blessed

We thank God for our 3lb. 14.4oz blessing.

adoption finalized today

Not ours, but our new friends Peter and Anita.

We met Dr. Anita Stola two weeks ago. She is a neonatologist working in the NICU at Chandler Regional. She and husband Peter adopted a darling little girl back in January. This morning I was in the courtroom when the judge made the following ruling "from now forward this child shall be known as Alicia Stola, daughter of Peter and Anita Stola." It was a thrill to be there.

emails

big news from the hospital

Riley Grace is wearing her new outfit today and looking cute as poop!

baby steps

We took a few more baby steps forward today. Each step is closer to the hospital exit door that leads to the road that takes our daughter Riley Grace home.

The IV is gone. Our baby girl's eating progress has been remarkable and she is now off all machines. Thank you for your prayers. We thank God that this small burden has been lifted. Can you imagine how great it feels to lift our baby and kiss her beautiful head without being concerned about dislodging the IV?


Chowing down. Sheri and Riley Grace make a fantastic team. They just focus and get it done. We hit her goal feeding amount of 32cc tonight. This is her full feed and what she will need to consistently eat to gain weight. This next 24 hours will be an important gauge on her ability to do this.

Gaining weight. Today's weight 3lbs 13.3oz

Thanking God for his grace and love each step of the way.

the greatest gift ever

We saw Riley Grace's birth mom Alyss this afternoon. She had a gift for Sheri and I; buttons that said Proud Dad and Proud Mom. She was on her way to meet with the agency to sign final papers. Alyss is an exceptional young lady and we are so fortunate to have her in our life.

We love you Alyss.

getting rid of the iv machine

Meet the enemy. This is the foul machine that plugs into Riley Grace's adorable little head. This is the last of several machines that we have gotten to know over the past two weeks. Of all the machines this is the one I will be most excited to see go away. Riley's feedings are going really well. Mom and baby make a strong team. Any day now she will be eating enough to get rid of the IV forever.

health update

Riley Grace is doing great. She is a feisty little kid and that goes a long way when you are trying to get out of the NICU.

Breathing... She has been breathing on her own for a full week now. She is able to keep her O2 saturation up on her own. Chest x-rays show healthy little lungs.

Heart... No sign of a murmur for days. All clinical evidence (strong respiration, good heartbeat, clear echo-gram) suggest that she has a strong, healthy little heart.

IV... Site has been moved back onto the top of her head. She is running out of good veins to tap into. Friday we worked for an hour and a half to get a new one started. After six stickings they were able to get one going. The nurses are so patient and loving with our little girl. I think that they dislike the IVs even more than Riley. Once she can take 20-25cc by bottle she will no longer need the extra help and it will be bye-bye to the IV. This will be a day to celebrate and for us. It will feel very much like cutting the umbilical cord only for good this time.

We have been praying that her current IV site will not deteriorate before that time and so far it has not. We believe that God heals with both medicine and miracles and we are praying for both with this IV. Most have lasted 12-20 hours and this one has been going 48.

Food... this is the big issue right now. We are working to ramp up her food intake on an aggressive schedule. This, along with good rest, are the key steps to having our baby home with us.

Prayer... Thank you to everyone that has been praying for Riley Grace. Here are some specific things we are praying for:

• Pray for good feedings and good rest. She will really need to be an eating champ in the next few days
• Pray for poop. Good digestion is essential and gut infections are common at this stage.
• Pray for the IV site. We want it to last as long as we need it.
• Pray for the nurses and doctors that are treating her. We pray that God would fill them with wisdom and guide their decision making.
• Pray that her parents give glory to God. The nurses and doctors talk about the parents that have been camped out for two weeks at her bedside. We want them to know the God that knew her before she was born and sustains her today.

God is great and mighty and in charge. His grace is sufficient.

our weekend with riley grace

What an amazing family weekend! We consider it a blessing that we have been able to spend so much tome together as a family the past two weeks. This weekend with Riley Grace was special because we realize that that it is just the three of us with no other commitments or responsibilities. There was no TV, radio, computers, no distractions. Not every weekend will be like this and we thank God for the opportunity to enjoy each other and our little girl.

a full day

Good morning little miss Riley Grace. Morning check-up and all systems are go.

Our peanut spent the morning sleeping in mom's arms. Plus good solid feedings every three hours.

and did a little hanging out in her condo.

I feft the office early to get in some solid daddy time. I love my Riley Grace. I love to kiss her baby face.

Later in the afternoon her new IV spot began to deteriorate. We spent an hour and a half getting a new one started in her arm. She did get a nice shampoo afterward though and she loves that.

Friday was a great day.

New IV spot

Riley Grace got a new IV location today... on the top of her pretty little head. No worries though, she is just as fiesty and stinkin cute as always.

After taking a day off she is back to feeding today. Eat and rest little peanut.

The Best Part of The Day

is watching RIley Grace wakeup

Big Day WIth Lots of Good News

Today was a big day...

Medical news is all good: All signs are that the duct in her little heart has closed, results of the brain scan are normal. Riley Grace is resting well and eating and gaining weight. We cheered for her first poop today. Subsequent poops were met with some enthusiasm.

Feedings are going like clockwork around the clock every three hours. She started out eating 4cc's per meal and tonight she ate 8cc's. The plan is to do an additional 1cc every six hours, which is 4cc's more per day. So far she is eating like a champ. Riley's goal is 30cc's per feeding. Eat like the wind little one. Mommy and daddy are cheering you on!


Riley Grace has moved! Every seven days the babies get new condos. This sweet little pad is stylishly decorated in pinks and browns just for her.

Today was spa day! Bath, shampoo, hairdo and a brand new outfit thanks to Grandma Carol

Lots of new blankets and clothes and little girlie things.

Goodnight little princess. We love you.

Riley Grace Loves Her Auntie Erin

Erin is a nurse in the NICU. She and her fellow nurses have made our visit to the NICU a joy. They have an amazing capacity to do a demanding job and make it look easy. She has looked after every one of Riley's needs and does it with a big smile.

Erin has been assigned to Riley several days now and we have shared some big milestones together. She will be off for the next six days and Sheri, Riley and I will really miss her.

See you soon Auntie Erin.

stay focused

I am at home trying to get some work done. As you might imagine I am a little distracted by what is going on in Room Two of the NICU, but I know that I need to stay focused and get done what needs to get done so I can race back to see them. Then I get this...


oh man! Stay focused daddy.

chowing down

Riley is now eating! She chows down 5cc's every three hours. It takes her less than 5 minutes. Today's schedule is heart scan in the morning, brain scan in the afternoon, eating and getting good sleep in between to grow and heal.

We thank God another milestone in the healing process. Sitting right next to her in Room Two you get a sense that he is doing something amazing in her little life.

children are a blessing

The bible clearly teaches that children are a blessing from God. The Lord has created them to bring joy, fulfillment, and love to their parents and those around them. This has never been more apparent than in the NICU Room Two at Chandler regional Hospital. Riley Grace has absolutely filled that room with an abundance of joy and love. Thank you sweet baby for an amazing six days.

amazing riley grace update

Praise God because he heard me cry out to him. (Psalm 28:6) He protects me and gives me strength and because of Him I stay up late and type emails describing my wonderful God (7).

Today we saw amazing results in the medical condition of our little girl. She is off oxygen and breathing on her own and able to keep her saturation levels up. There is clinical evidence that the duct in her heart has closed. She has gained weight. Tonight she was alert and playful and curious. She is a remarkable gift from God and we thank Him with all that have for the baby and for the pain, because He is the designer of both. Thank you God!

saturday is daddy day

Mom takes care of Riley Sunday until Friday, but Saturday is daddy day.

Riley and I spent the first of a lifetime of Saturdays together doing our favorite things. We rocked together in the chair, read books and changed diapers (my first ever).

Your daddy loves you to the moon and back little girl.

cruise control

Today was the best day in our little Riley Grace's life. In morning rounds Dr. Z said that today he hopes it is like she is on cruise control, and she was. Restricted visitors and minimal testing, poking and probing let our girl store up some energy. C-pap should be coming off soon!

Thanks everybody for your prayers!

please pray for my daughter

Early Morning
Late Night

Our amazing little girl Riley Grace continues her fight to heal a tiny heart and lungs. Early this morning she went back on oxygen after a rough night of rapid little breaths. Her struggle to suck in air has exhausted her. Oxygen helped but not enough so by 10am Riley was hooked up to a c-pap machine, which provides positive pressure airflow through her amazingly cute little nose. Morning consult with the docs revealed a few new items of concern. Number one besides the lungs is her heart. There is a murmur being caused by an open duct in her heart which allows extra blood to flow into her lungs. We have started her on medication to help speed the closing of that duct. She is a tough little peanut and we just know that she is going to be feeling much better very soon.

Thank you for your prayers. Thank you to our small group that met tonight to pray for us. We are humbled and blessed by you guys - thank you. Thank you to the St. Charles Church in Boardman, Ohio for your prayers.

We know that God does hear our prayer and ask you to consider praying for the following:

• That God would heal the broken body of little Riley Grace especially her heart and lungs.
• That God would give guidance and wisdom to the amazing nurses, doctors, technicians, and others that will work on our little girl tomorrow.
• That God would be glorified in the work of his servant Betsy
• That God will equip us to be the best possible parents we can be for Riley Grace

Thank you

a very special day

Sheri held her baby girl today. Little baby Riley Grace finally got what she has been crying for since she was born: the warm embrace of her mommy. No amount of sedative could be as powerful in calming both child and mother.

a big day for little riley grace

Today got off to a great start. Our little Riley Grace Peanut (credit Dr. Z on that) showed remarkable improvement overnight and they continued to reduce her oxygen boost. By 7:30 this morning she was breathing on her own. Praise God for this unexpected great news. This afternoon her breathing tube came out and they unplugged the respirator. Our little girl is breathing on her own. We thank God for the amazing events of the day and for the loving, dedicated, talented professionals that are taking care of our little girl.

the girl is a fighter

Our precious little Riley Grace is the toughest kid I have ever seen. Sleep tight little girl, Mommy and Daddy love you very much.

our baby girl

Riley Grace Bublitz
Born July 13, 2009
3lbs. 4oz.