Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Oh my gosh, I meant to post much sooner than this. Our house has gotten so busy there is hardly time to blog. We took Cate to the eye dr last Monday. It went very well! He said Cate is a little far-sighted, but doing well and no need for glasses. Chloe is packing on the weight. She is now at 5lb, 8oz! We are still trying to figure hunger vs belly ache. Is she too full and has a tummy ache or is she fussing because she wants more food??? I wonder if this is something other parents constantly struggle with. Am I crazy because I can't tell which of the two it is? Duke and I are constantly trying to figure it out. Chloe is mostly a quiet baby (much different than how her big sister was at her age), but she does seem to fuss more at night. If we could figure out if she wants more to eat or not that would help. Prayers please. :) We take Cate to feeding and growth tomorrow to be checked out. We were supposed to go last week but rescheduled due to weather. Cate is now crawling! She has been doing it halfway for the last 2-3 weeks, but just started going all over the place this weekend. She looks too tiny to be doing these things (16 pounds). Her favorite word is still "WOW"! I'll have to persuade Duke to catch some of her hilarious moments on camera for you all to see. My mom and I took some pictures of the girls together in Christmas gear that I will have to post later. We set them in a chair alone and I started taking pictures. I was so scared that Cate was going to push Chloe off the chair. My mom said she would stand next to the chair and pray! :) Thanks for checking in on us... Happy Holidays!!

Snow Day

We're Home

Chloe came home today, exactly one month after she was born!! We have some cute pictures of the sisters first meeting each other that we'll post later. Cate wanted to grab and hold Chloe like she was a doll. :) So far the biggest issues are figuring out how often and how much Chloe wants to eat. I'm hoping this is an easy thing to figure out. If I'm not feeding Cate I'm feeding Chloe or pumping. We're running around like we have twins. I guess we kind of do... More later, if we get some sleep.

NICU nurses, we will miss you! Thank you so much for all that you have done for us over this past year. I will miss the NICU, but hope to never go back. As one of the nurses said today, "a love/hate relationship". I am so happy to have both of my girls in one spot--at home. We will be up at the hospital on Tues morning with Cate at feeding and growth. We will stop by afterwards. Hope to see some of you then.

Ad Lib

Chloe is now doing ad lib feedings. She can eat as early as every 2 hours and a max of every 4 hours. If she hasn't eaten, then I have to wake her if it has been 4 hours. This is how Cate was and I'm thinking it will be the same with Chloe. Yesterday the dr had me attempt breastfeeding every feed that I was here and then give her the rest by bottle. Chloe got pretty pooped out. She wasn't able to finish all of her bottles so they had to do some of her feeds by feeding tube. I asked the dr today if this was a concern to him. He said he is going to ignore it and see how she does today. Her feedings today are set up exactly the way she will be doing feeds at home. He said that we will know by the end of today if she is doing okay or not. If she does well today with feedings (does not need any feeds given by feeding tube), then she should be going home on Saturday. We should be doing lots to get ready for her to come home, but we are nowhere near as frantic as we were last time. Duke has done a lot of home improvement in the last year and had Chloe's room ready before I was 28 weeks pregnant. Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Grandma Cathy!! Oh, and Chloe now weighs 4lb, 10oz. :)

Coming Home Soon??

Well, it looks like Chloe could be coming home soon. She is now at 6 oral feeds a day (only 2 are being given through feeding tube). When she is at 8 oral feeds they look to send her home. I just talked to the neonatologist and he said she should be home by this weekend. She still is not doing well with the breastfeeding, so I could use your prayers on that. The dr said I will probably have to nurse and then supplement with a bottle for awhile. It all sounds so much simpler than it is. When she is bottle fed we know that she is satisfied and how much she has gotten. We don't know with breastfeeding, yet breastfeeding is best, right? I don't like giving up.

Chloe moved to a new room yesterday. She was previously in the NICU in an open room. She is now in a private room. There is a TV, dvd player, couch, we can order room service, etc. It is so quiet in here. You get so used to the NICU noise. We will miss all the nurses, but it is nice to not be in there when bad stuff is going on. It is hard to be happy when you can see that another baby is not doing well. It is cute to see little, tiny Chloe in this big room. She now weighs 4lb, 9oz.

She had an MRI yesterday morning to check out her spine. The dr gave us the news today that it looks "definitively fine". That is great news! We were worried that she may need surgery if it was tethered.

Thank you everyone for all your support, prayers, and kindness this second time around! You have no idea how much we appreciate it. If you could pray for our health as well... We've been a little run down lately, and with so much going around I'm hoping no one comes down with anything. Thanks for checking in on us!

Blessings

The best things come in small packages... When I think about how blessed I am it brings tears to my eyes. We are so "lucky" to be where we are right now. A year ago at this time Cate was in the NICU. The day before Thanksgiving Duke's dad was in the hospital with heart complications. That night Cate's dr said that they thought she had NEC (an infection in the intestines that can be fatal). Yesterday I kept looking at Cate and thinking back. I am so thankful for how far she has come, and for how well her little sister is doing. I could have never imagined all this. This past year has been the most difficult year of my life and definitely the most rewarding. I am also thankful for Duke. He is a wonderful husband and father! I thank God everyday that I have Duke along with me on this journey.

Chloe is doing great! She is now 4lb, 5oz. The dr increased her to 4 oral feeds a day. He said there is a 50/50 chance that she could go home by this time next week!! Please pray that she keeps improving at her oral feeds.

4 Pounder Club!

Chloe is now 4lb, 1oz!! She is still attempting three oral feeds a day, by breast or bottle. The other five feeds are done by feeding tube. She sleeps a lot so she is not always awake enough to do an oral feed, or she will be awake but falls asleep during the feed. They tell us we need to be patient and not push her--this is all normal. She should still be in my belly for 4 more weeks... Chloe is 36 weeks gestation today. The nurses keep telling me that she is calm and content. I love hearing those words. We are hoping it stays that way. :) The nurses described Cate as stubborn and a little fighter. Being a 28 weeker, I think it is good that she was the more fiery one. Thank you all for your prayers! If you would continue to pray for Chloe's oral feeds to improve we'd appreciate it.

Things are going well with Cate, although I don't see her much. I am at the hospital most of the day. We are missing her sooo much! Thanks to Duke's mom and my mom we are able to be at the hospital a lot more than we would be otherwise. I don't know what we would do without all their help right now. This would be much more difficult. Cate is saying new words everyday. One of her latest is "dada-wow"! She enunciates the wow part very well. She's hilarious. For as much as she cried non-stop when we brought her home, she never cries now. She is so happy! What a fun age. She is such a sponge right now. She is not the biggest eater. She likes solids much more than the bottle. The dr has her on pediasure right now for weight gain. When we give this to her we need to let her watch her favorite TV shows to distract her. We have two Oprah's tivoed that she watches for all bottles--Michael Buble and Black Eyed Peas. She smiles and claps whenever it comes on (4 times a day). Thanks for checking in on our girls!!

Crib Time

As of today, Chloe is out of the isolette and in a crib! This is a big milestone. Just that much closer to going home. She has been maintaining her temps, so I guess they were okay with her coming out of the isolette before she's at 1800 grams (4 lbs). She currently weighs 1740 grams. She was 1750 grams (3lb, 14oz) at birth. They have upped her to 3 oral feeds a day. So 3 out of 8 feeds we will attempt bottle or breastfeeding. Once she is successful at 3, they will move her up to 4. She was not "successful" at 2 feeds, but they still moved her up. She is really doing great! Everyday when I talk to the doctors they say they don't have much to tell me, that she is doing very well. That's exactly what I want to hear. Please pray for Chloe to be successful with bottle and breastfeeding. Thanks for checking in on us, and thanks for your prayers!!

Bottle Feeding

Duke and I had a good day with Chloe. She is off all her monitors except heartrate. She started bottle feeding today and will start breast feeding tomorrow. Once she is successful (feeds for 10 minutes straight) at 2 bottles/breast feeding then she will move to 3 times a day until she is taking 8 feeds a day without using the feeding tube. She currently weighs 1750 grams (3 lb, 11oz). When she is at 1800 grams they will move her to a crib. That could be in the next couple days. We also gave her her second bath today. She seemed to like it a little more this time. She is doing so well. Please pray that her oral feeds go well.

Ultrasound Results

Chloe's head ultrasound came back normal. I love the word normal. I couldn't be happier to hear that. That ultrasound would show if there are brain bleeds and signs of cerebral palsy. She had another ultrasound done yesterday that did not come back normal. Chloe is at risk for having a tethered spine. The dr said that Chloe's ultrasound showed that her spinal cord "is a little lower than they would like to see". He said that there are a lot of false positives with an ultrasound. She will have to have an MRI in 1-3 months to get a more definitive answer. He said if it shows that she does have a tethered spine on the MRI they will have to go in and de-tether it. He said at that point she would have to see a neurosurgeon. I am praying that this is a false positive. Besides getting this news, today was a good day for Chloe. She was feeling good--they upped her feeds to 15 cc's and lowered her i.v. fluids. She did not poop today, so I'm hoping that she'll have pooped by tomorrow morning. Chloe's nurse took a picture of her this morning trying to crawl out of her isolette. This is something we caught Cate doing on occasion. She said that this is not something that all babies in the NICU do, only the Perfect sisters. :)

Bath Time and Kangaroo Time

One Week Old

Chloe is one week old today! She was spitting up a little more than usual last night and this morning. Dr. Needelman decided to cut her feeds in half to 10 cc's and he increased her i.v. fluids. They also ordered an x-ray because she had visible bowel loops. All looked good on the x-ray. They will do another one tomorrow morning. They said her belly felt soft (which is good) after that. They also gave her a suppository and she then pooped twice. Her head ultrasound was done this morning. The dr will go over the results with us tonight or tomorrow morning. I will update this post if I hear anything tonight. Her jaundice was up a little so her bilirubin light is back on. Please pray for good results on her head ultrasound and her x-ray tomorrow morning.

I was getting ready to post pictures of Chloe this morning when I was at home. I couldn't find the usb port and found out that Duke had it at work. Someday I will get it done. :)

Room Air

As neonatologist Dr. Needelman says, "Chloe is doing great!" Thanks to my cousin Megan's prayers, Chloe is pooping a lot--4 times alone yesterday. What a relief it is to me to see consistent pooping. That was a constant worry with Cate. She now weighs 3lb, 9oz. We are hoping she starts gaining weight soon. They say it can take a week to 10 days for them to start gaining weight. She is still on i.v. fluids, but a step down from what she was on. They may take her off i.v. fluids completely tonight. Then she will be getting just breastmilk through her feeding tube. She is now at 21 cc's every 3 hours. But the biggest news is that they just took her off heated high-flo. She is breathing room air just like you and me, no oxygen, no support. So far she is doing great without it. Please pray that that continues. I will try to post some pictures tonight. Our internet hasn't been working away from home so I have had trouble making time getting them posted.

A quick note on Cate... She is also doing great! She now has two toofers! Both are on the bottom. So cute. We are now able to put her in her crib without rocking her to sleep first. She decided to grow up before her sissy comes home. Thanks for checking in on us.

Off the Vent

Things are going well. Chloe came off the ventilator Friday night and has been off it since. They put her on a nasal canula intermediate support (a little more support than basic oxygen). They keep checking her blood gases to make sure she is handling it okay. They keep coming back really good. All of her vitals are good and stable. She was getting 4 cc's of breastmilk through a feeding tube every 3hours since yesterday afternoon, and now they have just increased it to 8 cc's. Her breathing has been a little bit labored with this, so we are hoping she is able to go #2 soon. Please pray for poopies. :) Infection is always a concern. Chloe now weighs 3 lb, 11 oz. Her weight should start going up now that she is getting breastmilk. We got to hold her last night. That was wonderful! More later... Duke will try to post some pictures tonight.

Chloe Hazel Perfect

Cate is going to have to learn how to share now that she has a younger sister. She will start with this blog. :) Chloe was born by c-section (Mom is doing good) on 11/5/09 at 12:44PM. She was much bigger than expected at 3lbs 14oz. She didn't want to breathe right away so she went on the ventalator. The doctors are hopefull she will be off of it in a few days. We will update more later.

Baby Will Be Here November 5th

I went to the perinatologist this morning. Everything looked good (blood pressure, amniotic fluid, heartrate, blood flow, etc), but the baby has not grown much over the past 2 weeks. She only grew around 90 grams (1.5 ounces). When I heard this I knew what the dr was going to say. He gave me a shot of steroids. I will go back tomorrow to get another dose. This will give the baby a boost to her lungs. He scheduled a c-section for this Thursday, November 5th at noon. So baby Perfect will be here very soon. She weighs approximately 3 lbs, 1 oz. (1425 grams) and is measuring as a 29 weeker, although I am 33 weeks today. Please say some prayers for us. We are so excited to see our girl and are happy that we have made it 5 weeks farther than last time. However, after everything we learned with Cate we can't help but be a little scared. Thanks for thinking of us!

Cate's Birthday Party

Cate had a wonderful birthday party! She loved the attention and was definitely ready for a nap when it was over. :)

Happy Birthday & Halloween :)

Cate is 1yr old today!!! Happy Bday Cate!!! 10/31/09

32 Weeks

We went to the perinatologist yesterday. Everything looked good, but the baby was not moving much. They stopped the ultrasound and did a non-stress test. The doc said everything looked okay. She still didn't move much, but her heartrate was good. The doc asked if I was feeling any contractions. I'm not. He said that it will be interesting to see how much more my uterus can stretch and that he hopes we can make it a couple more weeks. They told me to make sure to do my kick counts. The baby has been moving a lot more since the appt. Maybe she was just looking for a little attention. I go to my o.b. on Thursday for a non-stress test and back to the perinatologist on Tues, 11/3. Hopefully you won't hear from me about baby #2 till then.

I have been working on getting Cate her flu shots this week. We called all over the place yesterday about the seasonal flu shot. The only place we found that had any for her was in Blair. So we drove to Blair. It couldn't have gone any better. She was so happy on the car ride up. I was feeling so guilty for what I was about to do to her. When the nurse gave her the shot she gave me a scared look. I smiled at her and then she smiled and giggled. What a sweet girl! I guess she's already seen it all in the NICU. Tomorrow we'll do our best to make sure she gets her H1N1 shot. I'm hoping the line isn't too long. I'll be getting mine as well. Cate's birthday is Saturday. Can't believe it!

First Tooth

We went to the perinatologist bright and early yesterday morning. He wasn't giving me the best vibes when he was looking at the measurements of the baby. He looked concerned and like he was thinking a lot. He ended up saying that there was growth. The baby gained between 7 and 9 ounces. She was measuring approximately 28 weeks. He said he just hopes for us to get to 32 weeks (I am 31 weeks today), and if we make it to 32 weeks then he'll hope for 33. So, that is the perspective I have taken as well. Duke, the eternal optimist, is hoping we make it to 37 weeks (which is the farthest the dr said he would let us go). Obviously, he sent us home. He said he wants me to start seeing my o.b. every week as well. So I go see her tomorrow (Wednesday) for a non-stress test. Then I go back to the perinatologist on Monday 10/26. Every morning when I wake up and I am still pregnant I am so thankful. Every day counts for the baby, and it's one less day in the NICU.

I know that was great news, but I have some more... Cate's first tooth has broken through. I was checking her gums this morning and there was one broken through and you can see it. I guess she 's been working on it just in time for her first birthday. She's gonna need it to eat her cake. I can' believe she has a tooth. My little baby is growing up. By the way, if Cate had a cold and it wasn't just teething, she is on the mend. I hope we have more good news for you all next week. Thanks for thinking of us.

Still Pregnant at 30 Weeks

Superbaby

Sorry for being slow on the update. I am still pregnant. Woo hoo!! We went to the perinatologist on Monday. He said everything looked good for now--amniotic fluid, breathing, blood flow, etc. We go back next Monday (10/19) and he will check for growth. He said there's no hard and fast number, but he's looking for around a 7 ounce weight gain since last growth check on 10/6. We'll let you know how next Monday goes.

In the meantime, Cate seems to have caught a cold. I am praying that it doesn't get any worse or get into her chest. She has not had a cold yet. We have been so cautious with her, but I knew it would happen at some point. Thanks for checking in on us!

Growth Restricted at 29 Weeks

I know that I have to get some pictures posted of Cate. While I'm procrastinating on that, I thought I better not procrastinate on letting you know the latest on the baby. Duke and I went to see Dr. Bonebrake (the perinatologist) yesterday. We didn't get the news we had hoped for. While the baby was in the 21st percentile 3 weeks ago, she is now in the 5th percentile. As I've mentioned before, anything below the 10th percentile is considered growth restricted. Because of the size of my uterus the baby probably does not have much space to grow. So now we will be going in to see him once a week. I think I'll also be seeing my o.b. once a week starting next week. He told us that he will check for growth every two weeks and every week he will check blood flow, amniotic fluid, and do some biophysical tests. If he sees no growth or any other problems then he will have to deliver the baby. I am 29 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. We were really hoping to make it past Cate's birthday, but now we're just hoping to make it to the next week. She now weighs 2 lb, 6 oz. He said weight is important, but gestational age is more important. It's all a little scarier this time because we know more than we did last time. I'll let you know how my next appt goes--Mon, 10/12. Hopefully no more news on the baby before that. We would appreciate your prayers. Thanks!!

Congratulations! You are now in your third trimester.

That was the email I got the day after Cate was born. Cate was born at 27 weeks, 6 days--one day shy of 28 weeks. So I never quite made it to the third trimester. Today I am 28 weeks pregnant. So for the first time I have reached the third trimester. Weird. This was our first goal. Our next goal is to make it to Cate's birthday--Halloween, which would put me at 32 weeks. Our dr appt on 9/14 with the perinatologist went very well. The baby actually grew. She was in the 15th percentile at the previous appt. On 9/14 she was in the 21st. We weren't expecting that at all. Even the dr seemed surpised. She weighed in at 1 lb, 12 oz--one ounce more than what Cate weighed when she was born. My blood pressure has stayed low as well. All good signs. Hopefully things keep looking up. I go back to see him on 10/6.

Cate is doing great. She is happy 95% of the time. Such a sweet girl. We're working on tummy time and getting her trunk a little stronger. That is her weak area. They say tummy time is supposed to start at birth. Well Cate had quite awhile that she missed out on. I would say it wasn't even possible to attempt that for her first 5 or 6 months. Anyway, she's coming along quite fine. She'll be on the floor for quite awhile before she gets frustrated. Then she'll start grumbling and moaning, but when she looks over at me she gives me the biggest smile. She doesn't realize I'm the one that has put her there. Cate is now 15 lb, 6 oz at 11 months. We have to really work to get her to eat. She would prefer going without. She sure didn't take after her mom or dad in that respect. Everyone said that it would get better soon. It really has.

Thanks for your prayers and thanks for checking in on us. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow.

Cate is getting BIG! 10 months old

Our Girls

All is well with Cate. Couldn't be better, actually. Everyday I think how blessed we are to have her and that she is doing so well. Duke mentioned her NICU follow-up appointment in the last post. We were a little nervous before the appt, but it went very well. The neonatologist mentioned how small she is. He said she is in the 3rd %ile on the preemie chart for head circumference and weight, but off the charts (low) for length. He then asked how tall I am. I don't know why. :) He said she'll be lucky to be as tall as me, but he's guessing she'll be around 4'10". She has started rolling over and is close to sitting on her own. It's so funny to see something so small moving around so much. She's now in the 14 pounder club. I doubt they have many of those in the NICU. She is very vocal, loves hearing her own voice. She smiles all the time. It's crazy to think that when we brought her home she was crying from 12am-7am. I couldn't have imagined at that time that she would be like this now. I love being able to spend so much time with her. I miss her when I'm sleeping. My mom is retired so she comes over and helps out A LOT. It's amazing that the two of us can run around here all day and still feel like we got nothing accomplished, and that's with only one child. That will change soon...

My pregnancy seems to be going well. I am 23 weeks right now. I go to the dr every couple weeks. I went to the perinatologist on Monday. When we went 4 weeks ago the baby was in the 24th %ile. Now she is in the 15th %ile. So she is getting smaller. When I was pregnant with Cate at 18 weeks Cate was in the 3rd %ile. So I guess this is better. He said we're going to have to start keeping a closer eye on things. Anything less than the 10th %ile is considered growth restricted. I go back on Sept 14th.

No pictures right now. I'll see if Duke can post some today or tomorrow. Oh, and I need to thank him for keeping up with this blog. I've been pretty pathetic at it lately. Thanks for taking the time to check in on us.

9 Months Old & Baptism

Today was Cate's formal baptism. It was a wonderful day. Family from both sides showed up for a private baptism and then lunch afterwards. Cate was baptised the day she was born however Dad was the only one present. Last Monday we went to a 6 month corrected neonatal follow up appointment to see how Cate is doing developmentally. She was looked at by the psychologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist and neonatologist. The head doctor was very pleased with how she is doing. She is where she needs to be right now :) We are very blessed and so happy for Cate. She really is amazing. Enjoy the pictures.... we went to the zoo a few weeks ago. We are having another girl and she is due around Christmas!!!

Happy 4th of July Weekend

Cate now weighs 12lbs 5oz. WOW! We went to Childrens Hospital 'Feeding and Growth' a few weeks ago and they were happy with her progress. She has gained 18 grams a day since birth. We are so lucky to have her here! We remind ourselves each day of that. We took Cate on her first trip last weekend to visit family. We had a wonderful time and ate like royalty! Thanks Julie and Virg!!! We are still being advised not to have her around kids and come flu season its back in the house :( She missed out on 3 months of lung development so we have no clue how she will respond to a sickness??? For those who haven't heard.... Jayne is 15 weeks pregnant! :)