3 Pounder Club!!

Things are continuing to go well. We have been practicing nursing. It's been going a little slow, but they've told us not to expect too much considering her size. Poor Cate! She tries so hard, and gets so tired. I am so proud of her. She's such a little fighter. She had her eye exam yesterday. So far so good. They said everything looked "normal". They will continue to do eye exams bi-weekly and then weekly. Normal does not mean that she is out of the woods. Blindness is still a concern. They performed another brain ultrasound today. We have not gotten the results back from that yet. This ultrasound is looking for signs of cerebral palsy. Please say some prayers that this comes out well. Today was a good day for Cate. She got a blood transfusion because she is enemic. That really helped her out. She seemed happier and had more energy. Dad was able to hang out with us today and Cate loved it. She kept smiling at both of us. She is now at 3 pounds, 1 ounce. She's getting so big and changing so much. She's so beautiful!

Today we were blessed with Nurse Lucy's love and care. Lucy (pictured above) was Cate's nurse the day she was born. Lucy was also my nurse 32 years ago when I was in the NICU. Lucy is an angel.

I pray that I pay more attention to all the miracles and blessings God has brought us, and less attention to my worries. Sometimes I let life get in the way. Thank you everyone for everything you have done for us.

6 Weeks Old

This week has flown by and we just realized Tuesday was our last post. SORRY! :(

Today Cate is 43 days old and 34 weeks gestation. She is continuing to move in the right direction. She is still on the high-flow nasal cannula and the vent machine has been completely removed from our room. The x-rays have stopped along with her blood gasses, taking blood from her tiny heels. Today Jayne was able to practice nursing with Cate for the first time and it went well. Dad also practices with Cate using a passifer while he holds her. We are now able to remove Cate from her isolette and hold her pretty much whenever we want! :) We are taking advantage of this. Before it was so difficult to hold her with the vent,CPAP and IV's always getting in the way and making Cate so angry and uncomfortable. She weighs at 2lbs 15oz. We asked when she will be able to move from an isolette to a crib. As long as she is healthy (no infections, sick) they think around 4lbs. On Monday Cate will be getting her picture taken and later this week an eye exam. We are very nervous about her eye exam as it is very common for preemies to have some problems. Here is a picture of bath time from earlier this week. Our nurse Mandi helped us. She loves Cate and Cate loves Mandi!!! :)

Doing Good

Things are going well. Cate is still on high-flo. She is hardly receiving any oxygen. She was keeping the nose prongs in her nose very nicely yesterday. Today she figured out how to pull them out and she has been pulling them out all day. It hasn't seemed to have effected her negatively though. She hasn't been sleeping much today. She's been pooping some on her own, and sometimes they have to give her suppositories. She is now up to 7 cc's of food an hour! And she weighs 2 lb 14 oz! She's getting huge. :) All in all, she is doing good.

Kangaroo Cate

Positive news today. This weekend Cate was taken off the CPAP and is now breathing on her own with a high-flow nasal cannula. I can't believe she has made it this far! She is doing the work herself. This is such a huge step! It is now much easier to hold her (Kangaroo skin to skin) which we took advantage of yesterday and today. Grandma Cathy, Mom & Dad were able to hold her on Saturday for about 3 hours total. I (Dad) held her today for over an hour. We did have another NEC scare this afternoon as Cate spit up green. They did an immediate x-ray which came back normal. :) So for now things are looking up though she is still not 100% tolerating her tube feedings???? Thanks everyone!!! More later :)

5 Weeks Old!

Cate is 5 weeks old today! They decided to start her back on her feeds one day early. No more antibiotics. She is now taking 1 cc of food an hour. She spit up a little tonight so they are watching to make sure that she isn't having problems taking the milk. They have moved her CPAP settings down because she has been doing well on it. I got to hold her for an hour today. At the end of the hour she decided to start crying and pull her CPAP out. What an angel! When the nurse put her back in her bed she would look up at me everytime I would say something. She looked like she was smiling at me. It was so cute. She is about to get an x-ray. We are anxiously awaiting this because it could show if her intestines are handling her feeds. Please say some prayers that she handles her feeds okay and that her intestines are okay. I am nervous about this. More later...

Okay, we got it back. It came out good--just a little air in the belly. But please keep praying. I don't want her to get an infection again.

Status Quo

Things are going pretty well. Cate is still on CPAP and seems to be doing well on it. They have kept her settings the same today because her x-ray showed that her lungs are a little hazy. Her C02's (blood gases) have been in the acceptable range. Her O2 is at 21% (room air, what you and I breathe). I got to hold her for about an hour yesterday. We haven't been holding her everyday. Most days we don't ask because we know holding her is good for her, but it also wears her down. We want to make sure she gets all the rest she can so she can get strong and get off CPAP. The highlight of our day is changing her diaper. Who would have thought! The dr said that assuming she does well on CPAP she could be off of it within a week. Then they would put her on high flo. Her personality is really starting to shine through. She gets really upset when messed with, but quickly calms down when her needs have been met. Oh, and she's 2 lbs. 9 oz.

Each day seems to fly by in the NICU. I would have thought it would drag. But with dr's and nurses coming in, changing diapers, pumping, family and friends stopping by, Duke walks in before I know it (at 7:30 pm).

I'll try to post a picture later tonight. We have been trying not to take too many pictures of Cate because we know the oxygen she's been getting could have a negative effect on her eyes and we don't want to contribute anymore to that.

Bath Time

Cate is doing fairly well. She is still on CPAP. This is her longest stint ever--we're going on 4 days. Her CO2 was a little high yesterday so they went up on her settings a little today. She seems to be a little tired, but she's hanging tough. I was able to give her a bath today (with a lot of help from the nurses). I picked her up from her bed a few times during the bathing. It's the only time we are actually able to pick her up. I love it! She got a little worked up after the bath and they had to give her some medicine to calm her down. Sometimes she gets so worked up and she isn't able to calm herself down. She is at 2 lbs 8 oz. She's on day 7 of 10 on the antibiotics. Hopefully on Saturday she'll be able to get back on the milk. Thanks again for your prayers! We appreciate 'em.