The force is strong in this one.

Well the 24 hour test was passed with flying colors! Molly successfully kept us awake all night to prove that she is, in fact, a normal baby. Molly woke us up every few hours of so to eat, but when she wasn't waking up between those stretches we (ok, Christine) woke up wondering if she would wake up.  I reverted to the over-achiever who never failed a test. My guess is I'll get over that pretty quickly once we get home.

The doctors seemed pretty surprised, but happy. And it was so awesome to finally spend some family time all together. She also got her first glimpse of sunlight (she didn't seem to notice a difference between that and the florescents). All in all a lovely treat after 8 weeks of our family being split up.

So you'd think we could go home now, wouldn't you? Well no. NOW they want to watch her for the next few days to make sure she gains weight. Dr Vergalas (ped card) actually said to me today, "You've been here 8 weeks, what's a few more days?" Even though I really like him, I almost punched him right then and there. You try leaving behind your entire life for eight weeks to only be with your infant for part of the day, then ask that question again.

But the good news is that Molly was weighed tonight and gained 45 grams (a lot!). So tomorrow I'll start back up on bugging them about a release date. It's gotten to the point where nurses we haven't even had are coming up to me asking why they won't let us leave. One nurse today gave the cardiologist a hard time and told him he should just let us leave. Another said they were all thinking of us and hoping we could go home soon. So sweet. We can't say enough how grateful we are that nurses exist. To work so hard at taking care of other people is just so amazing. One made Molly a few hats. Another bought her some outfits and toys. And another just made her a rosary (which is ironic because she lives in a "spiritual house"). All amazing women (of the 150 nurses in the NICU, only one is male) making sure our baby comes home safe and sound. Molly has lots of Aunties for sure.

So the end is near. How near, we do not know yet.

On another note, we appreciate more than you'll know all of the thoughts and prayers going towards us and Molly's recovery. Our "NICU mom" friend Katie has a beautiful set of twin girls born at 24 weeks. After 8 weeks, Ella has taken a serious turn for the worse. If you could direct any prayers/thoughts/energy towards her it would be much needed. The NICU is a place where bad things happen regularly, but also where these little babies continue to surprise doctos with their resilience.

More pics to come.