I'm going home!

Thanks to all the wonderful care from the doctors and nurses at SMMC! It's time to go home!

Busy Day

As we prepare to leave the hospital, we get to experience a little of what life as parents of a newborn will be like:




Sleeping better since I'm near Mom and Dad all night!




Grandma (Bibi) and Grandpa (Babu) arrive to help with the transition home! Babu hasn't had a chance to hold me yet...







Our labor and delivery nurse for both Monica and Caitlin stops by to finally hold the peanut! She has been visiting Caitlin in the NICU every time she works and whispering words of encouragement into her ears! It's helped!




Dad multi-tasking




Mom multi-tasking (don't worry, Caitlin, you'll get to eat the Ben and Jerry's ice cream bar later!!)

We have a baby in our room!

Next stop: Home! (They want her here for at least another 48 hours though)

Dad came by to visit on his break!

Holding the burrito - wire and tube free - for the first time!

She is sleeping and happy to be out of the noisy NICU!

Hiccup!

Experimenting with the new video camera!

2 Big Changes

As we thought might happen on Tuesday, Caitlin was taken off all supplemental oxygen, and was moved from an isolette to a crib! What a big girl! Now the last remaining hurdle is feeding! Once she takes all her meals by mouth, we can go home. Mom and Caitlin are both working hard on that.

Catching Up

Sorry it's been a couple days since we've posted!

Caitlin has made great progress, and still seems to be catching up on sleep. We had a fun Sunday of snuggling, and today she's been a breast feeding champ!

There are rumors that she will come off of oxygen tomorrow, and transition from the isolette to a "crib", essentially just a more open bed. This will make it much easier to take her out for feedings and for snuggles!

Dad had to go back to work today, but came for some Caitlin time at lunch. He'll get to see her a couple times a day still, so we are grateful for that.

Here are a few pictures from the past couple days; we're anxious to get some good ones tomorrow of her with fewer 'accessories'!



Cutest strawberry! Thanks Amie for the adorable outfit :)




Smiling during Dad snuggles.




Passed out after Mom made her work for her food!

Sleepy Girl

After a long week, Caitlin declared Saturday her day of rest. She could not keep her eyes open! That didn't stop us from having lots of cuddle time though!




Shutting out the noise of the NICU so I could rest.



Who likes to cuddle with Dad? I do!



This was a comfy spot on Dad's arm.



Snug as a bug in a rug.



Mommy snuggles after a great breast feeding effort.



A perfect fit!



Good night!

My Accomplishments

Caitlin wanted to share her accomplishments in the past 24 hours:

-I gained 2 ounces! I now weigh 5 pounds 3 ounces, only 3 ounces from my birthweight!
-I am getting more breast milk now, 30 mL every three hours! This means I get to stop my supplemental IV nutrition soon!
-I breast fed for 7 minutes this morning! It really tuckered me out, who knew they were going to make me work this hard for my food?
-Like a true girl, I changed my outfit in the middle of the day yesterday. I almost fit in newborn clothes!
-My bilirubin level continues to look good, so no lights for me!
-They are slowly decreasing the oxygen I receive. In a few more days, it might even be gone!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers for me! With the help of you, my parents, and my big sister Monica, I am getting stronger every day!





Here I am, the Queen of Hearts reclining on my throne!

More One Week Old Pictures

Dreaming of coming home....




Cincinnati Reds win! Dad is happy, Caitlin is too!




Afternoon milk coma.




Dad is so big and I am so small!

One week old!

Now that Caitlin is getting bigger and healthier, she gets to wear her own clothes now and snuggle with mom and dad whenever she wants!  It's a good week-old present.  She also gets to eat more, so that is good.  Slowly but surely she is getting better and better.

Little monkey Caitlin

So Fresh and So Clean Clean

Mom got to participate in a 2 am bath this morning! Caitlin got her hair washed for the first time, and had a couple moments when she was none too happy with the cleaning.


She smelled like a nice clean baby when she was done!

Alfalfa?

I don't think I like this!

Taking a bath is hard work!  Just ask my Aunts on mom's side!

...whoah

All better

Baby Snuggles

We finally were able to snuggle with Caitlin after she got her ventilator tube out! As they remove more of the wires from her, it will be easier and easier to give her lots of loving. Right now, she is still receiving her treatment under the lights for high bilirubin levels, so we've been somewhat limited in our time with her. But very soon we'll be able to hold her whenever we want! We're pretty sure this little girl is not going to ever touch the floor or a swing after we leave the hospital.

Too tired to load pictures!

Snuggling with your baby will do that to you. That's right... We both got some quality kangaroo care holding little Caitlin today! More to come tomorrow...

See ya later, ventilator!

Caitlin is moving on up in the world and no longer needs the ventilator!  She still gets a little oxygen help from the flow tube under her nose, but this is a great step forward.  She is now able to get some food, courtesy of some dedicated pumping, so she is a happy little girl.  Let's hope she keeps up the good work tomorrow.  

Love you mom!

Just hanging out with dad's finger under the lights

4 days old! (Well, almost)

Not a whole lot of news to report yet today other than her continued progress. They are starting to wean her off of the ventilator's help, and we are hoping that will happen this afternoon or later on tonight. It's all up to Caitlin, though, and she is making it mighty clear that she does things at her own pace! We are happy with the progress she makes each day.

I don't have any pictures on my phone, but I will try to add some tonight or tomorrow.

Baby C in the NICU

Just a quick update today. Caitlin is slowly but surely making progress and getting her lungs better. It is hard for us not being able to hold her and snuggle with her, but I am trying to look at this as an external womb that I can watch! We will still get to do all the new parent things, just not quite yet.

Here is a quick run down of her treatments:
- she has been on the ventilator since Saturday night to help her lungs catch up with the rest of her. She still does a lot of the breathing work and they are slowly weaning her off of the ventilator. She also was able to get some surfactant, a substance that the body makes and allows the lungs to do their job. This tides her over until her body can make more.
- she has not been able to eat yet because of the other concerns and having a breathing tube, so she gets nutrients through her iv. Food will be the next thing to work on once the respiratory issues clear up.
- she is under some phototherapy lights right now to help with jaundice. Apparently nearly every preemie has to do that at some point. She looks like she is in a baby tanning bed.
We just talked to the neonatalogist that will be watching over her this week, and she told us she just read the book on being a preemie and is acting accordingly.
It's still scary to have a baby in the NICU, but we are so grateful to have her here, in such great hands, especially after losing her big sister Monica.

Keep your good thoughts and prayers coming!

Life in the NICU

Since Caitlin is a little under cooked, she is spending some time in the NICU helping her transition to life on the outside.  She currently has a CPAP with oxygen to help her with breathing, and the NICU staff is waiting to see if she will need any additional help (like a ventilator).  It looks and sounds scarier than it is; these are just things that can happen with a 35 weeker.  She's a feisty one, and is making progress every time we visit her.

Baby Caitlin is here!

Caitlin Marie 
4:25 pm April 13, 2012
5 lbs 6 oz.
17 in.
kicking and screaming.