Jesse A. Schroeder

You will see from the pictures below that she is in the NICU at Riverside Hospital. This hospital is known for it's excellent care of babies, and the medical staff has assured us repeatedly that 30-week-old premie babies develop and grow to be strong and healthy infants. Aleli has her own designated "bed" and "spot" in the NICU, and we can visit whenever we like, as well as bring in family and friends. After washing our hands, we can put our hands in to touch her, speak to her, and even (with the nurses help) hold her. 

Aleli was born at 30 weeks and 6 days. At this gestational stage, the main concern is lung development. Before she delivered, Kel received steroid shots that are meant to stimulate the lung growth of the baby. Aleli has a breathing machine called a C-PAP, and this provides a continuous airflow to keep her air sacs inflated and her lungs getting stronger. When she first was on the C-PAP, Aleli was receiving 60% oxygen through her breathing tube. Normal air that we breathe is 21% oxygen. After just two days, Aleli was brought down to only 22%, basically getting the same oxygen from the air that we get. She might stay on the C-PAP for several days to a week, but this is totally normal for her age. 

All of the other wires she is hooked up to seem pretty complicated, but basically they are for two things: feeding and monitoring. She has an IV that gives her nutrients continually. She has a feeding tube, which is a tube that goes through her mouth into her stomach. And she has various wires connected that monitor her oxygen levels, heart rate, breathing rate, etc. All of this makes for a very intense picture at first - a very little baby with very many wires coming out of her! But really, Aleli is right on track for her growth and development. She just has to finish it in a NICU bed rather than in the womb :) 

There are a few small concerns, or areas to watch her development. The IV is one concern, because if the nurses have to continually give her a new IV because they wear out, they run out of places to stick such a tiny child! Eventually, they may have to use a vein in her head, which sounds intense, but they say is very normal. But please pray that her IVs will start to last longer than 24 hours so she doesn't have to get poked any more :) 

The other area to watch is her eating and digesting. They are giving her tiny amounts of breast milk through her feeding tube and watching how much she digests and then passes. The more she can digest and pass herself, the better! 

Finally, she does have some jaundice and discolored skin. You'll notice in the pictures that she looks almost "sun burned." Thus, in the later pictures, she is under a bright bluish light. They call this phototherapy, and it is to help with jaundice and skin discoloration. It kinda makes it feel like she is on another planet sometimes, but at least the bright light helps to get some good pictures :) 

The bottom line is that we have a healthy daughter. Yes, she will have to spend 5-7 weeks (at least) in the NICU until she is strong enough to come home with us. But all of her nurses and doctors assure us that there is no reason to be concerned; she is growing and developing on schedule with her age, and she will be a healthy baby. 

We are deeply, deeply grateful. God has been so good to us. There are dozens of moments that we could recount over the past 3 days in which we saw God's hand of favor directing, guiding, and blessing us. Kellye's doctors are the best, and they helped her through a time when she was very sick. Riverside is a wonderful hospital, and they are taking great care of our daughter. Our little girl is beautiful, healthy and strong. We couldn't ask for anything more.