Friday, November 2, 2007
Almost Home
The van is ready for our little girl to come home. Daddy's on the way to the hospital now.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
In-Room Wireless Access
Hey there, faithful readers,
Katherine here, blogging from a NEW LOCATION!
No, I'm not home yet, BUT the mean nurses stopped being mean this morning and took out my stupid feeding tube. Since that was the only thing keeping me in Nursery City, I've moved on to Mommy's room and get to stay with her all the time now. How cool is that?! Daddy and Mommy already have spent so much time cuddling with me today. It was so great!
We had a bunch of visitors today. A bunch of family visited, a lady from Mommy's work came, and a couple of Daddy's friends even stopped by.
I still spend a lot of time sleeping though, instead of entertaining company. I even still fall asleep after a while of eating, which frustrates Mommy and Daddy sometimes because they keep wanting me to get bigger. But apparently I've gained weight three days in a row now, so I must be doing something right.
I overheard Daddy talking to Mommy about stuff he bought for my carrier and the van to get stuff ready for when I leave here. It's so exciting to think that I might get to go home soon!
We'll see what happens. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers of support and good wishes. Keep them up. Talk to you again soon!
Love,
KTB
Sorry, but only one picture this time.:
Daddy says: Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen? Note the little red mark on her left cheek where the tape for her feeding tube was.
Katherine here, blogging from a NEW LOCATION!
No, I'm not home yet, BUT the mean nurses stopped being mean this morning and took out my stupid feeding tube. Since that was the only thing keeping me in Nursery City, I've moved on to Mommy's room and get to stay with her all the time now. How cool is that?! Daddy and Mommy already have spent so much time cuddling with me today. It was so great!
We had a bunch of visitors today. A bunch of family visited, a lady from Mommy's work came, and a couple of Daddy's friends even stopped by.
I still spend a lot of time sleeping though, instead of entertaining company. I even still fall asleep after a while of eating, which frustrates Mommy and Daddy sometimes because they keep wanting me to get bigger. But apparently I've gained weight three days in a row now, so I must be doing something right.
I overheard Daddy talking to Mommy about stuff he bought for my carrier and the van to get stuff ready for when I leave here. It's so exciting to think that I might get to go home soon!
We'll see what happens. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers of support and good wishes. Keep them up. Talk to you again soon!
Love,
KTB
Sorry, but only one picture this time.:
Daddy says: Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen? Note the little red mark on her left cheek where the tape for her feeding tube was.Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Happy Halloween!
Hi there!
There's a lot to say this time around so let's get started:
First off, I'm now more than a week old. Can you believe it's already been a week?
The blue light special WAS successful in chasing away bad ol' Billy Ruben and his jaundice, so they took the light away yesterday. Bear and I don't have to wear our sunglasses anymore, though I have to say that I looked quite stylish in them. :-p
Not only that, but the mean nurses moved me out of my apartment! They think I'm keeping warm enough on my own, so now I get to sleep in a crib without any heat. That's okay, though, because it helps me stay more alert when Mommy and I do feedings.
Speaking of feedings, I'm eating a lot better so I'm gaining weight! Mr. Doctor even lowered the amount of food their pushing through the stupid tube so that I eat more that Mommy gives me.
Probably the best part is that I get to wear clothes now! (religiously) I was naked, and they clothed me. It helps me stay warm but also gives people another reason to "ooh" and "ahh" at me -- besides the fact that I'm already so adorable. He he --
DADDY SAYS: Um, Katherine. You may have a big head in proportion to your body, but let's not go overboard yet, okay sweetheart? Love you, honey!
Ahem. Anyway...check out the picture below of me looking like a pumpkin for Halloween. Big thanks to Mommy for the hand-made hat and Aunt Amy for the cute outfit. ;-)
So it's all good news where I'm concerned. Mommy and Daddy are SO happy. They tell me that it's possible -- and just possible -- that I'll go home by the end of this weekend. Cross your fingers and say your prayers that I'll be as big and strong as I need to be to go home when the time is right and that the nurses and doctors will make the right decisions.
Okay, it's time to sleep, but first more pictures!
My very first outfit. I hadn't left the apartment quite yet.
Chillin' in my crib.
(You don't know how long Daddy has been waiting to type that)
Yay! I'm a little pumpkin! Happy Halloween everybody!
There's a lot to say this time around so let's get started:
First off, I'm now more than a week old. Can you believe it's already been a week?
The blue light special WAS successful in chasing away bad ol' Billy Ruben and his jaundice, so they took the light away yesterday. Bear and I don't have to wear our sunglasses anymore, though I have to say that I looked quite stylish in them. :-p
Not only that, but the mean nurses moved me out of my apartment! They think I'm keeping warm enough on my own, so now I get to sleep in a crib without any heat. That's okay, though, because it helps me stay more alert when Mommy and I do feedings.
Speaking of feedings, I'm eating a lot better so I'm gaining weight! Mr. Doctor even lowered the amount of food their pushing through the stupid tube so that I eat more that Mommy gives me.
Probably the best part is that I get to wear clothes now! (religiously) I was naked, and they clothed me. It helps me stay warm but also gives people another reason to "ooh" and "ahh" at me -- besides the fact that I'm already so adorable. He he --
DADDY SAYS: Um, Katherine. You may have a big head in proportion to your body, but let's not go overboard yet, okay sweetheart? Love you, honey!
Ahem. Anyway...check out the picture below of me looking like a pumpkin for Halloween. Big thanks to Mommy for the hand-made hat and Aunt Amy for the cute outfit. ;-)
So it's all good news where I'm concerned. Mommy and Daddy are SO happy. They tell me that it's possible -- and just possible -- that I'll go home by the end of this weekend. Cross your fingers and say your prayers that I'll be as big and strong as I need to be to go home when the time is right and that the nurses and doctors will make the right decisions.
Okay, it's time to sleep, but first more pictures!
My very first outfit. I hadn't left the apartment quite yet.
Chillin' in my crib.(You don't know how long Daddy has been waiting to type that)
Yay! I'm a little pumpkin! Happy Halloween everybody!Monday, October 29, 2007
Meet the Neighbors
Okay fans,
There's not much news where I'm concerned but it doesn't mean this day wasn't worth talking about.
I did overhear Mommy, Daddy, and Mean Nurse Stephanie talking about how the blue light special will probably go away tomorrow. That's good, because sleeping is much more comfortable without those sunglasses strapped to my head. Bear was telling me that his shades are getting a bit uncomfortable since he borrowed them from Mr. Potato Head -- whose head, incidentally, is narrower than Bear's.
There was a flurry of activity outside of my apartment today. At least three new kids moved into the neighborhood. Two of them had to get a bunch of special attention since they are brother and sister and moved out of their Mommy's tummy about a week earlier than I did. I guess they're not breathing as well as I am, so that's too bad. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Another baby is on the other side of the room. I hear him or her cry every once and a while, but it doesn't bother me much since my apartment is pretty well shielded from the outside noise.
I only got to see Daddy for a few minutes today and didn't see Big Brother at all because of all the commotion. Kind of a bummer, but there's always tomorrow.
I guess I still need to be patient WHILE I'm still a patient...in the hospital...now with neighbors.
You get one picture from today:
A thousand words.
There's not much news where I'm concerned but it doesn't mean this day wasn't worth talking about.
I did overhear Mommy, Daddy, and Mean Nurse Stephanie talking about how the blue light special will probably go away tomorrow. That's good, because sleeping is much more comfortable without those sunglasses strapped to my head. Bear was telling me that his shades are getting a bit uncomfortable since he borrowed them from Mr. Potato Head -- whose head, incidentally, is narrower than Bear's.
There was a flurry of activity outside of my apartment today. At least three new kids moved into the neighborhood. Two of them had to get a bunch of special attention since they are brother and sister and moved out of their Mommy's tummy about a week earlier than I did. I guess they're not breathing as well as I am, so that's too bad. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Another baby is on the other side of the room. I hear him or her cry every once and a while, but it doesn't bother me much since my apartment is pretty well shielded from the outside noise.
I only got to see Daddy for a few minutes today and didn't see Big Brother at all because of all the commotion. Kind of a bummer, but there's always tomorrow.
I guess I still need to be patient WHILE I'm still a patient...in the hospital...now with neighbors.
You get one picture from today:
A thousand words.Sunday, October 28, 2007
Daddy's Update
Hey friends and family,
"Daddy" here, giving you an update on our little girl and sharing a bit from our perspective on how things are going.
We've been happy to hear all good news about Katherine. The doctor most recently told us that she's doing almost as well as a full-term baby when it comes to her lungs and jaundice and that we can expect her to be in the hospital for much less than three weeks. How long that is depends on how well she gains weight between now and then.
So her lungs are awesome. She can scream with the best of them! The nurses have even said they hear her very well when she's upset with her isolet closed up.
Katherine's bilirubin count and jaundice has been coming down thanks to the photo therapy she's been getting the last couple of days. In fact, the light has been on the lower of two settings and is still getting the job done. We can expect the photo therapy to be complete in the next couple of days.
She's eating better thanks to a small plastic device that Glenda uses while nursing. Miss Katherine has a better target to latch onto with it and nursed a lot better and for longer each time today. She even does better if she can get started with it and then it's taken away a short time later. They expect that after a while she won't need it at all.
We hope to see some good weight gain from her in the next several days. She backslid a little, then gained a little, and then backslid a little, so we have yet to see consistent improvement. The doctor did say, however, that when Katherine starts gaining weight consistently then she'll be able to move to a regular crib. That's great news, but we also want to make sure that she's making really good gains before moving so that she'll be less likely to backslide and head back to the isolet.
Benjamin seems to be holding up pretty well under the circumstances. He's been his typical self and hasn't really shown any noticeable signs of stress or frustration. I think it helps that he gets to come home every night and sleep in his own bed. We're hoping that going to school this week will be good for him, keeping as much normalcy in his life as possible.
He does love his sister a lot and really thinks she's cool. He likes to go down to the nursery and just watch her sleep and especially likes being able to see her awake and touch her when she comes out of the isolet for nursing. It was so cute the other day: He very sheepishly mentioned that he might want to call her something other than "Katherine." I guess he thought he'd get in trouble for calling her something else. I told him that it's fine to call her something else, and he said he'd kind of like to call her "Katie." He hasn't since then, but he now has parental permission if he wants to. :-)
Glenda and I are hanging in there. I'll be honest. It's been rough on us.
For her it's been spending nearly all her time at the hospital. When I say that, I mean that she's reluctantly left once for an hour Saturday since having the baby Tuesday. Living in a place that's so sterile and un-homely takes its toll and I've been trying to encourage her to get out, even if it's just for an hour or two at a time max.
I've gotten to the point that I cringe at the prospect of going back there. I want to see my wife and baby but have no interest in seeing that place. We've been there so many times since labor day weekend and spent SO much time there since the baby was born that I'm tired of it. My stress level rises higher and higher the longer I'm there. It felt really good to come home this evening even though I hated having to leave my two favorite ladies there.
So in summary, it's stressful but finite. Katherine is improving but we hate having to deal with any of this in the first place. But know it's best for her.
So keep us in your thoughts and prayers and please visit if you get the chance. Visitors really do brighten up our day.
Smiles,
Michael
Oh yeah, can't have a blog post without some pictures:
Katherine and I enjoy some time together.
Bear got tired of the bright blue light and found some shades of his own.
Grandma Jana got to touch Katherine for the first time after a feeding Sunday.
"Daddy" here, giving you an update on our little girl and sharing a bit from our perspective on how things are going.
We've been happy to hear all good news about Katherine. The doctor most recently told us that she's doing almost as well as a full-term baby when it comes to her lungs and jaundice and that we can expect her to be in the hospital for much less than three weeks. How long that is depends on how well she gains weight between now and then.
So her lungs are awesome. She can scream with the best of them! The nurses have even said they hear her very well when she's upset with her isolet closed up.
Katherine's bilirubin count and jaundice has been coming down thanks to the photo therapy she's been getting the last couple of days. In fact, the light has been on the lower of two settings and is still getting the job done. We can expect the photo therapy to be complete in the next couple of days.
She's eating better thanks to a small plastic device that Glenda uses while nursing. Miss Katherine has a better target to latch onto with it and nursed a lot better and for longer each time today. She even does better if she can get started with it and then it's taken away a short time later. They expect that after a while she won't need it at all.
We hope to see some good weight gain from her in the next several days. She backslid a little, then gained a little, and then backslid a little, so we have yet to see consistent improvement. The doctor did say, however, that when Katherine starts gaining weight consistently then she'll be able to move to a regular crib. That's great news, but we also want to make sure that she's making really good gains before moving so that she'll be less likely to backslide and head back to the isolet.
Benjamin seems to be holding up pretty well under the circumstances. He's been his typical self and hasn't really shown any noticeable signs of stress or frustration. I think it helps that he gets to come home every night and sleep in his own bed. We're hoping that going to school this week will be good for him, keeping as much normalcy in his life as possible.
He does love his sister a lot and really thinks she's cool. He likes to go down to the nursery and just watch her sleep and especially likes being able to see her awake and touch her when she comes out of the isolet for nursing. It was so cute the other day: He very sheepishly mentioned that he might want to call her something other than "Katherine." I guess he thought he'd get in trouble for calling her something else. I told him that it's fine to call her something else, and he said he'd kind of like to call her "Katie." He hasn't since then, but he now has parental permission if he wants to. :-)
Glenda and I are hanging in there. I'll be honest. It's been rough on us.
For her it's been spending nearly all her time at the hospital. When I say that, I mean that she's reluctantly left once for an hour Saturday since having the baby Tuesday. Living in a place that's so sterile and un-homely takes its toll and I've been trying to encourage her to get out, even if it's just for an hour or two at a time max.
I've gotten to the point that I cringe at the prospect of going back there. I want to see my wife and baby but have no interest in seeing that place. We've been there so many times since labor day weekend and spent SO much time there since the baby was born that I'm tired of it. My stress level rises higher and higher the longer I'm there. It felt really good to come home this evening even though I hated having to leave my two favorite ladies there.
So in summary, it's stressful but finite. Katherine is improving but we hate having to deal with any of this in the first place. But know it's best for her.
So keep us in your thoughts and prayers and please visit if you get the chance. Visitors really do brighten up our day.
Smiles,
Michael
Oh yeah, can't have a blog post without some pictures:
Katherine and I enjoy some time together.
Bear got tired of the bright blue light and found some shades of his own.
Grandma Jana got to touch Katherine for the first time after a feeding Sunday.Blue Light Special
Greetings again, my loyal readers,So apparently, some guy named "Billy Ruben" has been bothering me some, so the mean nurses have turned on this bright blue light inside my apartment to scare him away. They say he brings some thing called "jaundice" and that I don't want any of that from him. I get to wear these really cool sunglasses while the light's on and get kind of a nice tan in the process! ;-)
I got a brand new visitor yesterday! Grandpa Glenn came to see me! He'd been in another hospital himself because his leg was hurting and they needed to fix it. So he finally broke out of there yesterday and the first thing he did was come to see me. Isn't that sweet? It was nice to hear him in person -- though I couldn't see him because of my sunglasses. Oh well.
Another first happened Saturday: Big Brother got to hold me for the very first time! That was awesome! After Mommy and Daddy held me for a little while, they gave Big Brother a shot at it and he did great. It was nice to be in his arms for just a little bit.
The mean nurses and Mommy and Daddy all say that I'm kind of impatient. I don't know what's up with that, because I'm pretty sure that being in a hospital means that I'm patient. Hello guys! My Daddy likes to tell other people "patience ain't just sick people in a hospital." Maybe that's what he's talking about? Anyway, I do the best I can to let the mean nurses do what they have to do to me and to not fuss and wiggle when feeding or getting my diaper changed. I guess I have some to work on, but that's okay. I'll get there, yeah?
The doctors and mean nurses seem to all think that I won't be here any more than 3 weeks, and some think it'll be quite a bit shorter than that. I'm SOOOOOOO looking forward to going home with Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother soon. That'll be nice to get out of here.
I guess I just need to be patient.
Love,
Katherine
Now, some more pictures!:
Here's a good picture of me tanning and keeping nasty ol' Mr. Ruben away. Check out the shades!
Big Brother looks on as I tan.
Big Brother holding me for the first time!
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