Hearing Test Passed 3/22/13

March 22, 2013Melissa

Hattie ate 13 cc of her 1:30 a.m. bottle and slept through her 4:30 feeding. When I arrived this morning at 7:30 a.m. Nurse Kristi was holding Hattie. She'd been crying because she was hungry. I fed her right away and she ate her entire bottle—this baby acts like we never feed her! This was the start to a wonderful day: Hattie ate five full bottles! Hattie's hearing was rechecked today. A nurse came with a fancy rolling computer cart and placed probes on Hattie's shoulder, forehead and neck. She placed sticky earmuffs on Hattie's ears and the test began. Hattie passed on the left ear almost immediately. It took about ten minutes for Hattie's right ear to finish testing but she passed! The nurse was so sweet and shared with me that she was born premature at 28 weeks 20 years ago. She spent four months in the NICU and Dr. Alexander was her doctor. I love all of the miracles I get to see every day around here!

Hattie's vaccine at 1:30 p.m. means no polio for this little girl! She is doing extremely well tolerating her vaccines. Nurse Kristi covered Hattie's eyes while she gave her the shot because she didn't want Hattie to associate her with pain. I think the shot hurt Kristi more than it hurt Hattie...

Hattie and I kangarooed and I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the back of the chair. Hattie must've been pretty comfortable too because she slid herself so far down in my shirt that we had to pull her out from the bottom!

It was bath time for sweet Hattie tonight. We're grateful Hattie likes the bath because we've been told a lot of preemies have sensory overload when they get in the water.

Hattie slept through 10:30 p.m. feeding. Her heart rate was in the 120s and we could tell she was very relaxed.

Since Hattie gained a whopping 100 grams yesterday we were thinking it might have been a mistake. It wasn't: she gained again and now our little piggy weighs 2,564 grams or 5 pounds, 10.4 ounces.

categories Hattie Updates, Photos

Snoring 3/21/13

March 21, 2013Melissa

Hattie slept soundly for her 1:30 a.m. feeding and woke herself up about 15 minutes before her 4:30 a.m. feeding. She took her whole bottle from Nurse Maria in about ten minutes. Maria gave Hattie another dose of Tylenol at 4:30 a.m. to ensure she didn't have any pain or soreness in her leg from her shot last night. Hattie had a monster poop during her 7:30 a.m. hands-on and the nurse gavage fed her because she wasn't cueing. She slept right through her 10:30 a.m. feed too.

Hattie started getting antsy about 15 minutes before her 1:30 p.m. feed. It's so cute how she lets us know she's getting hungry. She starts sucking on her hands and lifting up her legs. She lets out little grunts, squeals and one loud cry every now and then. Once we open up her swaddle she stretches out her arms and legs and pulls on the blanket above her head and tries to eat it. It's so great that Hattie recognizes when she's hungry and wakes herself up! She gobbled up her bottle in 13 minutes.

For the very first time ever I put her inside my shirt all by myself to kangaroo. I get completely lost in her when we kangaroo. She's never completely still and I love feeling her little knees dig into my belly or her nails scratch lightly at my chest. I love to see how the long hair on the back of her head falls over the blanket. I wonder what she's thinking about as she rests so peacefully. Today she got so relaxed she was snoring. Every now and then she lets out a relaxing sigh or a little squeal reminding me she is perfectly content. I am perfectly content too holding you sweet girl and I am lucky to be your mama.

Audio of Hattie snoring:

Hattie ate three more full bottles at 4:30, 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. She weighs 2,553 grams or 5 pounds, 10 ounces. Hattie gained 100 grams since yesterday!

Chris kangarooed with Hattie and it was supposed to be followed by her fourth immunization. But she did not get it because there was some sort of problem with the needle the pharmacy provided. The correct needle has been ordered and she will get it tomorrow (it's not a problem to skip a day). For tonight, her chunky little leg gets a rest.

categories Hattie Updates, Photos

Soaking It In 3/19/13

March 19, 2013Melissa

Hattie slept through her 1:30 a.m. hands on time but woke up to eat at 4:30 a.m. She ate all but 4 cc of her 7:30 a.m. bottle. I had breakfast at a diner with my friend Kristen and her cute son Jones. We love having friends who are from Orlando and let us in on hidden treasure restaurants around town.

While I was gone Hattie had her hearing test. The nurse told me not to freak out but she did not pass on her right side. I had no indication her hearing test would be today and didn't get much more information except that they will retest Hattie's hearing again before she is discharged.

Hattie slept during her 10:30 a.m. feed. I nursed her at 1:30 p.m. and she ate 10 cc. The inconsistency in breastfeeding is so challenging! I can be quite impatient sometimes and I think this is an exercise in God teaching me to be more patient.

We had really great kangaroo time this afternoon; Hattie was super comfortable. Each time, I soak it all in and enjoy every minute. I'm soaking in her intoxicating smell, the sound of her breath in and out and memorizing her little grunts and squeaks. I am overjoyed Hattie and I have this time to spend together. I will never have this time with her again, ever. And whenever we have another baby I will never have this time to spend with him or her. It's incredible to me that I have spent 12 to 16 hours per day, every day for the past 73 days, sitting in a room with this little baby and there is no where else I'd rather be. No where else. I am living every moment to the fullest and soaking in that I get a front-row seat to God's mercy and His miracle of Hattie.

Chris got to the hospital earlier than usual this afternoon so we had some extra time together as a family. Hattie is awake more often now as she's getting closer to full term. It's fun to talk to her, play with her and read to her. I read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and I'm convinced she liked looking at the colorful pictures even though we've heard she can only see shapes and contrast up to about a foot in front of her.

Hattie had her second immunization today. Nurse Maria set up an immunization station. This was the first one Chris saw and I know it broke his heart to see his little girl in pain. She let out a little squeak and then cried extremely loud. She recovered quickly but only ate a little more than half her bottle at 7:30 p.m. We blame it again on the Tylenol making her sleepy.

Chris and Hattie kangarooed tonight and then he fed her a bottle at 10:30 p.m. and she left 7 cc. We are holding the Tylenol responsible for this too...

Hattie gained one gram and now weighs 2,432 grams or 5 pounds, 5.79 ounces.

categories Hattie Updates, Photos

Cupcake-Scented Baby 3/18/13

March 18, 2013Melissa

Hattie ate her whole bottle at 1:30 a.m. and slept through her 4:30 a.m. feed. She breastfed at 7:30 a.m. and ate more than half her feed (26 cc)! She didn't wake up for her 10:30 a.m. feed. Dr. Alexander gave me lots of updates today. Hattie needs to master eating before she can leave the NICU. She needs to take all eight full feeds orally for 48 hours. Then she will be put on an "ad lib" feeding schedule where she decides when and how much she wants to eat. (Right now she eats every three hours.) Once she is ad lib she will have to hit a quota of milk for each shift and cannot go more than four hours without eating. Dr. A mentioned she will need to do the car seat trial, have an MRI and get a hearing test before she leaves. He never actually said the word discharge but we know it's getting closer!

Hattie started her two month immunizations. She will get one shot per day for the next five days. Nurse April gave Hattie two milligrams of liquid Tylenol through her tube. We let the Tylenol work for about an hour and then Hattie experienced her first shot--no hepatitis B for this baby! April gave Hattie the shot in her right thigh; I'm glad she has some chub on her legs now to help absorb the pain. The shot startled Hattie and she screamed a silent cry and turned beet red.

Hattie left 20 cc in her 1:30 p.m. bottle. We are attributing her not finishing her bottle to her being drowsy from the Tylenol. We kangarooed until her 4:30 p.m. feed and when I put her back in her bed she was rooting around like a crazy baby. Nurse April fed Hattie a bottle (I desperately needed to pump) and she ate the whole thing!

Chris gave Hattie a bath tonight and she loved it. He did an excellent job and was so sweet talking to her while he was bathing her. As soon as he pulled her out of the water she pooped on the towel--I guess she was really relaxed! We used new soap and lotion the NICU is testing and it made Hattie smell like a cupcake.

Hattie took her whole bottle for me at 7:30 p.m. I held her on my shoulder for a while before passing her off to Chris to kangaroo. Hattie took her whole bottle for him at 10:30 p.m.

We are celebrating that Hattie nippled six feeds today and of those ate four full bottles. Our big girl weighs 2,431 grams or 5 pounds, 5.75 ounces.

As I was driving home tonight I could smell Hattie's cupcake lotion on me and I couldn't help but tear up wishing my sweet girl was in the car with me.

categories Hattie Updates, Photos

Our Turn for Eye Exams 3/16/13

March 16, 2013Chris

Just a couple of weeks after Hattie's stellar eye exam, Melissa and I had a joint eye appointment at 10:00 this morning. The experience took longer than we expected since we both had to get dilated and Melissa had to order new glasses. As the doctor was putting the dilation drops in our eyes we couldn't help but think about our baby girl; we knew what was happening but when Hattie's eyes were dilated she had no idea. Two and a half hours later, we were finally done and chowed down on some Chick-fil-A as we rushed to the hospital, barely able to make it there in time for Hattie's 1:30 p.m. hands-on and feeding time. I kangarooed with Hattie in the afternoon and we both enjoyed a much needed nap. This has been a long week at work and I'm pretty tired—apparently tired enough that Hattie and I were both caught sleeping with our mouths open and snoring. But any embarrassment was outweighed by how great we felt afterward.

Hattie's feedings went well today and she is steadily improving how often she eats from the bottle. She ate full bottles at 1:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Her other four feeds were through her tube. When she does eat from the bottle, she usually eats the whole thing which is a great sign. As she continues to develop, her stamina will increase and she will want her bottle more often. Of course, we aren't lost on the fact that we are going on her timing and this is not the first time Hattie will be in charge!