You're Watching Adelevideo

That was my first attempt at using the video function on my new camera, so pardon the quality (or lack thereof). But at least now I know how to work it and upload videos, so watch for more!

Things are going well here in Adelevision-land. We had a weight check on Monday when she went in for her monthly shot and Adele was 17 pounds, 3 ounces! That's almost a full pound heavier than her weight the Monday prior. During that past week she suddenly decided to eat much more at eat feeding, and we've managed to get her up to 6 ounces (from 4), which pleases us immensely.

We decided to forgo the intensive sleep training, but we did manage to wean her off her overnight feeding without much fuss at all. It's quite amazing, actually. The first night of the weaning, we gave her only 2 ounces (instead of her full 4). The night after that we didn't give her anything, we just cuddled her back to sleep. The next night she didn't wake up at all until 5:00 (which isn't bad considering). Lately, she's been sleeping until closer to 6:00, which also pleases us immensely. And even when she does wake up, all she does is chatter--she doesn't fuss or cry. We usually make sure to feed her right before WE go to bed around 11:00 pm, usually 4 hours after her previous feeding, before SHE went to bed. It seems to be working so far!

Solids are another story. We rearranged feeding so we were giving her full formula bottles first (instead of solids first) and so now she fills up on formula (which is good) and isn't hungry for any sort of solid food. Maybe we can get in a bite or two before her mouth clamps completely shut. Ah, well. Solids aren't a priority for me at this point. I'm happy to see her weight gain back on track and that she's eating a good amount each day, and the solids can wait.

Adele is getting close to cutting her second bottom tooth. She's drooling like CRAZY, so I'm going to assume it will pop through any day now. We shall see!

Well, I said this was a mini-update, so I'd better wrap up.

Bottom left

That is the location of Adele's first tooth, the one that (finally) broke through last night! (Photographic proof to follow once said tooth is a bit more visible.)

The teething process has been relatively uneventful as she hasn't ever seemed in pain or feverish or otherwise unusually fussy. Yes, we're lucky. She did go through a period this weekend of not wanting to stay asleep once she was laid down, but that could be caused by anything. Yesterday at daycare she ate more than usual and then slept for 3 hours straight, but maybe it was coincidence. She's been gnawing on everything she can get near her mouth (including the bars of her crib), but again, not unusual for a baby. Maybe we'll break out the mesh feeder and fill it with an apple slice or something to see if that satisfies her chewing urges.

Is it silly of me to be a little sad about this new development? I'll miss her gummy, toothless smile! Ah, they grow up so fast, don't they?

March for Babies

You'll notice a new banner at the top of the blog, advertising for this year's March for Babies (formerly Walk America) to benefit the March of Dimes. For many years the MOD has been at the forefront of research and support for families touched by prematurity, birth defects and infant mortality. Given what our own family has been through this past year, I decided it was time I gave back to a cause that gave us so much. We never came in direct contact with any MOD representatives or benefits while Adele was in the hospital, and yet I know that indirectly their cause helped our situation in ways I'll never truly realize. Funds that were raised YEARS ago, by folks just like you and me, resulted in medical breakthroughs and technology that allowed our daughter to survive and thrive. Without financial support and fundraising efforts such as March for Babies, our story could have had a very different ending.

So with that, I am happy to announce that I will be accepting donations for the 2008 March for Babies that will take place April 26 in Lawrence. Any donation is welcome. I have created a team (The A-Team) so if anyone would like to join me in fundraising and walking, I would love to have company (Mom! Are you reading??). To join the team, go to the March for Babies website, https://www.marchforbabies.org/, and click on "Join a Team." Search for "The A-Team" on the next page and click on the team in Lawrence, Kansas. From there you can decide your personal goal, which is entirely up to you. I set the team goal as $250, which I thought was reachable even if it ends up just being me. ;)

I have a modest yet meaningful personal goal: $96. It represents $1 for each day Adele spent in the NICU. I hope to raise much more than that, but I figure it's a start and it's a number that will stay in my mind. And $250 for a team goal can also represent Adele's birthweight in some fashion, I suppose (2 pounds 5.0 ounces). And I'm thrilled that this year's walk is so close to Adele's birthday. What a way to celebrate the miracle of the first year of her life!

If you're interested in donating, please click the banner ad at the top of this page or email me or leave a comment below. I'm not one for high-pressure donation tactics so I probably won't contact anyone personally (no need to screen your calls!). But remember: It's for a good cause, it's for families like ours and children like Adele, it's to help babies who deserve a fighting chance and the best medicine and technology we can give them. As someone once told me, these babies didn't ask to be born this early. The least we can do is give them a chance.

Love and thanks!

Another CMH day

We spent the day at CMH for some follow-up appointments. First, they were giving away books in the waiting room, so that was fun. I got the impression they do it regularly, but that was the first time we happened to be there on give-away day. It was just like RIF from my elementary school days! Yeah for free books!

Our first appointment was with the psychologist as part of the developmental screen. The appointment consisted of the doctor giving Adele different toys and items to see how she'd play with them or react to them (nothing scary, of course!). There were blocks, rubber ducks, bells, a hoop on a string, etc. Then they moved to the floor to check out Adele's sitting and rolling skills (she's got mad skillz, yo!). Long story short, she is "lovely" and is absolutely appropriate for her adjusted age. No worries whatsoever. The only thing she said is that she would have liked Adele to be a little more vocal, but we assured her that usually wasn't a problem. I invited her to come to the house around 5:30 am when she's happily jabbering and screaming in her crib. ;) She also would have liked a little quicker response on some of the hearing tests on the left side (not formal tests like before, just ringing a bell and making other noises on that side to see how Adele would react). Adele DID react, just not quickly and not consistently. We mentioned the hearing tests we had earlier in the month and the doc said we could answer the question definitively and have a hearing test at CMH, but she didn't think it was immediately necessary. So, we'll play that by ear (yuk yuk) and think about it for later. We're at CMH often enough it's not like we'd have to make a special trip just for that should we decide we want to go that route.

We saw her pediatrician, Dr. Harvingson, after and that was a good appointment too. I think the main reason for this visit was to see how Adele was doing after going back on Prevacid. Thankfully, Adele gained weight well over the past month and is a full pound heavier than she was last visit. The doc wanted to see a 15-gram-a-day gain and Adele averaged 18 grams.

Some other highlights/points of interest:

• Our insurance reauthorized Adele's Neocate until her first birthday, 5/7/08 (which is rapidly approaching--eek!). Both doctors (Dr. H at CMH and Dr. Murphy at LFP) want her on formula/breastmilk until she's 15 months actual/12 adjusted. However, the insurance said they rarely authorize payment of formula past 1-year actual, AND they want her to try another form of food (breastmilk or other formula) before 5/7. If she tolerates it they won't renew her authorization. If she doesn't tolerate it then...??? The insurance company's recommendation was to put her on cow's milk at 1 year, but no way in heck that is happening. Introducing cow's milk will happen slowly and not for a long, long time.
• Because of the point above, we asked Dr. H. what she'd recommend we transition Adele to or try in the meantime. We decided that we'd start with breastmilk and fortify it with Neocate (since breastmilk is only 20 cals and we want her to still be on 24-cal liquid) and see how that goes. She also said we could try a standard Enfamil-type formula if we were feeling particularly frisky. Buying formula at the store like regular people?? I never thought that could happen. Of course there's no telling if our experiments will work, but I have faith!
• Because of the point above, we have to explore other thickening options. We can't take her off thickener entirely until she has another swallow study, and we still haven't made that appointment. (Dr. H. promised she would have them call us right away.) Unfortunately, the thickener we currently use for her formula doesn't work on breastmilk. The only kind that does is available only by mail-order or through home-health companies by prescription. (And of course it's twice as expensive as the stuff we currently use, that's available at our local Walgreen's.) So, Dr. H. is starting the process to see if we can get insurance to cover the thickener we need. They should be happy to do so since it would mean NOT having to pay for formula anymore, right? So, we'll see. If they don't cover it we'll just buy it ourselves--no biggie--but it would be nice to have that covered too. (I know, I know--I'm so greedy!)
• We're starting the first steps of "sleep training" for Adele. The psychologist mentioned that developmentally Adele should not still be waking up during the night. However since weight gain/formula volume intake is still a concern for her, we're not sure that we should encourage her to drop that overnight feeding. The hope, though, is that if we do drop the night feeding she'll make up for it during the day. Since she doesn't ever eat more than 4 ounces at night (or ever, for that matter), IN THEORY it shouldn't be too difficult to make up that 4 ounces elsewhere. Of course, we're talking about Adele and food and we know how she likes to defy all logic and common sense. ;) So, we may try to drop that feeding and see if she does okay without it. Of course, that means somehow getting her back to sleep in the night, which will be a struggle. Everyone is telling us that we should start putting her to bed drowsy and to let her soothe herself to sleep, even if that means a bit of crying. Unfortunately that "bit" of crying has been as much as 30 minutes the few times we've tried it. I'm still not sold on the idea, but the thought of a full, uninterrupted night's sleep is so very, very tempting. They assure me that letting her "cry it out" won't be psychologically damaging, but it's still hard to hear her be so sad when I KNOW picking her up would soothe her instantly. But that's the problem--she needs to soothe HERSELF, not rely on me or Steve to do it for her. So, the more I think about this, maybe the training is for the parents, and not so much for the kid? Anyway, I know the Goddess in Progress family is attempting this very thing in the near future, so maybe I'll let them do their experiment first and before I decide whether to jump in or not.
• We're slowly going to try to increase her feeds by a bit at a time to see if she'll take more than 4 ounces if it's there. The times when I'm CERTAIN she'll eat 5 ounces, she ends up leaving 2 ounces behind. The times when I don't think she's very hungry and only pour 4, she drains the bottle in no time flat and probably would have taken 5. I just can't win!

So yeah...lots of changes in store, some not so fun. I know if we can get over those first few days and weeks of resistance things should be better.

And for the fun stuff... We finally got a real highchair for Adele! Well, it's a space-saving highchair so it straps to one of our kitchen chairs, but it's better than the Bumbo. And so far, the difference in feedings in the two chairs is like night and day. In the Bumbo, Adele would twist and buck and practically rotate Linda Blair-style to get away from whatever we were feeding her. Now, in the proper highchair, she's comfortable and secure and so much more receptive to whatever is on the spoon. And she looks like such a BIG GIRL in her new chair. I think she ate twice as much fruit today than any of her other feedings prior. Woo! The doc said we could add in a third solid-food feeding now, but with all the other feeding changes in store for her, I think we're good with two for now. Don't want to rock her world TOO much.

Just a few highchair photos for your enjoyment:

It's a good thing I'm finally getting over my "babies with food on their faces" phobia, huh? Now I just need to work on my "babies spitting wet food into my hand" phobia. Ewwww....

Snow day!

Lawrence got about 6 inches of snow last night, and since I didn't bring my laptop home last night I decided to take today as a vacation day. I didn't feel like dealing with snowy roads with her in the car. I've managed to be a little productive today, finishing our tax prep (we're FINALLY getting a refund this year after 6 years of owing) and getting this photo stuff set up. Sorry it's taken so long to get the photos up!

Just a few other notes and miscellaneous:

• We love, love, LOVE our new daycare. Renee is awesome and I can tell Adele really likes going there. She's always excited to see Renee and the other kids and vice versa. She's still eating well while she's there, which is a bonus.

• Adele is working through a small cold, mostly a runny nose and a terrible cough. She's never had a fever or any breathing issues so I never called the doc. Not much they can do for her anyway. I am not surprised she's come down with something--I expected it since she's been exposed to a whole set of new germs at her new daycare. As long as it doesn't get any worse, it's all good.

• We head to CMH on Monday for a round of appts, including a follow-up with the pediatrician there (I think a glorified weight check and to see if the Prevacid is helping her eating). Not sure how much she weighs now, but she's been eating well enough I expect it to have increased some. The other appointment that day is with the Developmental Clinic. Not sure exactly what that entails, but we're told she'll meet with a Psychologist, Physical Therapist, Speech/Language Therapist and an Early Childhood Educator. I'm looking forward to this appointment because I like hearing about all those areas of her development. I'm not worried about anything in particular, thankfully.

That's about it, so onto photos. Oh, and I've come to the realization that it's time to upgrade the ol' digital camera. I'm always disappointed in the shots I get, and I know it's not ALWAYS my fault. I think we'll use some of our tax return and get a new one. Also, some of these are dark because I have to turn the flash off if I ever want to have any photos where her eyes are open. Anyhoo...

Finally a decent smile caught on film! And no, those aren't teeth down there, just spit bubbles.

The expression on her face here always makes me laugh.

Practice sitting up.

Smiling. That is all.

Smiling at Daddy.

She likes her feet.

A lot.She also has a fondness for blankets...

And now for something different, a slideshow!