The Ms. El Cheapo 2007 Results Are In

Now, as I'm sure everyone knows, I'm pretty darn cheap. One of my slogans is "If it's fo' FREE, is fo' ME" (courteousy of the Morris clan). So when it came time to take Charlotte's Christmas picture this year I thought, "Why would I pay someone to do what I can do myself at NO COST"? Well, now I know why. What did people do before digital cameras? I must have taken 100+ photos before I even had one that was relatively decent. The picture up above was the 2007 Team Hellyer Xmas Photo Finalist, however I'd like to share some of the runners up with you.

This first picture was just plain rude.
This next one was Brian's favorite, but the judges felt that it exuded too much fear and not enough cheer.

Safety soon became a concern when one of the contestants could not refrain from eating the lights.

This last one lost because of pure cheesiness.

Welcome to the 21st Century, Mandi!

This is my first post with a video. This one is entitled, "Charlotte and Grandpa Share Their First Drink". It was taken at Olive's 1st Bday party.



More to follow. Hope you enjoy it!

Birthdays and Helmets and Tests .... Oh My!!

Our little Peanut turned the big "1" year old on October 23rd!! It's hard for me to grasp the fact that a year has passed since we had our triplets. Some days it feels like time is flying and others I feel like I've aged 20 years. This is kind of a bittersweet time of year for us. We were able to celebrate how far Charlotte has come over the past year and how much joy she's brought to us and to so many other people, but at the same time we were missing our boys. Brian and I recently decided to name a star after our boys. So the next time you're looking at the Big Dipper, know that one of the stars up there is called "JakeGus2006". I believe that that light shining down on us is them letting us know that they're happy and that they're watching over all of us. I think eventually that will be a good way for us to introduce Charlotte to her brothers.

For Charlotte's birthday party we had a gorgeous, hot, sunny day filled with family, friends, and lots of food. Thanks to everyone who brought or sent us a donation for the NICU!! We were able to bring them so much stuff - preemie clothes, crib toys, lotions and soaps for the staff, a soothing motions glider, books, CDs and portable CD players with speakers. They were very excited to receive everything and I'm glad that we could give something back to the people that did so much for our family.

For Charlotte's birthday weekend we were very lucky to have Aunt Kari come to town for a visit! We started our weekend off with a pumpkin carving contest, seeing as it was right before Halloween. Brian, Kari and I each carved our own pumpkin and at Charlotte's party we let the guests decide who's was the best. It would appear that our guests didn't know good pumpkin carving when they saw it, cuz Brian's "Witch Holding the Pumpkin" won. He used a stencil, People! How about some points for originality?? Anyways, let just put it this way .... mine was the cool one.

Not only was it Charlotte's birthday in October, but there were many 1st birthdays to celebrate ..... my best friend Patty's daughter, Olive, my college buddy Julie's son, Spencer, and my friend Jen's daughter, Abigail. AND there's been quite a few births lately .... my friend Kathy from high school gave birth to little Terry Jr. a few days ago, and my friend Stefanie in Connecticut had little Mia in mid-October. And remember me mentioning the other triplet mom from the NICU before? We've become good friends over the past year, and while her three angels will never be forgotten, I'm very happy to report that a few weeks ago she gave birth to a healthy, 9 lb 2 oz baby boy. Little Tommy has brought a lot of much deserved joy into his parent's lives!

In late October we went to a Halloween-themed NICU reunion at Loyola Hospital. Charlotte went as a doctor, decked out in her scrubs and stethescope. Here is a pic of Charlotte and Dr. Muraskas, the co-director of the NICU at Loyola. We were very lucky to have Dr. Muraskas taking care of Charlotte while she was in the NICU, and it was great to see him again. Btw, in this pic you can also see what Charlotte's helmet looks like. She's definitely grown to accept it and to be honest, I think she feels weird when she doesn't have it on. As soon as we take it off she's looking for it, as if to say, "Hey! I'm naked!". We still don't know how much longer she'll have to wear it, but I'm hoping that it will be off by the end of the year. We've already noticed a huge difference in the shape of her head. It's amazing how quickly they work. It's also amazing how smelly her head gets! Whew!!! It's like someone opened up a gym locker when she takes it off. I'll be very glad when she's done wearing it.

Not only did October bring a plethora of birthdays, but it also brought Charlotte's first real Halloween (I'm not counting the one in the NICU). On the actual day of Halloween Charlotte was a pumpkin. I didn't take her trick-or-treating because 1. She had no idea what was going on, and 2. we didn't need that extra candy sitting around the house. So, instead of going out, we let all the kids come to us! Brian and I set up some lawn chairs in the front driveway and had a great time seeing all the kids come by in their costumes. We have a lot of kids in our neighborhood, so we had a really good turn-out this year.

Lots of people ask me, "What's Charlotte doing these days?" She's still working on being able to sit up on her own. She's getting stronger everyday, but she still has a ways to go. She now has the strength to sit up, but she hasn't quite caught on to the concept of catching herself when she starts to fall over, so she still needs some assistance. She's also starting to be able to hold herself up on all fours, so maybe by the time she has her "adjusted age first birthday" she'll be crawling. She's still getting therapy in the house three times a week and twice a month we go out to Child's Voice. Charlotte manages to keep a pretty full social calendar. At her last doctor visit she was just shy of 16 pounds and at this point we can consider her lung disease to have healed. Yay!! Although, I'm still going to be careful with her in the winter months when it comes to being around people with colds, etc. Sixteen pounds doesn't offer you alot of reserves if you get sick.

Brian and Charlotte are still going to swimming on Tuesdays while I'm in class. According to Brian all he has to do is hold her head with one hand and she'll float along all calm and just look around. I gotta see this!

TOOT! TOOT! Did ya hear that? That's the sound of me tooting my own horn. My Chemistry class is going MUCH better than I thought it would. I'm probably jinxing myself here, but I got 105% on my first test and 99% on my second one. I don't know if I'll be able to keep that up, but at least I know that at one point in my life, I understood something about Chemistry. I have another month left until class is over and then I can take advantage of the winter break and catch up on my Harry Potter reading.

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all my family and friends for helping me though a long year. Thanks for hanging with me through the rough times, and for cheering along side us during the good times!

Recall Info Directly to Your Email

If you're like me, you just can't keep up with all the toy recalls lately (I'll refrain from getting on my soapbox about outsourcing and manufacturing overseas), so I wanted to share with everyone that you can go to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website and sign up to receive emails whenever there is a recall.

Not everything is always mentioned in the news, so it doesn't hurt to be overinformed.

Child's Voice in the Trib

Charlotte's school, Child's Voice, made the front page of the Chicago Tribune the other day. It's an interesting read. Thought I'd share it with ya.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/chi-deafed_21sep21,0,5514522.story?page=1

Peanut Piñata! Olé!

We thought it would be a good idea for Peanut's 1st birthday party to make a piñata in the shape of her head. What do you think?

Just Kidding! While I hope that they eventually let us keep this cast, it's intention was not to be filled with goodies and smacked with a bat. Instead, Charlotte was casted last week for a helmut that she will have to wear for possibly 3-4 months. As a result of being on her back so much in the NICU, and then add the whole "Back to Sleep" SIDS campaign, you have yourself a case of a slightly misshapen head. We had noticed awhile ago that the back of her head was growing in a slightly off-center, oblong way, but I figured that eventually her hair would just cover everything and she'd be fine. But just in case, I took her to a place where they specialize in these helmuts because I don't want her coming back to me at 16 screaming, "If you had just gotten the helmut then now I wouldn't look like this [slam]!!". Turns out that it's not just the back of her head that's affected, but her facial features as well. So, we didn't hesitate to sign on the dotted line and looks like next week Peanut will have a helmut that she has to wear 23 hours a day for at least 3 months. The total length of time will depend on how quickly she grows. The faster she grows, the less time with the helmut. Basically the helmut stops growth in some areas, while allowing for the other areas to catch up. So, there you have it .... hearing aids and a helmut. Wish me luck. Thank god the eye doctor said she doesn't need glasses!!

But don't worry about Peanut, while she didn't particularly enjoy having the cast made, she was fine once they took it off. I asked the doctor at the place how the babies are with the helmuts and he said, "Oh, they don't like it for about 10 minutes and then they're fine". Yeah, cuz then they go HOME WITHOUT YOU!

Speaking of Peanut's 1st birthday (I mentioned it in the beginning), we're going to be having an open house celebration of how far Charlotte's come in the last year on October 21st from 2-6pm (put in your calendar "free food"). I've sent out an evite to some people, but if I didn't have your email address or you live out of town then I want you to know that you're welcome to stop by, too! This is an open house and everyone is welcome to stop by, eat, drink and be merry! And if you do decide to come over then please no gifts. However, we will be accepting donations (books, CDs, preemie clothes) to bring to the NICU at the hospital where Charlotte was born.

Here are some random tidbits of what's been going on around here lately:

• Brian and Charlotte starting taking swim classes together. Charlotte didn't exactly like the first two sessions (i.e. she cried the whole time), but by the third one she actually got dipped under the water and tried to catch a rubber ducky. We do not accept quitters on this team (especially after mom's paid for it)!


• I'm hanging on by a string in my Chemistry class. The scariest part is that people are actually come up to ME asking questions in our lab section. Either I've perfected the art of looking like I know what is going on, or the intelligence level in my class is REALLY LOW. I'm leaning towards it's a combination of both. I have my first test next week. Eek!


• Charlotte's OT (Occupational Therapy) sessions have been really neat. She started in July and the OT is focusing on the senses in the order that they develop in utero. So the first thing we've been working on is the vestibular sense (motion). Lots of spinning and swinging. The way her OT described the therapy is that since Charlotte missed out on so much time in the womb, we have to go back and make sure that everything that would normally develop in utero is okay now. Charlotte's been loving the spinning and swinging, so we've been having a great time with it!


• We found out Peanut's final results from the ABR in August. Her right ear has a moderate hearing loss and the left ear is mild-to-moderate. Basically, according to her DTH, she's at the lowest level that the state will allow for treatment. I think that's great news!

***Final note***VERY IMPORTANT!!! Davy Jones is playing in Hinsdale on Fri, Sept. 28th for only $5. Will anyone please go with me??!!

I've Always Wanted To Fly

This was a Chritmas gift from Mandi in 2005 which I never got to use last summer. It was a perfect day. 30 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Thanks Mandi

Lordy, where do I start?! I know ... ok, now I have a glass of wine. Now, let me recap the last couple of weeks, and with the help of my palm pilot, hopefully I can stay in chronological order....

Right around the last time I wrote I was in week 3 of my extensive Hal Higdon 1/2 marathon training program when *SNAP* went my knee. I actually heard it. Luckily, according to the orthopaedic guy, it was only a torn tendon or ligament or muscle, whatever, I can't remember which one. Either way it really hurt, and it put quite a damper on my training regiment. Needless to say, I was unable to run for 4 wks and my New Year's goal for 2007 to run a 1/2 marathon has gone down the tubes. I'm considering organizing the first annual Brookfield New Year's Eve 1/2 Marathon, of which I will most likely be the only participant, but that might even be a stretch. We'll see ... I'll do my best. And if you're interested in joining the Brookfield 1/2 marathon we're accepting applications.

Charlotte spent her first night away from home (since the hospital, of course) when we went out to my parents house for their annual Garden Walk in mid-July. She did really good and it didn't take her too long to fall asleep. It's good to know that should we need to leave her alone with anyone for a weekend (Grandma and Grandpa, perhaps?) that she can adjust to new surroundings. Vegas, here we come!

Brian and I were treated to a day on our own when my parents watched Peanut one Saturday and we did one of those Segway Tours along the lakefront downtown. It was a total blast! I was a little concerned about looking like a geek, and my fears were immediately confirmed when someone yelled, "Dorks!" at us out of their car window, but we were so enthralled with mastering the Segway and trying to maneuver around the busy, weekend, downtown foot traffic that I barely noticed the stares and giggles. Let's face it, people may have laughed at us in our helmets and nametags Segway-ing in a single-file line down Michigan Ave., but I'm willing to bet they were thinking, "Hey, I wouldn't mind trying that." If you ever get the chance to try one of these tours, I highly recommend it! It did take awhile to get used to the Segway and it took a lot more balance than I thought it would, but after an hour we were zipping all over the place.

In late July the three of us had the chance to participate for the first time in a program at Loyola (the hospital where Charlotte was born and spent her days in the NICU) called Operation Homefront where 3rd year med students spend time with a Loyola family in the community during their pediatric rotation. We had the pleasure of meeting two students, Vernesha and Anthony, who we can already tell are going to be fantastic doctors. They spent one evening in our home, observing bathtime and getting Charlotte to bed, and then Vernesha came to Charlotte's NICU follow-up appt and Anthony came to our house a second evening. It was so nice to see the enthusiasm and desire for knowledge in these two students. It totally reconfirmed my choice to pursue nursing. Hopefully, our family will be chosen again for this program, but it was really great to be able to give a little something back to Loyola.

Speaking of going back for nursing ... I finished my Psych class on Aug. 2nd, and I got 362 out of 364 points in the class! Whoohoo!! For everyone who knew my in college, I want you to know I went to every single class AND my paper was done and printed TWO DAYS before it was due. Seriously. I went to every single class. I really hope my Chemistry class that starts soon is just as easy as this class. We had open book tests, people missed tests and were able to make them up willy-nilly, the Final consisted of the exact same questions in the exact same order that were on the previous tests, and to get full credit for 1/3 of your grade all you had to do was show up. I start my next class on the 28th and it goes all the way til December. I'm actually very nervous about it, because I just don't get Chemistry. It doesn't add up.

A HUGE SHOUT-OUT to my Aunt Marilyn, my Mom (aka Grandma) and everyone who was involved in the baby shower that they threw for me a few weeks ago! I thought I was going to my Aunt's house that night to have my fortune read by someone she knew and it turns out ... no fortune-teller, just lots of wonderful family and friends! I had such a great time and to be honest it kind of filled a void. That probably sounds weird, but with my pregnancy and the birth of our children being so unorthodox I sometimes feel like I missed out on so much of what other women get to experience. And while Peanut has made me the happiest mom in the world, it was still nice to have that "rite-of-passage" into motherhood. And I actually had it better. I was able to have some wine.

Last week, we took our first Team Hellyer family vacation up to White Lake Beach "Resort" in Montello, Wisc. For those of you who haven't heard of this place - I used to go up there every year with my friend Patty and her family. Over the years we've befriended lots of other families that go there and now our generation gets the chance to bring our own families up there. We had a relaxing week of swimming, golfing, bean-bagging and gossiping. Peanut slept better than she ever has before and because of that mommy and daddy got to take turns visiting the local drinking-hole. Of course, our little Team can't stay still for too long so for the first time for all of us we visited the Wisconsin Dells . Yes, it's a bit cheesy, but it going to be so much fun when Peanut is older and we can go to some of the water parks and go on the roller coasters. This time around it was more about walking up and down the "boardwalk". Another day we visited The House on the Rock. We still don't know what the story was about that place (some guy built some house on a rock and he had a lot of eccentric collections), but it was really cool and we have already planned a re-visit next year. Above is a pic of Brian and Peanut in the Eternity Room. See how it seems like the room is going on for ever and ever and ever ..... The freaky part was that this room has no support underneath. I got out of there pretty quick when I realized that.
Now for the part you've all been waiting for .... Charlotte's ABR results!!! Charlotte had her hearing test yesterday at Children's Memorial Hospital. We drove down yesterday morning only to find out that Eric and Kathy on the 101.9 morning show were having their annual 36 hour fundraiser in the hospital lobby. It was kind of neat that they were there on the same day, but it was a zoo down there! I had several conversations with the Anaethesiology Attendings at both Loyola and Childrens regarding how to approach Peanut's procedure - sedation or general. It was ultimately determined that general anaethesia was the way to go, but I was still very nervous. She still has BPD and she's still so small, so seeing the doctor carry my baby away into the operating room was horrific for me. But all of my worries were for naught, and Charlotte came out of it only a little hungry and ........... (drumroll please) ....... diagnosed with a moderate hearing loss!!! Peanut will still need the help of her hearing aids and she's still going to need therapy and Child's Voice, but the road will be much easier for her than originally anticipated. She can hear more than we were told after the initial ABR, but it seems that she's missing out on most of the speech sounds around here. I get the impression that unaided she knows people are talking, but the clarity isn't there. Regardless, it's fantastic news for her. And I have to boast, she was such a trooper. She only cried when she first came out of surgery and she was hungry. Other that than she didn't fuss when they took blood, or she couldn't eat for 8 hrs, or she couldn't take a nap, etc. I KNOW I wouldn't be that good. She's amazing.

I have more to tell - itch mites, OT, our yard sale, I'm old, Charlotte meets baby Jesus and tries to give him a high-five. I'll write more after Brian goes skydiving next weekend. Glad it's not me!!!!

P.S. Leah Hillman - thank you so much for the beautiful comment you left last month! If you get the chance, please send me an email at achellyer@yahoo.com. I'd love to hear how you and your girls are doing. Btw, Loyola is planning a NICU reunion on Oct. 27. Put it on your calendar!

Mid-Year Team Hellyer Audit

Maybe I'll just start doing monthly updates ... how about that? That seems to be the way this is going anyways. I'd like to start out by asking, "Who's been writing letters to the Pope?" When Peanut had her 1st ABR back in Feb. I asked the audiologist if there was a chance that her hearing might get better. He replied, "If you're going to bank on that then you might want to start writing letters to the Pope". So, I repeat, who's been writing those letters, because they just might be working.

Talk about a confusing week! Well, we went to Children's Memorial Hospital this past Monday (7/2) to see if Peanut might be a cochlear implant candidate. After 30 minutes of sound booth testing we were told by the Audiologist that not only is she not an implant candidate, but she doesn't think that Charlotte's hearing loss is "severe", as was originally the diagnosis. She thinks she may have more of a "moderate" hearing loss, which doesn't mean that she's not going to need to wear hearing aids, but it means that she can hear more than we thought and it may be that much easier for her to understand and learn speech.

Now, since she got the hearing aids in mid-May I've tried to have them in her ears at all waking hours, if possible. So, our opportunities to observe her responses to sound w/o the aids has been limited. I've kept the aids out for the majority of the last few days and both Brian and I feel that she is definitely responding to toys, voices and even fireworks (damn those kids across the street!). Where do we go from here, you ask? Well, her hearing aids have been turned down to a level that won't be detrimental to her ears, so our initial concern about harming what hearing she has is no longer a worry. We have also scheduled another ABR for Aug 17th. However, unlike the first 2 where Charlotte was sleep deprived and "slept" through the tests, she will this time be sedated under anesthesia. There was a bit of concern about her needing to be sedated because there is the possibility that she may need to be intubed, which in turn means she would be on the ventilator. Her lungs are so much stronger now, and her pediatrician has already told us that she feels very comfortable with Charlotte going through this procedure, but I'm sure you can understand my apprehension. I do feel comfortable knowing that the ABR will be performed at Children's, so should she need to be admitted for any reason, she's in good hands. I'm going to try and find out over the next month if there's a way she can be sedated w/o being intubated. When Charlotte had her hernia operation they were able to do it w/o using general anesthesia - they used a spinal instead. So, I have some investigating to do. But, the moral of the story is that we really won't know what we're dealing with until we get the results of the upcoming ABR.

Meanwhile, Charlotte has had 2 sessions at Child's Voice and the emphasis has been mainly on parent education. I'm learning that I need to talk to Peanut in a more simple and straightforward manner. So far, it's been very helpful.

My weekend away in KC was fantastic! It was nice to get away for couple days and recharge my batteries. Kara's wedding was beautiful (there's me and Kara in the pic). I got to catch up with some of my college buddies, and I spent a nice relaxing evening in Lawrence, KS with one of my college roommates. And while I didn't get as much sleep as I had hoped for, I did have my share of martinis and bloody marys. Sometimes you just have to prioritize.

Nana, Granddad and Aunt Susan were in town during June and we had a great visit with them. Aunt Susan was only here for a week and now she's off galavanting in Europe with one of her friends. Brian's parents left on the 30th and made it home safely after a short jaunt in San Fran. I'm so glad that Brian's family was able to spend time with Charlotte. Here's a picture of the family in our backyard.

My Psych class has been going well so far. I had my first test last week. I did well, but it was open book, so if I didn't do well then I would have been a little concerned. We have our second test and a paper due in two weeks, so I'm gonna have to start cracking some books! And unlike all the papers I handed in during college (my old roommates will get kick out of this) I don't think I can get an extension on this one. Darnit!

July is looking like a busy month. We're up to three therapy sessions a week now for Peanut. EI added OT (Occupational Therapy) so that should start up in the next few weeks. The OT is going to work with Peanut on things like grabbing objects, holding them, etc. I'm always open for new ways to work with Peanut and to enhance playtime, so this should be interesting.

Charlotte is finally grasping the concept of eating. Thank God, because eating is a big part of being a member of Team Hellyer! So far, we've only tried pears and squash, but as time goes on more gets into her mouth instead of on her face. I always thought that babies just ate. I didn't realize there was this whole learning process they have to go through.

Brian and I are doing a Segway Tour in mid-July. This should definitely be fun! I'll try and get a pic of me and Brian in our helmets and reflective vests. Scary!

The Thrill of the Cicada is Over!

That constant drone of the cicadas is seriously driving me mad! Luckily, today it was on the cooler side, so they must have taken a break, and they weren't quite as loud. But, over the past week, if I was to go outside I could not carry on a conversation with someone over the phone. They are that loud! Here's a pic of the tree across the street completely covered with the little guys. The bugs themselves don't bother me it's just they're mating call, which goes continuously from around 9am-5pm (I guess they work a normal day). I read somewhere that an entomologist measured their noise to be at 96db - that's similar to a jet engine! Needless to say, I've had to turn Peanut's hearing aids off a couple times during the afternoon.

On a happier note, the cicadas have provided us with some degree of entertainment. Charlotte and I would go outside for "Cicada Watch 2007!" every morning to see how many had emerged overnight. We probably have somewhere between 4-5 weeks left of this. Luckily it only happens every 17 years.

The weather around here has been pretty warm over the past few weeks and Charlotte got to take her first dip in the kiddy pool. She loved it! Unfortunately, we couldn't get Bart and Amy to join her. They just weren't interested. I'm glad she loves the water because I was hoping we could start taking some "swim" lessons in the fall.

Brian and I went to go check out that school, Child's Voice, a few weeks ago, and it was fantastic! One of the staff members took us around on a tour of the classrooms and individual therapy rooms. The kids seemed to really be enjoying themselves and the staff was amazing. Of course, there's always the chance that the whole tour was rehearsed and they shoved the sad kids in a closet, but we're probably going to start going there for therapy sessions in a few weeks, so we'll get a chance to see if it's always such a happy place.

I have really noticed a difference in Charlotte's day-to-day responses to noises since she's had the hearing aids on. She's starting to look around to see where noises are coming from. Sometimes I find it frustrating when I don't get responses from her, but then I have to remember that at this age, I may not get a response from a baby that doesn't have a hearing loss. Plus, sometimes I feel like she's been small for FOREVER! I'm sure very soon I'll be surprised at how fast she's growing.

Isn't this image just horrible? I usually have the TV on at certain points of the day (The View, Dr Phil, etc.) until I noticed that Peanut was actually watching the shows. Brian and I then decided that maybe we should limit her TV viewing to 1 hour/day and try and stick to educational stuff (Baby Einstein, Blues Clues, the occasional Sponge Bob Square Pants). Well then I read this article, that says that "40 percent of three-month-olds watch television for an average of 45 minutes a day". OMG, we're over the average!! So, now it's NO MORE TV! Thank God Rosie O'Donnell's not on The View anymore, cuz then we would have had a problem.

This weekend I'm off to Kansas City for my friend Kara's wedding, and to see my college roommate, Reba. Kara and I were (are, I guess) sorority sisters. I'm excited to see her and the other gals that will be making their way there, but I have to admit that I'm nervous about leaving Peanut for three days. Not that I don't trust Brian's abilities, but he's not me, plain and simple. I have to keep telling myself, "Good Night Sleep" and "Bloody Mary Bar", and that will help me get on that plane! Brian's parents and sister arrive on Friday night, shortly after I leave. So, he'll have some company and some help during my trip.

Now Playing: Charlotte Unplugged!

Yep, it's true, she's off the O2!! Except for a few nights when she seems to need a rest, we've been able to keep Charlotte off the O2 most of the time lately. And boy, does it ever make toting her around easier! It's so much easier to go for a walk, the store, the zoo, the doctor, etc.

We even made a pilgrimage out to Grandma and Grandpa's place in Indiana for Mother's Day (see the family pics below). I don't think she realized she was in another state, but now Peanut can mark two states off her list.

I hope all Mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. I had a great day hanging out with my parents, Brian, and Charlotte. Charlotte got me a Sponge Bob Square Pants balloon, which is exactly what I wanted.

So, the question I've been getting all the time now is, "How did it go with her hearing aids?!". Well, we definitely got a response when they were first put on. We took Charlotte to Easter Seals last Wednesday and the audiologist was the first one to put the aids on her ears. As soon as she turned them to the on position, without any of us even uttering a word, Charlotte starting screaming and shaking like she was scared out of her mind. Now maybe I'm a bad mom, but it was at this time that I started laughing out of pure joy. Not at the fact that she was upset, but at the fact that the hearing aids were working! Albeit a little too well, which resulted in the audiologist having to turn down the volume twice before we decided that she would be okay with the sound level. When we go back for a follow-up visit in a few weeks the audiologist will be able to turn the volume up if Charlotte seems to have gotten used to the present level. And I think she's already starting to get used to it. For the first couple days she would jump or start crying if there was a loud noise, but now she just furrows her eyebrows. So, we're making some progress.

Tomorrow her DTH (Developmental Therapist for Hearing) comes by and I'm hoping she has some good tips and to how to keep the hearing aids on. I've already heard that some parents use either wig or toupée tape, but since I have to keep taking them off everytime she goes down for a nap, that seems like a bit much. Maybe I should quickly explain what the hearing aids look like. There are several types of hearing aids. Charlotte wears a BTE (behind-the-ear) hearing aid, which has a rubbery-feeling mold that fills in most of the space where your thumb goes if you were to stick it in your ear (don't do this on my account). There is a hole at the end of the mold that faces the inside of the ear canal and this is where the amplified sound comes out. The mold is attached to the hearing aid device that is approx 1.5 inches long. That is the piece that sits behind the ear and holds the microphone on the top, the on/off switch, the battery and her individualized amplification program. Peanut's not a big fan of me physically putting the aids in the ears, but once they're on she's pretty tolerant of them. However, if she's moving her head around a lot and brushing up against blankets or something they start to come out of her ears. Hence, the possible need for toupee tape.

I don't know if you can see them in this picture, or not, but Charlotte is wearing the aids. And I gotta be honest, I don't really think they're that noticeable, unless you're expecting to see them.

We've got a couple exciting things coming up soon:

1. In 3 weeks Nana, Granddad and Aunt Susan are coming over from NZ for a visit! We've been telling Charlotte all about it and she's getting excited! And what's great is now that Charlotte is unplugged she can come along to museums, gardens, restaurants, etc. It's going to be a good time!

2. Coinciding with the Hellyer family visit, the 17-year cicadas are expected to emerge in two days in Northern Illinois and Indiana. For those that have never heard of them check out this site. I've heard estimates of 1 million cicadas per acre. They're harmless, but annoying sources of protein for our dogs. I'll try and get some pics for the next post.

3. On Thursday, Brian and I are going to Child's Voice, a local "school" for pre-schoolage children that are hearing impaired. Their goal is to work with children from birth to around 5-6 and prepare them to enter the mainstream public school system. I'm exciting about seeing their facility and seeing if our family will fit in with their philosophies. If so, Charlotte and I may be able to start "school" in a few weeks!

4. In other school news ... I'll be starting my Intro to Psych class on June 12th. I went for a campus tour last week and it was awesome! I am so stoked about using the library, going to class, writing papers, and not talking about tummytime for a few hours a week! I feel like a giddy college kid again. Only this time my plan is to actually show up for class and read the books.

I do have some sad news to report. A few posts back I mentioned a surviving triplet baby girl that was born a few weeks before Charlotte who was having some persistent health problems that were keeping her in the NICU. Well we've grown quite close to her family, and I found out last week that they lost their daughter, Mari. She was such a beautiful little baby and now she's with her two brothers. If you could keep her family in your prayers I would appreciate it. They've been through more pain in the past seven months than anyone should ever have to bear.

Sorry to leave on a sad note, but someone sounds hungry, so I better get off the computer.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Lordy, between me and Peanut we had 8 doctor/therapy appts last week. Eight! It would have only been 7, but I had to add a last minute venous ultrasound to make sure the lump on my left leg found by my gyne wasn't a blood clot (it wasn't). How old am I? You know, you think to yourself, "I eat healthy, I exercise, I keep a positive attitude, but does it really matter?" It makes you want to throw your hands up and go to Dairy Queen for a Snickers Blizzard. Enough complaining.

See anything missing from this photo? Why, it's Charlotte's oxygen tubing! We don't know what happened, but over the last two weeks Peanut's lungs have just kicked into high gear! She's on 1/16L at all times now and I've even been able to take her off the O2 a couple times a day for 1 hr intervals. She doesn't last too long without the O2 but I can tell it's getting better everyday. I was able to snap this pic while I was switching out her tubing and she seemed to be doing so well that I left it off for a bit to give her a break. Plus she was pretty mad at me for peeling the tape off of her cheeks, so she needed to cool down for a bit.

Last Tuesday we took Charlotte to the NICU for a visit. Her primary nurse, Jan, wasn't there, but a couple of her associate nurses were there as well as other nurses we met and several doctors. They all commented on how big Charlotte is getting and how great she looks. It's all thanks to them! Of course, I was so busy chatting I forgot to take a picture of the momentous event, but that means we'll just have to take a trip over there again.

However, I did get a pic of Patty and Olive before we all went to the zoo last weekend. Can you believe Olive is only five days older than Charlotte? But give Peanut a few months and she'll start catching up to Olive.

We all had a great time at the zoo. Peanut didn't have a clue that anything different was going on, but it was good for Brian and I to get out for a bit. Since Peanut's lungs are getting stronger and she's getting bigger we're starting to include her on short trips. Just yesterday we walked over to the local Trader Joe's with her to pick up some sushi and wine. Mmmmm.

Speaking of the zoo, I'd like to send a quick shout out to Aunt Kari, Uncle Teddy, Isabella and St. Louis Grandma and Grandpa who sent us a family pass to the zoo! Thanks to them we'll be hanging out there all summer! So if anyone is ever interested in going give us a buzz. And yes, for those that know me well, I know I said I would never take my kids to the zoo, but things change when you have a Peanut. But I'm still not taking her to the circus!

Charlotte had her hearing aid molds taken last Thursday. We go back on May 16th to pick up the final product. Unfortuately the Easter Seals we are going to is down one audiologist at the moment, so that's the earliest we could get in. But a couple days isn't going to hurt. We were told to not be surprised if she doesn't react when we first put them on. I'm still excited, though. I'm also starting the process of getting her evaluated for a cochlear implant. It will probably be a couple months before we can get in to see the specialist at Children's Memorial Hospital, so now is as good a time as any to start.

Today we had a follow-up appt at Peanut's Ophthalmologist. Her eyes look good and she doesn't have to go back for 4 months! Yay! I did a little dance of joy when I heard that news. Now we can scratch one doctor off the list of regular visits. He had mentioned in the last visit that she was near-sighted, but this time she was far-sighted. I guess babies vision keeps changing for awhile. I asked how soon babies can get glasses and he said now. I can't believe it! But her sight is fine for the moment and we'll see how she's doing at the next appt.

Hope everyone is doing well. I'm off for a run and then I think I'll have a fudgsicle ....

Where's Summer!?

Peanut's ready for summer, but I don't think summer is ready for Peanut. We had snow here last week, which I guess isn't really all that odd for April, but enough already!

I hope everyone had a good Easter. We had my parents over for dinner so they could visit with Charlotte. No one comes to see us anymore. We just happen to live in Charlotte's house.

We had our appointment with Easter Seals last Wednesday and the audiologist did a little more testing and found the same results that the other audiologists found. So, now we're just waiting for the hearing aids to be approved by the powers that be down in Springfield, and maybe in a week or two Peanut will be able to go back and get the molds done. The hearing aids will be the ones that go behind the ears and then the microphone goes in the ear along with a mold that fits her ear canal. We'll probably have to get the mold redone quite frequently. I've heard estimates from every two weeks to every two months, depending on how quickly her ear grows.

The audiologist at Easter Seals had a neat software program where she could input the ranges that Peanut could hear and then play sounds for us as she would hear them. For example, she played a woman speaking just as you and I would hear it that sounded just like the woman was standing next to me. Then she played the woman speaking as Peanut would hear it. It sounded to me like the woman was a few rooms away and she had a pillow over her mouth - distant and muffled. So, not only does Charlotte need sounds to be amplified, there's also going to be clarity issues that we'll have to overcome. I say "we" because here is where Brian and I and the therapists come into the picture to try and figure what she's hearing and then try and connect that to what you and I hear.

I am so grateful that the state will cover the costs of Charlotte's hearing aids and therapy for the first three years through Early Intervention. It's a fantastic program that the state runs and we have been lucky enough to get a new person as our rep. She's very responsive and eager to learn how the system works. However, they do not pay for hearing aid batteries so if you see any coupons for hearing aid batteries in your local paper can you please send them to us? Thanks!

Charlotte's been doing much better with her O2. I've been able to wean her down to 1/16th a couple of times and she's responding much better. I'm predicting that she'll be off the O2 in 3 wks. Brian thinks I'm being a little overly optimistic and he's banking on 4-5 wks.

Believe it or not, Charlotte has no doctor appts this week! Her nurse will come tomorrow and the PT is coming on Friday, but we don't have to leave the house except to go for walks. Sounds like a good week to me.

Smile! You're on Candid Camera!

It took me awhile, but I finally got a pic of Peanut smiling! This was taken on one of the nice, warm days we had in March, and I was able to break out some of the cute dresses she has. Now it feels like winter again. There were even flurries yesterday! Oh well, guess we're stuck inside for a little longer.


Medical update ... Peanut went in for her second ABR last week and they found the same results as the first test - borderline moderate/severe hearing loss in both ears. The doctors and audiologists were very adamant about her getting hearing aids as soon as possible so that she doesn't miss out on too much. So, we have an appt with Easter Seals next week to have a hearing aid evaluation. Hopefully by the end of April she'll have both hearing aids. I'm anxious to see her response when she finally has the aids. Will she be scared by all the noises, will she be curious, will she try and turn them off when I talk? We'll just have to wait and see.


One of the big challenges we'll be facing is keeping the hearing aids in her ears. She's getting to the point where she realizes she can pull the tape off of her oxygen tubing, so she's not too far away from being able to pull a hearing aid out of her ear. The state is sending over a DTH (Developmental Therapist for Hearing) twice a month to help us by offering techniques to keeping her hearing aids in and to give us some general guidance on how we can help Peanut to handle all the new sounds she'll be experiencing. The DTH will work with Charlotte for the first year and then a speech therapist takes over for as long as needed. I guess the immediate focus is to work on the hearing side and then later work on the verbal.


This past Monday was another follow-up with the Ophthalmologist. He said her eyes haven't changed so we don't have to go back until next month and that should be our last appt! Yay! Nothing against the eye doctor (he's a very nice man), but I really don't like going to that appt. Neither does Peanut. The doctor has to pry her eyes open and then move the eyeballs around with this wand thing. Granted, they do give her numbing drops, but it's still traumatic for both of us. Plus she's getting stronger, so she doesn't just sit there and take it like she used to. She's starting to fight back. He also mentioned that she's near-sighted, so I'll find out at the next appt when we have to see someone about that. Hopefully not for awhile. I can't imagine they can do anything at this point. But then again I'm shocked at what they're able to do for her hearing so early.


I signed up for the Intro to Psych class, which starts in mid-June at the local Community College. When I went to register online I kept receiving error messages that they had already received my application. I thought maybe I was going crazy - did I already register and just forget? Turns out they had me on their database from a summer science program I did there when I was 12! So, of course, it took me days to get them to change my info on their system and finally get me registered.


That's all for now.

Happy Spring!!

And for you Southern Hemisphere folks, Happy Autumn!

Remember that skinny little thing in the last bathtub shot? Well, check out this chunky monkey! 9 1/2 pounds, baby!! Look at that gut! Although, it's possible that she was a little gassy that night. She also looks a little more relaxed this time around.

Yes, I've been a bit slack with the posting lately. So let's see what's been going on .....

Charlotte had her Early Intervention evaluation in the beginning of March. There was an Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, Speech Therapist, Developmental Therapist, the Coordinator and myself all scrunched into Charlotte's room at once. The only person who thought she needed some ongoing treatment was the Physical Therapist. Nothing major, just working on keeping her head looking in both directions and getting her neck stronger. Nothing that doesn't affect full-term babies as well. So at some point the state is going to send over a Physical Therapist to work with Charlotte on a regular basis. Luckily I work with her on my own, because it appears that the state doesn't work too fast. Surprize - Surprize.

Aunt Kari came in from St. Louis for a visit in early March. I even got the chance to go out with her for a bit and do a little shopping. You know you've got a crazy life when you're excited about buying yourself pajama pants and slippers. :-)

We finally got to see the GI (Gastrointestinal) doctor about her reflux and he seemed to think that she was doing fabulous; and he said she's much better off than most of the other babies he sees (I'm feeling pretty confident that that was the proper use of a semi-colon. Feel free to challenge me). At least it doesn't appear to hinder her eating and sleeping too much, so in that respect she's doing well. I'm just eagerly anticipating her outgrowing the foaming at the mouth, gagging, and waking up unable to breathe. That will be a good day for Peanut. However, I was happy to find out that the doctors are not going to take away her heart and O2 monitors until we feel comfortable with that change. Personally, I think she's going to have to be "episode-free" for quite awhile before I feel comfortable having her be without them. Maybe when she turns 18 and goes off to college. But seriously, it's comforting to know that I can make the call on that.

The Ophthalmologist saw her again in mid-March and he seems to be under the impression that while the retinopothy of prematurity (blood vessels growing all crazy) is not getting any worse, it also might not get any better, which he has assured me will not affect her eyesight in the long run. So we will continue to go back every couple weeks just to be sure. I'm hoping in the next month or so he gives us the sign-off and then we can cross one doctor off of our list.

Only to be replaced by new ones .... the audiologist and speech pathologist. Or is it speech therapist? I don't know the difference at this point. I think this is where I need to go back and brush up on my terminology, like "frequency" and "tone". Who knew that I should have actually paid attention in Music Appreciation class (or shown up for that matter)? Charlotte had her Audiology follow-up test yesterday. This was the two-hour long ABR (auditory brainstem response) test for which she needed to be asleep. The doctor put several electrodes on Peanut's head that read her brain waves as he played different sounds through little earplugs. As far as he can tell at the moment she has borderline moderate/severe hearing loss in both ears. We need to go back soon for another ABR so they can test a few more frequencies and redo some of yesterday's testing to check for accuracy and/or hearing loss stablilization (i.e. is it getting worse?). At that point it will be determined what should be pursued next. He seemed pretty confident that with an amplification device (hearing aid(s) or maybe implants down the road) she should be able to hear and speak pretty normally. So, it appears that we have a long road ahead of us, but I've been saying for awhile that if this is the worst thing that Charlotte has to deal with then she's pretty lucky. There are a lot of babies that come out of the NICU much worse off than she is. We can deal with this.

Brian's been busy with work and I'm busy trying to figure out what to do with Peanut in between naps and how to get her to sleep through the night. She's still on the O2. We were able to successfully wean her down to 1/8L, but she doesn't seem ready to take the next step down to 1/16L. I've tried it a couple times and she just doesn't respond very well. Maybe she needs to be a bit stronger. No need to push her. She'll come down when she's ready. The weather has been nice lately so we've been able to get out for a couple walks.

I decided this past weekend that I want to go back to school and take a couple of classes to prepare myself for nursing school. I think I'm going to start this summer and take something low-key like Intro to Psych. The hospital where Charlotte was at has an accelerated nursing program that lasts only 12.5 months for people who already have their bachelors degree, but there are 7 prerequisites I have to take before I can even apply. Stuff like microbiology, organic chemistry - all the classes that I made efforts to avoid when I was in college. So we'll see where this takes me, but I'm excited about the challenge! God you'd think that all the stuff I've been exposed to over the past year would count for at least a couple credits, no?!

I'd like to ask a favor from everyone .... There was a set of triplets born at the hospital two weeks before our kids were born and one of them is still there putting up quite a fight. She lost one of her brothers early on, and her other brother passed away two weeks ago. This little girl needs some positive energy so she can get stronger and get home with her parents. So, if you can please keep her and her family in your prayers I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Isn't this a cute picture? Brian doesn't seem to agree, but I think it's just adorable. Whadda you think?

Some people have asked if we are open for visitors and the answer is Yes! Please come over ... just as long as you don't have a cold, anyone you live with doesn't have a cold, you or anyone you live with hasn't had a cold recently, you or anyone you live with or anyone you know has never had a cold ... no, we don't have to go that far, but as long as you and yours are healthy please come on by!

Story Time at the Zoo

I think the dogs are starting to get into Charlotte a little more. They come into her room once in awhile for story time and to lick her head. One thing that I thought was kind of interesting is that yesterday when we brought Charlotte out into the family room for a change of scenery (on portable O2, of course), Bart was snarling at Amy everytime she would get near Charlotte. But if they're both in Charlotte's room Bart doesn't care what Amy does. Any suggestions on this one? Do I just let them sort it out, or do I reprimand everytime I see a snarl? I have to take Bart into the vet soon, so I'll ask then, but maybe one of you's has some valuable (i.e. free) advice.

Things have been going pretty smoothly around here. We finally finished with that supply of breast milk, so the freezer in the garage is now freed up for ice cream and chicken when it's on sale. Charlotte's reflux seems to have gotten better since we've switched to a strictly formula diet. She's a much happier baby and is even back to sleeping in her crib sans car seat or bouncy seat. Maybe it was that Mexican food phase I went through for awhile?

Medical Update - We went to see the Ophthalmologist last Monday and he said we didn't have to come back for 3 weeks! Yahoo!! Her eyes are looking better and now he just wants to check them a few more times. I'm pretty positive we've dodged that bullet.

Last Tuesday we went to the Neo-natal follow-up clinic, which is run by various members of the NICU staff as a way of checking up on the progress of the NICU babies once they're discharged. There was talk of starting to wean her off her O2 and maybe taking it down a notch this week. If they do decide to go that route I will be curious to see how she does. She's currently on a flow of 1/4 liter of O2. The next step down is 1/8, then 1/16 and the smallest is 1/32.

The final appt last week was with the Otorhinolaryngologist ("ENT") on Friday. They ran several tests on her ears and we really didn't find out too much information. The doctor doesn't think she has fluid in her ears anymore, but she still didn't pass the hearing tests. She is scheduled to go back in the middle of March for an extensive 2 hour test that will see which tones she can hear and which she can't. I'm hoping that test will give us a more definitive answer as to what direction we need to take.

Later this week we have a team of specialists (speech, audiology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, developmental therapy) coming out to the house from the Early Intervention program to determine if she needs any therapy at this stage. I'm interested to hear what they have to say. If they think she needs anything they will arrange for specialists to come to our house and work with Charlotte. That would be brilliant!

See that pic up above of me and Peanut? I just want to point out to you that in the background is my favorite item in her room - Bongo the dirty laundry hamper. He is awesome and I never tire of throwing dirty clothes in his mouth. I think everyone should have one.

How About Some More FAQ's?

1. How many monitors is she on?

Here's a pic of Charlotte and her peripherals. As you can see there are oxygen tanks to the left of her bed and on top of the purple crates are two monitors. One monitor is connected to her foot and measures her oxygen, while the other has two sensors that go on either side of her chest to keep track of breaths/minute and her heartrate. We don't necessarily need to have the oxygen monitor on at all times. The hospital recommends checking her oxygen saturation 3 times/day, but since she still holds her breath every now and then and she still gags with the reflux, we feel better having it on all the time. There's been a couple times where the oxygen monitor has alarmed way before the heartrate monitor would have gone off, so we were able to catch her having a problem before it really became a problem. The oxygen monitor is going off less and less as the days go on, so as soon as we've had a few days without any problems we'll feel much better about only checking her periodically through the day.

When we leave the house for doctor appts we use small portable oxygen tanks that last up to 6 hours. They're small enough to fit in a backpack. But while we're at home she's pretty much stuck in her room at all times. Even during bath time.

Charlotte's been sleeping in a bouncy seat inside her crib the last few days to keep her elevated to help with her reflux (thanks for letting us borrow that Aunt Patty!). We tried elevating her mattress, but either she kept slipping down or we had to put so many blankets in there to keep her in one place that the bed was starting to look like a SIDS nightmare. She was sleeping in her car seat for a few days, but I just didn't like the looks of that. I couldn't shake the feeling that being scrunched in that seat for so many hours per day was stunting her growth.

2. Did you use all that breast milk in the freezer yet?

Nope, still working on that. We should be done with it in about two weeks. Then it's on to that yummy formula.

3. Is she sleeping through the night?

Nope, still working on that. She 's only getting up once during the night since she's still kind of small to go that long without consuming any calories. Keep in mind that even though she was born in October, Peanut is really still a newborn. Doctors will use what they call "adjusted age" to determine where she should be developmentally until she's around 12-18 mnths. Adjusted age is calculated from my due date, so being that Charlotte was due on January 30th her adjusted age is currently 2 1/2 weeks. Sometimes this can be a little tricky because in some respects she's older than 2 1/2 weeks because she's been around for awhile (i.e. she's already on a schedule and eats more than your typical newborn), but in other ways it really is like she just came out of the womb (i.e. she still has very limited awake time and we get excited when she lifts her head up).

4. How much does she weigh?

I ask every other new parent that question. I think I'm obsessed with weight now. She's around 6 1/2 pounds.

5. How are her eyes?

As of this past Monday they are starting to get better! Yay! So it's starting to look like she won't need the laser surgery. We're not totally out of the woods yet, but the doctor said the blood vessels are starting to recede and maybe we'll only have to go see him three or four more times.

6. How long does she have to be on oxygen?

Depends on how quickly her lungs heal. Her lungs were damaged from both the ventilator and from just being premature. As she gets stonger and has more reserves (i.e. fat) her lungs will be able to heal faster. From what I've gathered from her home nurse, Nancy, she will need to be stable for a few days on her current O2 level before we get the OK from her or her doctor to start weening her down. Brian and I are allowed to go higher than her current O2 level if she's having any problems, but we're not allowed to go lower without authorization from a doctor or nurse.

7. How are YOU guys doing?

Pretty darn good. Loving having Peanut home. We seem to be getting ample sleep. Brian and I switch off on the pm feedings so we each get a relatively decent stretch of sleep. My sleep has been a little weird over the past few days as I'm getting used to my new mouth guard. Turns out that I don't have enough of an overbite and since I clench my jaw when I sleep this can result in cracked or chipped teeth (which actually did happen during labor). Let me tell you, nothin' says SEXY like a mouth guard. I don't know how I feel about it yet, but everyone whom I've talked to who has one swears by it.

I don't think I told y'all, but Brian became a U.S. citizen in January. In the grand sceme of things it really doesn't change much, but hopefully we've got another Democrat voting in '08! And no, he didn't have to give up his NZ citizenship. He had to "renounce" it during the ceremony, but he didn't have to give up his passport or anything. Technicality.

If anyone has any other questions please post them in the comments section and I'll do my best to give you an answer.

There's 6 Pounds of Lovin' Sleepin' in the Other Room!

She's here, she's sleeping, AND she's 6 pounds! Peanut came home on Tuesday (2/6) and so far (knock on wood) everything has been going great. She's still suffering from acid reflux, but a lot of babies have that and we'll just have to deal with it until she grows out of it. Here's a pic of her sleeping in her crib right after we brought her home.

The doctors did a bit of "fine tuning" while Charlotte was at the hospital. They put her on a few new medications to help the reflux and to help her digest her food a bit faster. They did a scan at the hospital where they put some radioactive stuff in her milk and then took x-ray shots of the milk going down as she drank it. They were able to determine that she wasn't having problems drinking the milk, but she also wasn't digesting it very well. It seems that three hours after a feeding she still had at least half of the previous feeding left in her stomach, which can add to the whole reflux problem. So now she's taking some meds to help her digestive tract move a little faster. Unfortunately, it makes her sound like WW3 is going on in her stomach. I'm just hoping that we're not creating a problem by solving another!

Having Charlotte in the hospital was a good opportunity for me to get my confidence back when it comes to feeding her. She really scared the crap out of me when we had her home before, and even when I would feed her at the hospital I would tense up. I tried to feed her as much as possible over the last two weeks and I think it really helped. Granted, she still holds her breath every now and then, but now I'm more confident that a couple good whacks on the back are going to wake her up. "Wake up, Missy!!"

Charlotte is still on oxygen and needs to be hooked up to the apnea monitor at all times. This can be a bit annoying sometimes because the oxygen confines her to her room. Hopefully she won't have to be on the O2 for too long. I'm thinking maybe 2 months, or so.

It looks like our social life is going to consist of doctor appointments and home nursing visits for awhile. But I encourage everyone to please feel free to give me a call if you wanna chat! I have a feeling that cabin fever might hit pretty soon! I'll post more pics of Peanut in the next few days.

Peanut was in Da House (for a couple days)

Yes, it's true, she was here! Charlotte came home from the hospital last Friday (1/19). Her hernia surgery went well, and after two more eye exams it has been determined that she still does not need the surgery. We will continue to go to the Ophthalmologist every week for a few months, and hopefully he'll just keep giving us the same verdict.

When we brought her home I was so excited to see how the dogs were going to react to her. They could have cared less. They were not impressed. They gave her a sniff and that's pretty much the last interaction they've had.

Things were going great the first couple of days. She came home with a feeding tube, but we removed the tube on Sunday since she had been taking all of her feedings by bottle. She also came home on oxygen, which comes with an apnea monitor that lets you know if she's a) not breathing, or b) her heart rate has gone above or below predetermined levels. She's also on a monitor that measures the oxygen saturation in her blood. That monitor goes off if her saturation falls below 90% ("desat"). This means that everytime she holds her breath to take a poop (which seems like it happens every few minutes) the alarm goes off. It's reassuring to have the monitors attached to her, but of course we still check her every few minutes to make sure she's OK.

Things started to go not so great on Monday when she began to desat each time I fed her. She never did it for Brian, though. What's up with that? The first couple times her saturation went down to the 80s, then it started going to the 70s. On Monday night she had a bad episode where it fell into the 30s and she turned blue. That's definitely something that no parent should ever have to see. We were able to stimulate her and bring her back to normal without doing CPR, but we were both close to starting. At that point, we decided that maybe she needed a rest from the bottle, so we put a feeding tube in. We gave her a few feedings through the tube and things were going well until I went into her room the next morning and she had the tube in her hand and she was waving it over her head like, "Look what I have!". We took her to the pediatrician on Tuesday and she told us that the desats were classic signs of acid reflux. From what I've heard, acid reflux is common among babies and people used to think it was just gas or colic. In preemies it can be even more of a health hazard because their nervous systems are so immature. When the acid comes up their espophagus their bodies basically shut down - their heart rate slows and they stop breathing. She's on medicine for reflux, but perhaps not enough or not the right medicine. We decided to try a couple different things and see if that worked, but when she had her next feeding at home she had another desaturation to the 40s and turned blue again. So we called her pediatrician and she arranged for us to take her back to the NICU for oberservation. As soon as I heard that she was going back there my stress almost completely went away. I want my little peanut home, but not if she's going to be doing that everytime I feed her. It was getting to the point where I was scared to death to feed her.

She will most likely be in the NICU for a few days. They are going to try and determine if acid reflux is the culprit or if maybe she's having issues with aspiration (aka "going down the wrong tube"). It's already weird not having her here, but I know she's in a safe place and she's in good hands.

Brian went back to work today after taking a couple days off to help get Charlotte settled, and it sounds like he's really enjoying his new position. He seems much busier than he was before, but he's gotta keep busy so we can afford for me to stay at home and eat bon bons. Where do you even get bon bons? Do they still make them?

I think that's enough drama for one post.

P.S. She's 4 pounds, 11 ounces.

False Alarm! No Peanuts Here!

Nope, Peanut didn't come home on Sunday. Nor did she come home on the next projected date, which was yesterday. I'm going to keep the next homecoming date to myself so I don't jinx anything. Let's put it this way, I'll just let y'all know when she gets here. I've heard from several people that the NICU tends to make parents superstitious, and that definitely rings true for me.

Charlotte's eye exam was fine last week and the doctor even said he thought she wasn't going to need the laser surgery at all. That surprised me. The blood vessels had been growing rapidly, so I was sure she was going to need the surgery. But she had another exam on Wednesday of this week and he still thinks she's doing OK. She will get checked on Monday and every week after that for the next few months. Hopefully the verdict will remain the same.

So we may have dodged the eye surgery bullet for now, but we didn't dodge the hernia bullet .... last Thursday they found a hernia on the left side of her abdomen and she was scheduled for surgery on Tuesday (1/16). The surgery went fine, and they sewed up her right side as well, as a preventative measure. So no tub baths for a few days, but we're all about sponge baths!

Keep tuning in, because hopefully over the next few days I'll have some pics of me rocking with little Peanut in her room!

***DISCLAIMER*** Cross your fingers while reading!!

***Before you read this post I want you to cross your fingers, knock on wood, rub your belly and tap your head .... anything and everything you need to do to make sure we don't jinx anything.***

Pending the outcome of her eye exam today, Peanut is scheduled to come home on Sunday. As in January 14th. As in three days from now. The doctors have been watching her eyes weekly to make sure that the blood vessels in there are growing properly, which they're not. When they start to grow all crazy they can attach themselves to the retina and even detach the retina causing blindness (that's why Stevie Wonder is blind). If the blood vessels don't stop growing she will need laser surgery on both eyes to stop the advancement. For that surgery she will need to be put on both the paralyzing drug and the ventilator, so she would need to be in the hospital for a few days. Therefore, if they think she is going to need that surgery in the very near future there's no sense in sending her home only to have to turn around and readmit her in a few days. As much as I'm itching to have her home I would rather wait until she's ready. The doctors are also performing a sleep study on her today to see why her oxygen saturation still drops every now and then. They put a bunch of straps and probes in and on her and watch her for 12 hours to determine if she's having problems with acid reflux or apnea. Both of these can be controlled with medicine - prilosec for the former and caffeine for the latter. And yes, I already asked, and no, she can't have coffee. So, in the next 24 hours after her eye exam and sleep study we will know more. Either way, she should be home within the next 1.5 weeks (again, knock on wood).

In the last two weeks Charlotte has been growing by leaps and bounds. Yesterday, she weighed in at 4 pounds, 1 ounce. She's also taking almost all of her feedings by bottle. Getting all that sucking, breathing and swallowing coordinated is difficult. One of the nurses suggested that I try to suck on a bottle to see just how difficult it really is and HOLY COW! Give it a try if you ever get the opportunity. It's really hard! I actually hurt myself trying to get something out of the nipple.

We did get a bit of not-so-good news the other day when she failed two hearing tests. The tests weren't very accurate as far as what she could and couldn't hear, but I was told that she probably had some degree of hearing loss. HOWEVER, after several requests I was able to get a ENT doctor to have a look at her ears and she has fluid in both canals. So, we're hoping that that is the culprit and she's been put on antibiotics and we'll bring her back for a retest in a month. Like everything else, we'll just take it as it comes and keep our fingers crossed.

Brian is going to be starting a new position with his company over the next few days and he's pretty excited about that. His territory will still be close to home, but he's going to be adding some new clients to his repetoire and he'll be focusing more on sales. The plan is for him to relinquish his pick-up for another smaller vehicle at some point, so we're a little bummed about that.

Speaking of vehicles, I have a 2001 Chevy Venture Warner Brothers Edition minivan for sale that seats 7. Let me know if you or anyone you know might be interested.

We hope everyone had a safe and happy new years! We celebrated the new year with Charlotte at the hospital, however we were on our way home to bed by 12.05am. I guess the days of drunken debauchery are over for awhile.