Visit From Santa

This past week Santa came to the hospital to visit all the babies.  We had to get her all dressed up for this special occasion.  I was excited to see that she fit into this newborn dress.

And this is what Natalee did while waiting for Santa to arrive.  Look at those chunky cheeks...I love it!  Natalee is weighing 5 pounds 4 oz!  Once she is able to eat all of her feedings on her own she will be ready to come home.  She is eating about 1/3 of them. She is still pretty exhausted during the day...growing is a lot of work!

Natalee and Santa!

She wasn't awake for very long.  Santa has a lot of cushion on his belly that makes for a comfortable bed.  Thanks for stopping by Santa and visiting with Natalee. What she wants for Christmas Santa is to come home to be with her family. We pray that happens very soon!

A Great Week For Natalee!

 12/10/11  Natalee had such an awesome past week.  She met many mile stones this week.  She is now 4 1/2 pounds and is 15 3/4" long and her head circumference is 12".  She is now off her oxygen and now is in an open crib.

 This was the first time Nana got to hold her since in the beginning they just let the parents hold them.  But now she is a "BIG" girl now she gets to be held by her visitors.  This was a special moment for Nana and Natalee. 

She got a bath by mom this day.

 And also got to be snuggled by Nana and Mom.

 Natalee is eating part of her feedings this week by bottle and even started breast feeding too.  Once she is able to eat her full feedings on her own she will get the feeding tube removed from her nose and she can come home.  The doctor said he is thinking about 2 more weeks and then she can come home.  That will be right before Christmas!  We are very excited!

I am in love this this precious girl!  This has been such a long road for our family these past few months but it will be worth every moment when she is home. 

Keep growing sweet Natalee and we all can't wait until you come home!

4 Pounds!

12/2/11 Yeah!  Natalee is 4 pounds!  You can see that double chin coming in!  We are so excited our baby is getting chunky!  I love this little face as if were saying, "What is going on? Enough with the pictures already."  The doctor told us today they will start weaning off of her oxygen in the next 2 days.  Next they will be working on the bottle feeding so we can take her home.  What a blessing she is and we are truly grateful that all is going well.  Keep it up Natalee and we will be taking you home sooner that you know it!

2 Month Birthday!

 11/29/11 Natalee had her 2 month birthday!  As you can see she is getting so big.  She is now wearing big girl clothes.  Of course the nurse and I had to get her all dressed up for this special occasion.

 What a cutie pie!  Natalee weighs 3 pounds 11 ounces!  She is gaining weight every day.  She is 15 3/4" long.  The doctor thinks we will be able to get her home by Christmas.  That would be the best gift ever!

 Here are the awesome two nurses that always watch Natalee.  Shannon on the left and Ronnie on the right.  These ladies are amazing!  At this hospital they have "Primary" nurses for their babies.  So every day they work they have the same babies that they care for so they get to know the babies.  So if something changes in the babies the nurses will know what is normal or not normal for the baby.  So these two are Natalee's primary nurses.

 I have a special connection to Shannon since we figured out that we are the same age, graduated nursing school the same year, and both like to run.  She takes extra good care of Natalee and we are so blessed to have awesome nurses for her.

My sister-in-law Megan made this banner to hang up in her room awhile back and I kept forgetting to post it.  Thanks Megan, we love it!  It says exactly what I wanted to say:  We love you Natalee!  Your are our precious baby girl!

Daddy Time

Every weekend I come home to be with Kenadee and Brylee and Brit goes to Glendale to spend time with Natalee.  I am so glad that they allow the dads to Kangaroo Care with the babies.  Brit enjoys this time with his daughter.  Her little pumpkin hat is just about too small for her now. 

You can see a little bruise on her forehead.  She she was getting her last blood transfusion she had an IV in her forehead and the IV was infiltrating and resulted in this bruise.  This little girls has been through a lot.  She is so tough!  When I was talking to him on the phone while he was holding her he said "Ouch!"  I said "What?" and he said "She is pulling my chest hair."  It gave her something to grasp on to.  Quite funny!  As of 11/20/11 she is 3 pounds 2 oz and is 35 cm long.  You are doing so great Natalee!  Keep it up!

11/17/11 Bath Time!

 
 Natalee loves bath time!  She usually is wide awake during bath time, but just about slept through this whole bath.  I mentioned to the nurse that she seemed so tired and fatigued during the bath and while I was holding her.  She usually looks at me frequently while I hold her and kicks her legs a lot but this time she just slept and hardly moved.  I even mentioned that she seemed a little pale and her oxygen saturations were dropping more frequently than normal.  I was worried about her.  Natalee was scheduled to have an eye exam this same evening.  So what the nurses tell me the eye exams were pretty traumatic for the babies since they have to pry open their eyes with what the nurse described to me as a misshapen paperclip.  The eye exam usually wares the babies out since they usually cry during it.  Shortly after the eye exam Natalee's oxygen saturations went down and normally she brings them right back up.  Not after this particular desaturation.  So they had to give her extra oxygen with a face mask and bag to bring her saturations back up.  They did blood tests and found out that she was anemic.  They want her hematicrit above 30 and Natalee's was 27.  So on 11/16/11 she had her fourth blood transfusion. 

I'm so glad that they were able to figure it out quickly and it could be fixed with a blood transfusion.  As of 11/17/11 Natalee weighs 2 pounds 14 ounces.  She is getting so big! Her oxygen flow is down to 4L/min.  I'm so glad she is feeling much better after her blood transfusion and is back to her normal self.

11/7/11 to 11/14/11

Natalee is growing so much this last week.  As of 11/7/11 she weighed 2 pounds 1 ounce (930 grams).  And just 8 days later 11/15/11 she weighed 2 pounds 11 ounces (1220 grams).  She officially doubled her birth weight!  Way to go Natalee!  She is now 34 cm long.  Her hair is starting to darken up.  She is so beautiful!  When the Dr. Miller comes in to assess her he calls her "My pretty baby".  Natalee is tolerating the Vapotherm (humidified oxygen) and she is at 6L/min.  She currently has the feeding tube through her mouth, no IV's yeah! She graduated to a bigger diaper and we are so excited to growth she has made in the last week!

2 Pound Mark!

 11/3/11 We are so excited Natalee finally reached the 2 pound mark!  This is the last day Natalee will have the breathing tube in.  You can see how much she has changed in a small amount of time.  She is doing so great, keep it up!  In this picture she is sticking her fingers in her mouth.  She is so cute!

11/4/11 This isn't a very clear picture since I took it with my phone but they took the tube out of Natalee and put this C-pap contraption on her.  It is this little mask that fits right over her nose which didn't fit her very well.  It didn't have a good seal so the air would keep leaking out from under the mask and the machine would alarm and they would have to readjust it to her face.  She wasn't getting good rest since the nurses kept having to readjust the mask so they decided to just give her the oxygen through a nasal cannula.  Which I was so happy about since the c-pap head piece looked very difficult to get good rest while wearing.  I am excited she is doing well without the breathing tube.  More pictures to come!

Wt: 930 grams

Happy Halloween

 Happy Halloween sweet Natalee!  I had someone make this cute pumpkin hat for her so she wouldn't have to miss out on Halloween this year.  Natalee is still weighing 1 pound 15 oz.  They have removed the PICC line and IV's so all she has is the breathing tube and the feeding tube.  All she is getting is my breast milk. Soon that breathing tube will be coming out too.  We can't wait! I still get to hold her every day I visit and it is something I look forward to. 

Keep holding on Natalee!  You are doing amazing!  We love you!

1 Month

 We wanted to give an update on Natalee.  She is doing very well!  Every time we take a picture of her she scrunches up her forehead and closes her eyes.  She is doing well enough that they are letting us do the Kangaroo Care with her every day.  This picture was the second time I got to hold her and yes, I was a little emotional again!

 She still has her breathing tube in and they wanted to leave that in until she reached the two pound mark.  They want to fatten her up a little bit more since the first time they took the tube out she was working really hard to breath and she lost weight. 

 But she is getting stronger and bigger every day.  As of 10/30/11 she weighs 1 pound 14 ounces. 

 She is our precious little girl!  The nurses always comment how cute she is, how much hair she has, and how long her eye lashes are.  One nurse said she has never seen a white baby with this much blond hair at this age.  She said that most of them that have hair like this are Hispanic babies.

 Daddy even gets the chance to Kangaroo with little Natalee. Daddy is all smiles!

 We bring the kids to visit Natalee often.  They already love their little sister.  Kenadee can't wait until Natalee comes home.  She will be such a big help to her mom.

We all got to spend her one month birthday with Natalee as a family.  Happy 1 month Birthday Natalee!  We love you and can't wait until you come home!

10/19/11 Day 18

I finally got a picture with her eyes open, but it wasn't a great angle.  Natalee has been having many great days.  Today at her weigh in she gained 2 oz even though they think some of that is fluid.  It was great to see her gain since she hasn't gained in the last 2 days.  So this was a huge jump for her and now she weighs 1 pound 8 oz.  She is getting hydrated and her skin is looking really good.  She is looking great and we are so excited to she her progress. It looks like her cheeks are starting to fill out.  She looks pale in the picture but she isn't pale like that, it is from the flash of the camera.  So many of the Nurse Practitioners and Nurses always makes comments on how cute she is.  They mention all they time they can't believe how long her eye lashes are and how they curl up.  She is our cutie patootie!  There was a baby admitted next door to Natalee today and you would never guess that the baby's name is Natalee (yes, even spelled the same way). I couldn't believe it!  Our Natalee's nurse said they haven't had a Natalee/Natalie in years and never had one spelled the way we spelled it.  What are the chances of that?

10/16/11 Day 17

It's been a couple of days since I gave an update, but Natalee had a few rough days.  On Friday she was really working hard to breath and she was wearing herself out.  They put her on the C-pap machine to help a little more with her breathing.  Early Saturday morning she was still having a hard time breathing so they decided to put the breathing tube back in her mouth.  She had some swelling to her neck and that was something new.  After having an ultrasound of her neck they figured out that her PICC line (a long IV that goes in a vein at the bend of the arm all the way up to a larger vein near the heart) was leaking (infiltrating) into her neck resulting in her having a hard time breathing and her blood sugars being elevated.  They took the PICC line out and put a new one in her left arm.  She is doing much better today, the swelling in her neck has improved, and has been very stable and more active. There focus at this point is to increase her feedings so she will gain weight and then take her off the breathing tube.  I am grateful for that, I want this little girl to be a chunky monkey! I can already see a difference between this picture and the picture I took of her of my last post.  Keep growing our sweet Natalee!

10/13/11 Day 14

Natalee is officially 2 weeks old!  Natalee had a better day today.  Her oxygen level has been better.  The last few days they have cut down on her feedings and her fluids since her blood sugars have been high.  So since she lost weight today they are starting her back on her fluids/feeding and going to give her some insulin to bring down her blood sugar.  It has made me sad to see how dry she has been so I was glad to see them restart her feedings/fluids.  I am sure she will become more perkier than she has been the last two days.  She is wrinkling up her forehead since she didn't like the flash from my camera.  I just have to say that I love her head of hair...so cute do you think?

10/12/11 Day 13

Natalee taking a snooze.  Her skin is so dry from the light therapy and the heated incubater.  I just want to butter her up with some good lotion!  My time with come soon.  Natalee had a little of a rough day today.  She had multiple apnea spells where she slows down on her breathing and her oxygen levels go down. They nurse stuck her multiple times to draw her blood.  I had to leave the room since it made me so sad.  Her white blood cells count was a little elevated and they think she might be getting an infection.  They are going to start her on some antibiotics today.  She is such a fighter I know you will over come this. We were told in the beginning that we will have lots of ups and downs and after almost 2 weeks we had a first set back.  You are so precious our Natalee Haws!

10/11/11 Day 12 A great day with Natalee!

 We had such a great day on Tuesday.  Today was the fist day I got to hold our little Natalee.  They use this "Kangaroo Care" technique using a skin to skin contact to cuddle with your little one.  I was so emotional through the hour I got to hold her since it was the very first time I got to hold my baby girl.  It was unexpected since I thought this was weeks down the road since they took out her breathing tube just 3 days ago.  The doctor came in to see Natalee and he said how happy he is with her and her progress.  He said "On how well she is doing on a scale 1-10 I would give her a 9.5.  Awesome Natalee!  Your first A!

I love this picture.  You can see how long her fingers have gotten in this short amount of time.  Natalee is covering her eyes with her hand while the nurse works on her as if she was saying, "Oh man, not again."

10/10/11 Day 11

Natalee's eyes opened today.  The swelling around her eyes has gone down.  It is so beautiful to see her fully.  I haven't gotten a picture of her eyes opened but when I do I will post it.

10/08/11 Day 9

I had the chance to go home for the weekend to spend time with my other girls and give Brit a chance to be with Natalee.  He called me when he got to the hospital after seeing her and was crying.  He couldn't believe how well she looked and how much she has grown in the short amount of days he has not seen her.  Today they took the breathing tube out and put her on Vapotherm flow which is a way to deliver oxygen through the nose and it is pressurized to help her with her breathing.  The green tube you see is the feeding tube. We were very excited to see this happen so soon!  Keep it up Natalee!

10/07/11 Day 8

I love this picture.  Natalee is still getting her photo therapy for her jaundice.  She has her shades on just chillin'.  Natalee pulled her breathing tube out on her own.  She was able to breath for awhile but wasn't able to sustain her oxygen levels.  So they had to replaced her breathing tube.  She is definitely a feisty one! Many people have said that she is lucky she has some of Brit's genes in her since he has such a competitive nature.  She definitely has some of her daddy in her.

10/04/11 Day 5

Today Natalee had a day of rest after all the tests she had from yesterday.  Her ventilations settings stayed the same.  Since they have drawn so much blood from her for all her blood tests they had to give her a blood transfusion today. 
Todays weight: 620 grams

10/03/11 Day 4

Natalee had an Echocardiogram to find out if the hole has closed in her septum.  The results showed a small pin hole in the septum and the doctor said it will eventually close up on it's own.  She also had a head ultrasound and this is how they check for a bleed in the brain.  If there is a bleed in the brain the chances of the baby having neuo problems like Cerebal Palsy goes way up.  Natalee's ultrasound was normal!  Whew, we were holding our breath for that one.  The doctor said she was doing so well he didn't think that she did have a bleed in her brain.  Today they turned down her ventalation settings and they stopped her blood pressure medication (Dopamine).  She still has some swelling around the eyes.  Looking forward to that going down.  We are so proud of you Natalee!

Today's weight: 640 grams

10/2/11 Day 3

 I was discharged on the 3rd day after I had Natalee.  The girls got to come and see Natalee and this was Brylee's first time seeing her.  Kenadee just can't believe how tiny she is. 

 Brylee would call her her baby Nayee. 

 She wanted to touch Natalee so Daddy let Brylee touch her foot. 

 The nurses have been so amazing!  This is Debbie who is one of our favorite nurses that has been taking extra good care of our Natalee.  Thanks to all the great nurses here at Thunderbird Medical Center!  We love you!

 I thought this was cute that they hung up her name on the cupboards.  It is great how they personalized Natalee's room for her.

Natalee's wt: 640 grams.