...was one of the best days of my life. (if I didn't have other children at home, this would most definitely be the best!!♥) The Lord answered our prayers. We prayed for Natalie's healing, and if that didn't fit in with the Lord's plans, for extra time (since the doctor's told us we might have 20 minutes with her) and hair to save as a memory. We got nearly 40 hours with her and she had tons of hair (head, shoulders, ears, back, even (pardon me!!) butt crack!!), so He really did answer prayers. This blessing-ful day we had with her was filled with visitors, diaper changes, feedings, newborn photographs (we thought we wouldn't get these while she was still alive!!), hugs, kisses, whispered I love you's in her ears, and tons and tons of love. I wish I could relieve this day over and over, because for those few wonderful hours, the world stopped and everything was perfect. I KNOW what Heaven on earth is like!!
Giving her her first sponge bath and changing her diaper.
She hated the warming bed they always had us change her on and would wiggle and cry out a little. The only time we heard her make noise was when she was laying here. I think the heat bothered her left eye since she couldn't close it all the way. We were almost done, so I leaned close to whisper to her...it seemed to calm her down.♥♥♥
Dressed in the purple newborn dress we bought her. She was so tiny...she swam in it! But she was so pretty for her hospital pictures!
A little bit later, we changed her into this snuggly jammie outfit a friend brought to the hospital for us. I have to admit, when I opened the package before she was born, I got angry and threw the box because I was mad that someone would buy us something that we had no need for and would just be another reminder of the things we didn't get to do with and for her. I ended up being so thankful for these jammies. You could tell she was so warm, snuggly and content all wrapped up in her outfit and warm blankets. In addition, because she was able to wear it, we have another keepsake in her boxes.
Look at those chubby cheeks...can you see all the kisses they got? ;)
Another wonderful memory we made because she lived so long was being able to feed her!! Because of her cleft plate and lip, we weren't able to bottle feed or nurse her, but the nurses helped us insert a tube into her stomach and taught me to gravity feed her with a syringe. I loved being able to snuggle her close and watch her enjoy her meals. When I'd start the formula, she was either awake or would wake up and then you could just watch her relax back into her blankets. After a minute or two, her eyes would roll back into her head and she would snooze away with a very content look on her face. It made me feel so good to be able to do something so basic for her since we didn't think we'd even get to think about doing things like this!
After her 4 am feeding on the 16th. She stayed awake through the whole feeding and once she was done, she put her finger on her chin and looked around the room as if to say, "what should we do now?". What a sweet girl!!Love you sweet, girl!!! ♥♥♥
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