Bentley is now 7 months old:)

Bentley is now 6 1/2 months old!!!!

We just can't believe how fast time is FLYING!!! Our baby girl is not 6 1/2 months old:) She's rolling, cooing, laughing, eating carrots, holding her bottle, and sitting up!!! She's getting so big. At our last doctor appointment, last week, she weighed 13.95 lbs. Also, she is now 26 inches long. We have a road trip to Children's coming up in a few weeks. However, we are not expecting any surprises. She is doing sooooo good!!! I'm also happy to say she sleeps 8 hours straight every night!

It seems that all we went through to get to this point, namely the first month of her life, is like a foggy memory....and looking back...I think..,"Wow!" We are such a stronger family having experienced every day, even the cloudy ones, to the fullest. Bentley seems to love every moment...she's such a GREAT baby!!

Bentley is now 3 1/2 months old!!!

Things could not be better!!!

She had a visit with her Cardiologist from Children's last week. They did an echo of her heart and it showed that the right side of her heart is not dilated. So, for now, we are in the clear for heart surgery. His main concern is the rerouted pulmonary vein to her anomalous superior vena cava. (If you don't know what all that jazz means, don't worry, it just means that she has the potential for an enlarged heart) But he said he doesn't feel that this will be a great concern ever. Also, her VSD has diminished greatly. SO YEEEAH!!!

She is up to 10 lbs 8 oz. And she's 23 inches long. Shawn and I are doing great and loving every single moment that we get to spend with her.

Bentley is now 2 months old!!

We just can't believe it!! Bentley is 2 months old. Last weekend she got to meet her Uncle Jakob for the first time. She could NOT stop grinning at him.

She is still on the small side at 7lbs 10 oz. The home health nurse is coming tomorrow to check her weight. I bet anything she has passed 8 lbs. Also, we have a big check up with her neonatologist in Little Rock this week.

We are taking her on her first trip to the river (weather willing) next weekend. Just a day trip, she's a little young for camping yet. Give her about another year and we will be all over those woods:)

She just gets prettier every day. I think Shawn and I have a load of trouble on our hands in the future.

new pics

Bentley is doing great!!! She is not gaining weight as the doctors would like but I'm sure she'll take off like a rocket soon. She is up to 7lb 10 oz. She smiley, funny, and little Ms.Personality.

The happiest girl in the world

Bentley's check up with the surgeon was this week. Doc was very impressed and said that "it made her day to see how well Bentley was doing." Bentley did as good as she could do spending 6 hours in her car seat on the way there and back. We have several more follow up visits in the coming weeks.

It feels so good to be home!!! Bentley just needs to grow, grow, grow.

It feels so good to be home

Bentley is doing wonderful!!! Shawn and I are actually starting to feel like real parents. She sleeps good at night and is eating like a champ. We are still having to thicken her milk and add extra calories to it. The finished product (bottle) is about the consistency of yogurt. Yumm!! She absolutely loves it.

She has a ton of follow up appointments at Childrens and NWAPC. Thats ok. I would prefer it that way so we can stay on top of her overall health.

She is starting to love her wedge. I just can't believe she sleeps 5 hours in a row at night.

Also, I still can't believe that we are finally home. These little moments are what life is all about.

Valentine's Day 2010

We got the best Valentine's day present ever!!! We got to come home!!!

We had no idea that it would be yesterday. It was such a surprise. The hospital called us and told us we were being discharged that morning. That moment was the happiest moment of my life. So, we have been home for 24 hours now. It fells weird but wonderful. I finally get to hold my girl without monitors, alarms, and wires. She is snoozing on her boppy and it is the best site ever!!!

We can't thank everybody enough who helped us and prayed for Bentley every step of the way. Words cannot express how appreciative we are.

Well, I'm off to whip up Bentley's bottles for tomorrow.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Bentley is doing MARVELOUS!!! We are soooooo blessed. After she woke up from anesthesia yesterday she downed a whole bottle. The nurse practitioner told us that, "That never happens, ever!" Yes, our little girl IS a super-hero. They are talking about us coming home next week. We are so excited but we are not exactly getting our hopes up.

Bentley had to sit in stationary car seat for 3 hours today. They make babies do that to prove they can tolerate the ride home. She passed with flying colors.

She is also adjusting nicely to her wedge. She'll be sleeping on that for the next 6 months or so. Hopefully she will grow out that awful reflux.

Friday, February 12, 2010

Bentley's procedure was an absolute success:) The surgeon was very satisfied. From start to finish it only took about an hour.

She was NPO for 13 hours before hand. She was absolutely starving when she woke up from anesthesia. She took a whole bottle within a couple of hours after waking up. We are so proud of our strong and resilient baby girl. We cannot wait for her to grow strong enough for us to take her home.

We have gotten so many compliments on Bentley. Her surgeon even compared looking at her to looking at a fish bowl. It's just hard to turn away.

It's even harder to walk away at the end of the day. Just a little bit longer and hopefully this past month will become part of a story that we tell Bentley as she grows up. We'll tell her about what a strong, adorable, beautiful, and lucky baby she was.