A Blessed Season Indeed

12/25/09:

12/22/10:

Wishing you a blessed Christmas and wonderful New Year!

The Agnews

Happy Birthday Baby!!!

How far we have come in 12 months time. From 2 pounds 2 ounces:

To 16 pounds 4 ounces:


Someone once told me that Charlotte would be throwing that caterpillar around before I knew it and they were so right. This birthday caught me off guard, even though I was preparing myself for over a month. It all goes so quickly.

In the weeks leading up to today, I have thought a lot about what was happening a year ago. I remember how terrifying that trip to the hospital was and how upset I was when they told me that we had to have her and they couldn't stop the labor. I remember talking to a good friend who has been in the same situation trying to steel myself for what was to come and fight off the fears of what possibly could happen. I remember being thrilled to hear her crying when she was born and petrified when they took her away from us so quickly. I remember how strong Aaron was throughout the entire ordeal, never letting me see him upset and staying positive even under the most trying circumstances. But most of all, I remember all of the love and support that we received from our family, friends, co-workers and neighbors. Without even asking, we were taken care of at every turn. Our support group pulled together with nary a meeting and made sure we had food, clean laundry, a healthy dog, sleep when we could get it, a hug to come home to after a long day at the hospital, nice messages of support on the phone when we needed it, countless prayers, and encouraging notes and comments posted here.

Thank you all so much for helping us through those 74 days in the hospital and in the months following. It is a true gift to know that you are loved.

She was meant to be born near Thanksgiving because she truly is a blessing.


Happy Thanksgiving from Team Agnew.

Pitter Patter?

Not quite, but this little munchkin is now 11 months old. She is getting close to walking, but I keep telling myself that she needs to get much stronger before she can free herself from the couch cruising. I am sure I will live happily in that denial right up until she turns away from the furniture and walks across the room.

In other news, Charlotte is officially teething. Her two bottom, front teeth are making their painful debut as I type this post. She has been doing fairly well with it, but there have been a few times in the last few days that nothing, NOTHING, would make her feel better and we just had to cry it out.

I can't believe we are one month away from her first birthday. Where does the time go?

We like to throw Cheerios to the dog

That pretty much sums up our life right now. Charlotte spends most of her time trying to get into things she shouldn't be getting into and doing things just to see how we will react.

She is 10 months old now. 10 Months! Everyday I think, wow she is growing up so fast. I wonder when that stops? My guess is, it doesn't.

She is pulling up on everything and cruising the furniture. A few days ago she let go of the couch to balance. That didn't work out so well for her, but I am sure she will be trying again before we know it. Don't be surprised if she is walking by her first birthday. I am pretty sure she heard the doctor say she wouldn't be doing that and decided to prove her wrong....again.

Enjoy the photos. The last one was taken at Charlotte's baptism.

Happy fall to everyone.
Katie, Aaron, and Charlotte

Well, that didn't take long.......

Sigh.

Addendum

I just realized I left out a very important piece of information from my previous post.

Dr. Sidiki was extremely surprised that Charlotte has only had one little bug since coming home almost 7 months ago. She told me that in her experience, most children Charlotte's age have had at least 6 different bugs or sick spells, which made her curious about how we were socializing Charlotte. After I assured her we had not locked ourselves in a bubble for the last 7 months, she gave me a verbal pat on the back, telling me that she was very impressed.

All of that to say, thanks a million friends and family, for helping us keep Charlotte healthy and relatively bug free. All of those healthy months have helped her grow bigger and stronger so that when the nasty RSV season comes around, she will be better prepared.

High five everybody.

9 Month Check-up

Charlotte had her 9 month check up today. Dr. Sidiki was extremely happy with her developmental progress, pegging her at 8 months, instead of her corrected 6 months. We were really happy to hear that. Charlotte impressed everyone with an array of her newly acquired talents and then promptly gave them all her stink eye after getting her shot. She now weighs 15 pounds and 4 ounces, which puts her in the 25-50% for her corrected age of six months. That was the only thing we weren't thrilled with, Dr. Sidiki wants to see a little more weight. No cause for concern, but I don't think we will be taking her off the higher calorie formula anytime soon. She also still has a ginormous head with it falling in the 90-97% corrected, 50-75% actual age! That means her head is as large or larger than 50-75% of other 9 month old babies. Crazy.

After her appointment, we went over to the hospital to see some of our favorite doctors, therapists, and nurses. I try to make it over there any time we are in the medical center. We just love showing Charlotte off and those folks work awfully hard to get and keep so many babies healthy, they like to see the success stories. We were really excited to see our all time favorite nurse AND we found out that she will be going to work for our doctor group next month. That means we will get to see her every month starting in October because we will be taking C in to get her RSV shots :( Not fun, but necessary.

Developmentally, Charlotte is crawling and pulling up....on everything, even unstable things. Bumps, bruises, and scrapes are here to stay for awhile. She only pulls up to a kneeling position, but I think that is just because she hasn't figured out she has to grab higher to be able to stand up all the way. I am sure that is not far behind. She hasn't really started speaking yet, but she does repeat certain sounds, like she is trying to speak. Although, the other day, I was admonishing her with a "No Ma'am" for doing something she had been told not to do and she looked at me sweetly, laughed, and parroted "No Ma'am" right back at me, same inflection and all. Let me tell you, I should get an award for not laughing.

Signing off for now,
The Agnew Clan

8 Months? What?

Yes, Charlotte is 8 months old! This little smarty pants is dangerously close to being a full blown crawler, as you can see below.


She scoots like greased lightening, but the crawling coordination isn't quite there yet. It is coming though, soon.

She is also eating three different veggies and in a few days we will be trying fruit. Maybe a banana? Who knows. Luckily, (knock wood) she hasn't turned her nose up at anything we have given her.

We are seeing her personality more and more these days. As my mother would say, she has two little horns propping up her halo. Most of the time she is as sweet as she can be, but every once in awhile she has to push the boundaries. I know this is normal kid stuff, but it is so fun to watch first hand.

What a great adventure the last eight months have been for us. Trying at times, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Until the next update....

Newsflash!

Charlotte found the baby we keep in the cabinet...

and she's in love.

I guess I should mention that I put her on the floor roughly ten feet from this spot, and when I came back from the kitchen, this is where she was. The scooting has been kicked into high gear.

Hello, I'm 7 months old

and cuter than ever (if my Mom does say so herself).

Miss Charlotte is doing very well. She is making strides in the moving department. Inching along her tummy time blanket and rolling all over the place. She is still a chatter box, I am sure that will only increase with time. She seems to learn how to make a new sounds every day and is delighted to show us her new "words". She is now a champion cereal eater. I think her only complaint is she doesn't get cereal with every meal. I think we will start veggies next week.

She is making the caterpillar look smaller and smaller every day

Happy Birthday Patsy Nana!

We love you.

Testing, testing....is this thing on?

I am not sure if anybody is still out there reading this blog. Now that Charlotte is home and healthy and I am not updating as often, I am wondering if I should continue on with my ramblings about our beautiful baby girl.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment for me. You don't have to log in to leave one, just leave it as anonymous and include your name in the comment field.

And, since I am already here publishing this post, Charlotte is doing wonderfully. She is still growing like a weed and learning new things every day. We have started cereal once a day and I will say, she doesn't hate it.

Cheers,
Katie

6 Months Old!

It is hard to believe it has only been six months. I can't imagine my life without her now.

Somewhere between the sleepless nights and the dirty diapers, I fell in love with her and I have a hard time even remembering what it was like before I loved her. Some people will tell you that they fell in love with their child at first sight, but it didn't happen that way for me, and I am sure it doesn't happen that way for others. I felt the responsibility and the protective instincts, I am sure those things ensure the survival of our species, but the love came later. I would guess that the nature of her arrival and the delayed bonding time all played a part, but I also think that, while I loved the idea of the child growing in my belly, I didn't understand. I didn't understand the all encompassing, unconditional, true love that comes after you meet and know your child. I do now. We are truly blessed and I still think of her as my miracle baby and probably always will (Someone send me this post when she is 16:).

We just had our six month check up. She passed with flying colors, the doctors are very happy with her progress. Officially, she weighs 12 pounds and 5 ounces and is 23.5 inches long. The big news is she is "on" the chart at her actual age (3rd percentile) and that makes us all happy. Corrected she is in the 50th percentile for height and weight. At some point, probably close to her 2nd birthday, those two numbers will get much closer together. Since we were in the medical center today, we stopped by the NICU to visit some of our favorite doctors and nurses. It was so nice to be able to see them and show them Charlotte's progress.

She is keeping us quite entertained with all her chatter and scooting and grabbing. She is a consistent tummy sleeper these days, so she is getting very strong in the flipping department. We are still working on balance and tummy time, or TT as Aaron likes to call it, and I think in the next few days we will begin cereal feeding. Big things here at the Agnew house!

I hope you all have a wonderful summer.
Katie

New Caterpillar Picture

Charlotte was just giving him a lift :)

Busy, busy, busy!

I can't believe it is already May. Where does the time go?

We have been very busy here at the Agnew house. Charlotte and I have been to New Braunfels, San Angelo, and Fredericksburg visiting family, just this month. Charlotte is a champion traveler. She spends most of her time sleeping or telling Ollie the Elephant Blanket all about it.

We have had big changes since the last update. Charlotte can flip from her stomach to her back and just last night she flipped from her back to her stomach. She has also become quite a talker, most of the time you can hardly get a word in edge wise. She loves to sing or read along with me. She is also over 12 pounds now, she is getting to be such a big girl.

She will be 6 months old at the end of this month. The doctors will say that she will be 3 months old, corrected age, but Charlotte doesn't agree. She is working hard to catch up to her actual age and we are having so much fun watching her grow and learn.

Here are some new photos of our little one.

Cheers,
Katie

Look what we got in the mail today....

Well, not the baby, obviously, but the beautiful blanket she is laying on. My good friend Kelley MADE that for her. Yes, I said made. We love it. This picture doesn't do it justice, no picture would. Kelley, thank you so very much. I am tempted to put this in the "not until Charlotte gets much older" box, but it is too fantastic to put away.

Well folks, Charlotte has officially met all of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins (and even her Swiss "aunt" and a few second and third cousins). For those not familiar with our families, that is a lot of people. We had a big Easter weekend trip and saw both sides of the family. Charlotte was a great traveler, hardly fussing at all. As you can see below, she is getting very strong. It is funny to see her on her stomach these days because she gets her little legs going back and forth and she wants to crawl so badly. I guess before we know it she will be crawling. Sigh, time is flying.

4 Months 1 Month

Charlotte had her 4 month check up and immunizations on Thursday. She took the shots like a champ, much better than Mom.

Because her original due date was February 22nd, her pediatrician uses that date as her day 0. According to that, Charlotte's corrected age is 1 month. She got an A+ from Dr. Sidiki because developmentally, she is acting more like a 2.5 month old. As an aside, I don't necessarily agree that her due date should be her day 0. If she would have been born on February 6th (her graduation day) she would have been considered full term, so I think THAT should be her day 0 and our NICU doctors agreed. Anyway, that is neither here nor there.

She weighs 9 pounds 10 ounces and is almost 21 inches long. Corrected, she is in the 75th percentile height and weight, which is right where we want her to be.

That's all for now. I will leave you with one of my favorite pictures of her yet.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

A little bit early. We will be wearing our green at the Agnew house tomorrow, don't forget your green.

Hopefully, Charlotte will be spending her first St. Patty's Day getting her RSV booster shot. Fun, right? Well, it is a necessary evil and we have been waiting for the call to say that it is here. Long story short, the drug company requires pre-approval of payment from the insurance company and yadda, yadda, yadda.....you have a long waiting period while they all get their ducks in a row.

In other news, she is doing really well. Growing and learning and growing some more. We are enjoying almost every minute (I can't lie, there are times it's not so fun) and loving it all. We have another doctor's appointment next week (4 months!!) so I will update her weight and height at some point after that.

Until then, have a great day, week, month........

Cuteness

Some photos of little miss for your enjoyment.

4:58 am...

and I have a snoring baby on my chest. Life is good.

3 months old

CG is three months old today. It is hard to believe, for me anyway. For developmental purposes we will use her "graduation day" as her day 0, so her corrected age is 2.5 weeks. In reality, I am sure I will always keep up with both dates, although I have been told she should be caught up by her second birthday. Hopefully that is the case and no one will be the wiser that she surprised us all 13 weeks early.

Things are going well here at Charlotte central. She is busy growing and learning. It is fun to watch and witness all of those little moments that we were missing when she was in the hospital. For the most part, she is a content and calm little. She loves to cuddle and hates bath time, just like any other newborn.

One week

Ok, a little more than one week....but days are all running together, so take what you can get.

Little miss is doing just fine. She is getting plenty of sleep, plenty of food, and plenty of loving. Aaron and I, on the other hand, are not getting plenty of any of those things. Such is the life of parents of a newborn. Her first doctor's appointment went fine, she is over 7 pounds now and still amazing doctors and nurses alike with her good health. We hear a lot of "What!?! she is a 27 weeker?"

Here are some pics from her first week at home.

All's Quiet on the Western Front...

for now. So it only took us two days to go from, "She's not making any noise, go check on her" to, "Oh thank the Lord, she's not making any noise". Before you get worried, we are still hovering, just not as diligently.

At least someone is sleeping in this house.

We stole a baby today....

or at least that is how we felt earlier, because CHARLOTTE WAS DISCHARGED TODAY!! She was born at 2 pounds 2 ounces and 13 inches long. After 74 days, she graduated from the NICU at 6 pounds 9 ounces and 18 inches long.


She flew through her 7 day count down, after her one set back last week, and you already know that she passed her car seat test. All the doctors and nurses were terribly sad to see her go, but so very happy that we were leaving with only a prescription of reflux meds. We have been told time and again that Charlotte is most definitely not the average outcome of a 27 weeker, she far exceeded everyone's expectations.

Tonight, and I am sure for many nights to come, we will gladly hover over her, making sure she is breathing. We are so happy to have her home and are very blessed to have her here healthy and happy and strong.

To all of you that helped during the last few months, thank you so very much, we could not have done it without you. I am severely delinquent in my thank you card writing, please forgive me and thank you for understanding.

I know that you all are anxious to meet her, but we are heeding our doctor's advice and keeping her tucked away for at least a month. We will let you know when we are ready for visitors.

This just in...

Charlotte passed her car seat test with flying colors. We are still in the countdown, but so glad to have this one behind us.

Caterpillar....uh, Tuesday?

So we haven't posted one of these in awhile:
Little C is 6 pounds 7 ounces and 18 inches long. She has come a long way from where she started.We are so proud of her and can't wait to have her home.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Russell

For your birthday present, I am growing......hard. I might even be snoring.

Ugh....Reset

CG had a brady yesterday, the countdown clock has reset. Back to day 1 :(

Notice anything different?

No? Need another picture? See it yet?

Well, let me help you out. Charlotte had her feeding tube removed today! She jumped from 4 to 8 bottles like a Champ. So, let's recap the things she needs to accomplish before coming home:

• Maintain temp - check
• No cannula - check
• No caffeine - check
• Take all 8 bottles - check
• No bradys for 7 days post caffeine - working on day 3
• Car seat test - will be done after 7 day brady count down

We are almost there!