Hattie’s Blog

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Birthday Bubbles! 2/6/13

February 06, 2013Melissa

Hattie had an exciting day for her one month birthday! Our big girl is up to three pounds! She weighs 1,369 grams, or 3 pounds, .2 ounces.

I can't remember life without Hattie. What did we used to do with all of our free time when we weren't sleep deprived, spending hours and hours every day at the hospital or driving up and down the 408? We are fortunate God chose us to be Hattie's parents. I feel like I love life more and everything in my life is better because Hattie is in it. Having children does change your life; mine has changed in a hundred ways over the last month and every single change is worth it. Every single one.

Dr. Palma saw Hattie today and told me he wants to steal her from Dr. Alexander and take her as his own patient! He said she has had an excellent start to her life and we should keep praying hard for her because it's working!

Hattie will have her eye exam on Monday. A nurse who works with the neonatal ophthalmologist met with me and provided more information. The exam does not test for vision, it tests to ensure her retinas are attached properly. The nurse said the exam takes about two minutes but the babies scream because they don't like their eyes being pried open, the bright light or the dilation medicine. She recommended I be here to help comfort Hattie after the exam because the medicine can make her act fussy the rest of the day.

Today was a big day in the feeding by mouth department. Hattie and I nuzzled for the first time during one of her feeds. Nuzzling is like practice breast feeding and it helps her associate the position and motion with eating. She is still learning how to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time but she did latch on a few times and sucked. In the next few weeks we will introduce nipple feeding by bottle or breast once per day until eventually Hattie is taking all of her feeds by mouth. Hattie pulled her feeding tube out twice today. Do you think she's telling us she's ready to eat by mouth?

Hattie had a bubble bath tonight. She loved it and we loved seeing our girl with no wires attached to her! We also dressed her in preemie clothes for the first time so we could get a photo for her one month birthday!

While Chris kangarooed, our friends Marc and Linda stopped by tonight and brought birthday cards their three boys made for Hattie. We prayed together and celebrated our amazing baby girl.

We stayed later than usual while waiting for Dr. Alexander to make his rounds. We wanted to ask him a few questions about pediatricians, daycare and what to expect during the rest of our time in the NICU. (Cue the planners in us!) Dr. A has such an incredible way of really listening to us and calming our fears. We are very, very thankful to have him as Hattie's doctor.

categories Hattie Updates, Photos

Toaster Head 2/4/13

February 04, 2013Melissa

Hattie is 30 weeks gestational age today! We continue to be optimistic and grateful for Hattie's progress. Please pray Chris and I are good examples of faith for Hattie and that we will be good parents and teachers for her. Lord, please let your grace and love fall over Hattie and continue to give her strength for her journey ahead. Yesterday afternoon Nurse Shanna changed Hattie back to her Z-Flo mattress to allow more cushion for her head. Since Hattie typically lies on her belly with her head flat facing one way or the other, she is starting to get what the nurses call "toaster head," sort of a flat, elongated head shape. The Z-Flo was short-lived; it lasted less than 18 hours. Hattie is too mobile to be back in the Z-Flo; she moves her head on her own a lot and was face planting and causing herself to lower her heart rate and desat. She's now comfortably back in her snuggli. Soon we will start training Hattie to sleep on her back (she will need to sleep on her back once we're home and she's not hooked up to the monitors) and the "toaster head" will fix itself.

Dr. Alexander saw Hattie today and informed me she'll have her first eye exam sometime during the next week when she's 31 weeks gestational age. A neonatal ophthalmologist will come to Hattie's bedside to do the exam. I understand they will use metal contraptions to hold her eyelids open and dilate her eyes. It sounds pretty scary and the nurse told me it is very stressful for the babies. Dr. A does not foresee any challenges with Hattie's eyes, especially because she spent no time on oxygen. Dr. A also discontinued the Lotrimin for her rash from her diaper because the nurses couldn't figure out where to put it. I guess that's a good indication it is healed!

Hattie is starting to recognize when she's getting hungry. About a half hour before her feed she starts sucking the air like a bird, grunts and gets a little antsy. She is still a good eater and now weighs 1,309 grams or 2 pounds, 14 ounces.

Our good friend Katie was so nice to come spend time with us tonight. We were all laughing at Hattie's grunts and squeaks while Chris kangarooed her. Hattie was practically planking on Chris with both arms and legs pointing straight down!

categories Hattie Updates, Photos

Our New Season of Life 2/3/13

February 03, 2013Chris

It's Superbowl Sunday and we don't care. In fact, there are a lot of things we used to care about that we don't find ourselves worrying over anymore. Our DVR is full (Melissa hasn't watched a single episode of The Bachelor and I can't remember where I last left the Crawley family at Downton Abbey), our house is a wreck and we still have Christmas lights on the tree in our front yard. But somehow we're ok with all of that. The old us would've worried about our DVR reaching capacity, or too much mail piled up on our kitchen table (and we would've secretly ridiculed anyone who had Christmas lights up after January). Hattie has given us a new perspective on life. Everyone told us our life would change once we had kids. And we knew that would happen—just not by how much. You could say that our life is so different because Hattie is in the NICU, and that's definitely part of it. But this is only a season we are in. No, our life has changed because we now have a daughter, not only because of her current circumstances. We realize now what is truly important in our life and that, somehow, has nothing to do with TV or the order of our house.

But enough about Melissa and me; let's get to the good stuff and brag about our little girl! Hattie is four weeks old today. At birth she weighed 819 grams, or 1 pound, 13 ounces. As of today she's gained a full pound: she is now 1290 grams, or 2 pounds, 13 ounces. She has also grown a half-inch in length to 14.5 inches. (Don't they just grow up so fast?)

Hattie has certainly made stellar progress over the past four weeks and we have so much to be thankful for. Appropriately, Jim Keller's sermon at church today was about a story in Acts 3. Here's a good description from the Summit website:

In Acts 3, we read about the miraculous healing of a man who had spent his entire life unable to walk. When he realized the change that had come over his previously weak, hindered body, he didn’t react calmly. He jumped. He leaped. He praised God! His joy caught the attention of the people around him… and they praised God, too. We all have a story of healing. Are you proclaiming yours? (via)

As Melissa and I thought about this message today, we connected it to Hattie and how far God has brought her since birth. She is our story of healing and we will praise God for her every day.

categories Hattie Updates, Photos

A Great Saturday 2/2/13

February 02, 2013Chris

Any Saturday that I get to spend all day with my two favorite people is alright with me! Melissa and I slept in a bit today and then headed to the hospital to see our angel. We helped with her hands on time and then I kangarooed her from about 1:30 to 6 p.m. I've said it before, and it's still true: holding this baby is about the best feeling in the world. I just can't get enough of it. As I hold her, I remind myself that I need to remember this; I need to somehow lock it into my memory bank for the future.

The few months that we will have spent in the NICU will end up as such a small segment in the fullness of Hattie's life. That's partly the reason we have this blog. We of course want to update you with Hattie's progress and some very cute photos, but we also want to have this as a journal of sorts that we can look back on one day to remember the special way Hattie entered the world.

A funny thing happened today when a tech came to take Hattie's blood for the Florida infant screening. We had not yet arrived at the hospital, but our nurse Shanna said that this tech was surprised that anyone would name their daughter "Hottie." The other nurses corrected her but not without a laugh! In fact, the nurses all love Hattie's name and often refer to her as "Little Miss Hattie" or "Hattie Harper" in a sing-song voice. We love it!

We took a field trip to Jeremiah's Italian Ice for a treat during shift change. Afterward, we helped with Hattie's evening hands on time. She lost 5 grams today and is down to 1,245 grams. It's nothing to be worried about—all the doctor looks for is an upward trend week to week, not anything on a daily basis.

We prayed with Hattie before heading out to meet Scott and Ali for dinner on their last night in town. It was so hard leaving Hattie after such a great day. She was just so peaceful in her bed and she was wide awake with the one eye we could see looking around. We were thankful to spend time with our good friends who traveled so far to see us and to meet our sweet girl. Melissa and Ali talked on and on about all things baby and I think it was good for them to have the time together.

Melissa and I have been fixated on a song for the past couple of days because it makes us think of Hattie. We've been playing Gungor's "Beautiful Things" over and over in the car. The chorus reads, "You make beautiful things / You make beautiful things out of the dust / You make beautiful things / You make beautiful things out of us." We thank God daily for making our beautiful Hattie. She is such a blessing.

categories Hattie Updates, Photos

Couldn't Wait to See Her! 1/31/13

January 31, 2013Melissa

My heart was longing to see Hattie when I woke up this morning. It put me in a hurry and I rushed my sister out of the house so we could get to the hospital to see my sweet girl! I was so happy to kangaroo with Hattie for several hours today. I don't think holding her will ever get old! While I was kangarooing, Dr. Alexander arrived to do Hattie's examination. I took her out of my shirt and placed her on my lap and Dr. A did the exam right in my lap! He said Hattie is doing well and her rash from her diaper is looking much better.

Our dear friends from Boston, Ali and Scott, came to meet Hattie today! Baby Aldrich is due in April—Hattie will either have a best girl friend or a perfect suitor for marriage! During shift change, lots of friends from my Traditions team at Disney visited and brought us dinner. We continue to feel humbled by the support from our family, friends, coworkers and strangers. Thank you for sustaining us with your love.

Hattie weighs 1,203 grams or 2 pounds, 10.4 ounces. Her next milestone is 1,500 grams; we're told once she hits 1,500 grams she will move out of her incubator into a small plastic crib.

Chris and Hattie kangarooed tonight and there was a lot of commotion in the room next door. Hattie's roommate has not been feeling well this week and kept crying. As soon as the baby stopped crying, Hattie's feeding machine or her bed would beep, causing the baby to start crying again, then Hattie would squeal or get restless and we'd start the whole thing over. Hattie handled it well and snuggled up to her daddy.