WONDERFUL DAY!

Today was just a wonderful day thanks to my soon-to-be step-mom! So many amazing things happened today I just couldn't wait to get home and blog all about it! :)

So, yesterday I made plans with Jean to go to the hospital and have a girls day. I told Jean that I think Brielle will be 2 pounds and 12.5 ounces when I get there. I got there around 11:30 this morning and guess what?? The little stinker was at 2 pounds and 12.4 ounces! She just likes teasing around with us. ;)

After a while, Jean and I went to the mall and got some yummy lunch. After lunch, we went to look at bridesmaids dresses for the wedding! I tried on 10 dresses total, and after seeing what each of them looked like on me, we narrowed it down to 6 dresses! Let me tell you.... narrowing it down even further than that was NOT EASY! We managed to finally narrow it down to 3, then 2, and then we finally came to an agreement on a bridesmaids dress! (I will post a picture of it on the blog for those of you that can see the pictures on my blog on the computer).

When the dress shopping was done, we went back to the hospital to see Miss B. She was doing so well, and only had a few spells where she forgets to breath. One of those times, it was because the little stinker likes to hold her breath when she poops! (By the way, you wouldn't think that a baby that small would be capable of being stinky, but MAN! We could smell it outside of the incubator!)

So I saved the best part for last..... Big Sissy got to give Brielle a sponge bath!!!! That's right, my first time sponge bathing her, and Jean and the nurse said I did really well! So did Brielle :) She liked being washed up by her sister. This was such an amazing moment for me, especially since I've only been able to touch her a few times. It was a nice bonding experience between us sisters. :)

Well, I think that is all for now. Thanks for reading!!

Update

Miss B is 2 pounds and 11.74 ounces! Ounce by ounce she will get there! :) Dad thinks Bri will be 3 pounds by Sunday.

So Brielle had her eye exam yesterday. It went really well and the doctor was really surprised and couldn't believe that there was nothing wrong with her eyes for how early she was born! They will do another exam in 2 weeks to make sure everything is still good. Brielle just continues to surprise everyone with how amazing she is doing for being a 24-weeker!

I get to go visit Brielle tomorrow!!!! Super excited :) This will be my first time driving to the hospital by myself, so hopefully I don't get lost. Going to have a fun day with Jean tomorrow. Visit Bri a little, get some lunch, then go to the mall and check out some DRESSES!!! :) This should be a fun girls day! :) I'll try to do an update tomorrow if there is any weight gain or if anything super exciting happens!

Thanks for reading! :)

Good news guys!!! Brielle will be able to start wearing clothes on FRIDAY!!!!! :) Jean and I have been talking about this forever: "When will Bri get to wear clothes?!". I think dad was getting sick of us constantly talking about it ;) So the answer to our question was whenever the humidity in the incubator is turned off. The humidity would just make her clothes wet and make her cold, so they don't want the humidity on when she wears clothes.

Jean texted me today saying her humidity is down to 40% and will be turned off tomorrow. Her skin is fully developed now so she can start wearing clothes on Friday!!! Jean says we are going to have a fashion show with multiple clothing changes a day! :) This little girl isn't spoiled AT ALL!

On another note: Miss B is now 2 pounds 11 ounces!!! Go Bri Go! She is now officially 1 pound and 1 ounce more than what she weighed at birth! That may not sound like that much to some people, but that is amazing for this little girl! If you look at pictures of the day she was born compared to now, it is crazy how much she has changed. She is filling out wonderfully and you can't see her ribs anymore! The other day when she was eating, I said "She's beginning to get a daddy's belly!" (Sorry dad). Anyways, she is looking so much more healthy now, and her coloring is amazing! Brielle truly is a miracle <3 :)

I have been getting many comments on how wonderful my blog is, and getting thanks for writing about Brielle, and doing all these updates. I would just like to take time and Thank You all for the wonderful comments and everything. It really means a lot to me that so many of you are reading it, and enjoying it! :) Thanks for reading!

I am just amazed right now! My blog is getting so many page views! It is now at over 400 :) Thank you all for reading my blog! I hope you are enjoying it as much as I enjoy writing it! :)

Brielle is now 2 pounds 9 ounces! She is also 13.86 inches long! This little girl is just growing like a weed.

So, some pretty exciting news came in today, following the exciting day yesterday! Apparently, there has never been a proposal in the hospital quite as exciting as the one dad did yesterday. The head of the NICU went up to Jean today and started asking her some questions. They would like to use their story for marketing! They want to promote that happy things happen there! How exciting is that?! Dad, Jean, and Brielle's story will be shared to all! :) This journey sure has it's ups and downs, but it is so worth it!

Thanks for reading! :)

Proposal Video!

Wedding Bells!!!

Guess what guys?!?! Brielle's mommy and daddy are getting MARRIED!!!! :D Today was the best day ever, filled with so much joy and love!

To start the day off, we got to the hospital and found out Miss B is now 2 pounds 8 ounces! Wooo, growing girl!!! Then we found out that dad gets to hold her for the 2nd day in a row! On top of all of that, I knew today was going to be the wonderful day my dad proposes to the sweetest woman ever (in the sweetest way ever)!

First, dad held B for an hour and a half without her destatting! She was staying at or around 100% for most of the time, even after her oxygen got turned down twice!

After he was done holding her, we went down to the cafeteria for some lunch. During this time, the amazing nurses were getting the proposal set up for dad! He had given them the ring and this adorable blanket he had made that said "Mommy will you marry Daddy?" ahead of time so they could put it in Bri's incubator while we were away.

We came back up from lunch and I video taped her reaction! She was crying and smiling the whole time. It really took her off guard! We had a nice crowd of nurses standing outside our room to see her reaction! After many tears and "Oh my God are you serious?"'s.... she said "YES!" This whole experience was so beautiful, it brought tears to my eyes. :) I am so glad I got to be part of this wonderful day <3

Congratulations Dad and Jean! I am so happy for both of you :) Welcome to the family <3

Miss B is 2 pounds and 7 ounces! I realized I probably should have waited to do the last post until I knew her weight for the day. She is gaining weight like crazy now :) She went from 2 pounds 5.7 ounces yesterday to 2 pounds 7 ounces today!

I got to visit my baby girl today! :) She has been naughty and pulling out her nasal cannula for the CPAP, so they had to switch her back to the little girl CPAP that covers her whole head. Luckily, when they were doing her head check today, mommy got them to put her new hat on her for a quick picture! I will upload that picture next :)

So... Big Sissy got to touch Brielle's hands and feet today during her visit! This was the first time I got to do that since the day she was born. It made my day!!! Sunday I get to go back to see her beautiful face <3

A new update will probably be up on Sunday! Thanks for reading!!!

I was going to do a new post yesterday, but I decided to wait until today...

So as of yesterday, Brielle hit a growth spurt! She is now 2 pounds and 5.7 ounces! (Maybe momma did sneak her that Big Mac after all??) Lol. She will be all grown up before we know it! Apparently, she already outgrew her little bed that they have inside the incubator, so she has a new one! What a BIG miracle Brielle is!

So guess what everyone??! I get to see my baby girl today!!! Dad and I will be leaving to go to the hospital somewhere around noon :) I found out yesterday at school and I have been on cloud 9 since then. Also picking up my little brother after he gets done with school today. So Big Brother, Big Sister, AND Daddy are all coming to visit! Mommy will already be there so that small little room will be packed. Also found out that dad might get to hold Miss B again sometime this weekend! This weekend is going to be a great one :) 

Come back in a day or two for another update and more pictures! Thanks for reading! :)

Well, Miss B is staying steady at 2 pounds 4 ounces for now! I think momma should sneak in there and give her a Big Mac to help her gain some weight ;) Hehehe, just kidding guys, it would almost be the same size as Brielle! Just gotta get her to stop squirming around so much and burning all them calories she's getting! This little girl LOVES to move around... she's going to be a handful when she starts crawling and walking!

So our daddy is coming home tomorrow! Brielle will be excited to get a visit from him! She loves when he is with her. She recognizes the voices that she normally hears, and opens her beautiful eyes to look who is visiting! Last time dad and I went to the hospital, she was smiling at us (yea we know it was probably just gas, but who cares?! To us it was a smile). I'm hoping I get to visit again this weekend! There is nothing I love more than being in that warm room, standing over her incubator and just watching her. <3 Brielle definitely is loved by many!

Also, for people that are using smartphones to view my blog, I'm sorry for the inconvenience but if you would like to see the pictures I have been posting, you will have to view it from a computer! If you are fine without pictures, continue doing what you're doing! :) 

Thanks for reading! Come back within the next day or two to get another update! :)

Miss Brielle is 2 pounds and 4 ounces today! She is also 13.6 inches long! That growing girl :) Taking it one day at a time, and conquering the world :) Keep growing strong baby girl! You are making everyone very proud of you!!!

So the other day, I found a preemie store online (I am obsessed with looking at baby clothes for her) and it just happens to have micro-preemie clothes for under 3 pounds! So I ordered the cutest little hat EVER! It is for 0-3 pounds and says "Miracle" on it, because that is exactly what Brielle is! Well I got it in the mail today and I am super excited to show everyone it! This hat fits in the palm of my hand. I cannot wait to see her in it!!!! :) Big sister is going to spoil her like crazy! But, the bad thing is that I am a college student, and need to be saving my money NOT spending it, so this is my last purchase for Bri for the time being. I had to promise my mom that I wouldn't buy any more for a while, and I plan to keep that promise! I guess I will put this hat in the pile of things that I have for her already, and wait until I get to visit her next! :) Thanks for reading my blog!

Almost to 100 page views! This is awesome, I'm glad that people are seeing my blog! I hope that everyone is enjoying it so far :)

I really don't have a lot of new information on Miss B, but she continues to gain weight! Bri is 2 pounds and 2 ounces!!! :) Go baby Bri! She has come so far from where she was at birth and shortly after! I can't believe how big she is getting. I know it's weird to say that 2 pounds and 2 ounces is big, but it is big for this little peanut! Grow strong baby girl. :) I can't wait until I get to see her beautiful face in person again! Until then, keep up the wonderful pictures Jean! :)

Well, I think that is all the rambling I can do on a weight update for now. Sorry for not being able to say more! Maybe I'll have to not blog every day, and let a day or two go by between entries so I have more to write about. Thanks for reading!

WOOO! 65 page views now! :) I am trying to figure out how to make it so people can follow my blog if they want to. I think the button is there now but I'm not quite sure if it is working at the moment! I'm trying though, because I think it would be awesome to see who all is interested in my blog and is reading it! I wish I could see who the page views are coming from, but I can't :(

Anyways, guess who is 2 pounds and 1.2 ounces??! That's right, Baby Brielle! :) Such a growing girl :) I keep stealing the pictures of her off of Facebook from her momma (Jean) because they are freakin adorable and I'm not there to take pictures of her. So I'm going to steal the newest pictures (hehehe) and post it on here! Hope you all are enjoying my blog so far!!!

Hey guys good news! My page has gotten 42 page views already and I just started it last night!!! Almost to 50! :) I have gotten comments on it already from my family and friends saying how much they like it and it even made some of them cry! :)  (That was totally not my goal but I guess it's a good added bonus!) I love to write so I figured I'd try to blog in my spare time, plus I have an awesome subject to talk about (Brielle) so it should be pretty easy to write about! The only thing is that I don't always have a bunch of new updates on her because she likes to stay pretty stable (which is a good thing if she is doing this amazing!). Also, no news is usually good news! :) So I forgot to mention that there is a Go Fund Me Fundraiser out there to help raise money for expenses that will gather up with this million dollar baby! Brielle won't be coming home from the NICU until March, but when she does, this money will help get the items that are necessary for Brielle to transition home as comfortably as possible! It will also help with the travel expenses that gather up due to Jean having to drive back and forth to the hospital all the time to visit her beautiful baby girl. Any donation helps! If you would like to donate to this fundraiser, you can do so at the link below! It is called "Jean's Little Miracle Campaign". http://www.gofundme.com/j2s51o

Hello all! My name is Mercede (Sadie for short). I am an 18 year old college freshmen from Minnesota. I find myself very bored at times and I have been talking to a new friend and she told me it was therapeutic for her to blog so I figured I'd give it a try! This entry may be kind of long because I want to share everything right now that has happened up to this day! So here is my story... I have one little brother named Dalton. He is 15 years old and just got his LEARNERS PERMIT yesterday!!! WOOO! (kinda scared about that). I live in the twin cities in my dad's apartment (he travels for his job so he's not here too often). I moved here for college. BUT, I'm not really looking to make this post all about me and my life. This is to tell the story of my amazing miracle baby sister! In September-ish, my dad told me that his girlfriend was pregnant. This was awesome news for me because I have wanted another sibling for quite some time now! But on the other hand, this was some scary news. I'll tell you why in a little bit. This pregnancy was a miracle from the start because it was "medically impossible" for my dad's girlfriend to get pregnant due to blood clots in her uterus and for other reasons (not quite sure what they are). Due to the blood clots, it was a risky pregnancy. There was only a 30% chance that this baby would make it. Also, whether or not this baby makes it, she will not be able to get pregnant again. They found out that the blood clots disappeared during the pregnancy! This was kind of a touchy subject to talk about, but secretly I was super excited and had faith that this baby was going to make it, even with the small chance of survival. They found out it was going to be a baby girl! So now I was super excited because I already have one brother, I would like a sister!!! Well, on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday (November 28th, 2014), my dad's girlfriend had to be rushed to the hospital because her water broke at 22 weeks. I had no idea what was going to happen at this point! But we all stayed strong and prayed like crazy. She had to stay in the hospital until the baby came. She received steroid shots to help mature the lungs of the baby just in case she came early. After some tests, they found traces of Trisomy 13, which is life-threatening. They said that it didn't show up on the ultrasounds so it may have just gotten into the placenta and not affect the baby at all! They would have to wait until she was born to find out whether or not she had Trisomy 13.. After some research of baby girl names with special meanings, they came upon a name that meant "warrior of God" and thought that was very appropriate since this little miracle baby was a work of God. So, the name was chosen. Brielle (pronounced Bree-El) Leeann <3 On Friday, December 12th, my boyfriend and I stopped at the hospital to visit with my dads girlfriend and keep her company. We visited for a while and then we headed to my moms house. The next morning (12-13-14), I got a call from my dad saying that Brielle was born at 2:44am, 24 weeks and 3 days gestation, at 1 pound 10 ounces and 11.881 inches long! She was breathing on her own with a cpap over her nose for oxygen. My brother and I got to go in and see her and even got to touch her little hands! Such an amazing experience, and such a tiny little peanut! Since her birth, she has overcome many things! Trisomy 13 test came back NEGATIVE!!!! WOOOO! :) She went down to 1 pound 5 ounces. She had to have a tube down her throat to help her breath, had to be put under the blue light for a day for jaundice, had to be on the oscillator for a while, fluctuated in weight, had to get fluid out of her lungs, and had trouble with her heart flap reopening, draining blood into her lungs. Since then, she has amazed everyone in overcoming these obstacles! She is now just over a month old, opened her eyes on new years eve, doesn't have a tube breathing for her, has a feeding tube down her throat into her tummy, has been eating really well, has a big-girl cpap in her nostrils, went up a size in diapers (they were SUPER tiny!), and drum roll please...... SHE IS OVER 2 POUNDS NOW!!!! :) She sometimes has "spells" where she forgets to breath but she pulls out of those pretty quickly. She is filling out very nicely! You can no longer see her ribs like you could at birth. I haven't heard anything about the heart flap thing lately so I'm thinking it closed by itself! My dad has gotten to hold her once now last Saturday (he travels a lot so he isn't able to hold her much), and her mom has gotten to hold her more than 5 times. They call it kangaroo care because it is skin on skin, which helps her feel their body heat and heart beat! She thrives from that :) I will try to post some pictures once I figure out how to work this site more. And hopefully I can keep up on blogging :)