Eden Updates

For quite a while we had a rocky road with Eden's weight. She would gain two ounces, then lose one, etc. and we just weren't making very good progress. She has a nurse who comes to our home and weighs her and up until the week of Thanksgiving she was hardly gaining any weight at all. It just so happened to be Thanksgiving week that we were finally able to determine what the biggest problem was.

When Eden left the hospital, the doctors had me adding a small amount of formula powder to the breast milk to give Eden extra calories to help her gain weight faster. Well, I'm not sure if she didn't like the taste, or if she was having some sort of allergy to the formula, but we decided to stop adding that to see if her intake would increase and it sure did! Immediately she started eating almost double and the weight started to come on quickly.

She will get weighed again on Wednesday when her nurse comes over, but as of last week she was 10lb 9 oz. I have to say that one of the biggest perks of having a preemie baby is that I get to enjoy the small, cuddly, little body for such a long time which is my favorite! She’s actually starting to grow out of things quickly now and it kind of makes me sad!

We have also started our visits with the developmental care specialists who work with Eden twice a month to help facilitate her developmental progress. So far they believe she is right on track with where she should be given her extreme prematurity and medical conditions. We are always grateful for that good news and feel so blessed to have the resources and programs available to help Eden progress.

And the best news of all – I finally was able to hear a tiny little voice from Eden last week. It was extremely brief, but it was one of the most amazing things I have ever heard and it brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it. I’ve waited a long time to hear her sweet little voice and I finally got my chance. So here’s the story –

There is a device called a speaker valve that can be put over the trach which allows the voice to be heard. This valve allows the person to inhale through the trach but it blocks exhalation so the air is redirected through the vocal cords and out of the mouth. Originally we were told that Eden would probably be 9 months to a year old before we could attempt the speaker valve.

Last week I had to take Eden for a clinic visit to be checked by the pulminologist. During this visit we also met with her trach nurse, a nutritionist, and a speech therapist. They decided to go ahead and do a speaker valve trial. I didn’t understand how hard it was going to be for Eden to redirect her air until I saw her struggling to figure it out. It ended up being extremely exhausting and stressful for her because she would hold her breath rather than redirecting it so we were only able to attempt it about three times with each time only lasting a second or two, but in those brief seconds I was able to hear something so amazing. The process will be long, and it will take a lot of visits and brief trials until she can keep it on for about an hour at a time, but I look forward to the next trial! I just wish now that I knew when that would be!

Isn't a sleeping baby one of the most precious things you'll ever see?


She is starting to figure out the whole reaching thing and is getting more and more playful.


This was her first trip to church about a month ago.


She looks a little concerned about something, I'm just not sure what it was!


She loves to lay by the Christmas tree anad look at all the beautiful lights.


Here's my handsome hubby putting up the lights on our house. It turned out beautiful but I don't have a picture so you'll just have to take my word for it!