Welcome!!

This blog is to keep people informed about our little family. We were very excited to find out that we were expecting a little baby this year. Our original due date was December 3. We began preparing for our little miracle by getting the baby room together, getting clothes together (thanks everyone for the hand me downs), and making sure everything was in place. As everything started to come together all we had to do was some final touches including get our bags packs, install the car seat, and have the vehicle ready to go when the water broke....well that was the plan anyway. On October 29, we had decided to go to walmart and stock up on groceries for the next couple months and the day before Mandy had got all our bills ready to be paid through December. Well after our walmart trip Mandy's water decided to break a little early. So that night we weren't exactly sure if it was her water that had broke so we called the hospital and they pretty much told us to get on the road...so we through a few cloths together, grabbed minimal things, had to fill the vehicle with gas, and away to Scottsbluff we went. When we arrived they checked to make sure Mandy was in labor and sure enough, our baby decided it was time to come...5 weeks early. Labor went pretty well...won't get into to much detail, but Mandy did end up enjoying an epidural so we got to laugh and joke around with the nurses and doctors during delivery. At 8:17 am on October 30, we welcomed our new baby girl into the world. Randie June Brice was 18 1/2 inches long and weighed 5 lbs. 11 ounces. Kyle was able to cut the cord and Mandy was able to hold her for a minute before they took her to the NICU.

We have updated several people on facebook about the first few days of little Randie's life so I will just give a quick overview. Being 5 weeks early Randie was automatically admitted to the NICU. She did pretty good the day of her birth and then the next few days were a struggle. They began her on a nasal cannula and over a few days they had to try two other types of high flow nasal cannulas to try and get her breathing under control. After some xrays and iv's and monitors everywhere, they found that she was struggling breathing and most of the struggle was because of the left lung. There seemed to be a "haze" in the left lung and sounded raspy. For the first couple days the Pediatrician was stumped as to what exactly was causing this "haze". After being in contact with specialists in Denver for awhile they determined that Randie possibly has a trace of pneumonia. They began antibiotics immediately which will take ten days. Also, a few days in, she was still struggling with he O2 count and the nasal cannulas so they decided to intubate her and put her on a ventilator which seemed to really help her relax. Up till last night, November 3rd, it was mainly small adjustments of trying to get the oxygen intake down and monitoring little Randie to get all her vitals where they wanted to be and stable. Also, yesterday, they began feeding her breast milk through a feeding tube which Mandy has been collecting very well. This was a big step of progress for us and Randie as she seems to be taking the milk well. This pretty much leads us up to today. We will try to post at least one daily update on here to keep people informed.

Also, we are currently staying at the Hampton Inn which is only one block away from the hospital. They have worked with us very well and gave us a great rate once they heard our situation. We are limiting the amount of visitors in the NICU, but anyone who is wanting to get out and see us, we welcome visitors at the Hampton. Thank you everyone for your continued support.