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.