tulips in holland

today was a good day in holland. in this new travel destination we've been thrown into, we've already learned there are extreme highs and extreme lows. after a few low days, i'm happy to report that today we finally found some of those tulips i'd heard about.

as i was heading out the door this morning to the nicu, i received a call from the hospital. never good to see that number pop up on the phone because you instantly worry. fortunately, everyone that calls from that number knows and instantly says "emerson's fine" as soon as you answer. but then she went on to report that emerson had shown some good improvement in an initial therapy session in the morning and that i should bring some toys for her. . .something that rattled and something that had a soothing sound. . .because she was ready for some more stimulation.

upon arrival at the nicu, e was awake, but quite content. usually she's either sleeping peacefully or awake and fussy. so to see her awake, alert and happy all at once was a nice change. we hung out for a bit and then the physical therapist came over to work with her some more and show us some new mouth exercises with the pacifier. up until this point, she has hated the pacifier. but today she had a breakthrough, and slowly started allowing the pacifier to rest in her mouth. and then. . .she actually started sucking on it! such a small step for man. . .but a giant leap for baby emmy. we worked with the paci for quite awhile and she became more and more comfortable with it. and seeing her little mouth making those sucking motions was just about one of the sweetest sights i've ever seen.

the other major breakthrough today was her ability to handle her secretions. essentially, we are all subconsciously swallowing our own spit all the time and don't even know it. for a baby with a weak swallow reflex, she has trouble controlling all that extra drool and was having to have the extra suctioned by the nurses. she hated it and it was causing her some oral aversions. well today, she seemed to be handling her secretions much better and upon leaving the nicu about 30 minutes ago, she had only had to be suctioned once in the morning and had no problems at all. again, a small step in an ordinary situation, but a giant stride for our baby girl.

and so, on a day when we really needed to see something happen, we did. we saw progress. and that is all we can really ask for.