Today is a big day for Amy V.

Her methadone dose was cut in half on Tuesday, and it is being eliminated altogether today. I am anxious to see how she responds. She has been a little bit restless the last two days, but the nurses say that that is probably just from growing older. She has a very good appetite and she broke 7 pounds yesterday.

My parents are driving down tomorrow morning to see her for the first time, and Mike is catching a ride down either Friday night or early Saturday morning. We are all hoping she gets released this weekend.

Once she gets released we will have to hang out in Florida for around a week or so to wait for legal work to be finished so she can leave Florida. I can't wait to get her back to Atlanta.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Today Amy has officially gained more than a pound. She started her life as a 5 pound 10 ouncer and is now tipping the scales at 6 pounds 13 ounces! Yea Amy! But as you can see, the pacifier still looks huge compared to her face.

Also, Amy is getting close to conquering her diaper rash which had gotten pretty bad. The nurses have a great system for extreme rashes such as Amy's. Since air on the butt is the best way to make the rash go away, they rigged up an oxygen tent and have been blowing pure O2 right where it's needed.

I keep putting off updating this blog with my big news because I have SO MUCH news to share.

I have taken a LOA from work and am being a full time mom for as long as I can afford it (a couple of months??). Right now that means staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Saint Petersburg, Florida. This way I can walk to Bayfront Medical Center and be with Amy to feed her and love on her as much as I want. The house is great. It is a luxury to be here.

The nurses and PA's at the nurserey are fantastic. They all know my face and name there as I am a regular by now. They also call Amy by the name we are giving her as opposed to her legal name. (We cannot move forward with the adoption legal work until she is released from the hospital...we are hoping for December 31st).

Mike is on his way down from Atlanta for Christmas weekend. I know he is dying to see her again. He only got to see her Wednesday night through Saturday afternoon last week because he has alot going on at work back in Atlanta.

Amy is slowly and carefully being weened off of methadone which is the drug that her birthmother was taking under clinical supervision throughout her pregnancy. Methadone is used to block the effects of other drugs, specifically opiates. The birthmother was trying to break her oxycontin habit when she found out she was pregnant. Once you are pregnant, you cannot stop taking methadone or you will have contractions with withdrawal.

Here she is, Amy Virginia Robbins. She has a feeding tube in some of the pictures, but that was removed shortly after we arrived. She has been eating great ever since. The thing in her hand is Mike's ring, just to give some scale.

BIG NEWS!!!

I got a phone call from our adoption agent Friday night. A birthmother had a c section on December 3rd and signed consent to release the baby to our agent's custody on Friday the 8th. The birthmother, Shara, and her husband had been working to place the baby with a different agency, but the other agency wasn't treating her fairly, so she contacted Tara.

The baby girl was carried full term and was born 5 pounds 10 ounces and has brown hair and blue eyes. I haven't been able to see a picture of her yet, because the 2 adoption agencies need to work things out before Mike and I can come in the picture, but Tara says she is very cute.

The baby is having withdrawal from methadone and will have to stay in the hospital for 2-3 weeks. Once she is released from the hospital we will have to stay in Florida for up to five business days for legal work to be completed. We hope to have her back to our house in Atlanta before January.

The methadone part is a little scary, but we can handle it. We have been told that the treatment is to medicate her with phenobarbitol (??) to lessen her withdrawal symptoms, and gradually reduce her dose until she doesn't need it anymore. She needs to be held, and rocked and bundled and loved on. I can't wait to do that!

We are planning on driving to Florida Tuesday night or Wednesday morning to meet her and make everything official!