Kay is home!

Well, as Craig's friend at work said... Kay is out of layaway! His friend also had a preemie and he said he felt like his child was on layaway somewhere. You are already paying for the baby, but don't get to have it at home with you. I thought that was so fitting for the past few weeks.

Today we had a baby shower for Kay with the Good 'N Plenty gang. This is a group of five families that I have known my entire life. We have taken a Thanksgiving and Labor Day trip together almost every year. All of the kids are now having children of their own so our group is growing. You can see the picture of all the grandma's and their grand kids. It is too bad Kay couldn't be in the picture. She has a lot of playmates! We always make the "stars" of the shower wear something funny or embarrass them somehow. Craig and I got to wear hats that were "tall" and "dainty" like Kay.




We were able to leave the shower and head to the hospital to bring Kay home!! It was a very special moment. Several of Kay's nurses that have taken care of her over the past 10 days stopped by to give her goodbye snuggles. We could tell she was very loved in the nursery. We dressed Kay in the dress that I wore home from the hospital. She looked so cute in it! It was so nice to have our first family photo in front of Kay's welcome home bow. Kay also got to meet her cousin Charlie, aunt Marcia and uncle Scott.

Our little glow worm...

Yesterday and today were big days for Kay. There was talk of her going home today, but she lost some weight and her billi levels went back up.

Yesterday she passed her car seat test. This is where they put each baby in their car seat for one hour and make sure they are able to keep their oxygen up. She was so tiny in her car seat. It really made it sink in about how much growing she still has to do. She also passed her hearing test yesterday. They say this is not a guarantee that babies can hear. It basically says that she responds to noises.

Today she went back under the light trying to help the jondice and got her hepatitis B shot. She was wrapped up in a glowing light this time since she is in an open crib. She looked like a little tiny glow worm- so cute! For the past two days she has been taking all of her day time feeds by breast. It is comforting to know she has been able to learn this skill. I also spent some time with her doctor asking questions about caring for her when she comes home. She has a lot of growing to do and the doctor really encouraged us to continue on the schedule of letting her rest between feedings. This is going to be very hard because I know everyone (including us!) is going to want to hold her; preemies burn a lot of calories just adjusting from one position to another and regulating their temperatures. He also warned us of concerns on making sure we avoid the spread of germs. Looks like Craig and I will be spending a lot of time at home here soon!

If she can keep her weight stable/gain and her billi levels go back down then she will be discharged Sunday! We can't wait for everyone to meet her!!

Big girl bed...

I know most of you are picturing a twin bed or a toddler bed. Well, in preemie world a big girl bed is a non "cooker" bed as Craig and I lovingly called it. Kay has graduated out of the bed that regulated her temperature today. After the staff change at night Kay will be moved to their satellite nursery. They have mentioned her maybe coming home this weekend?? We will see how she does tonight at weigh in. We are so proud of her! You can see the chair that we have spent a lot of time in. There is a monitor by her bed that is constantly keeping tabs on her. It will be weird to be at home without all the beeping.

Kay's IV is removed!

Today's accomplishments for Kay included two breastfeeding sessions, the light was removed, her IV was removed, her first feeding from Grandpa, the temperature in her home was lowered, and her feedings were changed to "all you can eat".

Check out the super cute NCSU hat Kay's aunt Annelise made for her. Craig and I thought it would be fun to take periodic pictures of her with the hat to show how much she grows. We are hoping she will be in it this fall to cheer on the Wolfpack. If not this year, definitely next year!

Kay seems so much happier without her IV (just like her mother was when hers was removed). She loves to tuck in her hands around her face and spread out her legs which she could not do when all hooked up. The nurses keep coming in to tuck her in and she keeps kicking herself free.

Today was a long day for me at the hospital. Kay had a roommate which meant very little napping in between feedings because there were so many people in the room. I think tomorrow Craig is going to do the noon feeding so I can come home between the 9 am and 3 pm and take a nap.

They will be closely monitor everything to make sure the light does not need to go back on, the IV back in, or the temperature increased again. We are praying everyday that she will continue on this positive path!

Big day for Kay!

It is going to remember all the things that Kay got to do today! Grandma stayed the night with me last night to help with all the bottle washing etc. so that Craig could get a good night sleep in before his first day back at work. We called in the morning to check in on Kay and then headed to the hospital for her 9:30 feeding. Grandma got to change her diaper for the first time and then got to help burp and hold her after. We spoke with Kay's doctor who said he was planning on upping her feedings again and he thought she could start a feeding by the breast. There is a small chance she might be off the light tomorrow. This would be nice because she hates the sunglasses and keeps wiggling out of them. She also hates to stay snuggled up like the nurses arrange her. She is constantly wiggling out of her little cacoon wrap. Check out the picture of her skinny legs sticking out!

The first thing I noticed when I got to the hospital was she no longer had the feeding tube in. I asked why they had removed it because even though she was taking feedings by the bottle this is how they checked for residual to see if she is digesting everything. Apparently Kay is like her mom and does not like to be hooked up to lots of machines. She pulled it out herself last night and they decided not to put it back in unless they needed to. Poor little girl. I cannot imagine that felt good!

At the 12:30 feeding Kay took her entire lunch via breastfeeding. The lactation consultant was so impressed with her performance she called in the nurse and doctor to tell them about it. She went right to sleep after. Everyone thought it was the first time she really got to fill her belly. She and I snuggled for a little while longer before she had to go back to the light. The good news is she kept down all the milk and took all the milk at her next two feedings. We are crossing our fingers for at least a stable weight tonight instead of dropping. We will see!

Craig came by a little before lunch and had the car seat inspected. It is all ready now for her to come home!

Grandpa came by and got to practice his first diaper change. We are hoping he might get a feeding in tomorrow. I then came home and took a short nap. It is amazing how even though she isn't home yet there still seems like a million things to do and no time for rest. It is a challenge packing and unpacking all the supplies we need at home and the hospital every day.

Craig stopped by after work and was able to do her 6:30 feeding. We are only allowed to get her out during feeding times so we are doing our best to maximize our snuggle times. She did great for dad too and drank the entire dose allowed.

A Visit from the Cousins...

I forgot to mention two things yesterday. Craig was really excited because he noticed that the light that is helping Kay right now is an LED. He thinks it might even be one from his company. How neat that the techology that he works on everyday is helping his little girl get healthy.

We also had a visit from Nana, Scott, Annelise, Will, and Charlotte. Kay's cousins are ready for her to come home and play! Charlotte and Kay now have matching shirts to wear :) It was so nice to have a visit from them and see how much fun they are going to have when Kay comes home!!

Happy 1st Father's Day...

Craig had a wonderful first Father's Day. For his special day he was able to do "kangaroo" time or skin to skin for an hour and he got to bottle feed Kay. I was also able to bottle feed her for the first time today. Kay is now under the Jaundice light and wearing the tiniest little sunglasses. Here are a few pictures from today. She took all feedings today from a bottle and they have increased her feedings again. We are so proud of our little girl and how much she is learning everyday.