A Day in the Life of Kaitlyn (in her own words)

Kaitlyn wanted to share with you all what her days have looked like lately:

I wanted to share with you what my day is like. I'm not sure where to start, since my days and nights are so similar. So I thought I would start with the first time my mom wakes up at night. That lately has been the start of her day, so it seems like a logical place to start. Last night, mom woke up at 11:30 pm to pump. She sets her alarm to make sure she can get some pumping in before I wake up. Mom had been sleeping since around 9:30 pm. At nights, mom goes to bed early and dad takes over. Last night mom didn't get to bed as early as she should have since we went to see Santa. I'm sure my mom will post pictures of that later.

Mom hardly got her pumping in last night, because I woke up at 11:45 pm and boy, was I hungry. I only ended up eating 2 oz, and then I got all fidgety. I'm not sure what it is, but when I eat I get uncomfy and that makes it hard to finish. Mom and dad started me on this medicine, so hopefully that will help. After I finished my bottle and fell back to sleep, mom put me back in the crib. She figured I would sleep awhile, so she went back into the bed with dad.

But I had other plans! And only 50 minutes after she put me down, I woke up. Mom was deep in sleep, so dad had to wake her up. Good thing I wasn't there, because there were some bad words coming out of mom's mouth! She was really comfortable, snuggled up in bed with the cats. Big Kitty was laying in the nook of her legs that Mulder used to lay in and Little Kitty was laying near her stomach.

So at 1:45 am, I ate again. This time, I only took 1 and 1/3 oz. I was hungry because I didn't have a full bottle last time, but not so hungry because it hadn't been that long in between feedings. But hey, my grandma says I eat like a bird.

By 2:40 am, mom put me back in bed to pump. Again, she BARELY got her pumping in, when I was letting her know at 3 am that I was awake. Mom was surprised that I got up so quickly, so she tried to change my diaper. I think I might have frustrated mom, because right when she lifted my butt to wipe it, I had to tinkle. I don't think mom liked that much and had to go wash her hands. When mom was done changing my clothes (argh, I hate that - it takes so long and my arms and legs have to go in places I don't want them to and I'm cold and naked!), I was still fussy and was showing signs that I was ready to eat again. Mom was shocked, but tried to offer me a little more to eat. I ate about 3/4 oz and fell asleep.

Silly mom tried to put me down in the crib at 4 am. I was having none of that. 5 minutes later when I realized she put me down, I let her know I was still hungry. This time I ate 1 and 1/2 oz. I was really sleepy at this point since I hadn't slept much in the last couple of hours, so when mom put me down at 4:45 am, I was out like a light. On a side note, mom was watching this tv show that I was really enjoying. Some girl Meredith and some guy Derrick, or McDreamy, just got back together. I can't wait to see what happens on tomorrow's episode.

Mom took this opportunity to take a nap on the recliner. She considered setting an alarm to pump, but decided she was too tired. She woke up when dad was getting ready to leave for work and started pumping at 6:10 am. When mom was done, she figured it was a matter of minutes before I got up again, but she decided to go ahead and get back in the bed and sleep.

I woke up at 7:30 am. I took my full 3 oz, but was really fussy afterwards. Mom changed a dirty diaper (man, was it dirty!) but I was still not happy. She tried feeding me more, but I didn't want that. She then tried to put me in my cuddly pink bodysuit that has the hoodie and the ears. I usually snuggle up when I get in that to go places, so I think she thought that would work. But nope, not today.

So when I was still fussy at 8:20 am, mom decided to take me on my first "car ride to nowhere." It was raining outside, so mom didn't venture far. She just toured the neighborhoods close by and we listened to a neat XM radio show. Some lady named Gayle was talking to us. I think she's friends with Oprah. But man, I love the car. I like to nap when mom is driving.

The car ride did the trick, so when mom returned home at 9 am, I was asleep and stayed asleep. Mom took that opportunity to pump. Also, Mom ran the dishwasher again (half full, don't tell dad). Then she fed Snoopy his breakfast. I was relieved that she remembered to actually feed him in the AM hours. Everyday I try to remind her, but she just thinks I have a dirty diaper (which I usually do) or that I'm hungry (which I usually am). Poor Snoopy. I really like him, but he has a cold nose. And he is always causing trouble when mom or dad is feeding me. I think he gets jealous.

Well, I must be really tired, because I am still asleep at 10:15. I'm going to sign-off now and will let you know later how the rest of my day went.

What a Day

Kaitlyn had a rough day! I took her to the pediatrician because we were concerned about her projectile vomiting. When it first started, we thought that babies spit up - so it must be normal. But the more it happened, the more we realized that it couldn't be normal. When she would throw up - it would be all over her and all over us! Everyone would need a change of clothes. I began to think - what is the point of a burp cloth? There was no burp cloth in the world that would cover this stuff.

The pediatrician was concerned with her weight gain. The doctor thought she should be weighing about 9 lbs, 11 oz by now. But she only weighed 8 lbs, 10 oz today. The doctor was certain that she was suffering from reflux, which was causing feedings to be difficult and for Kaitlyn to not eat as much as she should. However, she was also concerned that there could be something more.

We were sent for an ultrasound to test for pyloric stenosis. I won't even bore you with what that is or what it would have meant because luckily, the results were negative. The radiologist then wanted to perform a barium swallow test. Poor Kaitlyn had to drink this nasty chalky stuff from her bottle and they took x-rays of it as it travelled through to her stomach. I stood at her head and fed her the bottle while the technician held her arms and the radiologist held her legs and did the x-rays. Luckily, she wasn't very fussy and drank very well (she was hungry)! In fact, she was really good all day.

For now, we were given pepcid to give her and told to add rice cereal to the milk. But the pediatrician was going to call me tomorrow and there might be more she wants to do. I'll post more if she does. Hopefully she will be exhausted from her day and sleep well tonight because last night was rough on mom...

Here's a picture of her sitting in the waiting room for the ultrasound:

One month old already!

I can't believe it, but Kaitlyn is one month old! In some ways, the month has flown by. On the other hand, I almost can't remember life without her. The occasion was somewhat marred by the loss of my cat, Mulder. We had to put her down after a wonderful 12 years together. We miss her dearly. It is very ironic to me that Mulder chose to "pass the torch" to Kaitlyn. Mulder prepared us so well for Kaitlyn's battle in the NICU with the feeding tube. And she hung in there long enough to meet Kaitlyn.

Here are some highlights from the last couple of weeks:

Kaitlyn was a little small for her Thanksgiving outfit, but it was still cute.

She is much more aware of her surroundings now. She loves to look around and take in the sights. This was her hanging out in her pack-n-play and looking at the animals.

The rest of her umbilical cord finally fell off, so we were able to give her a full bath. She enjoyed it much more than the sponge baths. In this picture, I was trying to get an eye booger out of her eye, but it kinda looks like I'm plugging her nose.

First Pediatrician Visit

We took Kaitlyn to the pediatrician last Wednesday (11-18). It was our first outing with her, so it was exciting and I was nervous. Eric and I went together and in spite of the fact that she was ready to eat right when they called us back to the examination room, it went well.

We liked the doctor (thanks for the referral, Phil). She was definitely a character. We think she is her late 40's and was dressed in a jean skirt with funky tights underneath. At first, I was thinking she just has unusual taste in clothing; but on second thought, maybe she does that to entertain the kids?

The doctor said Kaitlyn looked good. And she reiterated that the stridor/noisy breathing will continue for months and months. She emphasized that it is even more important for us to minimize her exposure to illness. An illness for Kaitlyn will be even worse than normal due to her breathing. So everyone cross your fingers that we can keep her as healthy as possible! Our next appointment will be her 2 month visit.

On a side note, I am recovering nicely. I feel almost back to normal and my incision is healing really well.

First Week at Home

So we survived our first week at home with Kaitlyn. Luckily, it has been pretty uneventful. Needless to say, we are tired! Our girl is not shy about letting us know she is not happy. And we have been trying different things to figure out what quiets her when she is fussy. Here is a pic of the latest thing that seems to work out well:


We all get great laughs from the noises that come out of her! You can always hear when she is dirtying her diaper. And it usually happens while she is eating. She is champion pooper - no doubt that she is getting her nourishment!

I have been pumping and we are feeding her in bottles. This works out well when I have someone to help by feeding her. But it is sometimes a problem in the middle of the night when it is time for me to pump but she has other plans. I've gotten better at multi-tasking (guess what I am doing right now), but I must say the pumping is exhausting.

NICU pics and progress

Here's a few highlights of happenings in the NICU from this past week. On Wednesday, we got the green light to try and breastfeed for 3 feedings. We had some success, but it was exhausting to me. The awkwardness that was around just because we don't have this all down yet was compounded by wires, tubes and monitors. When we swung by for her 8:30 feeding, the nurse had already started to heat up some formula. I decided to take a break and instead, Eric held her and I held the food being administered through the tube.

On Thursday, we got the go ahead for all feedings to be given via breast (or bottle, if I wasn't there). They also reduced the amount of oxygen she was getting through her NG tube in the morning and removed it all together in the evening. So by the time we visited her that night, her head was starting to look almost normal! No more tubes coming out of her nose or mouth. The IV had already been removed from her head (she kept yanking it out of her hands and they were all bruised). All that was left was the protective tape on her face. Reminded me of a football player...

On Friday, they moved her from the NICU to the Special Care Nursery. What a downgrade! But it meant that she didn't need as much care and monitoring, which was definitely good. But man, was that a room cramped full of babies! I hung out with her there from the time we arrived at 11 am for a feeding, until later in the afternoon when we began our night of "rooming-in." This meant that they brought us to a room the size of a prison cell, so we could spend the night with her and they would be close-by if anything came up. It was a rough night because we near a noisy area and we didn't have any of the home amenities.

Graduation Day!

Yesterday, Kaitlyn graduated and was released from the hospital. After a night of rooming-in, we are ready to get her home. Here's some pics from the big day:

Kaitlyn dressed in her going home outfit. Eric and I had a good time getting her in this - so many snaps! And it was a little big. She weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz at discharge and still her legs were swimming in this newborn size outfit.

Here she is in the car. I sat in the backseat with her so I could watch her. She liked the car but got a little fussy after some bumps.

I thought this was a cute pic - of her and her daddy in the car. Eric didn't seem nervous at all!

After she got the other outfit dirty, we changed her into this. We were still working on our swaddling techniques and she seemed to like the comfort of being all snug in the footie pajamas.

We survived the first 24 hours with her home. And man, is it good for her to be home!