Sleeping Soundly

I have a web cam set up so I can check in on Hannah while I'm at work (you can never be too careful who you leave your child home with, even if you've been married to her for seventeen years). OK, it's actually there so the grandparents can get the occasional Hannah fix. Anyway, I happened across the image above while checking the cam from work today, and snapped a copy for posterity.

Hannah learned to giggle and laugh a couple days ago. I was so surprised and amused that I laughed back at her, which she found hilarious and laughed even more. It was particularly funny because she hasn't quite got the hang of it yet, and sounds sorta like a baboon with hiccups, with the occasional vibrato squeal thrown in. Anyway, we laughed at each other until we were both pretty worn out. Carla and Hannah played the same game the next day.

She also slept straight through the night for the first time last night. She's probably been ready to do that for a while, but we've been waking her up at 3am for a bottle. But she's now at the point where she can drink enough before bed to keep her from getting hungry until the morning feeding, so we've increased the daytime feeds to compensate for the 3am feeding we're going to eliminate.

Carla's off at chorus practice tonight, but I bundled up Hannah a while ago and crashed the rehearsal for a few minutes, just to see the look on Carla's face when we walked in. :-) Neither of us can get enough of this little milk monkey.

Busy Bee

Not much new going on here, except that Hannah is a busy little bee these days, playing with more toys and figuring out how to use her hands.

She's also quite fond of the cute little baby in the mirror, who always smiles back at her. In fact, she's so fascinated with the baby in the mirror that I made one to put on the floor during tummy time, to give her another reason to lift her head and prop herself up on her arms.

Homecoming

We drove into Shreveport/Bossier last weekend, where Hannah's grandparents, Aunt Rena, and lots of friends live. Uncle Gabe was in town from Utah, and Velma, Belvia, Jan, and Rosemary all stopped by to visit. We also saw lots of Hannah's fans at Carla's parent's church.

Hannah got a pile of new toys, clothes, and costumes. I think it's safe to say she will never be bored or badly dressed.

Karl's Mom

Carla's Dad

Karl's Sister Rena

Rena's Gabe

Cece (aka Rosemary)

Surprise!

Carla's Mom

Uncle Gabe showing Hannah her foot

Modeling a new outfit

Phenomenal

That's the word Hannah's pediatrician used today to describe her progress. She's at 13 pounds 1 ounce, officially, and she's catching up with babies born full-term in July. They even said we can switch to normal formula instead of the preemie blend. She's been completely off oxygen for almost two weeks now, enjoying the freedom of carrying Hannah around while we're doing chores or letting her lounge in the pile of clean laundry while I forage for matching socks.

We're going into Louisiana to visit the parents this weekend. Uncle Gabe from Utah is there, too, so it should be fun. I suspect Hannah will OD on attention for the next couple days.

Going Wireless

Well, Hannah's been completely off the oxygen for about a week now, day and night. Last night, we took another big step and left off the pulse/oxygen monitor. So for the first time since she was born, Hannah slept through the night unattached to any machine or monitor. It's a little unnerving to not have the glowing yellow numbers to reassure us that she's breathing fine throughout the night, but I think we both slept better than we expected to.

The three of us took a walk along the creek near our house on Saturday. Hannah mostly slept in the cocoon of her stroller, but it was good to be outside in perfect walking weather, sunny with a cool breeze.

Carla was out and about this morning for her first chorus performance since Hannah was born, and had lunch with the girls afterwards. Those chorus meals inevitably devolve into impromptu serenades of any other dining patrons fortunate enough to make eye contact with the group, which is always (so far) fun for all involved. So Carla had a good time and I got to stay home and act like an idiot for Hannah, which is easier when I don't have to worry about looking and sounding like a fool in front of other adults.


Our happiness with Hannah's stellar progress is tempered by the sad news that baby Ethan (click here to visit his website) has taken a turn for the worse. But his parents have unshakable faith that he'll pull through, so we'll pray along with them. And, Hannah's NICU-mate Carter, born on the same day as Hannah back in July, has had a few unexpected setbacks and is still not home. Ethan and Carter, and their parents, could use your thoughts and prayers.

Cruising

Sorry about the lack of updates lately. I've been trying to get caught up on some of the cleaning around the house, and between work, chores, and trying to find new ways to make Hannah smile, I'm usually dog tired before I get a chance to blog. But I'm slowly whipping the house back into shape. Mostly I've just whipped all the clutter out into the den where Hazie stays, so my next chore is to clean that out and make a deposit at Goodwill, to reclaim the floor space critical to Hazie's daily RC truck roundup duty.

But everything is going great. Hannah has been completely oxygen-free for about four days and nights now. Well . . . she's still breathing oxygen, of course . . . she's just doing it on her own without the supplement from the cannula. If we can get permission from the pulmonologist to take her off the diuretic (keeps fluid out of the lungs) and the sodium chloride (replaces the salt that the diuretic leaches away), it will make it easier to increase her feeding size and decrease the frequency. She gets 6-7 bottles a day, mainly so we can put the medicine in them. Fewer meds makes it easier to go to fewer feeds, and the goal is about four feeds of 6 ounces each, instead of the seven of 3.5 ounces today.

But enough about that . . . you probably just want another picture, right?

Mardi Gras!

Hannah went to her first party today . . . a Mardi Gras bash thrown by Don and Arvilla. Hannah wore a crawfish costume that Aunt Rena and Aunt Rosemary (aka Gabby and Cece) found for her.


Aunt Cat and Uncle Jon were there, too, and we all had a great time and great food. Thanks, Don and Arvilla!


Hannah enjoyed herself so much she didn't even complain when her dinner time came and went. Maybe she was just relieved that she wasn't on the menu. :-)


The mudbug costume lets her arms and legs stick out, but the typical pink or green baby outfit just didn't go well with the red crawfish. So I dyed one of her green christmas onesies black (she won't fit in it next year anyway), adding a Goth/Johnny Cash outfit to her wardrobe for later. With the addition of a little hat that came with an outfit from Carla's friend Becky, it doubles as a London Cabbie costume.


Hannah went without extra oxygen again last night. She seems to be just on the verge of not needing it at night, so she's worn the cannula about every other night for the past week. We'll keep her on it until it is clear that she doesn't need it . . . better safe than sorry. It's not much of a hassle at night anyway, since we're not carrying her around or playing with her while she's sleeping (although it is sometimes tempting). And she's been off the oxygen during the day for over a week now. She was 12 lbs 4 oz last time she was officially weighed on Tuesday, so her lungs are outgrowing her dependence on the oxygen supplement.

Thanks for checking in, and drop us note to let us know how YOU'RE doing, if you haven't recently.