Signing Off

Well, we have decided it is time to sign off on Allison's NICU progress blog. We thank all of you from the bottoms of our hearts for following her progress and for your prayers and well wishes. She continues to thrive here at home, weighing in last week at 11lb, 12 oz and 21" long! We are constantly amazed at her progress and just what a miracle she really is. For those of you who would like to keep up with her progress and just see shots of our daily lives, we are on Facebook and frequently post pictures there (it is much easier, the blog has given me many problems lately uploading photos, hence the lack of them). If you add either Kevin or myself as a "friend", we promise to confirm. Again, thank you everyone for joining us on this journey with our daughter, we are blessed to have you all.

P.S. I once again tried to attach some final photos here--with no luck--UGH! Please hop on Facebook. :)

August 6, 2009

Allison is doing great. She is very excited for her Welcome Home party on Sunday. :) She is still having a few issues with spitting up and reflux, but it has gotten better since we saw the doctor last week. She is definitely still feisty and active - I took the picture above this afternoon. She was playing her usual "scooting" game. This is where we put her to bed in her bassinet downstairs and she scoots all the way to the end of the bassinet and then cries because she can't scoot anymore. Notice the sock next to her--it was on her foot just a few minutes before I took this. :)

August 1, 2009

Hi everyone--sorry for the lag in recent postings, but as I am sure you can imagine, things are a bit hectic in the Jerry household these days. :) Allison is doing great. She is 10 lb, 2oz as of Friday morning. She is having some issues with reflux, so we took her to the pediatrician and hopefully we'll get it worked out. Below are some recent photos--relaxing all laid back in her swing and, of course, playing in her little gym, I tried to catch her just as she hit the rattle in the gym hanging above her, but of course, she was faster than me. :)

July 25, 2009

Allison is doing great! She is up 9lb, 8oz! Our little preemie just keeps growing, thank goodness. She had a visit from both grandmas yesterday and was wide awake for HOURS. It must have worn her out--here she is this afternoon--knocked out! :)

July 22, 2009

Just some recent photos of Allison--playing in her gym and hanging out with Grandpa.

July 18, 2009

We are having such a good time with our baby girl! We have our moments of tiredness (though they always seem to occur when she is wide awake and ready to play!), but they are overshadowed by moments like yesterday when we put Allison on her tummy time Teaparty playmat and she proceeded to roll over from her tummy to her back--all on her own! These little developmental victories are precious to us, because there was a time not so many months ago when we faced the prospect that she might not be able to do some of these things. She is weighing in at 8lb, 9oz. as of yesterday and continues to thrive and we couldn't feel more lucky. :)

July 15, 2009

Allison is doing great here at home. She definitely loves all the cool toys she has to play with! She can entertain herself for a good long time, especially in her Baby Gym (see above). She is a really good baby, sleeps about 4 hours between meals and really just likes to hang out in her swing or with Mommy & Daddy.

July 13, 2009

Allison is doing great at home. She loves her new toys and all the playtime she gets. Her sleep patterns definitely need some work--since she is usually up and ready to play...at 1am. She had her first pediatrician appointment today and he was amazed at her progress, even said you would never know she was a preterm baby. :) Above is a picture of her sleeping in her favorite toy--her swing!

July 10, 2009

Morning Naptime!

Allison's favorite lounge chair.

Allison is adjusting well to life here at home. She even let us sleep for 6 whole hours last night! Good baby! :)

July 9, 2009 Allison's Homecoming

Photos from Allison's homecoming from the NICU. Thank you Saddleback Women's Hospital NICU for our daughter. :)

July 9, 2009

Allison had a great night. She is 7lb, 3oz! Her nurse said she as a little fussy this morning, but they figured outfit was probably because she is ressed in a plain white hospital T-Shirt--we brought all her outfits home except for what she would need, but she apparently spit up on her outfit last night and we didn't leave any extras. Oops!

July 8, 2009

Well, we all 3 survived our "rooming in" Tuesday night! We are so glad we did it, we learned a lot about her sleep patterns and the noises she makes at night. Above is a picture of her and Daddy cuddling before bedtime--she was telling him a great story. :)

July 7, 2009

We are moving right along towards discharge on Thursday! Above is a picture from Allison's car seat test, which she passed with flying colors. (Sometimes preemies have trouble in the sitting up position with heart rate and breathing, so they test them before discharge.) She fussed for minute while getting situated, then fell right back to sleep. She also passed her hearing test yesterday and will have her last eye exam tomorrow (Dr. Weiss graciously agreed to come in after hours tomorrow night so that she didn't have to have her regular Thursday exam right before coming home). We are headed to the hospital in a little bit here to begin our "sleepover". :)

July 6, 2009

Allison will be coming home on Thursday! yay!!!! Mommy & Daddy will be "rooming in" at the hospital tomorrow night to make sure we have her routine down and can administer her medications and give her the breathing treatments she needs twice a day, then we get Wednesday to sleep and Thursday she's home! :)

July 5, 2009 Photos

Cuddling with Mommy & Daddy

Daddy's wedding ring--it fit all the way up her arm the day she was born.

July 5, 2009

Allison is doing great. She needed her oxygen for a bit between her 4pm and 8pm feeding--she wasn't setting off any alarms, but was just a little bit on the lower end of her oxygen saturation. But, after her 8pm feeding, she had it back off again and has had it off all night, so we will see how she does today. She had it off for a whole 24 hours (minus feeding time, she has to pop it back in for that) on the first try, which is excellent! She is definitely getting to be a little piggy, she ate 98 cc for Nadine at 4am this morning!!

July 4, 2009

Allison had a great night. Mommy & Daddy went back last night to give her a bath (our first attempt at this) and hang out with her. She is now 2,998 grams (6lb, 9.7 oz.) and is still off her oxygen this morning, she has only needed a little "wiff" while she eats so far and she did really well eating last night, too.

July 3, 2009

Updating from the hospital--Allison is having a great day! She is 6lb, 9oz and her feedings have been moved to "as needed", meaning they are going to let her wake up when she is hungry and eat what she wants. She took 90cc at 8:30am this morning and took 80cc for Mommy at 12 noon when she woke up hungry. She is also currently off her oxygen!!! It is just a trial, but she ate at noon with just a flow of .2 liters and 21% oxygen (room air) so they decided to give it a try. Her NG tube is back out, as well, meaning this is the first we have seen her beautiful face without any tubing. Photo is of her enjoying her swing again--LOVES that thing! :)

July 2, 2009 Afternoon

Allison had her very first time in a swing today--and she did great--she loved it! Best of all, it put her to sleep in just a few minutes--yay!!! And even better, it is the same model we have at home waiting for her so we KNOW she'll love it. :) She did really well today with everything else, too--she ate 2 bottle feedings perfectly and her oxygen was pretty steady at about 26-30%.

July 2, 2009 Morning

Our poor little pumpkin had a rough afternoon yesterday. It appears we may have reached her oxygen limit, as she just couldn't tolerate the drop from .2 to .1 and actually seemed to require a bit more oxygen % yesterday. She took all of her feedings by bottle until 3pm, she just couldn't do it--we think that was because she didn't t any sleep in between feedings (she had a follow head ultrasound and a breathing treatment and thus no nap). So, we had to put her NG tube temporarily back in and she was NOT happy--cried big crocodile tears--broke Mommy's heart. But, since that feeding she has done all the rest by bottle and done fine, she just needed a little break. To top it all off, she is a bit constipated due to the rice cereal and iron vitamins she gets. She continues to do well overall, though--her bloodwork was good and her lung x-ray was stable. So they will try again today to lower her oxygen flow and see how she does.

July 1, 2009 Morning

Allison had a great night. She hung out at about 23% oxygen and a flow of .2 most of the night and she ate like a champ--all bottle feedings! She is getting closer and closer to coming home-hopefully she'll be down to a flow of .1 today and we'll be able to tell from there if she'll tolerate being off the oxygen altogether.

June 30, 2009

Allison has had a fabulous day today! She is now NG tube free!! They took it out this morning since Dr. Nagle moved her up to all bottle feedings (FYI, the NG tube is the very thin orange and clear tube barely visible coming out of her nose in some of the close up photos). She ate very well foe at noon and 3pm and her nurse just called to say she did fantastic at 6pm, too--making 4 in a row and so far so good. She is also down to a flow of only .2 on her oxygen and on between 25-30%. Though when I got there this morning she wasn't on any oxygen since she had taken her nasal cannula out and had it on her forehead. :)

June 29, 2009

Allison is doing great today--she is down to a flow of only .3 on her oxygen! She is also... drumroll..... 6lbs, 1oz!! Our big girl is finally 6lbs! Her breathing treatments are down to only 1 every 12 hours and they are going to work this week on getting her completely done with those and off the oxygen. We should know by the end of the week if she can do it or if she'll need to come home with a very small amount. She also threw her very first "fit" today when Daddy tried to put her back in her crib -- she cried until he picked her back up and then she was a very happy girl! :)

June 28, 2009

Allison is doing great--she is 1 gram shy of 6lbs! Her oxygen is turned down to a flow of .4 and she is on 26-30%. She was a little tired today for her first bottle feeding, but it could be because of her reduced oxygen flow--she may take some time to get used to it. Her feedings are still by bottle every 2 out of 3, with hopes of moving her up next week if all goes well.

June 26, 2009 Afternoon

Allison had a great day today! She is down to a flow of .5 on her oxygen and only about 28-30%!! And, she ate like a champ for Mommy today and never had to have her oxygen turned up. Our big girl is also 5lb, 14 3/4 oz! She is creeeeping up on 6lbs!

June 25, 2009 Morning

Allison had a great night. She is up to 2648 grams (5lb, 13oz)! She did really well overnight on her feedings--she didn't have to be turned up on her oxygen and she stayed at .8 flow and 27-30%!

June 24, 2009 Afternoon

Allison had a great day today! She did so well with her first two morning bottle feeds that she got her 2:30pm feeding by a bottle, too and she did great. If she continues to do well, they will gradually get her up to all feeding by bottle and her NG tube will be history. Her lung x-ray came back clear (yay!!) so she is now on a low flow of .8 and doing well so far--they are going to try to slowly get her off the oxygen. Our big girl is also up to 5lb, 11.5oz.!

Above are some pictures from her baby shower today--thrown by daddy's wonderful co-workers! We cannot thank you all enough for everything! As you can see, Allison was wide eyed when Mommy told her about the wonderful shower--at least until she fell back asleep after about an hour. :)

June 24, 2009 Morning

Allison had a great night. She bottle fed 2 feedings in a row again overnight and did great! Her "off" feeding was at 5:30 and her nurse said it was a good thing because she was pretty tired. She's got until her 8:30 feeding to rest up. They will keep her on this schedule for a few days until she gets used to it and then advance her to every feeding--which is what she needs to do to come home. She had lab work and a chest x-ray to check her lungs this morning, the interpretation should be ready in a few hours.

June 23, 2009 Afternoon

Allison is doing great! She has been moved up to 2 of 3 feedings being bottle feedings, so we'll see how it goes. She had a developmental consult and they felt she was doing just fine and was ready to advance. We are cautiously optimistic that she'll be able to stay on this schedule this time and hopefully advance to every feeding next week. They discontinued her Reglan medication yesterday and she seems to be doing good with her digestion, though she did spit up a bit today, which is completely normal. Mommy even got a lesson from the Respiratory Therapist on giving her breathing treatments, which she may still need once a day or so when she comes home. Per Dr. Esparza, they are going to consider moving her treatments to every 9 hours vs. every 6 since she seems to be doing better.

June 23, 2009 Morning

Allison had a great day yesterday--she hit 5lb, 9oz! Her feedings have gone up to 46cc when she is not bottle feeding (bottles she can take the whole 60cc if she wants it). She is going to have a developmental consultation today to see if she is ready to move up to every feeding by bottle, which is a huge step towards her coming home. She gets more and more alert and stays awake for longer periods of time every day--it is so much fun to sit and hold her while she tells me a story (at least that's what she thinks she's doing--Mommy of course doesn't understand all the "ahh ahh ahh" and "eh eh eh" sounds just yet, but I'm working on it).

June 21, 2009 Father's Day Afternoon

Some photos from Allison's first Father's Day with Daddy. She even found time to go out shopping and get Daddy a present! :) She had on her best Father's Day outfit with matching bib that says "Daddy's Little Cupcake". The hat is separate and obviously still a bit too big. ha ha! She continues to eat like a champ, though and weighs 5 lb., 7oz. today.

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June 21, 2009 Morning

Allison had a great day yesterday. She did great with all of her bottle feedings--for the first time ever she didn't have to have her oxygen turned up at all while she ate. And she was only at 27-29%! Our big girl hit 5lb, 5oz yesterday too. Above is a picture of her after Daddy got done changing her 2nd diaper of the hour-that girl loves to fill up a clean diaper. :)

June 20, 2009 Morning

Allison had a great day yesterday--it was her 3 month birthday and she got a night time visit from Mommy & Daddy, complete with birthday cupcakes for everyone! She was her usual self and celebrated by being SOUND asleep for Daddy. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

June 19, 2009

Allison is 3 months old today--and 5lb, 2.1oz! She had a good night, eating an entire bottle (60cc vs. her normal 42) at 6pm for her nurse, Dawn, and then doing it again at midnight, eating the whole bottle. Of course, at 3am, she had a big residual - which is not all that shocking considering how much she ate. So, they are going to check her again at the 6am feeding to make sure it was just a one-time thing and that her digestion problems are not recurring. Other than that, she is just hanging out and getting bigger.

June 18, 2009

Photos from our visit today. Our sweet little girl was sooo sleepy she could only eat about 1/3 of her bottle -- it's hard work being 5 lbs. you know! :) Dr. Esparza is really happy with her progress and she gave no new orders for her today, saying she just needs to feed and grow right now. yay!

June 18, 2009

Our baby girl is 5 lbs. today!! She gained 50 grams yesterday, putting her at 2286 or 5lb, 1oz. Her oxygen is hovering at about 29-30%, which is down from last week. She had only one small spell when she began eating her 3am feed, but they don't really count that, as it happens sometimes. According to her night nurse, she is a happy girl this morning--all dressed up in a new outfit and ready for breakfast.

June 17, 2009

Allison did great today. she started getting rice cereal mixed in with her formula yesterday and so far, so good, she really seems to like it. It thickens up her formula and seems to make it easier for her to eat, less 'leaky cheeks", that's for sure. She was wide awake after eating again for about an hour, just looking around and smiling at anyone who would stop by and say hi, including Dr. Chen. She likes to coo at Dr. Chen, but then again she was there when Allison was born, so they are buddies. :) Her chest x-ray looked better from last week and she got to stop her MCT oil today since she is gaining weight all on her own, they don't think she needs it anymore.

June 16, 2009 Afternoon

Allison has had a great day. She ate like a champ for Mommy at Noon today, taking all 60 cc's; minus the drooling of course. She tends to drool a bit when taking her bottle, the nurses call her "leaky cheeks". ha ha. She is having a bit of reflux after eating, though, which is normal at this age, so they will be giving her some rice cereal in her formula starting tonight. She is getting to be such a grown up little baby, she was awake for a whole hour after eating today, just looking up at Mommy and cooing. Most fun I've had in a long time.

June 16, 2009

Allison had a really good night. She had no spells and is steady at about 31% oxygen. She is also 2250 grams today, which is 4lb, 15 3/4 oz.! Just 1/4 of an ounce more and she'll hit 5 lbs.!! Seems absolutely unreal to us. :)

June 15, 2009

Allison has had a pretty good two days. She got a visit from Grandma & Grandpa yesterday! Her lung x-ray looked a little bit better today so it appears giving her a break and reducing her bottle feedings to every other one might be working. She is up to 2190 grams (4lb, 13 oz.). She was wide awake today, seemed much less tired. She was showing off her little purple flower outfit today as you can see, even with the too long sleeves. :) I know I'm biased, but HOW cute is that little face??? hee hee

June 14, 2009 Morning

Allison had a really good night. she had no apnea spells and she took 2 feedings in a row with a bottle and did great with them. That is the first time she has done two in a row and taken all 50+cc's. The NICU staff is cautiously optimistic that she just might be getting the hang of it. She is still requiring a bit more oxygen than usual, but it is down a little from yesterday. We are all hoping that as she gets the feeding thing down, her breathing will improve. She is a big girl today, too--2182 grams (4lb, 13 oz.)!!

Me & My Grandmas

Grandma Jerry & Me

Grandma Whitehill & Me

June 13, 2009

Allison has had a good day--she got a visit from Grandma today! Grandma hadn't seen her in 4 weeks and was shocked at what a big girl she has become. She is 4lb, 9.8oz. today--she lost a little weight yesterday with all that work to bottle feed. Her oxygen is up a bit again today, Dr. Esparza explained that her lung x-rays are looking a bit worse, not fluid-wise, but just chronic (scar tissue, etc.). She explained it isn't something to necessarily be too concerned about, this is just a result of her prematurity. Her poor little lungs were just not meant to be out here in the world and working so soon. They think that possibly the bottle feedings might be a bit too much for her and could be contributing to the lung problems by stressing her out, so they may cut back on them for a while. They still believe she will likely be home in about 3-4 weeks, but it is looking more and more likely that she will come home on oxygen for a while.

June 12, 2009 Morning

Allison had a good night. She is now up to 2119 grams (4lb, 11oz.)! Definitely gonna have to put her on a diet soon! ;-) She had 2 little apnea spells overnight, but she didn't have a reduced heartrate with it, so it could have just been she got a bit too comfy or had a bit of reflux from her 2 feedings (in which she gulped down 60cc and then another 40).

June 11, 2009 Afternoon

Allison is wearing her very first "big-girl" outfit today, but was NOT gonna cooperate with Mommy taking her picture. She did really well for her bottle feeding at 11:30. She took all but about 5 cc's of it for me, which is great considering she had to eat a little early because she had to get her eye drops for her eye exam. The exam went really well, her eyes are maturing right on target and not too fast or slow.

June 11, 2009 Morning

Allison had a great night! Our big girl is up to 2050 grams! She hit the 2,000 mark!! yay!! That is 4lb, 8oz (4.5 lbs.). She only had one spell last night, her first one in over a week, but she recovered by herself and they think it was just a bit of reflux from her feeding. She is up to orders for bottle feeding every other time or as she'll tolerate it, which might e less since it still makes her kinda tired after about 3 of them--it's hard work to learn how to bottle feed and not forget to breath. :) Can't wait to see her today, because she's all dressed up! Apparently her midnight feeding was a half an hour late because her nurse couldn't decide what new outfit to put her in. Yep, she's a big girl now and can wear little outfits with snap up pants and feet. :)

June 10, 2009

Allison is having a great day. Dr. Chen is going to move her up to one more bottle feeding per day, though she decided to be a bugger today at 12 and wouldn't take her bottle for Mommy, she'd rather sleep. So, they'll try again at 6pm after she's had a good afternoon nap. Her oxygen was down to 24% overnight, which is great. She gained about 20 grams yesterday, so she is back on the upswing and gaining weight.

June 9, 2009

Allison is having a great day. The little stinker pulled a fast one on her nurse, Michelle, today--Michelle hadn't been on duty since Allison started bottle feeding and didn't realize how quickly she guzzles it down--by the time Michelle looked down, Allison had taken the entire 60cc bottle! And, she had no residual--digested it ALL! I got to feed her at 3pm and she took 55cc for me--hungry girl! So, Dr. Esparza is going to move her back to the higher calorie NeoSure formula vs. the Sensitive type she had been on, we think she is ready and able to digest the NeoSure again and she really needs the extra nutrients it has specially for preemie babies. She was a little cool today when I took her temperature, but Dr. Esparza isn't worried just yet, she thinks as she gets more calories and bulks up, she'll hold her temperature better, so they are going to give her more time to adjust. she also has gone a full week without an apnea spell, so she is off her caffeine medication now--yay!
On a side note, I want to thank the ladies at Hyundai who threw a baby luncheon for Allison today--you will never know how much we appreciate your generosity! xoxo :)

June 8, 2009

Allison has had a great day today. She got bumped up to 2 feedings per day by bottle, but the night nurse decided to give her a little "treat" by giving her 2 of her feedings last night by bottle, so she has had a total of 3 in the last 24 hours. They weren't too sure if she would take her noon one or if she'd be too tired, but she did good, with a few "time outs" for rest. When we came back for Monday scrapbooking, she had both her hands out of her swaddle and up to her face, as if to say "see how cute I am!". :)

June 7, 2009

Allison is having a great day. She had no apnea spells last night and Dr. Chen has decided that she can have 2 feedings per day (1 per shift) by bottle because she is doing so well. She is going to work with her this week to get her up to all of her feedings being by bottle. She is loving being in the open crib--she gets to see everything that goes on. :) Today it was Mommy's turn to learn how to bottle feed her and we did ok--it's a lot to coordinate but she did great!

June 6, 2009 Morning

Allison had a great night. She had NO apnea spells (yay!) and she tolerated her feedings very well. She got a bath and is apparently very happy to be looking around in her open crib. She will get another bottle feeding today and if she does well, they may bump her up to one per shift, and then she'll begin to get every feeding that way and her NG tube will go bye-bye. :)

June 5, 2009 Afternoon

Allison has had a BIG day! She got her very first bottle feeding and she did great! She ate 32 cc and only coughed/choked once--it's hard to get that whole suck, swallow, breathe thing down, you know. :) But after a few minutes, she just "got" it. It only took her 20 minutes to finish her whole bottle. And then after that.....she went into an open crib. Yep, no more incubator! Our itty bitty princess is a big girl now!

June 5, 2009 Morning

Allison had a great night. She had all her feedings at 30cc and only had 2cc residual each time. She is on 28-30% oxygen and had NO apnea spells last night at all! The nurse said she still needs to get her rest and stop doing her "aerobics" all the time, especially at night, so they swaddle her up and she knocks right out.

June 4, 2009 Afternoon

Dr. Nagle moved Allison up to 30cc today and she did great--only 2cc of residual! So, her IV is outta here! yay!! If she continues to do well, we hope that in the next day or two she will be moved to an open crib--no more incubator. :)