Earlier today, Amy mentioned that this is our first Christmas in our own home. Not to be outdone, Becca decided she wanted her own room at the NICU this afternoon — and she wants her parents to dress up special whenever they visit her.

When we went today for our 2:30 holding time (it was my day for holding), we had to wait a while to go back since the nurses were drawing blood from a baby. When we went back, we found out it was our baby. They had decided to run extra blood tests because they had just gotten back results from a weekly nasal swab culture showing that Becca’s nose is “colonized” with MRSA, the hospital-care associated staph bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus).

She hasn’t shown any signs of being infected — she’s still breathing great and gaining weight — but they’re looking at her c-reactive protein levels (high levels can indicate there’s inflammation or infection) and blood cell count (particularly “bands,” which are precursors to white blood cells, I believe). They’ll also do a blood culture, which I think takes a couple days. (While we were there, the c-reactive protein test came back, showing she has normal levels. They’ll call about the blood cell counts. [Later in the evening they called to say her blood cell counts are normal.])

Because MRSA is easily spread among patients by health care workers, and because it’s dangerous for people with weakened immune systems (preemies definitely qualify), Becca is being moved to the Isolation Pod–I-Pod–to reduce the risk of spreading the bacteria. Benefits: privacy, quiet, one-on-one nursing care. Dis-benefits: we have to wear gloves and a sterile hospital robe whenever we visit. We can still visit whenever we want. She’ll be in isolation till she’s discharged. (In the photo at top and bellow, I’m not wearing gloves because they forgot to give them to me.)

Naturally we weren’t expecting this change, but we’re thankful that Becca still appears to be very healthy. She’s in God’s hands just as much as she was last week when she didn’t have MRSA in her nose. And Christmas time reminds us that God doesn’t ask us to face anything that He was unwilling to face for Himself. It reminds me of Dorothy’s Sayers’ jarring words:

[F]or whatever reason God chose to make man as he is — limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death — He had the honesty and the courage to take His own medicine. Whatever game He is playing with His creation, He has kept His own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that He has not exacted from Himself. He has himself gone through the whole of human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death. When He was a man, He played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace, and thought it was worthwhile.

And here’s a photo of Amy holding Becca yesterday (we love the hat!):

And by they way, it snowed here today! Yesterday it was in the mid-70’s; today it got below freezing and we have a nice covering of the good stuff. It’ll stay cold all night, so we’re set for a white Christmas.

Today is Becca’s 4-week birthday – it’s hard to believe she’s a month old already. This is a picture of Becca with the bear Santa gave her for Christmas. The bear’s head is about as big as Becca’s. (To give you a perspective of how big the bear is, check out my hand in relation to the bear’s body.)

Today Becca weighs 3 lbs and 3.5 ounces. We can definitely tell a difference in her size – she’s starting to fill out and actually look like a little girl, instead of an old woman. The nurse last night gave Becca and her teddy bear matching hair bows.

We’re looking forward to celebrating Christmas tomorrow. It will be our first Christmas as parents and our first in our own home. We’re grateful to people from our church family who have lent us Christmas decorations (will post pictures later). I’m looking forward to spending the entire day relaxing with my husband (he’s not going to do any dissertation work tomorrow) and visiting our little girl.

Thanks for your continual prayers for Becca.

The Olympic Torch

A half-gallon of milk

The human brain

Rebecca Grace Jensen!

Last night, Becca weighed in at 3 lb 1 oz. We thank God for her steady weight gain. It’s fun to watch her filling out a bit! (Maybe Santa inspired her.)

Thanks to everyone who’s following her progress and praying for her.

Sunday night, Becca had a special visit from Santa! Santa visited all the babies in the NICU and left them Christmas presents. The nurses took the above picture…looks like they dressed Becca up like a little elf.

I enjoyed holding Becca Sunday afternoon. Josh brought a mirror so I could watch her face, since kangaroo care doesn’t allow for much “face-time.” Becca settled right in to being held and did really well during her 30-minute holding time. Afterward, we changed her diaper and settled her in for another long winter’s nap.

Today Becca came off the SiPAP and is now back on the nasal cannula. The haze in her lungs is clearing up and the doctors are satisfied with her progress. Her current weight is 2 lbs and 15 ounces, and we’re excited about her reaching the 3 lb mark. Yesterday, the doctor changed Becca’s feeding process. She is now being fed 28 ml in 30 minutes, every three hours. This is to prepare her for bottle feeding.

Today is Becca’s 3-week birthday!! Anna stopped by to give Becca a birthday present – two cute outfits! This picture was taken by one of the night nurses the other night when she had Becca’s SiPAP off. They’ve decorated her bed for Christmas and put a red bow on her head. The haze in Becca’s lungs seem to be clearing up, but she will remain on the SiPAP until she can consistently stay at 30% or less oxygen saturation. (Currently she is around 37% oxygen and does not do well on her own when they removed the SiPAP.) Thank you for all your prayers for our little girl – we appreciate them.

Today Becca’s doing better than yesterday. Her x-ray this morning showed that her lungs were less hazy, and the doctor thinks the Lasix is helping clear the fluid. Aimie, Becca’s day nurse today, said it’s common for preemies to be on and off Lasix till they go home.

The night nurse hopes that Becca may be off the SiPAP and back on the nasal cannula soon, perhaps tomorrow. (I explained the difference between a SiPAP and nasal cannula in a comment yesterday.) Because the SiPAP is forcing about 15 breaths a minute through Becca’s nose, sometimes she’ll swallow some of the air, and it has to be aspirated out of her stomach through the feeding tube between feedings. So if the SiPAP isn’t necessary, it’s nicer for Becca to be on the nasal cannula. She also hates the helmet. This afternoon she was pulling at it, which was really cute — and really sad at the same time.

In other news, we got a box today from Aunt Cindy, who sent Becca, among other things, a Sock Monkey. It’s a little scary, but I like it.

This morning, when Josh called the NICU, he was given the doctor, instead of the nurse. The doctor said that today’s x-ray showed haze in both of Becca’s lungs, and that she was being put back on the SiPAP (see picture) until this problem clears up. About a week ago she had a foggy section in her left lung, and they started respiratory treatments, in the hopes that it would loosen the fluid. There have been no improvements, so she’s now back on the SiPAP and our holding of Becca has been discontinued until her lungs clear up. Becca also may have an infection. The nurse said that this is all part of the preemie roller coaster. Please pray that Becca’s lungs would clear up and that there would be no further complications with her respiratory system.

Last night we got to hold Becca for the first time. I was a bit nervous as we drove to the hospital. Susan, her nurse, bundled her up so we could look at her face for awhile before letting her snuggle on our chests. Susan was Becca’s the nurse on her first night in the NICU and it seemed appropriate that Susan would be there the first time we held Becca.

Becca seems much smaller when she’s out of the incubator – I was surprised how tiny she is. We were delighted to be able to hold our little girl and were pleased with how well she handled being held. We’re allowed to hold her once a day (being held causes her to burn more calories) — as long as she’s handling well.

Becca now weighs 2 lbs and 7 ounces. Today, her doctor increased her feeding to 11 ml per hour. Right now the goal is weight gain. Thank you for your prayers for our family!

Today is Becca’s 2-week birthday!! We’re thanking the Lord for her growth and development over the past two weeks. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for our Becca.

As of  last night, her weight is 2 lbs and 4 ounces, and we will now be able to hold her during the times she’s not being fed. So, we’re anxiously waiting for when we can make it during an “off” feeding time to hold our little girl!

The picture to the left is from the other night: one of the night nurses at the NICU took a picture of Becca at 3AM when she (Becca) was “clowning around.”

People often ask us if we spend a lot of time visiting Becca, and they’re usually surprised by our answer. We typically visit 3 times a day, but our visits usually last less than 30 minutes. Contrary to what most people expect, Becca isn’t ready for a lot of touching or talking. Developmentally, she’s supposed to still be in the womb, and too much touching or noise can agitate her. Josh and I usually touch her a little bit, talk to her, and sing to her when we visit. The NICU tries to make Becca’s environment as much like the womb as possible. She usually has a cover over her incubator to make it dark.

Only two people are allowed to visit Becca at a time (our NICU’s rule), and one of the two must always be a parent. We have to wash our hands for 3 minutes before entering the pod (Becca is on C-pod). Sometimes, if we arrive when she’s having a procedure done, they let us help. The other day the respiratory therapist let me help with her breathing treatments (similar to an inhaler for asthma patients).

Becca is doing well. Her weight as of tonight is 2 lbs and 3 ounces! She finished her antibiotic today and hopefully is clear of her respiratory infection. She continues to eat 10ml/hr and is receiving 1.5ml of sugar an hour because of her insulin levels.

This week the results came back from the analysis of her umbilical cord. She only had 2 blood vessels, instead of the normal 3 . . . and the cord was missing the Wharton’s jelly, which supplies cushioning for the blood vessels. We’ll never know what caused these abnormalities, but my doctor said that it’s unlikely that these things will occur in other pregnancies.

Josh is doing well. He has two major papers to finish this week before the semester ends. He’s been a wonderful husband and I have seen him demonstrate his love to his girls over and over again. We got our first official family picture last night (top of this post)!

During her stay, my mom has been a huge help to us! On Saturday she made 7 pans of lasagna for us to freeze, on Monday she made lemon garlic chicken for us to freeze, and today she’s helping de-clutter the closet, with the hope that we can keep the baby stuff in the closet and live in our apartment until Josh finishes his degree.

Monday evening I was discharged from the hospital and returned to our home after being away for 15 days. It was weird to think of all that changed since my admission on Nov. 16th. It was hard to leave the hospital, since I was leaving Becca behind. I never dreamed I’d have our baby early or leave the hospital without her in my arms. I made it up all 17 steps to our second floor apartment and am adjusting to what I can and cannot do as I recover from the c-section.

Before we left the hospital, I was able to visit Becca twice. The first time I was able to help change her diaper…it was a little bit scary to change a diaper on a baby that small! I was also able to stick my little finger in Becca’s hand. She likes to grip things and usually holds on to her feeding and ventilator tubes – I’m thinking she’s used to grabbing her cord. It was very special to have our little girl hold on to my finger.

Becca is doing well. She started being fed her mommy’s milk on Monday. She’s currently up to taking 3ml every hour. It’s exciting to see my “work” finally being used.

My mom is with us until Dec. 10th. She’s been our photographer and cook. She’s excited to be a grandma for the first time. We appreciate all her help as we adjust to our new schedules. She also captured our weather event of the day – snow in Texas.

Rebecca Grace Jensen – Born, November 26, 2009 at 5:58PM (emergency c-section). Weight: 2 pounds and 1 ounce.  Length: 14 inches long.

After a rough morning and afternoon on Thanksgiving Day, our doctor decided it would be best to take our baby from the womb, hoping that she would do better outside than inside.  Josh was able to see the baby at birth – I was only able to get a glance at her head and little arm from my place on the operating table, while they put me back together. Josh was able to go to the NICU later than evening and see little Becca.

I will describe our first day after Becca’s birth as being “awful.” The pain from the surgery was strong, intensified whenever I would move…getting out of bed was quite an accomplishment. The pain medication they gave me after the morphine was too strong and made my morning miserable. I finally got to see Becca in the afternoon…she’s so little and helpless and there’s no way I could help her. By the end of the day, both Josh and I were drained and discouraged.

But God is good. We know that He has us here for a purpose and that His hand is upon little Becca’s life. We are confident that He is working His good will for His glory and we look forward to seeing Him continue to work throughout the next several weeks. And I continue to pray “Lord, I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

We had a great visit with Mom J. on October 24th. Mom was able to arrange her return flights from Uruguay to include a several-hour layover in Dallas. We enjoyed spending the day with her and visiting the Dallas Arboretum.

My 5th graders performed The Addams Family and a rhythm exercise on the drums for this month’s PTA meeting. I was a little worried that no one would show up and was delightfully surprised when 25 fifth graders participated in the program. Here’s a few videos Josh took and edited from the performance. The last video is lacking sound, since the recording was rather fuzzy.

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Amy has always planned out the meal schedule in advance, but usually just a week at a time. In September she got ambitious and made a menu for the whole month. She asked me to indicate my approval with a signature and thumb print.

Speaking of food, my most recent attempt at making macaroni turned out better than last time.

If you want a free copy of a book on orphan ministry in the church, head over to the Nightlight blog and follow the pretty simple directions. By tomorrow (Friday).

I started a new website last week — for Carolina Hope for Orphans, a sort of spin-off from what used to be Carolina Hope Christian Adoption Agency.

I got the flu on Monday, and Amy’s been taking great care of me.

Like last year, Amy and I went to Chick-Fil-A on Labor Day for our free sandwiches, earned by wearing team shirts, which Amy once again expertly crafted. We spread out a picnic table cover on our living room floor to eat our holiday repast, and then had an exciting game of Monopoly. As usual . . . well, can you guess who had all the money?

(If you don’t recognize that thumb, take a look at this face.)

Speaking of sad faces, here’s Amy two Monday evenings ago looking at the dinner I fixed:

There was supposed to be macaroni with those beans and hot dogs, but, well, things didn’t come out pretty. (A few minutes into supper I decided to supplement things with a grilled cheese sandwich. Not macaroni, but still good.)

Some people have asked for a photo showing whether Amy is showing. Stay tuned.

This summer we got to meet and spend time with Dan’s fiancée, Isabelle during two meals at Jon and Ashleigh’s. (Dan got engaged in May and the wedding date is set for December 19th, 2009.) Jon and Ashleigh had us all over for dinner to celebrate our birthdays. Ashleigh made my family’s traditional watermelon basket (which my mom used to make for my July birthday). It was good to spend time with both my brothers and sisters-in-law (one future).

Mom J also made me a watermelon basket — and right now I’m using the gift Dad&Mom J got me/us!

In other news . . .according to BabyCenter.com, little baby J is now the size of a turnip!

In July between my 2nd and 3rd classes, we had a Jensen family weekend. Friday night we went to an Italian restaurant and had some amazing stuffed pizza and then attended the BJU summer play in Performance Hall.

On Saturday we went to Mount Mitchell, North Carolina. (Mt. Mitchell is the highest point east of the Mississippi.) We had grilled hotdogs for lunch and then went on some hikes around the area (I will admit that since I was in my first trimester, the hiking really wore me out . . . at one point I didn’t think I could go on much longer and was glad that my husband gave me a piggyback ride so I could have a short rest!).

And that pretty much sums up our summer in review. The rest of the time was spent in class and (for me) in studying/researching and (for Josh) working. Our road trip home was fun – we headed up to PA/NJ to visit my parents, grandma, and great grandma and then took three days driving from PA to TX. We were delighted to make it home safe and sound!