2010 in pictures

One picture for every month.

January - decided to start a family

February - Katie is pregnant, but no one knows...

March - We told my parents on my birthday with this cake.

April - Elaine and Brandon's wedding. We told our friends.

May - flight to San Antonio for another friends wedding

Almost June - NYC for a friends birthday.
Two other friends in this picture had babies this year.

July - Katie put on bed rest

August - Caroline is here

September - first day she let us get good pictures

October - self explanatory

November - Going home

December - All is well

It was a hard year, but a great year. I hope 2011 is almost as exciting.

Miracle Baby

Quick report... Caroline is doing well. She gained weight this week so we do not need to fortify her milk. She is one ounce shy of 8 pounds!! Unfortunately, I still have to wake her up at 3 am to give her a bottle. At today's pediatrician appointment, Dr. Schlegel called Caroline a miracle baby. Of course, I already know Caroline is an miracle and an answer to so many prayers but it was so fun to hear her doctor say that. She was referencing Caroline's developmental progress! Caroline is making great eye contact, smiling and really starting to "talk" to us. Needless to say, Ryan and I are both so in love with our sweetheart.

Christmas Fun!

This week I've started getting back into the working world and Ryan has needed to help me out with Caroline. I found them on the couch like this a few nights ago. So sweet...

We've found a nanny and she will start after the first of the year. Margot comes highly recommended from her last family and has already called to check on Caroline. Before Margot starts Caroline's Nonnie (my mom), Gigi (Ryan's mom) and Boo (Ryan's Step mom) are helping me. Thank God for grandmothers!!

I was hopeful to get a Christmas card out this year but decided against it today. Luckily, I was able to snap a few cute pictures of Caroline. See them below.
Today, when I went in to check on Caroline in her crib I was greeted by the biggest sweetest smile. She kept smiling so I had to run to grab the camera.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Caroline is having a good week.  She had her monthly RSV shot on Monday and she didn't like it at all.  She is eligible for these shots because she is at high risk of getting RSV and it would be very bad for her because of her lung disease/small size.  They weighed her and she had  not gained any weight for a week.  We called our pediatrician and she is not that concerned.  Caroline is not getting as many calories since we stopped using fortified breast milk.  We have a weight check up on Monday and we will reevaluate.  I suspect that we will try another formula to fortify her milk.  There is a chance we have to put the feeding tube back in, but hopefully not.

A future playmate of Caroline was born yesterday.  He is bigger than Caroline already!

Anyway, I know why you are all here - for the pictures.

Here is a video of Caroline watching football....  Correction:  High School football.  Very proud moment for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIRKuXl0ipQ

ECI

Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) came to our house today to do an evaluation on Caroline.  Since she was born so early, we qualified for ECI to come to our house to work with Caroline's development.  Katie told me last week that she hoped that Caroline would be tired when they were evaluating her, so that they would feel the need to come often to work with her.  We would not tell ECI that Caroline has already rolled over a handful of times.  However, Caroline had other ideas.  As Katie put it, "Caroline put on a show".  After watching Caroline for an hour and a half, ECI determined that Caroline is at 2 months or better in all of her different areas of development.  Caroline is not quite two months old (adjusted age), so that makes me very happy.  In fact, ECI decided that they do not  need to come back to our house for therapy unless we notice a problem.  They told Katie that it is obvious that we have worked really hard with her.  While I would love to take the praise, I think the credit goes to TCH.  One of the great things about being at TCH for longer than we expected is that Caroline was treated by therapists the entire time.  Way to go, Caroline!  Are you happy with yourself...?

We went to the pediatrician on Monday.  She decided to take Caroline off of her premie formula.  So far, she is doing great.  She seems to want to eat A LOT more.  I hope it continues.

4 months old

Caroline had her 4 month check up today and she is doing well.  She is 7 pounds, 12 ounces, and 19.5 inches long.  Katie sent me a text message from the pediatricians office saying that she was 6 pounds, 12 ounces.  I just about lost it.  We have fought hard for every single pound.

Caroline has been struggling so much with reflux and her feeding tube, etc.  The pediatrician decided to take the tube out and we will now feed her when she is hungry.  That means that we will likely have to give her several small feeds a day.  The doctor also decided to stop fortifying her milk with formula.  The formula was too hard on her system and I don't think she liked it.  So far, she seems to be a lot happier without the formula.

Here are some pictures:

First diaper from the NICU next to her current diaper

4 months old.  We are going to have to find a new doll

2 weeks old with the same doll.  Look how gigantic
the foot of the doll looks.

Momma needs a tune up

So, most of you all know about my fancy inferior vena cava… Looks like I will need a little tune up after the first of the year. Last week, Ryan and I went to meet with my surgeon, Dr. Peden.He wanted to review the images from my last MRI, which was about a month ago. The bottom of the graft (close to my liver) has narrowed and he would like to put a stent in to keep it open. The team of doctors is not sure what caused the narrowing. It may be caused by scar tissue or just the graft pinching itself. During the procedure they would be able to look more closely before placing the stent. On a side note, getting to see the images of my graft was amazing… We met with Dr. Peden in the CVICU as he was taking a break from surgery that was taking longer than expected. Looking at the images while in the CVICU made Ryan want to pass out. You would think that the NICU toughened him up a little, but that is not the case.

Fortunately, I feel wonderful and I am not having any symptoms. Luckily, my doctors keep a close eye on me and are always proactive. Little Miss Caroline has nothing to do with this… in fact they believe it’s been narrow for a while. The exciting news is there is a chance I could be off blood thinners!!! We have not set a date for the procedure yet, but please continue to keep our family in your prayers.

Sweet girl snuggled up in her papasan.

Over 7 pounds

Caroline is now 7 pounds, 6 ounces.  I am now pretty sure that her bottle feeding struggles are due to her reflux.  When she was first diagnosed in the NICU, they told us that it would more than likely get worse before it got better.  Her medicine was increased on Monday, but it may take a week before it takes effect.

Here are some pictures:

She is so strong.  I feel like she is doing great with lifting and moving her head around.

She yanked out her feeding tube and we got a picture before having to put it back in.

We have not had that much time to work on her nursery.  I have been very busy with my own exercises.

Strong baby

Caroline is still having a tough time taking bottles.  We have to use her feeding tube for just about every feeding.  We are very comfortable using the tube, but it is frustrating that she will not eat that much on her own.  I am starting to think that she does not like the formula that supplements her milk.  This morning, we tried giving her fresh milk with no formula and she did better.  It could have been a fluke.  We are going to ask the pediatrician about that at her next appointment on Monday.

I am really excited to see how much she weighs on Monday.  We used to call the NICU every night about 10 pm to see how much weight she gained.  I am pretty sure that she is over 7 pounds and I bet she is getting close to 7 and a half pounds.

Caroline has always been very strong in her upper body.  When she was just about 3 pounds, she rolled from her side to back.  They said she could do that because she was so light.  However, she has rolled over from her stomach to her back a couple of times now.  It is not the most controlled roll, but she is doing it.  She is a little under 4 months old, but her adjusted age is just 5 or 6 weeks.  I caught her doing it this morning on video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVZlWzBC-5o

Update about our first week at home

The Cooper clan has been enjoying our time at home. We are so very thankful to be under one roof even if it means we get to enjoy the sleepless nights that come with a newborn. My grandparents, Mimi and Grandpa, came to Houston for Thanksgiving. Caroline enjoyed meeting her great grandparents and hopes to meet her two other great grandmothers soon.

Also, we did make it to my parent’s for Thanksgiving thanks to my sister, mom and aunt for cooking everything. Caroline wore a dress that Bubba, Ryan’s dad, wore home from the hospital on Thanksgiving. Ryan, Uncle Drew and cousins Nicole, Luke and Mark, all wore the outfit too. Here is a picture of the three of us on Thanksgiving.

Caroline is still not finishing bottles… We use her papasan and my bedside table to hang her feed. Notice the tube in this picture.