Home 4 Weeks!

Faith has been home for 4 weeks.  She will be 15 weeks old (adjusted age = 10 weeks old) tomorrow.  As of this past Monday, she was still sleeping 3 hours at a time at the most and wanting to do it during the middle of the day.  On Friday night, she slept 4 hours straight from Midnight to 4 am.  Last night, she slept 6 hours straight from 10pm to 4am.  We woke up thinking something was very wrong but everything was just fine.  Wow, what a huge change in just a few days.  Here is to this continuing!  Sleeping so well at night makes her hungrier and less sleepy during the day time.  She is having a lot more happy awake time.  Mommy and Daddy are much happier too!  :)  Faith smiled in response to my smile for the first time yesterday and I cried with happiness.  She is now weighing 9 lbs. 11 oz.  She is definitely longer too because she out grew her newborn size clothes. 

Thank you for all of your love, support, and prayers.  Please leave us a comment!

With Love,
The Sunde's

Photos taken today by Aunt Sammy!

Photos 3/3/12

Look at those chubby cheeks! 3/1/12

Hmmmmm

Home for 3 Weeks!

Faith has been home for 3 weeks now.  In some ways it seems shorter but in others it seems longer especially at 6am when she hasn't let me sleep all night.  She will be 14 weeks old tomorrow.  Since she was 5 weeks early, her adjusted age is 9 weeks old.  Plus, we have to to take into consideration all the time she spent in the NICU/PICU.  So far, she is acting fairly appropriate for her age or maybe just a little bit behind.  She still has her days and nights mixed up.  After a week of keeping her up during the day as much as possible, we were all very cranky to say the least.  It did not do any good to wake her during the day and not let her sleep much.  She was still up all night, not eating well at all, and cranky all day and night.  She is also colicky and is cranky because of that during the night.  We are hoping and praying the colic passes very soon and once it does we will work on a schedule.  For now, I sleep during the day when she does and am up all night with her.  It is still very difficult to get much sleep because she has appointments in the afternoon when I need to be sleeping.  This week is going to be rough with an appointment each day Monday thru Thursday.  Thankfully 2 of the appointments are at our house but the other 2 are downtown.  It is going to be a busy, exhausting week!


Thank you for your continued support and prayers!
With Love,
The Sunde's

Enjoying a swing! 2/24/12

Time Flies!

It is hard to believe that as of tomorrow Faith will be home for 2 weeks already.  She turned 12 weeks old on Monday.  She is doing fine but has her days and nights mixed up.  We are working on fixing that!  :)  She has had several doctor appointments and they have no concerns.  Mommy was sick for a few days and quarantined to our bedroom but is starting to feel better now.  Daddy had to take a few days off from work and rely a little more on Grandma Sunde than usual.  Grandma Sunde and Grandma Smith have been helping out a lot!  Faith still has a lot of restrictions on visitors because if she gets sick, it will likely land her back in the hospital.  So, for now, only GrandParents are allowed to see her.  Once cold/flu season is over and she gets bigger and stronger, she will be able to have visitors and start meeting everyone!
Please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  We pray that her brain shunt continues to work properly for a very, very, very long time! 
With Love,
The Sunde's

Surgery went well

Faith's surgery today went well. She was off the ventilator right right after surgery. She was irritable after surgery and needed Tylenol and morphine to keep her comfortable.  She will be given antibiotics for a few days to eliminate any chance of infection.  We are praying that she has a good night!  If all goes well, she *should* be able to come home in the next week or so.




When she is older I am sure she is going to be mad at me about this picture.  They keep shaving spots of hair off of her head when the shunt is moved.  The first one was on the left, the second one was on the right, and this one is on the back.  So there is a unique shaped spot of hair in between. Before long she will have hair covering all of it and you won't even be able to see it.  We think that she is the most adorable baby ever no matter what her hair looks like!  Just look at that face! :)  She has the cutest nose I have ever seen!


Last night I read back through all of the blog posts since the first ultrasound at 20 weeks.  It has been a tough but also rewarding journey we have been on.  This journey has made us stronger individually, as a couple, and in our faith in God.  

We hope and pray that everyone we care about is doing well.  It is very difficult to keep up on every
thing going on with everyone when we can hardly keep up on the laundry! ;)


With Love,
Steve, Michele, & Faith Sunde

Surgery Tomorrow

Faith's EVD (external ventricular drain) is still not working but she is doing well despite that.  She will be having surgery tomorrow at 11am to remove the EVD and replace it with a VP Shunt (ventriculoperitoneal shunt).  Faith turned 10 weeks old today and tomorrow will be her 8th surgery.   She has been through more in 10 weeks then most of us do in our entire life.  She is a strong little fighter!  This is the 3rd VP Shunt Faith has had.  We are hoping and praying that 3rd times the charm!

What is a Ventriculoperitoneal shunt?
VP Shunt is a catheter which is placed inside the ventricles (the fluid-filled spaces within the brain) and is attached to a valve which limits the amount and direction of flow of the fluid. This valve is then connected to a long catheter that is tunneled under the skin from the head down to the abdomen where it ends in the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum). This type of hydrocephalus shunt diverts the excess fluid from inside the ventricles in the brain to the abdomen where it can be re-absorbed.


Any questions about this post, another post, any of Faith's medical diagnosis, or anything else?  Please email them to: mickeyshelljoy@hotmail.com so we can answer them for you.  Chances are that if you are wondering, so is someone else! :) 

We are SO, SO, SO HAPPY and Thankful that Faith continues to act appropriately for her age.  She loves music and watching her mobile.  She loves it when I read to her and especially books with bright colored pages!

Please keep Faith in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow and always!

With Love,
The Sunde's