Some of Marlee's Journey ( Pictures are in reverse, sorry! )

Marlee is doing soo good and we hope to be home soon to meet all
of Marlee's new friends and her family!!!!
Marlee in her brand new room, in her big girl crib for the first night!
Mommy getting to hold me for the first time after being in ICU!
This is Marlee in PCICU about 2 days after surgery! Our favorite nurse
Laura put her in a big girl bouncy seat! She loved it!

Marlee Claire Hardman

I know that most of you know Miss Marlee's birth story, but for those of you who don't we thought that we would update you. We went in Monday morning August 11th for a scheduled C-section due to my pre-eclampsia and being on bed rest for 4 weeks. Marlee arrived that morning at 9:21AM and was the most beautiful little thing that I have ever seen! I cried and cried when they pulled her out and was truly in love from that second! Well Tuesday night the nurse came by the room and asked if I wanted her to take Marlee for the night to let me get some sleep because I was so sore from the C-section and tired from so many visitors. ( which we appreciated, I'm not complaining:) )
Wednesday morning instead of bringing my baby back to me, the MD came into the room and told us that during the night the nurse had noticed that Marlee's coloring had changed and that she was having trouble breathing. The MD immediately transferred us to Greenville Memorial because St Francis does not have an adequate NICU or equipment. When we arrived at GHS the Cardiologist informed us that Marlee had a heart condition called "Interrupted Aortic Arch" which means that there was a gap in her aorta that needed to be fixed. Her upper half was getting adequate blood flow but her bottom half was not. They informed us that Marlee would have to be transferred to MUSC for heart surgery but before we could go, Marlee had to be stabilized. Her little body had acid build up in her abdomen from lack of blood flow. They started Marlee on a medication to decrease the acid and increase kidney and liver function immediately. I have never been so scared in my entire life. My church, family and friends immediately began praying for her and even calling prayer meetings. We felt God give us such a peace and we found out Thursday afternoon that Marlee was stable and could now be transferred to Charleston. I flew with Marlee to Charleston while my family drove down and met us. Let me tell you that getting in and out of a tiny plane after just having a c-section was a little difficult!
We arrived in Charleston Friday afternoon and met with all the doctors and nurses and discussed Marlee's plan of care. The surgeon, Dr. Bradley, scheduled Marlee's surgery for Monday morning the 18th and assured us that this was a moderate surgery and that he felt that he could fix everything. Well, Marlee had her surgery Monday morning and the doctor came to tell us that the surgery went perfect and as planned and that they had actually just done an Eco cardiogram after surgery and that Marlee's heart was now functioning perfectly! Wow! God is soo good! Marlee was moved out of the ICU on Friday and is now in her own private room! We are currently working on her feeding and she is still on an NG tube due to her aspirating. The doctors feel like this will resolve itself soon and Marlee will be bottle feeding. We have another swallow study on Wednesday and if she still is having trouble, we may be transferred back to GHS just for feeding issues. All of Marlee's vitals have been fantastic and she looks and acts just like a normal newborn!
I never would have imagined that this could happen to us, because this only happens to other people, or so I thought. God took this situation and used it to his glory. He has taught me about patience and incredible peace, he has brought my family even closer together and my marriage is stronger than it has ever been! Continue to pray for Miss Marlee as we try to complete our feeding task so we can come home!! I forgot the cord to my camera so I have not been able to post any pictures of our beautiful girl! Hopefully soon!!

Miss Marlee is almost here!

Well it's official......we are being induced Sunday night the 10th! I've been wanting for this for so long and then after the doctor set up our induction it hit me! I'm going to be a mommy in less than a week! I feel nervous, excited, scared and so many other emotions right now! Am I reallly qualified to be a mommy? Am I ready for this?? I know that God has blessed us with this miracle and that this is his perfect timing and to trust him! It also helps that I will have my in-laws for a week and my mommy as long as I need her! I pray for this little girl everyday and know that it is my responsibility to show this little girl the truth and that all that truly matters in this world is Jesus Christ. We are so excited and will update as soon as she arrives!!

37 weeks!

It's been 2 weeks since I've blogged, but Marlee and I have been having bi-weekly MD appointments with ultrasounds! You would think that I would be excited over having so many ultrasounds, but she's so big that you really can't see anything! Sadly going to the MD is always the highlight of my week because I can get out of the house! We are still on bed rest due to my blood pressure, but all my labs have stayed stable and the doctors are happy with our progress. Jay and I went this afternoon and Marlee was doing great, she passed her biophysical profile with flying colors! The ultrasound tech actually showed us that she has hair and lots of it! I was shocked, considering that I didn't have hair until I was 4!So that means bows for this little girl! When we got back to see the doctor they checked Marlee's heartbeat which was 150 and I was again measuring right at 37 weeks! I was also dilated to 2cm and 60% effaced! She told us that as a long as my labs stayed good that they would not induce me until August 11th, but to go ahead and mark the calendars for that day! How exciting! She also said that I may not make it 13 more days because I have been having very strong contractions (irregular, but strong) and since my cervix had made so much progress! So we'll see! Marlee will definitely be here by August 11th! I'm so excited! I can't wait to hold my baby girl in my arms! We go back Friday for another Non-Stress Test and will have another ultrasound August 5th to see how big she is! We did get one 3D pic but since she's so smooshed in there, its not too good. Also here is a pic of my belly. Hopefully it won't get any bigger, but I am proud to say that I don't have any stretch marks! yeah!

Bed Rest

My mom and I went for my 35 week appointment yesterday ( since Jay was in Columbia) and when they checked my blood pressure it was 140/90, when it is usually 100/60. When we got back to see the doctor she made me lay on my left side to see if my BP came down. When they checked it, it had gone down to 120/70. The doctor told me that I needed to quit work and be on bed rest because of my BP and severe swelling! She checked my cervix and I was only dialated to 1cm and she said that she didn't expect to see Marlee until at least 39 weeks. She took me back for a non-stress test and they discovered that I was actually having mild contractions every 5 minutes. We immediately went for an ultrasound to have a bio physical profile done. There were several things that Miss Marlee had to do within 30 minutes to pass. Of course she had been kicking the tar out of me, 5 minutes before but as soon as the ultrasound tech starting looking at her, she stopped! She is so stubborn just like her mommy and daddy! She eventually showed out and passed her test with flying colors! She was even practicing breathing on her own! The measured her and she weighs 5lbs 11ounces! That's a great size for 35 weeks! After the doctor got the results and saw how well she did, she told me that she would not try and stop labor at this point, but to go home and stay in bed. They want her to at least hold out until 36/37 weeks. Who knows? She may surprise us and stay in there until 40 weeks! Now we're having to go to the OB twice a week for non-stress tests and BP checks! Please pray that I don't die of boredom because I am not a stay in the bed kind of girl!

34 weeks

So I have officially decided that people are getting uncomfortable being around me! Jason and I had several errands to run this morning and everywhere we went somebody had something to say to me! As we were walking into the grocery store, there was another lady beside us who stopped and told me to go ahead of her because I looked like I was struggling! I thought it was funny but didn't think anything else about it. Well as I'm picking up items on our list, 3 different people asked me if I was due any day now! Of course I let them know that I still have at least 3-6 weeks, but they didn't seem to believe me! Finally, Jason and I were checking out and as we are walking out the door, the manager asked if we needed any help to the car. Jason politely said "No, we've got it" and the manager said, "I'm talking about her, Do I need to help her to the car?!?".......Needless to say, I think I might stay indoors until this baby is born!

Hiccup...Hiccup....

As I'm sitting here writing this, Miss Marlee has the hiccups! We've been getting them at least 2-3 times a day! It's soo cute! It feels like little kicks over and over in the same spot. I actually asked my OB at my last appointment if that was normal and he said absolutely yes! It's actually a good sign that her lungs and diaphragm are maturing! We are in our 33rd week now and I've already been having those lovely Braxton Hicks! I know they're not true contractions because they're so irregular! Plus Marlee has to stay in there at least another 4 weeks to be full-term! Mommy is getting excited and Daddy is getting nervous now that her arrival is creeping up on us, but I know that Jason is going to the best Daddy in the world! Marlee will have him wrapped around her finger!