Day by Day

Well, it's been a month since our last substantive update about day to day life with Eliza. So what all has happened and changed since then? In no particular order:

* She's gotten much better at soothing herself and keeping herself entertained. If necessary, she can sit in her crib or her Bumbo seat for five or even ten minutes while we prepare her milk and medication, and we can be reasonably confident that she won't have a meltdown meanwhile. This is something that simply wasn't possible a month ago.(Hince our serious lack of posts!)

* She is also much more interested in things and in reaching out to interact with them. We have toys hanging next to each changing table and in her bassinet, and for a long time she mostly ignored them when we set her down, but now she immediately turns to them and reaches out to them. It's neat to see! She also grabs things and holds on to them much more frequently and effectively now.

* Eliza is getting close to being able to roll over. She can easily turn from her back to her left side and back again, and with just a tiny amount of help she can roll from her side to her tummy. She's also much more tolerant of "tummy time" now than she used to be - it's still not exactly her favorite thing, though! Eliza will be starting some physical therapy in the near future to help with making those developmental milestones.

* Eating continues with its ups and downs. A week ago, she went completely on strike from eating, refusing to take a bottle at all. This week she's been much better, even taking a whole bottle once. She continues to have a lot of spit-ups if we're not careful.

* We were using thickener (SimplyThick) in Eliza's milk, which seemed to be helping both with her feeding and with her spit-ups, but a couple of days ago the FDA warned not to give SimplyThick to preemies due to a risk of NEC, so we've discontinued that. (One round of bowel perforation was more than enough for Eliza, thanks!) Now we're using crushed rice cereal instead, which doesn't work as well in breast milk (it dissolves quickly), but it does at least add calories which is good too.

* Relatedly, our stash of Heather's pumped milk is finally starting to get low, so we're in the process of migrating Eliza over to formula. Currently she's on a half-and-half blend of milk and formula, but I accidentally gave her a bottle of pure formula once and she didn't seem to mind. It's amazing to me how long the milk has lasted - Heather really outdid herself with her dedication in pumping.

So that's some of the news from these parts of late; a dry list of facts it may be but we want to make sure we share these things and write them down while we still have a chance of remembering them. Every day brings something new and different to learn and experience, and it would be a shame to forget it!

ICN Reunion

Last weekend was the Intensive Care Nursery reunion. All the babies that have spent time in the Nursery were invited. We got to see a couple of our favorite nurses and a couple roommates as well. We were sad that some of Eliza's friends weren't able to make it. I have no idea how many people were actually there but it was a lot more than we expected. Eliza was one of the four smallest birthweight babies that attended so she was recognized and we got a bucket of goodies! It's really amazing how far we have come from 1 pound 4 ounces. We also won a raffle prize.. a really beautiful dollhouse that one of the nurses' friends made. 

One of Eliza's primary nurses, Lori.

Eliza loves Lori!

Another favorite nurse, Misty

One of Eliza's old roommates, Julia and her parents

Another of Eliza's roomates and the smallest baby at birthweight - 1 pound 2 ounces!

Lots of attendees!

The beautiful doll house that we won! Eliza's a wee bit too young to enjoy it now but I am sure she will love it in the years to come!

PS I know we are so behind on updates and we will try to get one out soon...

March for Babies

We had a truly great weekend! Saturday was the March of Dimes March for Babies. We had a great team -- family and friends started arriving Friday so Eliza got lots of loving. This was the first time that we had her around such a large group and I think she did pretty great. Thanks to Nana for bringing her home a little early from the walk when she had enough. We had 17 adults and 5 kiddos on the team! We are truly touched by the support of our team - thanks so much for walking with us for a great cause! You guys rock! I hope you will walk with us next year. :) 

Our Shirts:

Team C(E)O

In honor of the Matthews Triplets

Born at 24 weeks

Eliza

grow baby grow!

Charlotte

9/8/10 - 10/1/10

Oliver

9/8/10 - 9/11/10

Now that it's over we are going to have to start planning something else to do. Momma needs something to look forward to -- maybe a trip to the beach??