Yummy food, mystery gifter.

Aaron and I received a box full of goodies from a company called Company's Comin' and there isn't any indication of who sent the very generous gift. We're curious, let us know if it was you.

Date Night

Aaron and I decided to take advantage of our $4,000 a day babysitter and went out last night. We had the best casserole money can buy, courtesy of Mike and Alisa (thanks again guys). It was delicious and we had a nice time being "normal".

Charlotte is now 32 weeks. She is 1,575 grams or 3 pounds 7 ounces. She spends more of her time awake and alert and has started following us with her head when we move around her bed. She is doing a great job of keeping her temperature up with out much assistance from the incubator. We still have a 240 grams to gain before she is four pounds, but she is making good progress toward an open crib.

We hope everyone has a fun and safe evening ringing in the New Year.
Love Katie, Aaron and Charlotte

With clothes in the way, Charlotte's caterpillar picture progress (say that three times fast) may not be as apparent, but we will take them all the same.
She weighed in tonight at 1,500 grams or 3 pounds 4 ounces and she is now 41.5 centimeters or 16.3 inches long. Slowly but surely, she is getting there. She gained 2o grams over the last 24 hours and we were thankful for that after all the poop that has been coming out of that small little body. I think her digestive system has finally hit it's stride. We need to take the diaper genie up to the hospital, it was a stinky affair today.

Closing Week 5

Week five of life in the NICU is coming to a close and, for me, the last few weeks may as well have been three years. It is hard to describe the daily stresses, combined with worries of what is to come, and how it all affects me. I remind myself daily of how lucky I am to have a rock of a husband and a wonderfully supportive family. It is still incredibly difficult.

Charlotte has had a few rough days, which equals a very stressed out Mom and Dad. They have been trying to wean her from her nasal cannula and they were too aggressive. The doctor reversed some of the orders so that she is getting more air flow and that has helped. Today was a much better day. Perhaps more frustrating than the problems she is having, is the answers to our questions typically sound something like, "Well, this is normal for preemies". If you have never wanted to punch someone in your life, come to the hospital with me and I promise that will change.

In more positive news, she is still gaining weight. She is up to 1,480 grams or 3 pounds 4 ounces. They will measure her length again tonight, so I will be sure to report that with a caterpillar picture tomorrow or Tuesday. We haven't reported her feeding level in awhile, it has steadily increased and she now gets 28 ccs at each feeding. I noticed today that her hands are starting to look more like "baby" hands with a little pudge on them. She has also started rooting around for a nipple and she loves to suck on her pacifier when she is being fed. That tells me she is making the connection and I am hopeful we can start trying to bottle feed her in the next two weeks.

To the family, thank you for bringing Christmas to us. It was great seeing everyone, even with a dead tree and too many people in a too small house. I hope you all made it home safely.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Houston. We hope you all have a wonderful- fun filled day with loved ones.

Oh My, I'm 3 Pounds!

Charlotte broke the 3 pound mark last night. Pray that she keeps it on.

We also got the great news that she was being moved to the 8th floor at shift change this evening. She will be in the Cheetah pod from this point forward. Hopefully this will be the last move for her before we get to bring her home.

Cheers.

Caterpillar Monday

Just so you know, we take a picture of Charlotte with her caterpillar every Monday. It might not make it to the blog on Monday, but we do take it every Monday. Or that is our goal.....what do they say about good intentions? Anyway, I digress, Charlotte weighed in at 1300 grams last night and measured 38.9 centimeters, or 2 pounds 14 ounces and 15.2 inches. Growing, growing, growing. Also, since I am posting late today, we already know that she weighed in tonight at 1330 grams, a mere 30 grams from 3 pounds even. A very merry Christmas will be a consistent 3 + pound weight recording. Fingers crossed.

In other news, much to Charlotte's chagrin, we are exactly at the in between point of weaning and not weaning from the automated warming system. Some days she runs too hot to have the warming system on and other days she doesn't keep her temp up with just the fan maintaining a constant air temperature for her. So that means, some days with clothes and other days without, after she packs on a few more grams we won't have the back and forth. Also, we were told today that Miss C is slated for a big move to the 8th floor, true NICU 2, and that is should happen by the end of the week, BUT, it is a holiday and we may have to wait due to "logistics" and staffing. The 8th floor is the holy grail for parents, private rooms for each bundle of joy. If your neighbor is a screaming, squealing, never content baby, you don't care, because there is a wall between you, not 24 inches of carpet. Yes, Charlotte's current neighbor is not the best bunk mate and Aaron and I have had our fill of it.

Aaron calls this her Hans Solo picture, "She's dead asleep"....

Update from Charlotte

Hello Peeps, Charlotte here. I know everyone is really excited about my weight gain and anxious to hear about more, but that isn't really what gets me up in the morning. You want to know what I get excited about? Clothes. That's right, clothes. It means one thing for me. It means my Mom and Dad will have to stop posting naked baby pictures of me all over the internet for the world to see. I mean, a girl needs to have some secrets.

The nurses turned my automated warming system off today in my bed. I still need help staying warm, but I will have to do some of the work myself now. That is why I can wear clothes. Luckily, my Mom brought me some cute outfits to wear. I don't really dig the hospital issued clothing, white is so plain.

Love to you all,
Charlotte

All about the weight

Charlotte weighed in at 1,235 grams tonight! That is 2 pounds 12 ounces. She is only 125 grams from 3 pounds. That doesn't represent a special milestone in hospital speak, but it is exciting all the same.

Still Growing

While this isn't the best caterpillar picture, it made us laugh, because she would not put her arms down. Charlotte is now 1,110 grams and 37.5 cm or 2 pounds 7 ounces and 14.7 inches. Good trends and good news for us.


Since Aaron and I have been spending so much time at the hospital, we have started to get to know the other parents that are there with their babies. In particular, there is a couple with a little boy named Jorge, from Charlotte's first pod. Jorge is having a hard time, has had surgery, and may still need more. While you are saying your prayers for Charlotte, please include one for Jorge and his parents. They could use any extra help you can spare.

T-Minus 10 Weeks

Since we are counting down to zero with Miss Charlotte, we still refer to her progress in terms of gestational age. She will be 30 weeks tomorrow. We are still seeing an upward trend in her weight. She is really packing on the grams now :) Last night's weigh in was 1070 grams or 2 pounds 6 ounces. She can't maintain her own body temperature until she weighs approximately 2000 grams, so we still have quite a bit of work to do there.

Today she took her pacifier and really went to town on it. You could almost hear the sucking noises outside her incubator. She even held it herself. Part of her development will be to learn to suck, swallow, and breath all at the same time. She won't be able to eat without a tube until she can master that, so the pacifier is an important learning tool for her. It also helps strengthen all the muscles she will need to eat.

Cozy New Hat

Grandma Mary knitted Charlotte a new hat for Kangaroo Care. Again, she is the talk of the pod. Everyone is jealous of her incubator covers and hats.

We have had three days of good weight gain. Last night she weighed in at 2 pounds 5 ounces or 1040 grams. Hopefully we continue that trend.

Bright Eyes

Rabbit to Elephant

Charlotte was moved from the Rabbit pod (NICU level 3) to the Elephant pod (NICU level 2) today. We were told it was more of a staffing decision than a move based on Charlotte's progress. She has basically been stable since birth and when they needed a level 3 spot for a sick baby, Charlotte was the obvious candidate, being the healthiest one in her pod. Also, Charlotte's NICU 2 pod is not quite a full step down, it is staffed by NICU 3 nurses and run by the NICU 3 charge nurse. The real difference is she is in a room full of stable babies, instead of with the high risk, major problem babies. It is SO quiet in her new pod. The old pod had constant alarms, teams of specialist in and out all the time, social workers, other parents all stressed to the max because their babies had issues. The new pod has none of those things. I think it is the best of both worlds. A highly trained staff for quiet babies needing lots of sleep for growing.

They put her back on the nasal cannula today. She was having too hard a time breathing on her own. Aaron and I were happy with the decision because now she can put that energy toward gaining weight.

More updates soon.
Katie

I'm this big

Now that Miss Charlotte is off humidity, we can put stuffed animals in her bed. We got this 9" caterpillar (thanks for the suggestion Kelly) so that we can mark her growth. Since Aaron and I see her every day, it is hard to see the changes. Hopefully this will help.

They removed the nasal cannula last night and she has been doing great with out the extra assistance. Everybody pray that she starts growing. Her weight has been fluctuating back and forth, which the doctors say is normal, but we would like her to get going on this weight gain business so she can maintain her own body temp.

Breaking News!!!

I got to hold my daughter today!



Oh, and it snowed in Houston today....


Picture courtesy of my very thoughtful neighbor, Kathy. Thanks Kathy.

Happy Hump Day

Well, it is a happy hump day for us. Charlotte had her IV removed today, so no more supplements! Hopefully they won't have to put her back on them. She weighed in at a whopping 990 grams last night. That finally puts her over her birth weight of 970 grams, fingers crossed the trend continues. They also turned down the humidity from 70% to 60%. That is important because we can't hold her until she no longer requires the humidity. She should be weaned in the next couple of days, so we may be holding her by the weekend.

CPAP Free

Day 7

Well, we have made it through the first week and things are very positive. Charlotte has made great progress everyday and we are thankful for all the good news. They removed her CPAP today and moved her to a cannula, the least invasive breathing assistance. She has gained back some her weight and her feedings have steadily increased all week with her supplements simultaneously decreasing as she takes more breast milk.

We change her diaper when we can. The IV and other cords present and interesting challenge, but we make due.



She is the most stylish baby in the pod, thanks to her Aunt Amy. Check out her personalized incubator cover.





Aaron and I feel very blessed to have so many caring friends and family members. We appreciate all of the words of encouragement and prayers for Charlotte. We have a long road ahead of us and it definitely makes it easier to know that we don't have to travel it alone.

More updates soon.
Katie

Perspective

Dad Update

Charlotte continues to do well and has had her feedings increased to 7cc while having her IV nutrition decreased.

She has been breathing 21% O2 since birth which is the same as room air. The doctor told us yesterday that if she would have been born at 30 weeks she would not still be on the breathing assistance (CPAP) but to be on the safe side they will keep her on the CPAP for now.

Charlotte and Dad say Gig 'Em.

Update on Charlotte

Charlotte is doing very well. They have increased her feeding and decreased her antibiotics, all good signs. We were told yesterday that at day 10, we will be able to hold her occasionally, so we are really looking forward to that. We are starting to get to know the nurses that take care of her. Some inspire more confidence than others, but I guess that comes with the territory. Aaron and I are doing ok, trying to take it day by day.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Love Katie & Aaron

Sleep Tight Sweet Girl

Charlotte Grace Agnew

As most of you know by now, our little girl just couldn't wait to meet us and came a bit early. She was born on November 24th at 1:29 am and weighed in at 2 pounds 2 ounces. She came out kicking and screaming, which is great news when dealing with preemies. They removed the respirator in less than twelve hours and she is already eating, which are both great signs. We expect that she will need to stay in the NICU until her originally scheduled appearance of February 22, 2010.

Things are looking good for her, she is definitely a fighter. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she grows stronger and healthier everyday.

More updates as they come.

Love Katie

A mover and a shaker

Bean is a mover. Forget about listening to the heartbeat, trying to get a look at the small bits, or getting a proper measurement, he/she is having none of it.

We went for our 20 week appointment at the beginning of October to see if they could tell us if we were having a boy or a girl only to hear the ultrasound tech exclaim, "Oh no, this is the worst position the baby could be in!" Of course, my mother and sister called that one. Why would I have a child that would cooperate? So we are still unsure of the sex at this point, although my intuition says it is a girl. My doctor said I will have one more ultrasound between 30 and 32 weeks, but by that time, we should probably just wait and find out on delivery day.

Bean is healthy and very strong. I am feeling great these days, only contending with the occasional heartburn and exhaustion. Aaron is taking my complaining in stride and has even taken over dinner making duties and a host of other things (probably so he doesn't have to listen to me complain ;)

More updates soon,
Katie

The Virtual Baby Shower….

Hello and welcome.

As we eagerly await the arrival of our little one, Aaron and I wanted to be sure that we could include all of our loved ones during this special time. In lieu of having a traditional baby shower, we felt that an open forum on the world wide web would be an excellent way to keep you all updated, as well as, provide you an opportunity to leave feedback, advice, or well wishes. Please leave a comment to let us know that you visited and share with others that we may have forgotten.

We look forward to sharing this exciting time with you.

Love Katie & Aaron

The story behind "Bean"

After my first appointment to cofirm the pregnancy, I brought home a sonogram picture and put it on the fridge. Aaron took one look at it and said, "it looks like a Lima bean"....and so the nickname was born. Now, when referring to our bun in the oven, we call him/her Bean.