While little miss Lauren it doing well, Mommy is not. The pain in my leg IS from not one, but two blood clots.

I'm sporting some very attractive compression hose, they'll be all the rage in Milan this spring. Not to mention a chicken-pock looking stomach full of tiny bruises from the shots, which may need to continue for up to six months!

Hubby has learned to give me the shots, not sure I could do it myself. I think he secretly enjoys it. The needle itself doesn't hurt much, but the medicine burns like hell fire! Then Chuck has to put up with my whimpers and whines for about a half hour.

Since we barely have a spare minute outside of being at the hospital, our friends have been amazing at keeping us well fed. Jenny made Teeny Tiny Tuna Noodle Casserole, Aaron made us this scruptious banana-with-torched-sugar-crust dessert, people at Chuck's office made us Goulash and a very yummy homemade Chicken Pot Pie, and another friend, Mike, made us Chicken Orange and homemade apple pie. Many others have also offered to make food and while I don't often like to have people go out of their way, I am taking them up on the offer of food, otherwise Chuck and I would be eating cereal for dinner every night!

Jenny is making beef stew this week - to keep my iron up and get me to eat some veggies, she is very thoughtful about my (and Chuck's) health.

I may be sore and exhausted, but I am still a very lucky girl!

PS - added another photo album to my gallery - this one has videos!

Daddy held Lauren Rose for the first time this past week. My heart just melted to see our little peanut in his arms. She is doing well, though still on a little bit of oxygen as she has O2 saturation dips and a Brady (heart rate dip) every now and then, but this is pretty normal for a preemie.

Mommy, on the other hand, is falling apart. I have shoulder and arm pain, and the latest pain - in my calf - has set off worry of blood clots. Though they couldn't test for it today (everyone had gone home), as a precaution, they started treatment so I had to get a shot in my stomache today. While the shot itself didn't hurt, the medicine going in hurt ALOT. I hope they find it to be a false alarm - I'll take a charlie horse, please!

Oh, I posted more pics too.

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. Most of you know, through Jenny's blog, that I was hospitalized and have had the baby, Lauren Rose. She was born two and a half months early and will likely be in Neonatal Intensive Care for another two months. She is doing well though, looking better each day. I'm sure there will be some more worrisome days, but she is at a top hospital in great hands. I can't wait to bring her home.

I truly believe that she and I are still here today with the help of all the kind thoughts and prayers of many people. I have been so touched by the thoughtfulness of not only family and some truly amazing friends, but also strangers who only know me through our blogs.

We are blessed in many ways and through this, Lauren will be sure to learn how important it is to give kindness to others.

Here are more pictures.