She's Home!

Our family is finally back together under one roof! Anna Therese graduated the NICU and came home on May 15, exactly 10 weeks after she was born. No child's homecoming has ever been so photographed. Here she is all ready to go.

Our favorite nurse, Pattie, who stuck with us for the duration and took care of Anna like her own, walked us out. We may not miss the NICU, but we do miss Pattie.

The kids made a welcome-home banner for Tess. It's been ready for a looong time.



They were thrilled to walk in and see the baby at home.

Tess had her first pediatrician's appointment Friday and is continuing to gain weight at home - big relief. We've been told we should keep her home for a month, but once we get the green light, we can't wait for Anna to meet all her friends who have been praying for her and thinking about her. She's a lucky baby to come into a world with so many people who care.

Countdown to Discharge

Not really a countdown since we don't know what day it will be, but it's close! Anna is taking six of eight daily feeds orally, so if we can just get her off those final two tube feedings, she's free to go. She's beginning to have some fussy spells and clearly enjoys being held and talked to - in other words, acting like a full-term baby! We are fast checking things off our pre-discharge list. Anna passed her hearing screen, Paul and I took an infant CPR class, and we're getting ready for a carseat check. As always, a big thank you for all the help and prayers! Every single person who has offered up a prayer has played a part in how well she's done. We are forever grateful.

Livin' Outside the Box

She finally made it. Goodbye isolette, hello newborn crib ...

Day 51

Slooow progess lately. The one thing we can count on to improve daily is Anna's weight - she is up to 5 pounds, 6.1 ounces! That's pretty close to what Blake, Abby and Kate weighed when they came home from the hospital - normal baby size for us! This, however, does not change the fact that she is still a preemie and needs to develop just a little bit more before she can really handle her feedings and come home. She is 36 weeks, so we are getting close. We had an occupational therapist come watch her eat today and were able to get some good advice. I had no idea how complicated this process was! I learned all sorts of things about preemie neural development.

Last week we were up to four oral feedings per day (along with four tube feedings), but then we backtracked some and went back to two oral feedings a day. Tess is pretty anemic but is largely asymptomatic, so we've avoided a blood transfusion so far. Still trying to wean her out of the isolette. The doctor finally threw the protocol out the window and let her wear a sleeper to stay warm (usually the rule allows onesies only), but even that is only marginally helpful. They are doing their best to help us get Tess home. Our nurse today went and got a crib and put it in her room so we'd be ready for it. Trying to be patient.

More pictures coming soon ...

Getting Bigger!

Tess is 35 weeks today. The nurses have been telling us all along that this is the week when preemies start to "wake up" a little more and start eating better, so I have high expectations. She has been eating really well anyway - two bottles per day, the rest through the tube - but the doctor keeps increasing her feedings as she gains weight, and sometimes she has a hard time keeping up. Just this past week she went from 32 mL (a little over an ounce) to 40 mL at a time. She weighed 4lbs 5oz last night, but that number is probably wrong already, as she's been gaining more than an ounce per day.

She continues to live up to her feisty reputation. Yesterday she refused her bottle altogether at noon - and the nurse tried everything - used a syringe to suck the air out of her belly, suctioned her nose, checked her mouth for thrush, etc. We gave up, and later Tess pulled out her feeding tube, including ripping the tape off her face. I'm so proud!

Sunday is a day kids can visit, and it was nice to have them all together. Thanks to Aunt Amy for visiting again!

We continue to be touched by the tremendous amount of support that's been offered by friends and family. We could not do this without all of you! The meals, the prayers, the cards and phone calls, the playdates ... we are very blessed. Thank you!

Happy Easter!

Hope is indeed alive! Tess had a great first Easter. She took her full bottle for the second day in a row, which means she graduated to two bottle feedings per day. Today she nursed so well that we were able to count it as a bottle feeding, and if she can pull that off again tomorrow, she'll move up to three feedings a day. Looking forward to the day we can lose the bottles entirely. Baby steps.

In another Easter miracle :), the doctors mentioned today that she would definitely be coming home before her due date of May 20. She's been doing really well, so I figured that would be the case, but the exciting thing to us was the fact that the doctors even broached the subject of her being discharged. They'd never mentioned it before, except for the standard line they give all preemie parents - that discharge will be due date plus or minus two weeks. I'm glad to know they have her discharge on their minds!

Here's our official Easter picture ... four of us managed to keep the Easter outfits on through lunch. :)

Notes From the Week

Tess had her second cranial ultrasound, which showed that the bleeds seen in the original ultrasound had not gotten worse - just what we hoped to see.
Had to restart her caffeine because, although going off of it stopped her tachycardia, she started forgetting to breathe all the time, so it was decided that we'd take the occasional fast heart rate over the increase in apneas.

She has a daily routine, usually in the afternoon, of trying to nurse, then trying a bottle, then getting the rest of her feeding through her tube. After about 10 minutes of nursing/bottle, she is so worn out that she goes completely limp. :)

We're enjoying her new private room in NICU2, where she moved a couple of days ago. It's very quiet, and we have a window!

She seems to like being read to. She always turns her head toward our voices and opens her eyes wide.

And, last but definitely not least, her weight gain is picking up! This morning she was 3lbs 10.1oz. Maybe this will help her maintain her temp and she can finally come out of her "box"! Waiting eagerly for that day!