take her bath is if sissy comes up in the bathroom and watches her. She is really enjoying helping me feed, burp, and bath her. On Monday she asked me if she could give her baby a bath. So I put some water in the kitchen sink for her and she proceeded to make a huge mess. Oh well, she had a good time.

We really haven't had any visitors and I fear that it is my fault. I did not mean to discourage people from visiting with my last post. If you are feeling well please feel free to give me a call to come and cuddle our little miracle. I probably will not be going to any family functions this weekend because I think it will be too much for her. So if you are coming home for the weekend, please stop by.

She's coming home

Her shirt says preemie princess. On of the NICU nurses, Lori, bought it for her.

Having her apnea test.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 4lb 2oz. That's right, we have hit the four pound mark! The big news to share with everyone is that Ciara is coming home on Saturday!!!! We are so excited and cannot wait to have our family together. It is just in time too. Aaliyah is so tired of me leaving everyday. She is acting out a lot and is refusing to go to grandma bensons. She was supposed to go on a road trip with her today but would not get in her car seat. After about an hour of fighting with her I picked her up and took her back in our house. Well she threw quite the tantrum-kicking, screaming, and arching her back. I am so stressed about her feelings too so I began to cry as well. I just feel like this is all my fault. It is my fault Ciara is in the hospital, therefore I have to leave everyday to see her and it is making my other daughter upset in the process. I will be glad when she is home and Aaliyah won't have to go anywhere if she doesn't want to. I am also glad that she is coming home soon because it is very expense driving up there everyday and I do eat one meal at the hospital. And believe me hospital food is very expensive. It will be nice to not have those expenses anymore.

Ciara had a test done on Tuesday to see if she needs to come home on a monitor. I just kind of prepared myself for a monitor and I was right. She has a lot of periodic breathing so she will be coming home on an apnea monitor. I am going to stay overnight with her tomorrow night (that is if Aaliyah will let me) to learn how to run the monitor, mix her special formula, and give her meds. It is called nesting in and hopefully I will be able to take advantage of it. We will see what Aaliyah thinks of me leaving! Ciara had her hearing exam also this week and everything passed except for the last test on the right ear. So she will have to go back to the audiologist to be retested. She also went through a car seat test to make sure she will be able to breathe well while sitting in the car seat. She passed. Today she had her final eye exam and there is no signs of damage. Praise the Lord!!!! Please continue to pray for our angel. And when things get settled in we can start having visitors. Because she is still very tiny and very fragile I am going to limit the amount of visitors per day and she will still need long periods of uninterrupted sleep. But give me a call and we'll schedule a visit!

I also don't know how much I will get to update the blog after Ciara gets home, but I will try my best to do it once a week.

Preparing for baby

"I holdin sissy"

All clean. She looks good in purple. Much to my surprise, I love pink.

Daddy love.

Hi there.

This bath feels good.

Ciara is doing well again today weighing in at 3 lb 13 oz. She is gaining weight beautifully. On Tuesday she decided that she did not want her feeding tube in anymore so she yanked it out. Luckily she has been nippling great since then and she has not had to have it back in. Corey and I have been preparing for her homecoming. Today we cleaned like crazy and put her crib together. We are still not sure exactly when she is coming home, but we want to be prepared. I got to bath her today and she really seemed to enjoy it. Afterwards she just laid there while I took a couple of pictures and then she fell asleep. She did have a belly ache when I first got there and a lot of gas. She was doing better as the night went on. Aaliyah visited her today with her Poppa and Mammy. She is so smitten with her sissy and wants to help me feed and burp her. She is so fascinated with the burping part. It is so funny! She told me she wants sissy to come home. While she was coloring she asked her sissy to color with her. I told her that she is a bit young to be coloring but someday they will color together. As you can see in the picture she got to hold her sissy and she was so happy! At first she didn't know if she was allowed to touch her but then she got used to her and gave her a hug and a kiss. Thank you for all of your prayers for our little girl. Please pray that she continues to do well so she may be well enough to come home with her family. God is good!!!