Happy Four-Months-Old Birthday to Carleigh!! We celebrated by coming home from the hospital yesterday! We love to spend our birthdays at home!!

I had planned on getting Carleigh's pictures made today, but since we just left the hospital, we'll wait until early next week.

As for Miss Carleigh, she's doing great! She came home from the hospital on one liter of oxygen. By yesterday afternoon though, we already had her turned back down to 1/2.

She is on a new machine called a pulse oximeter. It measures how much oxygen is saturated into her blood. It's a harmless machine that has a little probe that is taped to her foot, hand, big toe, or thumb. Our problem is that she is getting so active that the machine alarms a lot trying to find her. She won't keep those little feet still - which for nurses is a nuisance, but for us is a blessing! :o)

Carleigh is still pretty congested and has a lot of drainage. We have to suction her a lot, but she is not receiving breathing treatments at home.

I would like to take this time to thank everyone on the fifth floor of the hospital who helped care for Carleigh. I guess all things happen for a reason, as the hospital was given a chance to "redeem" themselves. We no longer hold a grudge for the hospital itself, just the certain people who refused to care for Carleigh as a newborn. Everyone we dealt with for this trip was positive and never mentioned the word "die". They were interested in knowing all about Carleigh, what all of her
little special areas are, what she likes, and what she dislikes. We believe in giving credit where credit is due, so THANKS to all of our FRIENDS on Pediatric Floor #5!! :o)

Also, Carleigh received the hearing test that she was denied as a newborn. We knew her hearing was not good, but we wanted to know exactly what we are dealing with. The test required Carleigh to be asleep for an hour and they put a series of clicks into her ears and measured the brain activity. Even though we do not have the results, we know that Carleigh pretty much requires 85 decibles to hear well. That is the equivalent of turning your tv up as loud as it will go. We don't know if hearing aids will help at this time, so for now, we're just talking a little louder and Carleigh is "talking" right back to us.

Carleigh's formula has been changed from Enfamil with Iron to Enfamil Lacto-free. She has been having extreme diaper rashes and the pediatrician thinks it is from the way she is processing her formula. If we take away the lactose, the diaper rash should disappear.

We are also supposed to give her five teaspoons of rice cereal a day (which is a lot) and add in baby food whenever we can. We are working with the pediatrician and a nutritionist to get Carleigh up to a nice weight. Our goal is the 25th percentile - she is currently under the 5th percentile. I think this is a large goal, especially considering that B is only on the 20th percentile!!

On Monday, Carleigh will have her vision test. This was another test denied to her in the hospital. It is also another test in which we are expecting the worst and praying for the best. We know her vision is impaired, we are praying that it's nothing big and that some cute, tiny glasses can fix.

Then on Tuesday, she will go to the pediatrician for a weight check and to an orthopedist. The orthopedist is a new one. We knew we would see him eventually because of Carleigh's bilateral clubfeet, but it appears on Carleigh's x-rays that she could have a displaced hip. If the hip is displaced, she will have to wear a special contraption to get it back into place.

This child never ceases to amaze me. With her, we take one step forward and two steps back. Through it all she is a trooper. I have NEVER seen such a small child go through so much - I guess that's why she qualifies as our little miracle. God must approve of what we are doing for Carleigh and Carleigh must love to be with us - because she is still our Angel on Earth - and we like it that way! :o)

We're home!! Carleigh is doing great! She made it through the surgery just fine. She's such a little trooper! Since it's so late, I'll post the whole story
sometime tomorrow. I just wanted to put a quick update for all our faithful friends who continue to follow our Little Miracle's story. Thank you for all of your prayers!!

We are finally home! Actually, we got home tonight around 7:30 p.m. It has taken me forever to get on the Internet. I am so busy being Mommy to TWO kids!! :o) It is very overwhelming, but I love it!! I will work as much as possible on Carleigh's site. I have to find times when both kids are sleeping!!

We are currently giving Carleigh tube feedings every 3 hours. So far she has been
tolerating them well. We will gradually do larger feedings soon. Keep checking this book for daily updates on Carleigh -- there will be new things appearing on her site
too! :o) Thanks for all your prayers -- we truly do have a miracle!!!