Glenn got a new lens for the DLSR for Fathers Day. Here are a few of the test shots. I think I like.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
New Lens
Glenn got a new lens for the DLSR for Fathers Day. Here are a few of the test shots. I think I like.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The Last Week in Pictures
Trying out rice cereal on a spoon for the first time this week. Definitely not into swallowing it yet.
Bath time! Can you believe how much bigger she is since this post?! This is also the last picture of the g-tube before getting changed to a g-tube button.
This past weekend we went down to GA for Glenn's family reunion. It was a quick, but good trip. Eliza got to meet a lot of family for the first time! Unfortunately we didn't get pictures of everyone.
Chilling out with her cousins!
Uncle Mike!
Uncle Greg!
Meeting Great-Grandma Vicki!
Happy Father's Day! You couldn't have asked for a cuter baby, eh Dad?
Monday, June 20, 2011
Life in Preemie World
I saw this article today and it really resonated so thought I would share it. Please read.
ABC Article
Life with a preemie is... different, and definitely not what us preemie moms envisioned when we started our journey to parenthood. I like how the article talks a little bit about life after the NICU and how it's NOT at all like coming home with a full-term baby. Life has not been sunshine and roses since we came home even though it seems like it should be.
Sometimes I wonder if PTSD is exactly what I have. I'm having a hard time in social situations the last few months because I get many comments about how happy I must be, how great Eliza's doing, and what a miracle she is, and yes I agree ...but god I'm just so sad too. I hate how horrible this last year has been and everything we've had to plow through to get here. I hate that we've been home for several months and we STILL go to a doctor's an average of once a week. I hate that I've felt so overwhelmed with Eliza at times that I wonder how I would have ever coped with three babies in the same situation. I hate not being able to breastfeed Eliza and that we have tried EVERYTHING and Eliza still will not eat. I hate that she has a port in her belly that we have to feed her through, that her body is trying to reject it, and that we have to treat it by burning tissue with silver nitrate every 3 days.
Most of all I just hate feeling this way.
****I dislike being negative because I know that there are always people in the same and much worse situations but sometimes it just gets to me.
ABC Article
Life with a preemie is... different, and definitely not what us preemie moms envisioned when we started our journey to parenthood. I like how the article talks a little bit about life after the NICU and how it's NOT at all like coming home with a full-term baby. Life has not been sunshine and roses since we came home even though it seems like it should be.
Sometimes I wonder if PTSD is exactly what I have. I'm having a hard time in social situations the last few months because I get many comments about how happy I must be, how great Eliza's doing, and what a miracle she is, and yes I agree ...but god I'm just so sad too. I hate how horrible this last year has been and everything we've had to plow through to get here. I hate that we've been home for several months and we STILL go to a doctor's an average of once a week. I hate that I've felt so overwhelmed with Eliza at times that I wonder how I would have ever coped with three babies in the same situation. I hate not being able to breastfeed Eliza and that we have tried EVERYTHING and Eliza still will not eat. I hate that she has a port in her belly that we have to feed her through, that her body is trying to reject it, and that we have to treat it by burning tissue with silver nitrate every 3 days.
Most of all I just hate feeling this way.
****I dislike being negative because I know that there are always people in the same and much worse situations but sometimes it just gets to me.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Myrtle Beach
We just got back from spending a week at the beach (specifically, Myrtle Beach, SC) with Heather's family. It was a great vacation, exactly what we all needed. We had a little "excitement" when I forgot to pack one of Eliza's medications, and it turned out that to get a temporary refill to get through the week with, we needed to find a specialty compounding pharmacy to mix up the medication. Fortunately there ended up being one only about a half hour away. Besides that, the trip went pretty smoothly!
Of course everyone wanted to take their turn holding and playing with Eliza. She was thrilled to have such attention from so many people, and we were relieved to have so many extra hands to make light work of the day to day of raising Eliza.
Playtime with Nana
Smiles and laughter all around
If you look closely, I took this picture just as Eliza began a spit-up. Eliza likes to spit up on Aunt Hannah!
Eliza is still not a big fan of the great outdoors, but she did make it down to the beach several times to lay in the shade, and even got to dip her feet in the waves!
Hanging out at the beach together. Eliza and Heather are chilling out in the tent.
Eliza prefers the shade, even outside
Elvis impersonation?
Testing the waters
Eliza really did remarkably well being away from home and in a strange place for so long. She didn't want to go to sleep at bedtime - too much excitement? - and continues to spit up very frequently, but during the day she was usually a content and happy baby. At the beach we saw several families with little toddlers walking in hand, a very cute sight - I guess next year we'll be one of them!
Of course everyone wanted to take their turn holding and playing with Eliza. She was thrilled to have such attention from so many people, and we were relieved to have so many extra hands to make light work of the day to day of raising Eliza.
Eliza is still not a big fan of the great outdoors, but she did make it down to the beach several times to lay in the shade, and even got to dip her feet in the waves!
Eliza really did remarkably well being away from home and in a strange place for so long. She didn't want to go to sleep at bedtime - too much excitement? - and continues to spit up very frequently, but during the day she was usually a content and happy baby. At the beach we saw several families with little toddlers walking in hand, a very cute sight - I guess next year we'll be one of them!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
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!
* 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!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
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...
Monday, May 2, 2011
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??
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