Getting Caught Up

I consider myself to be fairly objective and logical, able to see things as they are, as opposed to seeing them through a lens clouded by bias and emotion. Which makes it all the more maddening, when Hannah flashes her gummy grin, to see myself transformed into a driveling Elmer Fudd on helium. She's just too darn cute for my own good. I know that I'm just expressing eons of evolutionary programming designed to trick me into taking good care of helpless little creatures with oversized heads and large low-set eyes, but I'm already prepared to hand over the car keys if she asks. Good thing I have a few years to steel myself against her charms.

I couldn't decide which of the following pictures to post, so here's both of them. I noticed yesterday that there was a spot of sunlight coming through a high fake-stained-glass lunette window (that means "half circle", for you guys out there) in the guest bedroom, that would make a good spotlight for a portrait.



We visited the pulmonologist (lung doctor) on thursday, to get Hannah's monthly RSV shot and a quick checkup. It was amusing to watch the doctor flip back and forth between last month's report and this month's report when checking her weight gain, muttering "three pounds?". Apparently, preemies on oxygen don't typically gain weight as well as Hannah has been doing, since they use up calories breathing that would otherwise go toward growth. Hannah was 7 lbs 15 oz last month and 10 lbs 11 oz this time.

The doctor avoids any firm estimate of when Hannah can ditch the cannula, probably so that we don't subconsciously rush her into it or build ourselves up for disappointment or worry if we don't hit a certain date. But he seems to agree that since she has gone from 400 ml to 125 ml in the past two months and is still gaining weight like gangbusters, she probably won't need it more than another month. In any case, we've gotten pretty used to the oxygen routine, so it isn't a big issue. The only time it really gets in the way is when she's laying on her stomach for "tummy time", which is how they exercise the neck and shoulder muscles prior to crawling. When in that position, the nasal cannula rubs against the play mat and tends to pop out of her nose.

We're finally getting caught up with chores after the holidays. My mom was here for the month before Christmas, and I'm afraid we got spoiled not having to do all the chores ourselves. Between work and crucial baby care duties (like singing the Gilligan's Island theme song to get a smile), there just doesn't seem to be enough time to clean floors and wash clothes.

Merry Christmas!

Ever had one of those days when you smile so much your face hurts? My face hurt after we visited with several charter members of the Hannah Blog Fan Club on Sunday. The first stop was Carla's parent's Sunday School class, many of whom I've known almost as long as I've known Carla. They've been following the blog since day one and were pretty excited to finally meet Hannah in person. Next, we met up with Velma and Aunt Rena at my mom's house.


I think it would be safe to say that Hannah was not starved for attention this Christmas. We spent Christmas at Carla's parent's house, along with my mom and Rena, and Carla's sister Cat and husband Jon. Ate too much and probably sampled too many spirits.


And here's Hannah in one of her first Christmas outfits. She has several more to take us all the way through the twelve days of Christmas.


I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are taking stock of all your blessings, as we certainly are. And please spare a moment of thought and prayer for those families that spent this holiday season in the NICU, and for all those that have lost a child before their first Christmas. And especially for little Ethan Powell and his family, who are fighting the odds to beat leukemia. In the face of what would be unbearable stress and worry for the rest of us, Ben and Becky are embracing every day with Ethan and showing us exactly how life should be cherished, one day at a time.

Road Trip

We're in Shreveport/Bossier this weekend, visiting the grandparents and other folks for the holidays. Hannah handled the car trip perfectly, even though we got stuck in an hour of holiday traffic leaving Dallas. She's on 1/8th liter (125 milliliters) of oxygen per minute, which is a low enough flow that the travel tanks should last forever. We brought the oxygen concentrator machine along anyway (it pulls the oxygen out of the air, providing an unlimited supply), and just use the tanks when we leave the house.

Before we hit the road, Troy and Kellye stopped by to visit Hannah. I've known Troy since college and our previous job (working for Carla's mom writing software for a magazine-on-diskette), and we started at Texas Instruments at the same time18 years ago. We still sit across the hall from each other.


Tomorrow we'll be visiting several of our friends that have been glued to the blog for months but haven't yet met Hannah. That should be fun.

Chunky Monkey

Uncle Gabe started calling Hannah "Chunky Monkey" about 6 pounds ago. I think she's finally grown into the name.


We put up a tree this weekend, so we could hang up Hannah's first Christmas Tree ornament, from long-time family friend Jan (who happens to be a professional doll-maker).


Hannah's started noticing the toys we put on the play mat, and you can almost hear the wheels turning in her tiny brain as she tries to make sense of her surroundings. Here she's studying the stuffed lion from Aunt Mel.


Tonight was the last visit from the nurse that has been checking on Hannah since she came home. Sad, because we'll miss Norma (although she promised to come back to visit), but happy because this means that Hannah is healthy enough that she doesn't need home nursing visits! She's still on 150 milliliters of oxygen per minute, down from 250 when she first came home, but she's gaining weight, eating well, and developing normally.

As usual, we're way behind on our holiday shopping and mailings, and there don't seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done before Christmas rolls around. But this will most definitely be our best Christmas ever, because we've already gotten our present and she's more than we dared hope for. Thanks again to all of you that have been sending cards, gifts, emails, and prayers. We can't thank you enough, and we'll never take you for granted.

We Have a Winner!

Not that it matters . . . everyone eligible for the contest prize seems to be enthusiastically disinterested in the preemie diapers. Rick, Butch, Rex, and Velma all hit on the right answer, in that order, and Belvia gets an honorable mention for "vasectomy tray". The correct answer for the previous post's brain teaser is . . . an X-ray shield for infants. They do a lot of X-rays in the NICU, and although they are very small doses not much higher than the background radiation we all get in a day, why risk it? The Save the Gonads company makes tiny X-ray shields that keep the reproductive organs safe, just in case. And in case you were wondering, yes, girls have gonads, too. While the slang usage of the term is generally aimed at males, the medical definition includes both testicles and ovaries. Isn't that fascinating?


We bundled Hannah up this morning for a monthly visit to the pediatrician, and she is still wowing the doctors with her progress. She's up to 9 lbs 11 oz now, knocking on that 10 pound door. We got the OK to space out the night time feedings from 3 hours to 4, which might net us a bit more sleep. We also got the OK to drive into Shreveport for Christmas. Hannah's first road trip!

We went yesterday to the baby shower of Hannah's birthday twin. Carter was born on the same day as Hannah, and should be going home any day now. Grandma Minor stayed home to babysit Hannah, and we had a good relaxing time hanging out with a great group of folks at the Landon Winery in McKinney.

Hannah Mannequin

At 9 lbs 5 oz, Hannah is finally big enough to wear the groovy duds Aunt Mel sent her many weeks ago. The sunglasses are still a bit big, so I took the earpieces off long enough to snap a picture. I can't say that Hannah was particularly cooperative as we were balancing oversized glasses on her nose, but she was certainly tolerant. She even went the extra mile and gave us a Ray Charles impression.


While we had Hannah in clotheshorse mode, we tried out some accessories that have special meaning. The pink hat below was knitted by Carla's Grandmother Anna Hoffpauir. She made hundreds of these infant hats as a volunteer at East Jefferson Hospital in Metairie, in the years before she passed away in 2002. The yellow booties were Carla's (she liked to chew on the tassels), and her little sister Cathryn wore them, too (hopefully after a good washing).


And I'll leave you with a brain teaser. I spotted the object below near Hannah's bed while we were in the NICU. It's about the size of a coaster, thin but heavy. I'll let you figure out what it is. First one to guess correctly wins a package of free preemie diapers, which still fit Hannah but not her bladder capacity. I'll post the answer in the next blog entry.

A Taste of Freedom

Hannah's oxygen requirements have been dropping over the past few weeks, to the point that she doesn't really need the nasal cannula every minute of the day. She still wears it as a booster during these early weeks of rapid growth, but I can now clean or change out the cannula or replace the adhesive without worrying about her de-satting during the process.

Today, she was satting so high while I had the cannula off that I went ahead and removed the oxygen monitor, too, and took a stroll into the kitchen so Carla and Grandma could see what an untethered baby looks like. Hannah was immediately fascinated by the bright fluorescent kitchen lights, as you can see below.

60's Fashions

This isn't just a hand-me-down, it's a hand-me-way-down. Carla wore this outfit when she was just a few weeks old. Her mom mailed it over so Hannah could dress as stylishly for the holidays. In the interest of maintaining a peaceful household environment for Hannah's sake, I won't divulge exactly how many years ago Carla wore this. But it was sometime between the 1968 Olympics and the 1969 moon landing, if that helps.


Hannah's been transfixed by her play gyms lately (a soft mat with an arched frame over it, from which toys dangle). And I tend to get transfixed by Hannah's transfixation. And my Mom gets transfixed by the transitive transfixation, except when she's snapping pictures that remind me how relieved I am that Hannah doesn't look too much like me.


If you saw some of the goofy faces we make when trying to get Hannah to smile, you'd smile too. And maybe cringe. But Hannah has not yet learned to be judgemental.


I wear Hannah's smiles to work with me these days, and just let people wonder what I've been smoking.

Old Friends and New Friends

We had a visit tonight from our good friends Neal and Jeanette and their son Nikolaus. Carla and I met Neal on the same trip to Europe where we met each other, and we've been close ever since.


Hannah's smiling a lot these days . . . big gummy smiles. But I haven't really caught one on camera yet. Here's a slight smirk that will have to do for now.


Hannah's friend Norma, who has been checking in on her daily at first, then three times a week for the past few weeks, will only have two more once-weekly official visits. The visits, while reassuring and enjoyable, are no longer medically necessary according to the insurance company. We'll miss her and hope she stops by just to visit now and then.

Holding Hannah

Because I have accumulated some pictures, of Hannah in various people's arms, that haven't made it onto the blog yet, I've decided to make today's theme "Holding Hannah".

These photos all had some sort of lighting, composition, or focus problem that I cleaned up the best I could, and that's why they haven't appeared until now. But I've decided to lower my standards, since I know most people don't even notice the things that I see as flaws.

Carla's Mom

Carla's Dad

That would be me. Ignore the weird reflection from the mirror on the side of my head. As a matter of fact, just ignore my weird head.

Carla's sister Cat and her husband Jon. Ignore the fact that the camera focused on the painting in the background and not on any of the people. I'll eventually learn how to tell the camera not to be so damn smart.

Eight Pounds, Three Ounces

You may have noticed that I haven't posted in a few days. That's partly because my mom is still here and she's responsible for half the blog traffic anyway, and partly because there's not much new going on.

Hannah has shown us a few "social smiles", which means that they are unlikely to be the kind caused by random facial expressions or gas. She makes and holds eye contact and sometimes smiles when we do. She's fascinated by faces, mobiles, and things hanging on the walls. Her digestive system is working splendidly and causing many impromptu cycles of the washing machine, when the diaper filling and diaper changing cycles inadvertently intersect.

Couldn't decide which of these two pictures to post, so here's both (narrowed down from 10).