Day 100!!!

I can't believe that the beautiful 6-1/2 pound baby girl sleeping on her mother's chest right now is 100 days old today. Those first few weeks dragged on forever, but looking back it seems like we were driving frantically to the hospital just the other day. Kelly and I looked back over Brooklyn's 100-day journey thus far and came up with a "Top 100 Things We're Thankful For" list:

100. A “plus” sign on the pregnancy test
99. Finding out she’s a girl on the ultrasound
98. Naps
97. Zofran
96. Dr. Baker (our doctor) being on-call
95. Mom’s intuition to call the hospital
94. Living close to Beth Israel
93. A fast delivery
92. Hearing Brooklyn’s first cry – even at 24 weeks!
91. Dad holding B’s hand at birth
90. Seeing Brooklyn for the first time after 4 hours of waiting
89. Visitors
88. Best NICU nurses in Boston, dare I say WORLD!
87. Being a girl (girls do far better than boys in the NICU)
86. The doctor who told us she would live
85. Two clear head ultrasounds
84. India Quality take out
83. Bottled watter (for Mom the Camel)
82. Mom’s first kangaroo time
81. Dad’s first kangaroo time (duh)
80. A closed PDA
79. A closed ASD
78. No ROP
77. Care times
76. Loving tubby time
75. Family
74. Encouraging cards
73. Getting the PICC line in
72. World-wide prayer
71. Brooklyn’s eyes opening for the first time.
70. Overcoming pneumonia
69. Meconium!
68. Cute hiccups
67. “Whoa! That’s some red hair.”
66. Getting on CPAP..followed by getting off CPAP
65. Recognizing one of B’s strengths as “being feisty”
64. Dad passing his qualifying exams on no sleep
63. Nightly weight check-ins
62. Park Street food deliveries. So…good….
61. TWO POUNDS!!!
60. Brooklyn in the Park Street weekly bulletin
59. No stretch marks
58. No more “morning” sickness
57. Quick rides to the hospital
56. Discount parking for parents
55. Respiratory therapists
54. Respiratory therapist stories (you know who you are)
53. Nurses fighting over who gets to take care of B that day
52. Meeting other NICU parents
51. Specialty doctors from Children’s Hospital
50. NICU wear
49. Photos by mom and videos by dad
48. Outgrowing preemie diapers
47. Moving from isolette to crib
46. Swaddling
45. Holding Brooklyn once a day
44. Knit socks and hats
43. Weekly Wednesday night dinner and Lost with friends
42. The view of Boston from Brooklyn's room on the 9th floor
41. Giving birth during the ugly months of winter
40. The lounge-o-matic kangaroo chair
39. Brooklyn’s team: Nancy, Colleen, Amy, Meghan, Nancy (night), Melissa
38. Peanut butter and jelly sammiches
37. Pre-Brooklyn visit watching of The Today Show
36. Hospital-grade breast pumps
35. The monkey blanket
34. “Good Night Moon” and “The Runaway Bunny”
33. Knitting
32. Cute dresses
31. More stuffed animals than one baby should ever have
30. No more cannula!
29. Brooklyn taking her first full feeding
28. B’s first smile
27. Brooklyn’s little grunts and grumbly talking
26. Chubby thighs
25. Elbow dimples
24. Crooked pinkies
23. Cute footprints
22. The Sullivan chins
21. The most beautiful big blue eyes
20. Smiling when she hears mom or dad’s voice
19. Brooklyn getting so excited that she shakes her head back and forth
18. Ah….sweet binky
17. The pouty face (inherited by mom)
16. Milk drunk!
15. No more spells
14. Listening to Auntie Di sing Brooklyn to bed
13. Being held by grandparents
12. First ride in the swing
11. Reminding the nurses she’s a Lorenz not a Sullivan!!!
10. Moving to B’s new home
9. Listening to Brooklyn breathe like a big girl while she sleeps
8. The way Brooklyn studies the pictures in her books
7. First diet
6. Second diet
5. Knowing she’s in perfect health and coming homing home soon
4. The nurses’ faces every time Brooklyn defies the 24-weeker stereotype
3. God’s faithfulness
2. Our family of three
1. Our Brooklyn