Wednesday, February 28th - Kaia's Comments

Three cheers for Lauren!!!! 35 weeks old (AGA) today!!

February 27, 2007 - 3:15 p.m.

Today, Lauren is 5 lbs 4 oz, and rocketing up to 6 pounds. She is learning how to breast feed on a more consistent basis. Needless to say, we've been elated with her progress. Kaia continues to spend most of her mornings with her before heading off to work.

We are frantically trying to get all of the projects at the new house done before she comes home. Many thanks to those of you who have pitched in to help us out with this transition. We are so thankful for our family and friends...

Sunday, February 25th - Kaia's comment

Lauren is 2 months old today! At 34 weeks (adjusted gestational age), she's doing very well and progressing through all of the developmental milestones that she should be. Her weight gain has been particularly strong - she weighed 5 lbs 1oz this morning. She's now in a regular hospital crib, and she's tolerating the increase in noise and light just fine. She took her first full bottle feeding last night and sucked down the milk like a champ. Then this morning she nursed better than ever before, so the nurses were very impressed. She still tires easily, so the majority of her feedings will continue to be gavage (tube down her nose and into her tummy) until she gains more strength.

The area that continues to be a challenge is Lauren's breathing. She continues to do pretty well on her nasal canula, but has had a few episodes of bradies (low or no heart rate) and apneas (slow or no breathing leading to low blood oxygen levels.) We have been assured that this is common for little preemies, but she won't go home until she grows out of this pattern. During our 'care conference' with Lauren's primary nurses, nurse practitioners and doctors we laid out a plan for her to hopefully come home in about a month!

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

I know how much you all enjoy the pictures of Lauren, but unfortunately I don't have any to post today. But, we have good news to share.

Lauren gained another few ounces last night, and is now tipping the scales at 4 lbs, 11 oz. She is really looking like a newborn, which is very exciting. We believe that she is retaining some fluids, however, and her breathing was more forced today. So, they increased her oxygen level, and will continue to watch for any complications with regard to her fluid level. We hope that she doesn't have to go back on the Cpap machine, but understand that could be a possibility. Today she is 34 weeks gestation, and almost home.

Thanks for your continued support.

Grant

Monday, February 19th - Kaia's Comment

Lauren- 7 weeks old! Off her CPAP, and just on nasal canula for oxygen!Lauren's first tub bath with help from Bobbi (primary nurse), Kaia and Grant (again no flash, sorry for the blur!)

Today Lauren celebrated her 7 week birthday with her first real tub bath! It was very spa-like, including a warm towel wrap and a little baby massage. If she had been able to sip a little peppermint tea, it would have been like a visit to Canyon Ranch!

Our sweet little 'Lolo' (Connor's best attempt at saying his sister's name) is doing so well that the nurses have told us not to delay in getting her room ready. She will likely be home in about a month. It feels like we're in such a routine with these hospital visits that we need to remember things will soon change quite dramatically. We will soon be responsible for her 24 hour care rather than the partial effort that we currently spend each day. Fortunately, we have Lauren's nursery all set up. However, Connor is currently 'leasing' it, since we haven't gotten his room together yet.

Connor had a few milestones as well last week. During his 18mo Dr. apt, we disovered that his is already fulfiling his genetic destiny by ranking in the 25th percentile of weight for boys his age and the 80th percentile in height. He's destined to be a tall skinny string bean! Connor is at such a fun age right now. He's exploring language with increasing curiosity, and often combining it with his sign language. He seems to be adapting well to the new house, and has found a particular love of the window ledges which are perfect for driving toy cars or placing his favorite wheels.

Lauren continues to progress especially well on her growth. She doubled her birth weight last week, and she now weighs 4lbs 7oz, which is fabulous for a 33 week'er. She has grown over 3 inches since birth and she's really starting to look like a 'normal' newborn, which is very reassuring.

Grant's mom, Pat, has been such a godsend for us these past few weekends. This weekend she babysat Connor so Grant and I could enjoy a fun dinner out with friends. It was great to enjoy some adult company and conversation. Grant's birthday is coming up later this week, so we may actually get another night out for Grant's favorite: sushi!

Thursday, February 15th, 2007 10:00 a.m.

We have just a quick second to update the blog. Lauren is growing by leaps and bounds and is now 4 lbs, 2 oz. As you may know, they took her off the bubble Cpap machine a few days ago, but, unfortunately, she wasn't quite ready to be off the machine. So, she is back on it, and they will try again next week to ween her off of it.

Additionally, she was screened for ROP, which is an eye problem common in preemies, and her eyes seem to be developing normally. We are currently working on a potential hypothyroid issue, and should have more results next week. So, forward we go, as we brace for the next wave of issues, which we hope will be easily resolved.

We can't thank you enough for your continued well wishes.

Sunday, February 11th - Kaia's comments

Toasting another transition! A successful move to Stapleton.

Ride 'em cowboy. Connor loves to help vacuum.
Lauren off her CPAP! Almost 4lbs!

Precious time with mom
Sweet little girl breathing well on nasal canula!

Wow - what a weekend. In a frenzied pace, we packed up and moved house over the past 3 days. We're almost feeling settled, but vicious colds (Grant, Connor and I are all sick) are slowing our progress today. Neighbor/friend Diana watched Connor all day on Friday so Grant and I could direct Amazing Moves (4 very fit guys and 2 trucks - how did we accumulate so much stuff??!!) to move us. They were truly 'amazing', as they didn't leave a nick or a scratch on any walls, they disassembled and reassembled all of our beds, and they literally RAN from the truck to our house inbetween loads.

Lauren made significant progress of her own on Friday as she transitioned from her Bubble CPAP (oxygen and pressure into her nose) to nasal canula (oxygen with no pressure, requiring her lungs to do more work.) When I went in to visit her for our kangaroo session on Saturday morning, she was awake. "Quick, let's try to nurse while she's so alert!" said her nurse, Erin. Amazingly enough, she latched on right away and began nursing!!! Everyone was absolutely impressed. Even Connor didn't nurse on the first try, but this little 32 week'er figured it out right away. It was so much fun to hold her without all of the 'headgear' required for the CPAP. She really felt like a normal newborn, and at almost 4lbs, she's getting there! I just loved staring at her beautiful little face. She just seems so calm and content when I hold her....I didn't want to let her go.

On Saturday, the Ft. Collins Nesbitt crew kicked into high gear, helping us unpack boxes, arrange rooms, run for food, etc. Matt, Julie (with the next baby Nesbitt on board, due in August!), Walker, Laney May all helped us break in the new pad. Patty May even stayed up until 1am getting our whole kitchen organized! Thanks Nay Nay!!!

On Saturday morning, we received our weekly cell phone call from my parents, who are currently traveling in India. It was great to hear about their adventures, their intense discussions with the other travelers and the exotic foods they're enjoying. They'll spend 2 more weeks in India and then head to Africa for more excitement! Thanks to friends Gerry and Fran Johnson, they are able to check this blog on a daily basis, and thanks to a satellite cell phone, we're able to chat with them weekly.

Today, we celebrate Lauren's 1.5mo birthday. Our sweet little girl has been in the hospital for 6 long weeks now, but we are so thankful for her amazing care. Unfortunately, she did have one setback today. Although she did pretty well on the nasal canula, she has been desatting quite a bit (low oxygen levels) indicating that she's working pretty hard to breathe. Rather than pushing her and risking her health, the docs decided to put her back on CPAP for another week. We knew this might happen, so we're not too disappointed. We'd rather not chase her health, and we'd rather have her truly transition when she's ready.

PS: We still love reading your comments, so please keep them coming!!
Love,
Kaia, Grant, Connor, Lauren and Mugwa

Wednesday, February 7th - Kaia's comment

Lauren is 32 weeks (AGA) today! This milestone seems to be an important one, and this week the doctors and nurses have quite a few challenges planned for her. First, she will be weaned off of her CPAP. Both Grant and I are wary of this, as it seems like she still needs it. But we trust the medical professionals know best. If it's too much work for her to breathe with only a nasal canula (small tube of oxygen under her nose) then she may go back on the CPAP for awhile.

We will also begin nursing this week. At first, there really isn't much action, and the nurses call it 'nuzzling' rather than 'nursing', but we're working toward the goal of Lauren weaning off of her gavage feedings (tube down her throat.)

The images above were take yesterday as the nurses took her CPAP off for a few minutes. (again, no flash, so they're kind of fuzzy) I find that the opportunities I've had to be with Lauren without all of her 'headgear' are precious and few so far. When they occur, I watch every detail of her face intently, memorizing her eyes, her mouth movements, every precious detail of her face. I really look forward to the permanent removal of all of the medical stuff, although I am so thankful for the technology that has helped her live and thrive!

February 5th, 2007 9:10 a.m.

We apologize for the delay in posting. As you may know, we've been busy packing, moving and dealing with Connor's cold.

Fortunately, Lauren continues along her path of stability and growth. Last night she crossed the 1500 gram mark, which is roughly about 3 and half pounds! (Considering she was at 1.5 lbs at her lowest, we consider this a huge improvement.) The volume and frequency of her feedings keep increasing, as she continues to demonstrate that she can handle the additional breast milk. The additional weight is filling out her face, and she is starting to look more like a newborn.

Our next hurdle is getting her off the bubble Cpap machine, which has been somewhat of a challenge. Although she has been off of it for periods of time (1 hour while they clean the machine) she is not ready to make a clean break yet. But, they have reduced down to a level 4 pressure which she will stay at for another week or so, and then they will reduce it down to 3.

Kaia continues with her daily kangaroo sessions, which we think Lauren now looks forward to every morning. Apparently, she is really active right before Kaia shows up. Her eyes are open much more now, which is comforting to see.

We were delighted to see a 23-week old little boy finally go home from the NICU on Sunday after 120 days. He weighed less than a pound at birth, and was close to 7 pounds when he left. It was extremely encouraging to see them go home with a healthy little kid. The parents were beaming with excitement, and probably a lot of relief. We look forward to that day with much anticipation.

Thanks for all of your continued support.