I hate RSV.

The day we brought Grace home, Liv got RSV.  There are a lot of things that are a good combination.  For example, getting the waffle fries and chick fil a sauce with your sandwich is an example of a good combination. Having a 1 year old with RSV and a 2 day old infant in the same house is an example of a not good combination.  When Grace was celebrating her 11 day old birthday (Why don't we celebrate days alive for me anymore? The next time someone asks, I am going to tell them I am 10621 days old) she picked up what Liv had. Sisters share everything.

  Since she sounded like Darth Vader in a receiving blanket, I decided to take her to the pediatrician who immediately put her on a tank of oxygen and told me to take her to the hospital to be admitted to the NICU.  The whole time this was happening, Gar was at the car dealership in the middle of buying a new van. It was not our most convenient timing for car purchasing considering I was trying to choose the van based on pictures off my phone that he was sending.  

 She was admitted to the NICU for a week and I felt so thankful to have people there to take care of her little body.  It's amazing how close you feel to someone so quickly.  As I watched her sleep (let's be honest, those hospital beds leave much to be desired), I felt like my love quadrupled by the hour.  Even though we didn't have years of memories or conversations, I felt a closeness to her and a desire to protect her and to help her as she laid there trying to breathe as well as she could with lungs full of thick slimy yellow snot.

 Liv and I would facetime and she was so excited when she finally got to come see "Baby Gace".  (Also please appreciate the mushroom fountain hairstyle exploding off the top of her head, if anyone has suggestions for a hairstyle, I'm open..)

I preferred to think of it as our first girls getaway together complete with an oxygen bar.  During the day I would read or just rock her while a million people would come in and assess her (ok there weren't really a million but it felt like a lot). 

 Our getaway suite in Denver...

 After a week she came home for a week still on oxygen.  It's amazing how quickly your prayers become sincere and deep when someone you really love is involved, especially when you've only had them in your life for 11 days.  I'm so thankful that she doesn't breathe like Darth Vader anymore or have a linguini noodle leash hooked up to a scuba tank. Having her sick only made me realize what a miracle it is that she is here. We are ridiculously blessed. I love Grace Corinne Seibold and I want her here to stay for a long long time.