Hannah's Blog

Where Has the Time Gone?

2009-08-16T01:13:00.002-05:00

The hardest thing about updating the blog after four months of procrastination is figuring out where to start. But I've been chastised from several quarters for not updating, so here goes:

I'll start with the excuses. We, and most of the family and friends, are now on facebook, so everyone out there gets regular Hannah updates from either me or my Mom. So it's easy to forget that those of you who have not joined the cult of facebook (you should . . . it's easy, safe, and fun) haven't gotten a Hannah update since Easter. Add to that the fact that Hannah is no longer a preemie, and despite the fact that she is the most perfect and wonderful little girl in our eyes, she's really just another baby, no different than all the other babies in your lives.

. . . OK, maybe a little different

Carla and I took a cruise around Canada in late May, from Montreal to Nova Scotia, then to Boston, and we left Hannah at Camp Grandma. We had just enough internet access on the ship to get daily updates and pictures from Mom, so it wasn't too painful to leave Hannah behind for 10 days. Knowing how much fun Hannah, Mom, and Aunt Rena were having kept us from worrying about Hannah, except for the possibility that she might not ever want to go back home with us.

Hannah and her birthday twin Carter at his 2nd birthday party.

Hannah celebrated her second birthday July 15th with two informal parties (not everybody could make it to the first one, so we had another). We got to see a lot of very good friends we hadn't seen in a long time, and even the famous Carter Cates dropped in. We had Carter, Hannah, and Ashley all playing together on the floor together, and I've been waiting a long time for that.

Winding down toward the end of Hannah's birthday party (thanks for taking pics, Sidney (sorry for the nested parens, but I need to point out that I'm referring to Sidney whom I work with, not Sydney who is my mom, so I am not accused of misspelling my own mom's name)).

We went to the Medical Center of Plano NICU reunion this month, and got to see some of Hannah's doctors, nurses, and fellow patients. Not a day goes by that I don't think about all the people responsible for keeping Carla and Hannah alive, and all the little things they did that allowed Hannah to emerge from extreme prematurity unscathed. So those reunions mean a lot to us, even if it's just to let the staff there see how well Hannah's doing, and to say "Thanks for this. You are heroes every day you walk into work. "

Taken at Hannah's 2nd NICU reunion . . . she was ready to get back down and explore.

We've enrolled Hannah in preschool starting in September, for about five hours, two days a week. We're not particularly concerned about the "school" aspect, but just want her to be around other children enough to get socialized. Most of our friends had children a decade or more ago, when they were "supposed to", so Hannah doesn't have many opportunities to socialize. Hannah is always entranced by new environments and people, so she's going to have a great time.

Chillin' on the back porch

Hannah is getting taller, smarter, and cuter every day. She loves to laugh, dance, read, and hug (not necessarily all at the same time, that would be a little creepy). She has lots of words but isn't particularly concerned with pronunciation or sentences yet. There's one word that she uses all the time that we can't figure out. It sounds like "abeeyah". If any of you know what she's talking about, please let us know. I'm pretty sure she's not asking for a beer, but I can't rule out anything she may have learned while Uncle Jon was babysitting.

With Grandma Hall

She's also now aware of what the word "No" means. While she doesn't want me to know she knows, I can see it in her eyes. We're going to have to get rid of the safety gates, because she now considers them a challenge. She'll pretend to not notice them, so you'll drop your guard, and then when you open the gate a few inches to pass through, she'll dart 20 feet from across the room and slide through before you can react, like a prisoner who's been planning her escape for years, waiting for just the right moment. So we'll just bite the bullet and Hannah-proof (i.e.; clean out) a few more rooms, and expand her range.

So, maybe now that I've broken the ice of blog silence, I'll be able to update a little more often. Probably about once a month. But I'd encourage all of you to join facebook . . . you'll likely link up with people you've wanted to get in touch with for years anyway. It's really like having a blog of your own, but it's as easy as checking and sending email. If you need help getting started, or want a quick intro to how it works, just let me know. I'd be glad to help.

I almost forgot . . . Hannah's got a new music video out. Click here to view it directly (best quality) if you don't see a video player box below.

Easter

2009-04-15T23:01:00.003-05:00

Karl's mom and sister Rena came to Plano for several days before Easter to visit Hannah, and even Aunt Rosemary got to visit briefly on her way through Plano. Hannah loves visitors, of course, and thrives on the extra attention. She's learning lots of words, though she can only say a fraction of them.

We drove to Shreveport for Easter, and the high point of the trip was a surprise last-minute outing with Carter (Hannah's birthday twin and NICU mate) and his parents. We met up with them at the big Easter Egg Hunt at the Bossier Boardwalk and had lunch afterward. You'd never guess from seeing Carter that he had a complete digestive system transplant before he was a year old and spent most of his first 15 months of life in hospitals. He's a smiley, flirty little boy who loves to dance in his stroller and ham it up for anyone who glances his way. I forgot to bring my camera, but Sean promised me copies of his photos, and I'm sure you'll see some of them here soon.

Hannah has started noticing flowers (wawas) on her shoes, in her books, and got to see lots of real ones up close and personal when Grandma and Grandpa Hall took her to the azalea gardens at Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport.

These pictures were taken just a couple hours before Hannah took a tumble while running across a concrete patio, and broke the fall with her lower lip and nose. Blood everywhere, from a split lip, which was pretty traumatic for mom and dad. It's healed completely now, but for a few days Hannah looked like she had raspberry jam all over her face.

We'll be walking in the March of Dimes "March for Babies" at White Rock Lake in Dallas this weekend, to benefit research aimed at preventing premature births and to helping sick and premature babies. We'll be walking with the Plano NICU Parents team, along with several of the parents and children that passed through the NICU experience with us. If you'd like to donate or just learn more, please click here.

NOTE: I've added a list of Hannah's music video links at the top right corner of this page, primarily because Hannah loves to watch her videos and this makes them easy for us to find in one place whenever she runs toward the computer saying "BAYBEEEE!". But you might want to check them out as well, in case you've missed one or two.

Sleeping Babies

2009-03-23T21:09:00.004-05:00

If you had told me two years ago how good it feels just to carry a sleeping baby, I would have tried to believe you, but honestly would not have been able to relate. I'm not sure if it's genetic programming kicking in, or just the momentary relief of not having to entertain, nourish, and run interference for a toddler while they are asleep on your shoulder. Probably a little of both.

Hannah may look innocent standing in my shoes (below), but she quickly proceeded to rip out the gel pads and liners, and I've pretty much given up on gluing them back in until she gets bored with shoe disassembly. Gotta pick your battles.

I put up an outdoor swing (thanks, Troy!) for Hannah a couple weeks ago, and it's her new favorite pasttime. Now that the weather is more amenable and consistent, she's spending more time outside exploring the backyard (when she isn't in the swing). The trick is getting her to come back inside without making her cry.

You might notice a bruise above Hannah's right eye in the two preceding pictures. We were playing chase and she took a corner a little too wide and slammed into a doorjamb with her forehead. She was laughing and squealing as she ran, and for a couple seconds after the impact she was on her back, still laughing. Then she decided that this pain stuff isn't very funny and wailed for a couple minutes.

I'm gathering video clips for Hannah's next movie, but haven't had time to put them together yet. Maybe next week.

I almost forgot . . . here's a shot we got when we left one of the baby gates open during last week's Shuttle launch.

Healing

2009-03-15T23:30:00.004-05:00

The first few weeks of our NICU experience, after Steven had passed away and before we had any real sense of how well Hannah was doing, my all-consuming fear was that we would go home empty-handed. There was not, and still isn't, much chance that we could try again. Hannah was our only hope, and nobody could tell us that everything would turn out OK. I am a planner, and had already started thinking about what we would do and how we would try to cope with such devastation, and of course I had no answers.

That made it particularly heart-wrenching to learn, several months after Hannah came home, that some friends of ours had experienced that very scenario, several years ago. I am ashamed to admit that I didn't even know at the time that they were going through such turmoil, though I worked side by side with the father. Our jobs took us down separate paths shortly afterward and we lost touch without ever knowing what they had gone through.

Their daughter slipped away after four months in the NICU, on July 15th of 2002, exactly five years to the day before our Hannah was born. By further coincidence, their daughter's name was Hannah.

In those first few weeks of our NICU stay, I knew that if our Hannah didn't make it, it would take us years to even begin to heal. We started our blog partly as a healing tool, to cope with Steven's loss and potential challenges that Hannah could face. We gained strength from those who followed the blog and propped us up with encouragement and kindness when we needed it most.

So I was glad to hear recently, from our friend Shadan, that she had started a blog to help with her own healing and to help others who have experienced the loss of a NICU baby. If you have a minute, please stop by her web site, at http://shadanferdousi.blogspot.com, and forward the address to anyone you know that might be interested.

Can't Imagine Octuplets

2009-02-18T20:37:00.002-06:00

As we scramble to keep Hannah contained, fed, and occupied, I occasionally look around and wonder what it would be like to have 7 more of her running around. I suppose the main difference is that we would just give up any pretense of having a normal life. As it is, the fun of watching Hannah try new things and figure out the obstacles we put in her way more than makes up for not being able to pop out to a movie or take naps on a whim.

Hannah loves books now, and will frequently pick one up and demand that we read it to her. Then she'll climb down and go get another. The text in these books, of course, is extremely inane, and I have a hard time not slipping into a moron voice as I read.

She's climbing on furniture now, and we finally had to move the coffee table out of the living room because she wouldn't stop dancing on it. I suppose there will be time for reasoning with her later, after she knows a few more words.

Now that I think about it, I always sorta liked the taste of wood, too.

Hannah Time!

2009-02-01T23:14:00.004-06:00

It's been an eventful month, but not too hectic. We've heard about all the winter weather elsewhere, but it has still been warm enough here most weekends to take Hannah to the park and feed the ducks.

I've been following Hannah around with the camera catching snippets of video here and there, but I made the mistake of showing her the video playback on the camera's display. Now every time she sees the camera, she runs toward it yelling "baybeeee!" and makes me show her baby videos. Clips of her doing that will get boring pretty quick.

But before she caught on, I got enough to put together another Hannah music video. Click the image below or this link to take a look (13MB WMV file).

And for those of you who can't get enough of laughing babies, here are a couple more videos of Hannah laughing at my hand (6MB WMV file) and laughing at ducks (8MB WMV file).

(noticing the wind chimes)

(my brother Bruce made this furniture)

(walking on wood chips at the park)

(digesting a particularly satisfying meal)

Some status updates . . .

Hannah had a round of routine doctor visits last month. She's over 21 pounds, has nine teeth (maybe ten, but I'm getting less brave about putting my finger in her mouth to check), is eating pretty much anything we eat that can be chewed with only nine teeth, and has words for mom, dad, bottle, baby, duck, and probably several others that she thinks we're too stupid to understand. Her eyes checked out fine (preemies are at risk for vision problems), so we probably don't need to go back to the eye doctor. We switched her car seat to face forward, so now she gets to see where she's going, instead of where she's been.

Carla's chorus will be doing singing valentines on (der!) Valentines Day, so if you're in the Dallas area and want a quartet of ladies to serenade someone in glorious four-part harmony, drop us a line. They're a non-profit group, so it doesn't cost any more than flowers, and they're really good.

Karl survived the first (and hopefully the only) round of layoffs at Texas Instruments, but of course many of his colleagues didn't. This is a rough time to be out job-hunting, so that was a pretty depressing week at work.

Our cousin Joni (my dad's brother's son's daughter, who we traveled to Scotland to visit in 2003) gave birth to her first baby girl yesterday. We're pretty excited about that because, having recently joined the club ourselves, we know how much fun she and Mac are going to have.

Carter (Hannah's NICU-mate and birthday twin who got the multi-visceral transplant last May) is doing great, but Avery still needs your thoughts and prayers, as she is back in the hospital with unexplainable fevers and infections. I long for the day that Avery and her parents can spend some relaxed weeks at home.

Hannah's Birthday Twin

2008-12-30T22:43:00.007-06:00

I knew there was a reason I've been procrastinating the blog update. I've had some great photos to share, and news tidbits that might be of interest to Hannah's friends, but just haven't gotten around to gathering them up into a coherent post.

Well, tonight we hit a milestone, and it's a doozie, more than worthy of an entry here.

You regulars know about Carter, who was born the same day as Hannah, in the same hospital, and shared the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with her for the 105 days she was there. Unfortunately, Carter developed complications with his digestive system that kept him in the NICU much longer, then at various other hospitals for the first 15 months of his life. It culminated in an emergency transplant of his entire digestive system at Children's Hospital in Boston in May of this year. I was traveling in Asia at the time, and it was nerve-wracking to watch for updates on Carter's blog from afar, not knowing how things were going for days at a time. It was like being underwater, holding my breath, and every blog update was a break for the surface and a gulp of fresh air.

Carter has had a rough recovery since the transplant in May, but he's back home in Texas, doing extremely well, and getting down to the business of being a little boy instead of a patient. He's still got some tubes to help with breathing and digestion, but as we learned with Hannah, babies are particularly well-positioned to grow out of those aids, since their bodies are busy getting bigger and stronger.

While I was overseas, Carter's mom Chelle happened to mention on their blog an escape they made to Chili's for an actual sit-down meal, one day after I had eaten dinner in a Chili's in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. An odd coincidence.

Well, tonight we sat down for dinner at Chili's in Plano with Carter and his remarkable parents. This was the first time the birthday twins have actually met each other, and the first time we've seen Sean and Chelle since Thanksgiving of last year. After the ordeal that they've lived for the past year and a half, it was inexpressibly gratifying to see them so . . . normal. While most non-NICU parents witnessing our meal might not have described it as relaxed, as we juggled babies and dishes and toys and tubes, wiping down table and highchairs to avoid Respiratory Syncytial Virus, it is a true milestone to just be able to sit down and have dinner like regular folks. I still remember the first visit to a restaurant with Hannah after we left the NICU. After months of nail-biting worry and rushed meals while caring for an infant tethered to machines, an excursion into the real world, even just a meal at a restaurant, was like a dreamy walk through a spring-green park on a cool sunny day.

Sean, Chelle, and Carter all looked so good and so happy, and Hannah had so much fun flirting and smiling and babbling at her new old friends, it was a perfect end to a remarkable year. I hope that next year is a year of recovery for our friends with babies still on the road to good health, because progress for some children comes much more slowly. Our trials with Hannah were nothing compared to what some parents and their children go through, and I think we should all resolve in 2009 to help those little ones who start life with challenges, and the brave parents that stand by their side.

In other news . . .

We spent last week in Bossier and Shreveport for Christmas, and had a great time. Now that we have a walking, talking (OK, babbling), Christmas gift that keeps on giving, every trip into town is a hoot these days. We got a surprise Christmas gift when Hannah's uncle Gabe and cousin Alexander rolled into Rena's (my sister) driveway Christmas morning after a covert 4-day road trip through ice and snow from Utah in their new RV. And, due to the bad economy and Texas Instruments' extended holiday shutdown this year, Aunt Cat (Carla's sister) and Uncle Jon got to spend Christmas with the clan in Bossport, too. All in all, a very merry Christmas and a good start on a happy new year.

Some notes about the previous blog entry:

I noticed after posting that those of you who get blog posts via email ( you can subscribe with the link above) did not see the Elf Dance link, so here it is in case you missed it. And, here's a bonus Elf Dance, if you want more of the same with a retro twist.

Also, for those of you that want to see my sister Melanie's 50th Birthday slideshow but are hesitant or unable to download and run the Windows executable, here's a version out on youtube that should be viewable for anyone with high-speed Internet access.

Dancing Elves, Dress-up, and Funny Wigs

2008-12-12T22:36:00.007-06:00

I needed to get an update out here before the 15th, because that would make it a whole month since the last update. There's been a lot going on, all of it good, and I suppose I might have been procrastinating because I know there's a lot of ground to cover.

Hannah is asleep and Carla is out with the chorus group. Last night we all bundled up and went to the mall, where Carla's chorus sang carols to frenzied shoppers. Hannah dressed in her chorus duds, and got more than a few glances while we were out and about.

A few weeks ago we got a chance to go visit Ashley, one of Hannah's NICU friends. Both Hannah and I noticed that Ashley has more cool toys. We'll see what we can do about that.

We went to visit the grandparents for Thanksgiving. One of the highlights of Hannah's days are her baths, and they're even more fun in Grandma's tub.

Mr. and Mrs Claus heard that Hannah was in town and stopped by for a visit. Hannah was either a bit suspicious about the hair, or was thinking of making a grab for the reading glasses.

Aunt Rosemary got Hannah a Russian train conductor's coat and hat.

After I dressed Hannah in a plaid jumpsuit with bright pink socks and shoes, Aunt Rena staged a fashion intervention and cleared out Marshall's stock of coordinated baby outfits.

I had to play with the "Elf Yourself" site this year. Here's an elf dance with Hannah, Carter, and Ashley.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Carter, by the way, is doing very well, and is starting to settle into the groove of semi-normal home life after spending most of his first 15 months in hospitals. This thrills me every time I think of it, considering all he's been though. Be sure to check his web site for the latest cute pictures and updates.

My Mom spent a week at our house on her way out to San Diego to surprise my sister Melanie at her 50th birthday party. I put together a slideshow for Mel; with embarrasing photos from all stages of her life. You can click here to see it (WARNING: it's a 26MB Windows executable, so klaxons, alarm bells, and flashing hazard lights will probably appear when you click on it. But it's safe, I promise).

The party was 70s-themed and Hannah got to try on Mom's 'fro wig.

First Wind

2008-11-15T23:11:00.004-06:00

It's been pretty windy here lately. We don't think much about it, now that I don't have time to fly kites or RC planes, but last time we took Hannah outside it occurred to me that she's never really experienced wind before. It took her a few minutes to get used to it, then she was back to exploring the back yard.

She still doesn't have enough hair to do much with (we have to dress her in pink when we go out or everyone assumes she's a boy), but it's just enough hair to leave her with chicken feathers in the morning, and just enough to blow in the wind a little.

Not much else going on, except a LOT of walking. I put together another video of her perambulations. Click here if you don't see the video window below. NOTE: Click the "watch in high quality" link on the YouTube page for a better video picture.

Drunken Sailor

2008-11-08T21:12:00.005-06:00

Well, we aren't counting steps anymore. Hannah is now toddling non-stop around the house like a drunken sailor (my Mom's words) and quite of proud of herself, too. To see what I mean, click the video below or this link if your browser or email reader doesn't show the video player below.

We had a great time in Ohio (our friends Doug and Donna threw an amazing wedding) and Hannah and her Bossier contingent apparently had a blast entertaining each other while we were gone. While we were up north, we took in the Columbus Zoo, a corn maze, and some prehistoric Indian mounds. Carla is the little white dot walking along the serpent mound below.

We also enjoyed the luxury of several grown-up restaurant dinners. You know, the kind where you just eat your food at a leisurely pace without worrying about your child knocking the condiments off the table or shrieking like a chimp at the ceiling fan, and where paying the bill is not followed by Cheerio collection duty under the table.

But we were sure glad to get back and see that grinning little girl again. Strangely enough, grown-up dinners don't seem quite as much fun as we remembered. Cheerio clean-up is a small price to pay for the feeling of completeness I get when carrying Hannah out to the car after a meal. And when she occasionally looks up at me out of the blue and flashes one of those "That was fun, Dad" smiles, I just start thinking about what restaurant we can take her to next, and whether they have interesting ceiling fans or colorful condiments on the tables.

Those of you following Carter's progress probably already know that he flew back from Boston while we were in Ohio, and is now doing great, settled in at home in Texas with his parents. It is an amazing relief to have Hannah's birthday twin back home, stable and back on track (they were born on the same day and spent their first few months in the same NICU) . If you missed the excitement, be sure to check out his website and the local news story about him.

Getting Sassy

2008-10-27T22:42:00.006-05:00

Hannah's starting to show a little more personality lately, mostly when she's not getting what she wants (the mouse, while I'm trying to use the computer, for example). Fortunately, we're still smarter than she is, and she can be fooled into thinking she wants something else (say, a scrap of paper that I "accidentally" drop on the floor so she thinks she's not supposed to have it).

We were going through her "too big" clothes again, looking for ones she could now fit into, and found the rodeo bowling outfit above.

At least this one is supposed to look goofy. It's a duck outfit. That's the beak and eyes on the top of her head. I suppose it's more of a duck-with-baby-emerging-from-hole-in-throat costume, but I guess they weren't trying for a realistic depiction of duck anatomy.

Hannah's up to 9 steps at a time now. When Mom got this outfit up in Iron River (bear country) last year, Hannah weighed about 5 pounds and it seemed like she'd never fit into it. Now it's the perfect sleeper for cool winter nights (in case we ever have one of those again in Texas).

Tomorrow we head to Grandma's house, where Hannah will stay while we fly up to Ohio for a friend's wedding. It will be the first time Carla's been away from Hannah for more than a few hours, but we're sorta looking forward to a couple days free of baby talk and protecting the environment from Hurricane Hannah. Really, it's just an excuse to loan Hannah to my mom and sister, but I think it will be great fun for everyone.

Stagger . . . Stagger . . . Stagger

2008-10-18T21:25:00.005-05:00

I'm sure that someday Hannah will be in charge of dressing us funny, so we might as well take advantage of her defenselessness while we can. I thought this was a cow costume when I grabbed it at the store. It was only $8, so I didn't examine it closely or check for an udder. When I got it home I noticed it's a dog outfit. It even has a velcro-attached tail so we can play pin-the-tail-on-the-doggie while Hannah is scooting around trying to get to the next exciting new toy (by "new toy" I mean anything within three feet of the floor that we'd rather she not play with).

Speaking of scooting . . . that will not be her preferred method of mayhem for long. Just a few minutes ago, Hannah took 6 steps toward me, holding a fascinating Supercuts coupon that she had found. Her previous record was 3. She tends to walk (stagger is more accurate) more when she's holding something, probably because it's harder to crawl with something in your hand.

We took out our glass shower doors and put up a shower curtain to make it easier to bathe Hannah in the tub. The shower curtain drew her in like a magnet, then the toilet paper dispenser beckoned. If I hadn't been following her around, I'm sure we would have found a pile of two-ply on the floor with a baby in the middle. I seem to recall that Carla did exactly that when she was in the larval stages.

I've considered packing away the coffee table and just installing a little jungle gym in the living room for Hannah. We can't actually put anything other than toys on or under the coffee table, and it is only used these days as a fort, handrail, or drum anyway.

Hannoween!

2008-10-13T23:22:00.005-05:00

We hardly noticed Halloween last year, because it fell three days after we brought Hannah home from the hospital on oxygen, heart and lung monitors, five medications, and two breathing treatments. We were a little preoccupied, to say the least. Hannah had a Halloween hat and binkie, but both too big for her (they fit perfectly now).

This year, we're a little more relaxed. I've even had time to carve a pumpkin.

Since someone always asks "How'd you do that?" (usually while thinking " . . . and why would you do that?"), here's the general approach:

First, I convert a photo of the subject into a black-and-white, high-contrast image using a photo editing program, then reduce it down to just 3 or 4 shades of gray. For amateurs like me, you have three shades to work with; bright where you cut all the way through, medium where you only scrape away the skin, and dark where you leave the skin intact.

Usually, I print this gray-shaded image, tack it on the pumpkin, and poke holes along the outlines so I can see where to cut after I remove the paper (same way Michelangelo transferred his fresco outlines to the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, I kid you not). This year I went all space-age and projected the image onto the pumpkin with my Texas Instruments DLP digital projector (a charming intersection of the low-tech organic artsy world, and the high-tech geeky electronics world) and traced the outlines with a sharpie marker.

From there, it's just a matter of carving all the way through for the bright spots, scraping the skin for the gray spots, and leaving the dark spots alone. All while trying to keep Hannah from eating the pumpkin, which she immediately identified as a potential food source and proceeded to gnaw upon. You can see some of my past pumpkin carvings, and other Halloween shenanigans by clicking here.

Speaking of Hannah and food, I put together this seasonal video clip, which Carla and my mother will hate but that Aunt Cat will love. Click here for a movie preview you probably won't see anywhere else.

For a few cuter videos, in case that one left you spooked, click here, here, and here.

We went into Louisiana last weekend for a visit, and so Hannah could get a little attention for a change. In case you thought I was the only weirdo in the Minor family, it was my sister Rena, not me, who noticed the adhesive properties of Hannah's rice puffs (see below). I hope for her sake that Hannah doesn't turn out to be the vengeful type.

In other news, our friend Carter is doing amazingly well after a bad spell back in ICU. He's now out of ICU and in a regular room, laughing and smiling and getting ready to get out of the hospital, hopefully for good this time. You can check out Carter's blog to get all the latest news and pics, but I couldn't resist stealing this picture and posting it here:

Carter

These Booties Are Made For Walkin'

2008-09-26T23:14:00.006-05:00

Holy moly, time flies! I just noticed it's been over two weeks since I updated. A year ago today Hannah weighed just under four pounds and still wore an oxygen mask and a feeding tube. We are incredibly fortunate to be beyond all that, but we have friends whose children aren't out of the woods yet. I sometimes can't bring myself to post the mundane details of Hannah's development while worrying about Carter and Avery. Both have been through some scary moments the past few weeks, but seem to be headed back in the right direction. If you have a few moments to visit their websites and offer their parents some encouragement in their guestbooks, please do.

Hannah's not walking yet, but we've caught her standing a couple of times, balancing on her feet without holding onto anything. And she loves her new push toy, which she'd stagger behind for hours if given the chance. The problem is that she doesn't know how to turn it around or avoid obstacles, so if we're not there to do that for her, she'll just bash it into the wall, then sit down and cry cause it doesn't work anymore. For a video of that, and some other random Hannah moments, click here.

We decided that, instead of having to turn the Hannahmobile around every 10 seconds, we'd take her outside and let her play in the street. It's actually a cul-de-sac (snooty-talk for "circle"), so she wasn't dodging cars. She just got to push the toy for 50 feet or so before having to turn around. She thought it was great fun, and didn't even notice that she skinned her knee and wore holes through her fancy socks (sorry, Nancy!). We'll put pants and shoes on her next time. For video of that escapade, click here.

And, since the theme of this post seems to be video clips, here's one of Hannah laughing herself silly in the swing.

Not much else is going on. We're starting Hannah on table foods now; pretty much anything we eat that can be mushed up for a novice chewer with only eight teeth, is fair game. She gets whole milk morning and night, and formula mid-day just to make sure she's getting all the vitamins and stuff. She likes an appetizer of Cheerios, and apple juice from a sippy cup, while the chefs prepare her main course and decant her beverage. By "likes", I mean that if we don't provide something for her to eat the moment she's placed in the high chair, she bangs on the tray and whimpers. She doesn't know much at this age, but she seems to know that the high chair is made for eating, and that if she's in it and there's no food in sight, it's broken and must be reported to the management immediately.

Getting Into Trouble

2008-09-09T22:16:00.003-05:00

Our lives are now structured around keeping Hannah occupied. She tries every door, pulls up on everything taller than she is, and is no longer fooled by the decoy remote control. She knows that the OTHER one must be the one to have, since it's the one Mommy and Daddy keep hiding from her. And within seconds of finding it, she knows exactly which buttons to press to get the TV, cable box, and tuner out of sync.

I was sitting at the computer a few days ago and turned to see Hannah smiling up at me, proudly holding a paring knife in her tiny little fist. Not sure where she found it, but it initiated another round of baby-proofing.

One of her favorite tricks now is to crawl into the study and close the door, then cry because she can't see us anymore. And of course, she sits right against the other side of the door, so we can't open it from the outside without pushing her with the door, which makes her cry louder. So I'll probably tape something to the door frame so it can't be closed by our little floor froggie.

We went to a restaurant with Carla's parents and Cat and Jon a couple weeks ago, and somehow forgot to bring a bottle for Hannah. And that was just as well, it turned out, because Hannah had a great time sipping milk from a straw used as an eyedropper, and we all had just as much fun watching her, with her mouth open like a baby bird, waiting for the next worm.

Hannah usually hates to go to sleep, because she thinks she's going to miss something fascinating or exciting, but she almost always falls asleep within 60 seconds of coming into contact with the sleepy-time bunny (a gift from Aunt Rosemary).

Hannah likes being read to, and it's one of the few things that can make her sit still for more than a couple minutes. She studies the pictures, and flips the pages back and forth as if making sure that the pictures are still there. Sometimes, though, she has to try eating the book. Just in case it got tastier since the last time she tried.

We had a visit from the Conlys a couple weekends ago. Our goal is to raise Hannah to be as sweet and charming as the Conly kids. That's Savannah, Kendall, Troy and Duncan flanking Hannah above. Kellye was behind a camera for the shot above, but you can see more of the whole crew at their website . . . just click here.

Hannah had gravity training just after the picture above was taken . . . fell right out of the chair and commenced one of those huge cries that are preceded by a long I'm-so-shocked-I-forgot-how-to-start-crying pauses. And then she was fine a few seconds later.

The chair above, by the way, is one that Carla used when she was a toddler. Her parents brought it over the last time they were here.

We drove into Bossier last weekend to see Uncle Gabe and cousin Alexander, who were in town from Utah for a visit. Rena had found a bunch of beanie babies for Hannah, and for some reason Hannah thought she needed to bite each one of them on the nose, one after the other. I suppose it was because my Mom was offering them to her the way we have been offering the biscuits and other finger foods she has started to eat.

Hannah's birthday twin Carter has been out of the hospital 18 days, but was just re-admitted yesterday after having some breathing difficulties. This is pretty common in preemies on oxygen, and I'm sure he'll be back on track in a day or two. Check out the latest pictures on his blog and leave a note in his guestbook if you get a chance.

Not Quite Starving for Attention

2008-08-26T23:55:00.004-05:00

Playing with a washrag

Carla's parents drove in this weekend and my mom stowed away in their back seat. Add Cat and Jon to the mix, and you get a couple days where Hannah's feet rarely touched the floor. It's obvious that Hannah thrives on all the attention and interaction, and she always seems happier and more grown up in the days after we have visitors. Of course, it could just be that they leave behind piles of new toys, books, and clothes.

Looking out the window

Snoozing in Grandma's arms

Leaning out the window to make sure that's not a pot plant Mom and Dad are growing in the back yard.

At the park

We took Hannah down to the park for a stroll tonight. She watched the ducks and bikes and joggers, and examined the wooden bench and concrete. I stopped short of letting her crawl around, because everything she finds on the ground goes into her mouth, and, as I mentioned, there were ducks about.

The sunflower hat above was handmade by Grandma Hall. My fault that it's turned up Gilligan-style in the photo. It looks better turned down, but I just have to be able to see those eyes all the time.

For another video clip (5MB) of Hannah, this time giggling, click here.

Big Day for Carter!

2008-08-21T22:20:00.004-05:00

Many of you have been following the story of Hannah's birthday twin, Carter. Born on the same day over a year ago, they both wound up in the same NICU. Carter developed an intestinal problem, which led to liver problems, which caused the family to relocate to Boston for treatment, and eventually Carter underwent an emergency transplantation of most of his digestive system back in May. He's been in the hospital for most of his life, the past few months recovering from the transplant.

Carter

Well, if things went as planned today, Carter and his amazing parents left the hospital and moved into an apartment in Boston, where they will adjust to life outside the hospital and prepare for the journey back to Texas. To say we've been looking forward to this day would be a vast understatement. Our next goal is for Carter to get back home to Texas and get settled in enough to have visitors. One little girl visitor, in particular. Can't wait for them to meet.

Hannah's been inventing little games for herself lately. One dinnertime game involves biting the spoon after each mouthful and not letting go. Click here to see some video (8MB) of that game.

Another favorite game is Hide-From-Daddy, which you can witness by clicking here. I edited out me saying "Peekaboo!" and "I see you!" every time she rounds the corner, because it was really loud, since I was holding the camera . . . but mostly because I sound like a complete moron whenever I talk to Hannah. She must think I'm impaired in some way, and is just entertaining me to be charitable.

Dad

2008-08-14T22:04:00.006-05:00

A year ago yesterday, my father passed away, after years of declining health. He never got to meet Hannah . . . he was in a hospital in Wisconsin when she was born, trying to recover from the surgery that we hoped would give him back some mobility. He never did get back on his feet, and was gone a month later. I'm thankful that he lived long enough to hear that Hannah would survive, but regret almost every day that he's not around to see what a wonderful little girl she's become.

I have a slideshow running on the living room PC that has become an obsession for Hannah. It shows pictures of family, friends, vacations, pets and other animals, lots of pictures of Hannah, and of course pictures of Dad. She'll watch it for minutes at a time, squealing when she sees pictures of herself, her mom, or her favorite toys. When she bumps the mouse or keyboard and the screensaver disappears, she'll fuss and whine until the pictures come back. She'll eventually associate the faces in those photos with the faces that she sees when we visit or have visitors. And I look forward to the day she notices that one of those faces is one she's never seen in person, and I can start telling her all about Grandpa Minor: his garden, his fondness for dogs and children, and his heart so big that, even while he lay fading away, he worried most about his new granddaughter and her brother, struggling for a foothold on life a thousand miles away.

My cousin Greg sent us a photo today of Dad's grave up in Iron River. It was a small gesture, but one that was hugely comforting at this sad anniversary. The stones behind Dad's are those of my Uncle Jack (Dad's brother and Greg's father) and Aunt Judy, and my Dad's parents.

On a brighter note . . . I caught Hannah kissing the baby in the mirror the other day. Can't say I blame her; that baby in the mirror is awfully cute. Probably tastes a bit like Windex, though.

Toe-Biting Roomba

2008-08-10T12:56:00.002-05:00

I was sitting at the computer the other day, minding my own business, when Hannah wandered up and bit my toe. That's the extent of our excitement these days, just the typical problems of keeping a newly mobile infant out of trouble. She's not happy unless she's pulling herself up to peek out a window, or over a chair or end table.

Anything on the floor is a baby magnet, and we've learned that if she's crawling around with one hand in a fist, it means she's found a scrap of paper or bug. As long as we pry those things out of her little hands often enough, she pretty much keeps the floors clean.

I've also started putting random baby-safe objects, like cups, rolls of tape, empty soda boxes, on the floor for her to find and play with, to keep her from exploring more dangerous options like outlets, computer wires, and cabinets. I sometimes feel like a fighter pilot, ejecting chaff and flares to distract the BB-391 missile on my tail.

Aunt Cat and Uncle Jon found an appropriate onesie for Hannah at the outlet mall the other day:

We filled up the wading pool and inflatable crab last week to let Hannah splash around a bit outside. She was also fascinated by the weeds growing up between the bricks in the patio, and she learned what a garden hose tastes like.

Be sure to check out Carter, Ashley, and Avery's blogs for updates on Hannah's friends.

I just noticed, when poking around in the subscriber's list, that several of you (most of my immediate family) who I thought were getting automatic email updates when the blog was updated, were actually not. I've reset those addresses so you'll get these updates by email from now on. Anyone else who is reading this on the web and would prefer to get an email anytime there is a new post (so you don't have to keep checking for updates), just click here and send a blank email to subscribe. It's safe and easy to cancel if you need to.

Just Another Baby

2008-07-25T15:40:00.003-05:00

When Hannah came home nine months ago after three months in the hospital, she was on 7 medications: five that we drew up with syringes and measured into her bottles and two that she inhaled through a nebulizer. And then of course there was the oxygen cannula taped to her face for the first three months. These were all prescribed when she weighed six pounds, so as she grew to her current weight of 18 pounds, those doses were all effectively reduced to a third of their original strength, measured by body weight. For the past few months, we've been down to the last two medicines, both treatments for gastric reflux, common in preemies whose digestive systems had to start work before they were fully formed. Three weeks ago, we stopped the Reglan, which speeds us the contractions in the digestive system (peristalsis) slightly, so the stomach contents dump into the intestines faster, reducing the likelihood that they will back up into the esophagus and cause reflux. The normal approach is to stop the meds and wait a couple weeks to see if it had any negative effect. For example, the first few times we stopped the Reglan, Hannah seemed to spit up a bit more, so we resumed the dose.

This last time we stopped the Reglan, she seemed just fine. So, last Tuesday, we stopped the last of her medicines, Prevacid. Prevacid is a proton pump inhibitor, which, although it sounds like something Han Solo would ask Chewie to patch into the hyperdrive, is actually just a medicine that decreases stomach acid so that if "spit happens", it is less irritating to the walls of the esophagus (by slowing down the cell membranes that pump protons in the stomach lining to increase acidity, hence the name).

Anyway, Hannah has gone several days now without the Prevacid, and seems just fine without it. This is a milestone, because the Prevacid was the last bit of baggage from the NICU that served as a reminder that she was born three and a half months early. Now that it's gone, she is officially "Just Another Baby", no different really than one born full term.

Except of course that we appreciate her so much more, knowing how much she has overcome and how lucky we were to take her home with no long-term disadvantages.

Here's a video I put together for the grandparents, of just another unmedicated baby, smiling and laughing.

Steven

2008-07-23T21:12:00.007-05:00

We visited Steven yesterday. It was blazing hot when we got there in the late afternoon, but some clouds drifted over as we left the car, providing us with shade and a cool breeze while we sat with Hannah and her brother. Hannah is not normally one to sit still, but she sat quietly and took in the rustling trees and thick green grass, while she waited for us.

The most painful thing about visiting Steven is the long row of other tiny graves in that section of the park, some with only one date on the marker, and some with dates a year apart. Those are the ones that make me treasure Hannah the most, and ache for the parents that had to part with their children after getting to know them for a year. Steven, barely a week old, had not yet opened his eyes or made a sound when he was taken from us. But even so, his passing was unbearable.

Cat and Jon, knowing we needed a distraction from this unhappiest of anniversaries, invited us over for pizza and a movie last night, so we went straight there from the park. There aren't many things I enjoy more than sharing Hannah with others and watching her interact with them, so that was a good way to end the day on a high note.

-----------------------------------

In other news . . . Sidney and Sandia just got back from out of town and gave us a CD of photos they took at the birthday party. It was hard to pick out just a few to post here, but here they are:

Water, Water, Everywhere

2008-07-21T22:23:00.003-05:00

Hannah got her first trip to the pool this week, courtesy of Aunt Cat (above) and Uncle Jon, and I think it's safe to say she's not afraid of water. She had a great time splashing and kicking, and was even more amused when she noticed that Daddy forgot to take his cell phone out of his pocket before wading in (I needed an excuse to upgrade anyway).

On average, she'll have to settle for baths in the kitchen sink, but she seems to like that OK, too. We'll have to figure out a way to keep her away from the faucet handle, though, because she thinks it's a shiny new toy.

Not sure what this was about. Maybe she was taking a whiff of the burgers Jon was grilling.

I've learned that if I just take random pictures of Hannah, she cycles through about a hundred expressions every minute.

--------------------

Some sad news . . . Mom and Rena's dalmatian Ginger passed away last Thursday, of old age. I happened to catch a picture of Hannah and Ginger a few days before. Ginger was an exceptional dog and lived a good life. We'll miss her a lot.

Here's a photo from early 2005, of Dad, Pluff, and Ginger. I have to assume there was a happy reunion last week.

Hannah's First Birthday

2008-07-16T22:12:00.004-05:00

This time last year, I had no idea what the future held. I was the unprepared father of a 1.5 lb daughter and a tiny son less than half her size. Carla was still sedated, and I had to repeat the news to her several times that first day, because the drugs kept erasing it from her mind each time she slipped back under. Usually quick with answers or a Google search, I kept the statistics to myself this time. Preemies this small, if they survived, rarely escaped the hospital without at least one lifelong disability.

The next few weeks are just a disjointed slideshow to me now, a montage of different hospital rooms and preparations for months of uncertainty, which was all the doctors would commit to. The joy of parenthood was replaced with a weird mix of cautious congratulations and unspoken condolences. I have a vivid memory of mowing the yard a few days later while Carla's parents stayed with her at the hospital. I realized that no matter what happened, the yard would still have to be mowed each week, whether we had two disabled children to care for, or one, or none. Life would go on, but the prospect seemed unbearable. I suddenly saw the world through the eyes of parents whose children died in Iraq, or natural disasters, or childhood diseases. I worried not only about losing Hannah and Steven, but also of losing Carla's beautiful smile to the lifetime of despair that seemed just around the corner.

At one point, the doctors said that Steven was actually doing a bit better than Hannah, but they didn't know how they would feed him if he survived long enough to use up his internal stores. They simply didn't have tubes small enough to fit in his veins. Hannah had a lung leak and her heart had not finished preparing itself for life outside the womb. Where a few weeks before I was obsessing over the tiny fluctuations in Carla's thyroid function that might erode away the children's future IQ scores, I now decided that I only cared that the children be safe and happy, whatever disadvantages life dealt them. I knew these children would be lucky just to survive.

A year later, as you faithful readers well know, we have only one child. But oh, what a child she is. Perfect in every way, including the tiny scars from heart surgery, lung repair, intravenous feed lines, and scores of IVs in hands, feet, and scalp. She somehow dodged all the bullets of prematurity and is now smiling and busy exploring the world, oblivious to the turmoil that surrounded her birth.

I have always respected the sciences and the wonder of life itself, and owe a lifetime of gratitude to the medical professionals who kept Hannah safe and knew just what to do, to allow her tiny body to adapt outside the womb. But I now have equal respect also for the powers of prayer and love, and the people who brought them to bear on our behalf. I may not know how it works, but I see the results every time Hannah smiles and laughs at me from across the room.

As healthy and happy as Hannah is, I never forget how lucky we are. We know several families whose babies are still struggling with health issues, and even though I'm sure they will pull through and overcome the obstacles, it doesn't seem fair that such good people and their innocent ones have to deal with such stress. Please say a prayer or spare a thought for all the parents who, at this moment, are wondering if tomorrow will be a good day or one full of challenges.

There is another anniversary coming up next Tuesday that will be very hard on us, and I don't really know how we'll handle it. I suspect, though, that we'll get a lot of help in the form of innocent impish grins and big gummy smiles, and all will be right with the world.

---------------------

We went home to Shreveport/Bossier last weekend, and celebrated Hannah's birthday with many of the people that have been on Team Hannah from day one. They we came back to Plano and did the same with the local chapter of the team. There is no better feeling than being surrounded by good friends and close family, unless it's being able to introduce your child to those people, knowing that each of them is an instant friend and ally if she ever needs more than we can provide.

Hannah has been receiving gifts all year, and of course some of you couldn't resist giving even more on the occasion of her birthday. But I think her best birthday gifts were being able to play on the floor with NICU-mate Ashley, and the continuing progress of her birthday twin Carter, who celebrated his birthday in Boston, where he is recovering well from a multi-visceral transplant. Next year, all three will be on the floor together.

That's Hannah on the left and Ashley on the right. I thought Hannah's eyes were stunning until I saw Ashley's.

Hannah was baptized last weekend at Noel United Methodist in Shreveport, our church-away-from-home where Carla grew up. We're trying not to take it as a bad omen that the sermon that day was about the "Mark of the Beast", and that we sang hymns 666 and 333. Pure coincidence, I'm sure. :-) Actually, if you knew Pastor Dave, you'd know it was a lighthearted jab at all the apocalyptic silliness. One actual coincidence, though, is that Dave lived two doors down from me when I was growing up in Bossier. Small world.

The Wonder Year

2008-07-08T20:59:00.004-05:00

July 15th will be Hannah's first birthday. It certainly doesn't seem like a year has gone by, but that's probably because half of it was a blur. We're having a couple of informal get-togethers Saturday the 12th from 1pm-4pm at Karl's mom's house in Bossier, and Tuesday the 15th from 6pm-9pm at our house in Plano, to let Hannah meet more of the folks that helped us through the past year. If you're going to be in the area, we'd love for you to stop by. Email us if you need directions or more information.

These won't be parties, and we have nothing planned, so you can stop by for five minutes or three hours, late or early, whatever fits your schedule. And please don't bring gifts, because you've all been too generous already. Just be prepared to let Hannah grab your glasses off your face, pull your hair, and untie your shoes.

Here's a picture of Hannah's tiny kimono that Kenji and Yukiko brought from Japan a few weeks ago. It ties in front and on the sides just like a real one, but still has snaps at the bottom for quick diaper changes. Very cool.

She's still trying to find a way into the coffee table. She still checks the knobs occasionally, but has moved on to plan B, which is apparently to chew her way in.

Realizing that chewing through might take a while, and having noticed that most of her toys can be toppled over pretty easily, she tried that with the coffee table, too.

The sunbeam through the skylight is always fascinating, and provides some interesting photo ops.

Her Easter Bunny from Aunt Rosemary seems to be infested with sleepybugs, because it sees a lot of use as an impromptu floor pillow.

Carla's parents were here for a couple days on their way back from Alaska. Hannah was starving for attention the whole time they were here, of course.

She knows enough to pick up her pacifier and put it in her mouth, but the details of exactly which part goes where are still a bit unclear, apparently.

These may only be of interest to grandparents, aunts, and uncles, but you can click these links to see some videos of Hannah laughing and crawling.

I've added a couple links to the "Friends" section to the right: another of Hannah's NICU-mates (Ashley) and our friends the Conlys, from whom Hannah inherited a bunch of toys, clothes, and equipment. Check them out for an extra dose of cuteness. If you have a blog for your kiddos, please send me the address so I can include it here.

Carter is having some problems with his kidneys that are delaying his release from the hospital, but it's something that will heal completely, given time. He just needs a bit more time to recover than we were hoping for. Please keep him and Avery in your prayers, as they heal.

NICU Reunion

2008-06-29T20:50:00.004-05:00

Every year, Medical Center of Plano holds a reunion for all the children that graduated from their NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). When your child is in the hospital for many weeks or months, you meet and bond with a lot of other parents and the nurses and doctors that are there every day saving your child's life. Then you leave (hopefully with a healthy baby) unlikely to to see most of those people again. The reunion gives us a chance to check back in with the other parents, and see their children free of the veil of tubes, wires, and worry that they wore in the NICU. And we get to see and thank again the doctors and nurses who worked so hard to bring our lives back in balance. I know they enjoy seeing their former patients happy and growing, and I envy them the ultimate sense of job satisfaction that these reunions must bring.

We met with our friends from the NICU, held each other's babies, and spoke of the families, doctors, and nurses that weren't able to attend. We have looked forward to this day for almost a year; every time we passed the poster in the NICU waiting room that had photos of previous year's graduates. Being able to attend the reunion was a goal that we sometimes, in the darkest days, dared not pin our hopes on. But all those smiling children gave us hope that we'd make it through the NICU experience as well.

We had our photo taken at the reunion, so now perhaps our faces will give a little hope to parents that find themselves walking past that poster every day for weeks that seem like months. Carla and I have both taken better portraits, but it's not about us, is it? It's about that beautiful little miracle sitting on my lap, oblivious for now of just how special she is. And it's about the tiny angel on the empty lap next to her, who gave his twin sister a bit of his strength their last few days in the womb, so she'd have the boost she needed to make it to this day.

We had hoped that Carter would make it to the reunion, but he's still recovering up in Boston. He's had a few scary days lately, but unfortunately, that's fairly typical for the ICU. Last I heard, he's doing well and we're just waiting for a bit more stability before he can head home.

Hannah's quite mobile these days, traveling on vinyl and carpet with equal ease. She likes the sounds her hands make when she's crawling on the kitchen floor, so sometimes she exaggerates it a bit, slapping the floor extra hard with each step. Making motorboat noises (with her mouth) also seems to add to the experience for her.

She's still trying to break into the coffee table (see below), ever since the one time the rubberband around the handles broke and she was able to start pulling out the treasure of incense, candles, and holiday gift tags. It's secured with a zip-tie now that she is unlikely to defeat until she masters her opposable thumbs and gets hold of some cutting tools. But that doesn't deter her, because she knows exactly what wonders lie behind those doors. I suggested to Carla that for Hannah's birthday present (July 15th) we should let her find those doors unlocked, with some new toys and maybe some yummy Cheerios behind them.

She's still working on pulling herself up on the hearth, chairs, or coffee table. I think she knows that the remote control we gave her to play with is just a decoy, and that the one up on the coffee table is the one to have. "Must . . . reach . . . remote!"

A World to Explore

2008-06-21T22:58:00.005-05:00

I mentioned in the previous blog entry that Hannah was just starting to crawl, but didn't appear to be going anywhere deliberately. Well, that seems so long ago, now. The day after I posted that entry, she learned that she could get to point B from point A by coordinating those leg things with those arm things in a particular sequence (click here for a video of those first crawls). She now has red marks on her knees from scooting around all day. We've had to start using the dog gates to keep her from wandering too far, and can't look away for more than a few seconds if she's on the floor. I suppose it's fitting that Hannah figured out her transmission the day we got the Odyssey back with its new $4000 transmission (so much for Honda reliability).

We've had to put rubber bands around the coffee table doorknobs, because she learned that they open and there's a lot of stuff to taste in there. Now she just pulls the knobs and lets the rubber band slam it back, delighted with the cool wooden bass drum we inadvertently created for her.

Now that she's getting around in two dimensions, she's starting to notice that there are things going on above floor level that she might need to get involved in. So she's trying to climb legs and pillows and anything else low enough to provide a boost up off the floor into that third dimension (click here for a video).

Hannah had several visitors this weekend. My friend Don and his wife Kelly and son Danny stopped by. Don and I started at Texas Instruments at the same time in 1989 and have more or less worked together ever since. They brought Hannah some very cool toys (lots of buttons, levers, knobs, lights, and sounds) but somehow managed to sneak off before we got a picture of them for the blog.

Kenji and Yukiko traveled all the way from Japan to visit Hannah (OK, maybe Kenji is here on business, but Hannah doesn't need to know that). I met Kenji and Yukiko about 8 years ago when they showed me all around Japan while I was there on business. They brought Hannah a tiny Kimono that I'm sure you'll see here on the blog as soon as she grows into it.

Please don't get the impression that you have to bring gifts to visit Hannah. I now know how fun it can be to shop for toys and baby clothes, but I assure you we don't expect anything, and neither does Hannah. We love having visitors because we enjoy your company, and we're stuck at home these days anyway. :-) And Hannah appreciates anyone that will make faces at her and make her stuffed animals dance around. We don't need much advance notice if you're in the area and would like to drop by, as long as you don't care if the house is clean. Just call or email to make sure we're at home and decent. We're introverts, but Hannah needs to be socialized, so we're more than happy to emerge from our shells for her benefit.

Next weekend is the NICU reunion at Medical Center of Plano, when all the past graduates of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit are invited to meet at the hospital and catch up with all the doctors, nurses, and fellow patients and parents. While we were still at the hospital, this reunion was one of the goals we hardly dared hope for. Back then, just being able to bring Hannah back to the reunion at all was not a sure thing, and we didn't know what disabilities would be uncovered by all the testing yet to come. July 15th will be Hannah's first birthday, and the fact that we no longer even think of her as preemie is a remarkable and miraculous thing. She started life at 1.5 pounds, with lungs and digestive system that couldn't function without help from doctors and machines. She's now a 17-pound perfectly beautiful little girl, crawling and babbling and demanding to explore her new world, and I look forward to thanking the doctors and nurses that made that possible.

Babbling and Scooting

2008-06-13T21:44:00.005-05:00

I wouldn't quite call it crawling yet, but Hannah has learned to scoot sideways and occasionally forward, so her world has just gotten a lot wider and more interesting. She can now roll over from back to tummy and vice versa, and can get herself into a sitting position. None of these seem particularly deliberate at this point, but she's got all the time in the world, and nothing better to do with it, so she looks quite proud when she finds that she has changed her position and view of the world all by herself. Just smiles up at me as if to say "Look what I did!"

And she's starting to tell us all about it. Started babbling up a storm a couple nights ago, out of the blue. The night before, I had suggested to her that vowels alone were getting old and that a few consonants and syllables would spice up our conversations. I guess she was just waiting for me to give her the go-ahead. You can see a short video (5MB) of Hannah babbling by clicking here.

I was trying to get a picture of Hannah's profile while she was staring up at one of her favorite toys (the ceiling fan), but every time she heard the whir of the camera auto-focusing, she'd look over at me with a "OK, take the picture already!" look. After about 10 shots identical to the one above, I gave up. I'll try focusing manually next time . . . no distracting whir. Nothing wrong with that girl's hearing.

She spends most of her time sitting or scooting on the floor now, no longer content to sit in the bouncy chair with its limited entertainment options. She likes the high chair now (used to hate it) because she can sit up straight by herself and we can lay out a bunch of toys on the tray. But the floor is still the fascinating frontier, so I had to stop by Lowes tonight for my first batch of baby-proofing supplies . . . foam bumpers for the hearth and coffee table corners.

I'm pretty sure children still survived childhood back before we had foam bumpers for every sharp corner in the house. But I don't want to be the first parent to go to jail for letting my kid split her head on the coffee table corner. I know there's a lawyer somewhere out there already working on the case file, just in case, ready to fill in the blanks and rocket to stardom on CNN.

Here's a picture with Aunt Rena, when she and Rosemary drove in to pick up Mom after I got back from East Asia. We all had a great time, and were sorry to see them drive off.

Hannah's playpen is near a window, and I noticed her pulling herself up to peek over the edge to see out into the back yard. So I helped her stand up (she can't pull herself to standing quite yet) and she hung on the the side and stared out the window for a while.

Here's a frog chair and crab footstool that Uncle Bruce (my older brother) made for Hannah. He's a data center manager by day and freelance carpenter/handyman on nights/weekends. And then, in his spare time, he builds stuff like this. And yes, this is the kind of overachievement I had to live up to while growing up.

Hannah's quick with a smile or laugh these days. But she gets real serious whenever she encounters something new, and you can almost see her little brain trying to wrap itself around stuff.

Here, she noticed the trees for the first time while we were outside taking pictures. Big green things moving around like Daddy does when he's trying to get Hannah to smile. Must be great to have so many new sights, sounds, and experiences every day. Makes me want to clobber myself over the head with a brick to cause amnesia, so I can experience everything anew, too. I can almost hear the line forming, of people wanting to help me with that.

In other news, Carter is recovering well after his multi-organ transplant. He's moving off IV feeds and on to formula, and is off the ventilator and onto a nasal cannula (like Hannah had for the first three months home from the hospital). These are all very encouraging developments and we're looking forward to seeing him put the hospital environment behind him and come home to Texas. Check out his blog for more details and updates.

Home Sweet Hannah

2008-06-01T00:17:00.005-05:00

I'm back from overseas, and Hannah is a different girl than when I left her three weeks ago. She laughs and smiles more, is eating with gusto ("More squash, please!"), and sits upright by herself to play with her toys (although we usually leave the boppy around her, because when something gets her attention and she looks up quickly, she falls flat backwards and then looks up at us, asking "Why did you do that?"). She gained a pound while I was gone, up to over 17 pounds.

She's no longer content to lie on her back and play with dangling toys, and doesn't even like being confined to the bouncy. She prefers to sit up, so she can reach more toys. Last night, I put her to bed on her back and came back a few minutes later to find her rolled over, propped up on her arms, examining the layout and fabrics of the crib, with one foot sticking out through the slats.

She'll be crawling forward soon, though at the moment she still only has a reverse gear, and very little steering.

Carla's parents were here yesterday, stopping by on their way to Alaska for a month of one-week cruises, where Carla's dad lectures on the local culture and geography in return for free room and board (not too shabby a deal, on a cruise ship). So Jon and Cat took us all out for a birthday dinner at Brio's (my birthday was the 30th, Mom's was the 29th).

Hannah's NICU-mate Carter is recovering nicely from his multi-visceral transplant (stomach, intestines, spleen, pancreas, and liver). His parents will be walking next weekend in a benefit for other children needing transplants. If you'd like to donate, please check out the link at Carter's website.

I have so many great pictures of Hannah worth posting, it was hard to pick just a few. And Mom would kill me if I didn't include some that she took of me and Hannah. So look for a few more in the next few days, as well as a link to the rest of my travel photos.

Dispatch from Malaysia

2008-05-24T07:13:00.003-05:00

Been here in Malaysia a couple days. My friend Tay and his sons took me out for a marathon day of sight-seeing around Kuala Lumpur (Malay for "Lumpy Koala Bear" . . . not) today. Tomorrow we head out to the historic city of Melaka, where the western world first intruded upon Malaysia 500 years ago. I've posted some photos out on Webshots, if you're interested.

I hear Hannah is quite fond of squash (the vegetable, not the game) and has three teeth on their way out. And it sounds like she's getting pretty loud and rambunctious while I've been away, and thinks paper fans and shaken bottles are uproariously funny. Here are few pictures that Carla and Mom have taken and sent my way:

News Flash on Carter!

2008-05-20T16:49:00.003-05:00

I just learned that Carter has received his multivisceral transplant, and is doing well! Check out his web page for updates and details. This is great news, and hopefully the turning point toward a healthy future for Hannah's birthday twin. Carter was born the same day as Hannah and Steven and they were NICU-mates for 105 days. Please keep him and his parents, and the donor and family, in your prayers as they go through the long recovery process.

Greetings From Taiwan!

2008-05-20T08:07:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was our 18th wedding anniversary, and Carla celebrated with Hannah, Mom, Jon, and Cat while I hung out here at the Taipei Sheraton. It's a very nice hotel, but it doesn't have a Hannah, so I'd rather be home. That said, I really do enjoy travelling and visiting my overseas colleagues, so in the moments between missing Hannah and Carla, I'm having a good time. I could have done without the bones in my $27 pizza tonight, but when there are people starving around the world, I can't muster much indignation.

The Hannah deficit is made more bearable by the flow of snapshots from Mom and Carla . . . so many adorable photos of Hannah that I have a hard time deciding which ones to post. She's taken to sticking her bottom lip out a lot, which unfortunately reminds me of my old friend Neal when he's contemplating a challenging billiards shot. I think he drooled a little less, though.

On an unrelated note . . . in case you've ever wondered what you get when you pay $150 for a single load of laundry:

They actually packaged up all my shirts so I could sell them as new on the street corner if I wanted to, with little cardboard collars and cellophane wrappers. This was not an option, by the way; this was the cheapest laundry service they offer. I would guess the next level of service includes delivery of the finished garments to your room on mannequins.

One final note: today is my father's birthday. He would have been 80. We miss you, Dad.

Carrots!

2008-05-16T20:03:00.004-05:00

I'm here in Baguio, Philippines, wondering what the hell I was thinking when I agreed to 2 and 1/2 weeks away from Hannah. Every little girl I see is Hannah at some point in the future (though with slightly darker hair, on average) , and it's fun to look forward to.

It's a world of difference from the last time I was here, four years ago, right after we had noticed Carla's MMD symptoms but months before we got the diagnosis. My Googling of symptoms led me to believe that ALS was one of the likely causes, so I was a nervous wreck the whole time I was here.

I've been getting a steady stream of reports and photos from Carla and Mom, and it seems that Hannah is going to town on veggies and rice cereal, but is not too keen on fruits yet. And I talked to Hannah on the phone a couple times . . . thank goodness for the 9-cents-a-minute international calling card.

Hannah's also putting in a lot of the time at the office . . . her activity center equipped with a toy laptop from Uncle Neal.

Carla's parents sent the pictures above of the new memorial garden at their church (Noel United Methodist in Shreveport). Steven has a plaque there, and it looks like a beautiful place to keep his memory.

One more note . . . please pray for Hannah's NICU friend Carter. He's recently been placed on the liver transplant list. Hopefully, he'll bounce back enough to be taken off the list, but until then, it's the best route to bringing him back to health.

First Tooth!

2008-05-10T23:38:00.005-05:00

Well, I'm off to the far east tomorrow, and Hannah decided to mark the occasion by cutting her first tooth. I did a routine weekly tooth check, where I stick a finger in her mouth and she tries to bite it off, unaware that she isn't yet equipped with the dentrificial apparatus to do so, while I feel around for something other than gums. To my surprise, she's got a lower right tooth breaking through. Which explains why she's been chewing a lot on one of her activity center toys that's shaped like a cookie on a stick. So we gave her one of her chilled teething rings and she went to town on that for a while.

She's doing much better with tummy time these days, holding herself up and reaching for toys. She hasn't found her forward gears yet, though, and can only move slowly in reverse. Which frustrates her a bit, since it inevitably moves that toy she's wriggling for farther away.

Mom's here with Carla while I'm out of town, and from all indications, all three of them are going to have a blast. I've set up the camera and PC to make it easy for them to send me pictures of Hannah, because I'm already going through Hannah withdrawal, and I haven't even left yet. Assuming I have a few minutes free overseas, I'll update the blog remotely.

Uncle Butch came through last weekend and met Hannah. As we expected, she was fascinated by his beard. He left her a new favorite toy, Charlie the monkey, who I'll have to share video of when I get back.

I could go on, but I've been getting ready for departure all day and am too tired to think straight.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are eligible. The day certainly means a lot more to me this year than it ever has before, probably because the most important little person in my life at the moment could never have happened without my three perfect moms; I love you all and will never take you for granted.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Rena!

2008-05-03T07:34:00.003-05:00

"Where's the party?"

Up til now, Hannah has been treating feeding time (rice cereal) like a game. She'd take a spoonful of food in her mouth, smile big, and let most of it dribble out of her mouth. Great fun, but not particularly nourishing. We mixed the food a teaspoon at a time, because she lost interest in the game pretty quickly.

Last night, she suddenly realized that she could swallow, and that this stuff was actually food. We went through the first teaspoon and she yelled for more. I kept running back to the kitchen to mix more teaspoons, with her smiling and hollering for more, until I finally dumped some of the cereal into a bowl and mixed a bunch (it's cheap).

Unfortunately, she also learned to blow raspberries yesterday, and can't yet see any reason not to do some between and during spoonfuls of cereal. This makes for messy feeding times. Our counterweapon is to keep her smiling, since her raspberry spray pattern is somewhat less far-reaching when she's grinning.

Sleep Smiling

2008-04-27T22:20:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite parenthood moments these days is when I walk into Hannah's room while she's sleeping and catch her smiling with her eyes closed. It's one thing to see her laughing madly at a dancing teddy bear, or at my chimp-like antics, but to know that, even in her down time, with nothing but her nascent baby thoughts churning around in that tiny head, she's content and happy enough to smile for no apparent reason . . . that just makes my day. At those moments, the bond between me standing there and that drooling, sphincter-challenged midget in the crib, seems real enough to reach out and touch. Like a big yellow rubber band of sunshine joining us at the heart. And I have to resist the urge to pick her up, and instead tear myself away and let her sleep.

The last time I caught her smiling in her sleep with her hands behind her head, I grabbed the camera to take a picture. But she heard the camera turn on and opened her eyes just a bit before I took the picture.

In other news: Carla just finished her first Calligraphy commission since the twins arrived, and while it takes a little longer with a baby in the house, it went pretty smoothly. And, last night she did her first chorus performance since rejoining her singing group. TI is planning to send me overseas for a couple weeks in May (my mom plans to come hang out with Carla and Hannah while I'm gone). So things are getting back to normal, more or less.

Hannah had a three-month follow-up visit with the developmental pediatrician on Friday. These are standard for preemies, because they are at risk for a whole range of developmental challenges, and they prefer to spot and correct problems early. But so far, Hannah shows no lasting effects of her rough start in life, and is meeting all the milestones as expected. We got some pointers for getting her crawling and sitting on schedule (more time on the floor and less in the activity center and jumper).

I have a few more videos to share. It seems the previous links didn't work for everybody, so I'm including these as YouTube videos. If the links below don't work for you, and you're receiving these posts as emails, try clicking on the link to the actual blog (below), or go to http://karlminor.blogspot.com, and try the links within the blog's web page. Let me know if you have trouble with the videos, cause I'd like to find a solution that works well for everybody.

Laughing at the Bear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vylC0gJGbfE
Playing with the Laptop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-QF6OsDppo

Room to Grow

2008-04-21T23:29:00.003-05:00

What's this? Two posts in the same week?

Well, I wanted to point out that the video links in yesterday's entry were a bit messed up. If you saw bugs and demons crawling all over Hannah in the videos, you weren't hallucinating. That was the result of my poor video conversion skills. I have fixed the links (I hope) in yesterday's post so they should work now.

Hannah slept in her own room and the full-size crib last night for the first time. Compared to the bassinet, which she pretty much filled from head to toe, the crib is a queen sized bed. And the queen seems to like it just fine.

(In case you're wondering if we pushed her crib down a river to take that picture . . . it's just the Jungle mural on the wall of her room)

For those of you that have been keeping up with Hannah's birthday twin, Carter, be sure to check out his blog this week. He's up in Boston getting a revolutionary new treatment for infants with liver impairment. He's been getting most of his nutrition via a feeding tube, since he had to have some intestines removed shortly after birth. The downside of that is that the liver has a hard time handling the artificial nutrition (TPN) long-term, and these babies end up with high bilirubin levels (jaundice). This new treatment is a better form of feed (with fish oil!) that allows the liver to recover and handle the TPN better until his digestive system is more mature. Unfortunately, the treatment is experimental and only available in Boston. So Chelle and Carter are up there getting healthier. Sounds like he's had a great week so far, so we're pretty happy about that. There's a great picture of a smiling Carter here.

Chowing Down

2008-04-20T21:11:00.008-05:00

Hannah had her first "solid" food today, from a spoon. She knew just what to do with it and seemed to be saying "Well, it's about time!" It was just rice cereal, the consistency of thin paste, but that's what they recommend starting with. We got a few other more interesting fruit and vegetable mushes, but we're supposed to introduce new foods three days apart, so if there are any allergic reactions, there's time to spot them and know what caused them. To see the video, click here.

We're probably going to move Hannah to her own room tonight. She's been sleeping through the night for several months now, and she's pretty much outgrown the bassinet next to our bed. This will mostly be a tough transition for Carla and me; Hannah is usually out like a light the minute she hits the mattress and probably won't notice. It's as if she has a combination tilt and light sensor that detects a supine position with dimmed lights, and flips the "sleep" switch in her brain.

Hannah still has a very low threshold for comedy. Carla discovered the punchline to Hannah's favorite joke today . . . "Press the button!" We have no idea what the rest of the joke is, but apparently Hannah does, because she laughs at it every time. To see the video, click here.

You've probably seen previous photos of Hannah sleeping with her hands behind her head. Well, we usually put a dish towel over her chest for a few minutes after every meal, and tuck it under her arms so she can still move them around. This time, she fell asleep so fast I just draped it over her arms. I walked back by a few minutes later, and she had assumed the position, tucking the dishtowel around her face in the process.

Sorry the updates are so few and far between. I'm mostly caught up with chores and work, but I've recently been summoned to the far east on business for a whirlwind tour of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Taiwan, in May. Only about three days in each place, but it will mean two weeks away from Hannah. Ouch! My mom has volunteered to come hang out with Carla and Hannah while I'm gone. I'll have to make them promise to email photos daily. It's going to be rough going two weeks without this:

Welcome Back!

2008-04-11T22:49:00.022-05:00

Well, it's been a while since the last Hannah update, so we've got a lot of pictures piled up. My siblings converged on Bossier last weekend, from California, Georgia, and Texas, and Hannah got to meet a passel of aunts, uncles, and cousins for the first time.

Somehow, a couple of folks managed to avoid the camera, but here are the ones that were caught Hannah-handed.

Cousin Maddie

Cousins Kelly and Kaitlyn

Cousin Shelby

Uncle Bruce (Karl's brother, and father of the cousins above)

Thank goodness Hannah didn't inherit my curious lack of lips.

Cousin Maddie and Hannah's new socks from Aunt Nancy

Thank you, Thank you very much.

The new court jester with Aunt Rosemary

Aunt Melanie

Favorite new toy . . . the jumperoo.

Recovering from a wild time in the jumper

Ethan Powell, December 5th, 2006 - April 5th, 2008

2008-04-06T23:11:00.003-05:00

I'm very sad to report that Ethan Powell, fighting leukemia for 14 months, passed away yesterday at the age of 16 months. I knew Ethan's father Ben when he was a child, because Ben's parents (Ethan's grandparents) are good friends of my mom. Ben and Becky and their family need your prayers in the coming days.

Ethan himself is now doing fine, at peace, carried beyond this world on an enormous swell of love and faith. Which is no less than this brave little fighter deserved.

We love you, Ethan.

For more information, click here to visit Ethan's website.

The Lung Doctor

2008-03-29T22:27:00.009-05:00

Hannah saw the pulmonologist on Tuesday, and he saw her. She got a clean bill of health and we've gotten permission to wean her off two of her four remaining medicines (the diuretic to keep fluids out of the lungs, and the sodium chloride that replaces the salt she loses from the diuretic). She's gone to half doses of each, and if she's still doing fine two weeks later, we'll drop those two completely. The other two meds (Prevacid for reflux and Pulmacort for lung function) will probably be dropped within the next couple months as well.

Hannah's up to fifteen pounds today, 10 times her birth weight (by contrast, most children take 10 years to reach 10 times their birth weight). Looking at her today, it's hard to imagine that when she was born, she weighed about the same as the 20-ounce sodas we bought from the vending machine at the hospital, on our way in to visit her.

I don't go a single day without thinking about all the other children and their parents that are still spending their nights and days in hospitals. Having been there, my heart aches for them and I almost feel guilty for Hannah's miraculous progress. It bothers me that if Hannah had been born perfectly healthy, I probably would have taken it for granted and not realized what an absolute blessing a baby's carefree smile is. You just don't value things properly until they are almost taken away.

Please say a prayer or spare a thought for Ethan, Avery, and every other child still fighting for their health, and for all the parents and healthcare workers that silently shoulder the immense burden of caring for them.

What Does Eight Pounds Look Like?

2008-03-22T22:52:00.007-05:00

It's hard to notice the differences day by day, but occasionally I'll take a photo of Hannah that reminds me of one I took before, and I'll go back and compare the two. Below are side-by-side photos taken October 27th, the day Hannah came home weighing 6 lbs . . . and one taken yesterday at 14 lbs, 5 months later. I've scaled them both to be the same relative size (note the car seat buckles), so you can see the actual size difference.

I also managed to wrest Hannah's attention away from her newfound feet just long enough to snap a few pictures in her Easter finery. I had to hold down the hem of her dress with one hand and take the pictures with the other, because she seems to think that dresses are open at the bottom to make them easier to eat, and kept pulling up the hem and cramming it in her mouth.

Attack of the Killer Baby Bottles

2008-03-19T21:22:00.006-05:00

"Look, we're trying to have a conversation here. Do you mind?"

"Hey Baby . . . you hang out here often?"

The blue chair above is called a Bumbo Seat, and helps exercise the sit-up muscles and coordination until she's able to sit up on her own. More importantly, it give us another way to change her environment and orientation when she gets bored. Bouncer-playpen-playmat-activity center-couch-recliner-arms, lather, rinse, repeat. OK, so maybe "arms" is actually repeated between each of those entertainment stations. It's very hard not to pick her up when she smiles and flings out those pudgy little arms.

Hannah has outgrown the small bottles (5oz), so we had to venture out to Babies-R-Us to pick up new BPA-free nursers. Not bottles, mind you, but nursers. BPA, in case you missed the latest health scare, is an additive that has been in all plastic baby bottles for several decades, turning us all into drooling mutants shortly after birth. Unfortunately, since we all drank from the same types of bottles, we just look at each other and see fellow drooling mutants, and so didn't notice this alarming threat. Scientists have just recently discovered that mice, when fed a constant diet of shredded baby bottles containing BPA, stop running through the mazes and develop large disfiguring tumors in their stomachs.

To avoid further damage and ensure that our children can run mazes as well as they did back before plastic was invented, the scientists (who couldn't possibly be funded by bottle manufacturers, perish the thought) recommend that we all rush out and buy all new nursers that don't contain BPA. Once all the old bottles are safely entombed in the landfills about this time next year, a new batch of scientists will find that BPA, in moderation, actually stimulates healthy brain cell growth and that parents should buy new BPA-enriched bottles, just not feed the shredded bottles to our children.

Learning to Laugh

2008-03-15T22:47:00.008-05:00

Hannah still hasn't gotten the hang of laughing yet, but it's hilarious to hear her try. She sounds like a baby goat on a vibrating bed (don't ask how I would know).

We've switched from five bottles a day to four slightly larger feedings, after she started turning up her nose at the bottles when she'd eaten just three or four hours before. She seems to like the new schedule, where we give her time to get hungry before the next bottle.

Carla's crazy about a new outfit we tried on Hannah yesterday . . . it's a onesie (t-shirt that snaps at the crotch) with a skirt sewed on the outside. Looks like an ensemble, but easier to take off, put on, and keep in place. Also looks more girly than a typical unisex onesie.

Carla's parents will be in town tomorrow for Aunt Cat's birthday, so Hannah won't be starving for attention for a few days.

Toys!

2008-03-06T21:37:00.013-06:00

I see that it's been a week since the last blog update. Sorry about that.

Hannah is over 14 lbs now, and has learned how to use her hands to grab and hold toys. She has a couple of new favorite toys that our friends Raoon and Hooria (and family) brought over last weekend. And she likes to hug and paw at the various stuffed animals she's accumulated from her admirers.

We're having so much fun that the days just fly by, and it's hard to tear myself away to get things like blog updates done. But I know that some of you might abandon all reason and phone in an Amber alert if I make you go a full week without pictures, so here they are:

Sleeping Soundly

2008-02-28T22:38:00.002-06:00

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

2008-02-23T12:57:00.007-06:00

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

2008-02-20T22:23:00.011-06:00

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

2008-02-15T18:19:00.003-06:00

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

2008-02-10T23:31:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-06T23:01:00.000-06:00

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!

2008-02-02T23:30:00.000-06:00

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.

Breathing Free!

2008-01-30T22:08:00.000-06:00

Hannah's been off the oxygen for about a day and a half now. Last night was the first night that she kept herself above 92% (blood oxygen saturation) without the cannula, and that's the magic number that the respiratory therapist said we need to maintain. She stays above 94% during the day easily enough, often hitting 100%, but when she's in a deep sleep, her oxygenation tends to drop two or three points.

We still keep her connected to the oxygenation monitor at night, but during the day, we just do spot checks when she falls asleep. After a few nights of cannula-free sleep, we might be brave enough to go overnight without the monitor. That will be a challenge, because after three months, we've gotten used to the security of knowing that if Hannah stops breathing for any reason, however unlikely, the machine will tell us within a few seconds. As much as we curse the bleeping machine when it gives us a false alarm, we both wake up several times each night and glance over at the monitor, which tells us with a big yellow number that Hannah is doing fine. Without the monitor, we'll probably both be getting out of bed every few minutes to walk over and make sure she's still breathing and pink. But then, all new parents probably do that for a few days. We've just had a three month reprieve.

The developmental specialist that saw Hannah yesterday confirmed that she's doing great, on par with other infants of her adjusted age. This means that compared to full-term babies born around Hannah's original due date, she's right where she needs to be as far as behavior, weight, and size. She's technically six months old, but since she was born over three months early, she compares roughly to a three-month old. The only thing she really noted was that Hannah's head was flatter on the right side, so we need to encourage her to sleep with her head to the left.

Mmmm . . . Yummy Soap!

2008-01-27T21:46:00.000-06:00

I suppose that when every single meal is the same old thing, day after day, any new taste is welcome. For Hannah, that tasty diversion is bath soap. She seems to like licking suds off her hands.

Mom and Rena liked the picture below enough that I figured it should make it to the blog. As you might have guessed, I take a LOT of pictures of Hannah, and only a few make it to the blog. This one didn't make the original cut because I preferred the ones where she was smiling and her eyes were better lit.

We have an appointment with a developmental specialist Tuesday, who will assess how well Hannah is progressing as far as behavior, coordination, awareness, etc. From what I've read, she seems to be doing fine . . . but it would be better to hear that from someone more qualified than myself.

It occurred to me that this blog tends to focus on Hannah (duh), and you're mostly hearing about it from my perspective. You don't hear much about Carla. Well, Carla is doing just great, and seems to be happier than she's been in a long, long time. So am I, as you've probably noticed from reading the blog. And Carla is doing a phenomenal job with all the late night feedings and diaper changes, mixing and medicating formula, baths and breathing treatments. I help out on nights and weekends, and take the late night feedings when I don't have to work the next day. But Carla is handling the bulk of all this with grace and ease, falling into the motherhood role quite naturally.

Most importantly, Hannah is, as far as we can tell, content and happy. She smiles a lot, and it lights up corners of our home that we had never noticed were dark.

Bad Hair Day

2008-01-26T20:45:00.000-06:00

I should have known better than to store my Rogaine in a baby lotion bottle . . .

Mom knitted this hat out of furry yarn. If she calls my bluff and knits matching ones for Carla and me, we'll have a particularly unique family photo for next year's Christmas mailing.

Hannah's been off the oxygen all day today, playing a lot more freely and getting carried around the house a lot just because we can. She'll still be on the oxygen at night until she sats high enough without it, but she's now on the lowest setting the machine can deliver, 1/32nd of a liter per minute. That's only about six teaspoons of oxygen per minute, so it's surprising it makes much difference at all.

Checking In

2008-01-24T22:56:00.000-06:00

Not much new going on. Carla went back to a real chorus rehearsal for the first time tonight, so I got to babysit. We had an uneventful visit to the pulmonologist today, mainly to get Hannah's monthly synagis (RSV) vaccination. The nurse seemed pleased with Hannah's progress, and says we can leave her off the oxygen whenever she's satting above 91. That essentially means she'll only need it when sleeping or napping. I expect that in a couple weeks she won't even need it then.

I've been fairly busy at work the past couple weeks, with colleagues from Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Japan and Mexico in town for training and meetings. So I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Some friends sent a link to a cool jigsaw puzzle site. If you want to spend a few minutes putting together a puzzle of a never-before-published photo of Hannah, click here. To make your own puzzle, just find a suitable photo on your hard drive and visit http://www.jigidi.com.

Senorita Hannah's Untethered Adventure

2008-01-19T21:32:00.000-06:00

We went out to eat this evening at our favorite Indian restaurant. What makes it notable, though, is that this is the first time Hannah has taken a field trip with no tubes or wires. We had the oxygen and monitor in the car, just in case, but she'd been off the oxygen and satting (keeping her oxygen saturation up) high since around noon, so we just watched her color and she pretty much dozed contentedly throughout the meal. When we got home, she was still satting high, and ready for playtime on the mat. We keep her on the monitor to make sure she's doing OK, and we'll put her back on the oxygen before bed tonight. But it's beginning to look like she can do fine without it. We'll see what the pulmonologist thinks next Thursday.

I had to drive back to the restaurant to look for a missing bootie. We had put her booties on in the car seat and covered her with a blanket like we normally do, to protect her from the cold when moving to/from the car. The blanket stayed on the whole time, we just fold it down to uncover her face once we get inside. But when we got home and whisked away the blanket, one bootie was gone. And Hannah just looked at us as if to say "Ta daaa! Put the blanket back and I'll make the other one disappear!" These aren't just any old booties (they're shaped like little ducks and were a gift), so I went back to the restaurant and found the wayward footwear sitting next to the cash register. I'll duct-tape them on next time.

Hannah got to wear her first skirt today, part of an ensemble from her Tio (uncle) Gabe. Looks like she'll be able to grow into it for several months, probably as long as we can still fit the top over her ever-expanding head.

Six Months Old

2008-01-17T20:08:00.000-06:00

Hannah turned one half a few days ago, at least in actual age. Since her due date was supposed to be November 1st, she's only 2 and 1/2 months when compared to other babies. She got a glowing review at her six-month checkup.

Carla crashed as soon as I got home, so Hannah's hanging out here in the study with me, while mom catches up on some sleep.

We got an email from one of Hannah and Steven's NICU nurses the other day. It's gratifying to be able to share her progress with the folks that saved her life. If there are any other NICU nurses or doctors reading this, please drop us a line; we'd love to hear from you.

On an almost completely unrelated topic, my brother Bruce has invented and is selling a cool tooth fairy kit (click here to check it out). If your kids are still at the gullible age, this would be a great way to freak them out. For a couple bucks more, I'll throw in a customized note from the tooth fairy that says "I took the loose tooth this time Timmy, but next time, I'm bringing the pliers! Huahahahahaha!" OK, that was a Far Side joke . . . must credit the master where credit is due.

For another quick clip of a smile and a squeal from Hannah (4MB), click here.

Learning to Play

2008-01-14T21:39:00.000-06:00

Whenever I find myself thinking that Hannah is surely the cutest and smartest baby ever to grace the face of the planet, the objective Karl tells me that every parent thinks the exact same thing, and we're all absolutely correct. Carla and I were just a little bit late joining the least exclusive club every formed, and now that we're members, we feel a bit silly that we just didn't get what all the fuss was about. Now, I find myself wanting to ask perfect strangers, "Do you have kids? So do I! What do yours look like? Here's some pictures of mine! . . . No! Come back! That was just the first 100!"

Hannah spent about 4 hours off the oxygen entirely yesterday. I was changing out her nasal cannula and noticed that her pulse oximeter readings were just fine without it. So I set the oximeter on a tighter setting (so it would tell me sooner if she needed to get back on the cannula) and went about my chores while she played with her toy bar and for a while on her play mat. Four hours later, her oxygenation levels were still perfectly normal. I count her breathing rate occasionally, on and off the oxygen, to make sure she isn't just having to breath faster, since that burns up calories that otherwise would go toward growth.

Her readings only started to dip when she fell asleep, perhaps because she's not as consciously regulating her breathing. So we put the cannula back on, set at the lowest setting. We would probably leave the cannula off more often, but alternating between it off and on means that the tape has to be taken off and put back on, and we don't want to irritate her skin by constantly putting tape on it and pulling it off a few hours later.

Anyway . . . she has started to use her hands more when playing. She seems to have learned how to make the toy bar light up and play music by batting at the toys, and one of her other crib toys has some dangling rattles that she bats at more often that would seem statistically likely if it were random flailing.

She's pretty much sleeping through the night, except for when I tell anyone that she's sleeping through the night, after which she dances the ga-ga cha-cha until the wee hours, just to remind us who's boss. So, since my blog logs show that there are about 15 unique visitors each day, that means she'll keep us up late for the next two weeks. If you don't see an update for a while, you'll know why.

I don't really have any new photos, but here are a couple of videos. For a relatively small clip of Hannah Smiling (1.6MB), click here. For a longer video of Hannah jamming with a singing lion, checkout this clip on youtube.

Heads Up

2008-01-09T19:54:00.000-06:00

I think we've hit another milestone. Hannah's supposed to be able to hold her head up at 45-degree angle while lying on her tummy. This is a precursor to crawling and is one of the 3-month milestones that parents obsess about when they read too many books.

She's also learned a new trick: she'll sit in her bouncy seat and say "Ga!" until someone comes over to make faces at her and make her smile. I've tried this out at work and it works pretty well there, too. Except the faces I get are more looks of consternation and concern.

Tummy Time and a Slideshow

2008-01-06T23:16:00.000-06:00

Because preemies spend the last few months of their gestation outside the womb, their muscular development takes a somewhat different path than with full-term babies. Instead of floating free in a cushion of fluid for those last 14 weeks, Hannah was on her back or side in an incubator; the breathing tube prevented her from lying on her stomach. Because of this, the muscle tone of preemies is not as evenly distributed as in other babies . . . the muscles used when lying on their back are more developed that the rest, and preemies sometimes develop an aversion to lying on their tummies.

So we've been encouraged to place Hannah on her stomach for a few minutes every day, to give her a chance to develop the arm and neck strength needed to raise her head and eventually crawl (in essence, we've got her doing push-ups). This is always tricky with the nasal cannula in place, because her face is against the play mat, and the cannula pops out of her nose when she twists her head. But lately, she's been oxygenating well enough without the cannula that we can take it off during tummy time, and she can move a lot more freely. And she actually seems to enjoy it until she gets bored and wants to see what else is going on above floor level.

I don't think she understands yet that she's supposed to be working on push-ups, because she mostly just tongues the play mat until it gets soggy. Here's a picture of her taking a break from licking the play mat clean.

And I've put together a slideshow of photos from birth to year-end. It's interesting to see the progression from 1.5 to 10.5 pounds, and from anxiety to elation. If you've been following the story, you've probably seen all of these photos except one, which I never posted because it was a little blurry and quite sad at the time. It's easier to take now, since we know the story has a happy ending. If you're using a PC, click here to watch the high-res slideshow. If you're on a Mac or Linux machine, there's a lower-resolution version here on Youtube.

Ready For A Snowball Fight

2008-01-04T22:25:00.000-06:00

Mom knitted a cap with ear flaps for Hannah, to make sure she doesn't forget her Yankee roots, I guess. Hannah seems to like it.

We had a long overdue visit last night with Hannah's friends in Carla's chorus (Heart of Dallas Chorus). Carla got to sing for a bit and Hannah and I got to listen. We hadn't seen most of those folks in quite a while, so it was a great reunion.

Hannah had her last follow-up appointment with the eye doctor yesterday, and he said her retinal development has now caught up with where a newborn should be. So we don't have to go back for an eye exam until this time next year. And that's a good thing, judging by how loud Hannah cried when they held her eyes open to take a peek, even for a few seconds.

The only other thing going on is pounds, onto Hannah's increasing non-tiny frame. She's 11 pounds now, and we're having to retire all the preemie clothes. I tried to dress her in one of her usual outfits and she looked like a handful of overstuffed sausages.

We Made It!

2008-01-01T00:11:00.000-06:00

This has been a long year, but it seems like we were celebrating the start of 2007 just a couple months ago, in a cloud of uncertainty. Now, all those previous new years seem empty in comparison.

Carla and I have had our champagne (Carla gets the extra dry stuff, so I add a bit of Splenda when she's not looking), Hannah had her own bottle of Chateau Similac 2007, and Hazie got some Swanson's chicken broth to ring in the new year.

To all of you who've kept us going though 2007 and given us a good boost for 2008, Happy New Year! We love you all and hope the new year treats you well.

Karl, Carla, and Hannah

Getting Caught Up

2007-12-29T22:54:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-12-26T23:20:00.001-06:00

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

2007-12-23T00:31:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-18T22:27:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-12-17T23:26:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-14T20:27:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-13T21:29:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-11T23:13:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-07T23:08:00.000-06:00

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

2007-12-04T23:51:00.002-06:00

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

2007-12-01T16:48:00.000-06:00

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).

Hanging with Grandma

2007-11-27T21:20:00.000-06:00

You'd think my mom had never seen a baby before, seeing the way Hannah has reduced her to a driveling fawner. You might then wonder just how unsightly me and my siblings must have been as infants, the way she carries on about about how beautiful Hannah is. I admit I think Hannah's pretty darn cute, but she's the first baby I've paid much attention to, and I'm assuming my opinion is clouded with bias. But, since Mom's been cooking dinner, folding clothes, doing dishes, changing diapers, and taking the occasional feeding, I'll keep my thoughts to myself for now. Or maybe I'll post them on a public blog that my Mom checks several times a day.

Anyway, Mom hates seeing pictures of herself, but I caught her with both hands full so she couldn't hide behind them this time.

Pulmonologist (Lung Doctor)

2007-11-26T23:18:00.000-06:00

Hannah visited the lung doctor today. No big surprises, but he said we can probably stop one of the breathing treatments as long as she's not having any wheezing attacks. We're probably still looking at another month or more on the oxygen, but we sort of expected that.

Hannah got a visit yesterday from some charter members of Team Hannah. Eliot, Chris, Amy, and Alex Johnson (left to right) have been praying hard and lending support since day one, and we've been looking forward to this get-together. Too bad Hannah slept through the whole thing. I offered to wake her up with the ice-cube-on-the-leg trick, but everybody but me seems to think that's cruel or something.

And of course I'm still annoying Carla and Hannah with the camera. Remember that for every picture you see on the blog, I've probably taken a dozen more that either didn't make the cut or are intended for the archives.

Grandparents Galore

2007-11-24T22:45:00.000-06:00

All of Hannah's grandparents drove into town today. This is the first time my mom has seen Hannah since she came home from the NICU, and I'm not so sure we'll ever get her to leave. They came bearing gifts from lots of Hannah's friends in Shreveport and Bossier . . . again we're overwhelmed by the kindness. Books, clothes, blankets, toys. This child will never be bored, cold, or badly dressed, I can promise you that.

Below is a matching cap and blanket from Aunt Rena.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T23:24:00.000-06:00

Hannah's first Thanksgiving took place in the most appropriate surroundings I can imagine. Because of work schedules, our family is actually celebrating Thanksgiving a couple days late, on Saturday. So today we went up to the NICU and spent Thanksgiving with some other preemie parents whose babies are still in the NICU. It was great to see some of the people we got close to during our stay and check on the progress of their babies, and one of Hannah's favorite doctors was there carving turkey, along with his own preemie daughter (now four) and his wife.

The amazing thing was that this whole meal, which served a couple dozen folks in style, was mostly provided and set up by a couple whose little boy is still in the NICU (he's doing well and will probably be home for Christmas), for the other parents that would otherwise be hanging around the NICU today anyway. Considering our own state of mind while Hannah was still in the hospital, and the logistical challenges of feeding even a dozen people, the fact that Sean and Chelle took the time to do this for their fellow NICU parents makes them heroes in my book. These are the same folks that gave Hannah a customized photo frame on the day she left the NICU (see below). They run a company that produces unique hand-made accessories and decorations for children's rooms.

We all had a great time and great food. Carla made her pumpkin-fluff mini-pies. We met some parents that are relatively new to the NICU, at the point we were three months ago, and I hope that seeing Hannah plump and sleeping peacefully gave them some reassurance that their children, too, in time, will go home happy and healthy.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well, and that all the things for which you gave thanks continue to flow through your lives and into the lives of those around you.

How's Hazie?

2007-11-21T21:59:00.000-06:00

A couple people have asked how Hazie (the dog) is adjusting to the new world order. You might remember from a previous post that Hazie can't be trusted around children and has been sequestered to the den. Fortunately, she doesn't seem to mind at all, as long as we go out to the den and play several times a day. Playtime involves running the RC truck or laser pointer so she can chase them around . . . that's her job.

She has also, now that she spends most of her days in the den with a view into the back yard through the french doors, appointed herself sheriff of the back yard, and barks her fool head off every time she sees a squirrel or cat out there. She has always done this, but before now she didn't really realize that there are pretty much always squirrels or cats in the back yard, and probably assumed they only showed up when she went outside. She has a dog door, so she could enforce the law if she wanted to. But she is mostly content sticking her head out the dog door and barking until the offender departs or I tell her to shut up.

It's also amazing that we can now vacuum the entire house without having to empty dog hair out of the vacuum cleaner after each room. Of course, when I vacuum the den, I get enough dog hair to stuff a pillow.

Anyway, Hannah is doing great, up to 7 lbs 6 oz. She kept us awake crying last night (that is, she was crying, we were awake) for the first time. Normally she fidgets and gurgles during the night but not enough to keep us awake. We suspect she was just hungry, so we're going to increase the size of her meals a little.

Octuplets

2007-11-19T23:20:00.000-06:00

Nothing new to report today. Just a photo of the babies (click to zoom).

In answer to your first question, yes, those are all Hannah. In answer to your second question, Photoshop. As for the third question, no, that's not a real tiger skin. But it's a pretty cool facsimile, huh?

Hannah Macarena

2007-11-18T20:58:00.000-06:00

I suppose I'll have to start considering the fine line between using your child as a photographic prop and child abuse. But I probably have a few years before Hannah will be able to go online and be horrified at what I've done.

Here is exhibit A:

Exhibit B should be ready tomorrow.

Hannah's Big Night Out

2007-11-17T17:48:00.000-06:00

Partly to see how well it would work, and partly because Carla had a craving for chicken-fried steak, we loaded up and headed to the Black-eyed Pea for dinner. Hannah slept the entire time, of course. We went fairly early to avoid the crowds, but still obsessed about surfaces that could harbor RSV and anyone that got close enough to sneeze in Hannah's face. Neither was an issue.

We've gotten the carrier, oxygen tank, and monitor routine down . . . all we have to be careful of is that we have a bottle of Purell and twice as much oxygen as we think we'll need. And that I don't trip over the tubes and wires if there's no video camera around to make it Youtubeable.

This was a good exercise to prove to ourselves that we aren't really prisoners in our own house. It may still be house arrest, but at least we have restaurant visitation rights.

Breathing Easier

2007-11-17T12:50:00.000-06:00

For the first two weeks Hannah was home, we frequently had to tweak her oxygen up from .25 liters to .35 or .40, to keep her saturation levels above 90%. Yesterday, she went all day at .25 liters. This could be a sign that she's becoming less dependent on the supplemental oxygen. Once she can go for several days with saturations above 95% at .25 liters, she may be ready to come off the oxygen. Of course, the pulmonologist will be the one to make that decision.

For those of you with broadband access, click here to see a quick video (7MB) of Hannah looking bored but alert. For those without high-speed internet, here's a photo to tide you over.

Seven Pounds

2007-11-15T23:00:00.000-06:00

Actually, 7 lbs 1 oz. Not much else to report. Hannah went in for her weekly checkup at the pediatrician, and the doctor and nurses were very pleased with her growth and alertness. Unfortunately, they showed Hannah their appreciation by sticking her with four needles all at once. These were her second round of vaccinations, and they figure that if she has to be uncomfortable, they might as well get it over with quickly. So two nurses stand on either side and each do two injections in Hannah's legs, while I hold Hannah's arms and watch her turn beet red and exercise her lungs.

Eye Test

2007-11-13T20:06:00.000-06:00

We took Hannah in for a scheduled eye exam today and learned that her retinas are developing as expected. She may still have vision problems (many preemies do), but she has managed to avoid the more severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) that is common in 24.5-week infants.

The eye test was not a pretty sight. Carla chose not to watch at all. Hannah chose not to be present at the proceedings, but lacked the mobility to act on that decision. While we were still in the waiting room, the assistant came out to put drops in Hannah's eyes to dilate them (open up the pupils). Since infants can't be asked to hold their eyes open and look at the light, a tiny metal retractor was used to hold her eyelids apart, and another to hold the eye still. This took only a few seconds for each eye, while the doctor glimpsed in with a pair of goggles and a handheld magnifier, but Hannah screamed like a banshee throughout, much like any of us would if someone held us down and put things in our eyes.

Fortunately, the attention span of infants is limited, and she forgot all about this experience within seconds of it being over.

What's Missing Here?

2007-11-12T19:40:00.000-06:00

I had to change out Hannah's nasal cannula tonight and I remembered to take a picture of her without that thing on her face. The red spot near her ear is where the adhesive patch was. I move it around slightly each time I change the cannula to give her skin some exposure, although the patch is designed to breathe and not irritate her skin.

You may have noticed that Hannah has red mark down the middle of her forehead and on her left eyelid. They call this a "stork bite" (or "angel's kiss", "salmon patch", or if you want to sound smart but fail completely to communicate, "telangiectatic naevus") and it generally goes away within the first year. I don't remember seeing any storks or salmon in the delivery room, but I'm fairly certain there were a few angels. And given how well they've taken care of Hannah so far, I'll forgive the overzealous osculation.

Two Weeks at Home!

2007-11-10T20:48:00.000-06:00

Several of you have asked what you can get for Hannah, or what you can do for her. As I sit and watch her, I can certainly understand the desire to do something for this wonderful little bundle of potential. But most of her material needs are taken care of, and she doesn't yet have an appreciation of the finer things in life. So I've create a list of the things she really needs from all of us:

Buckle your seat belt.
Get a yearly physical.
Don't tailgate.
Don't smoke.
Drive at the speed of the rest of the traffic.
Skip the french fries.
Don't trust other drivers to signal before changing lanes.
Don't stress over the small stuff.
Don't use your cell phone in traffic.
Let others help you when you need it.

Why? Because all of you, her friends and family, are what she needs most, and I really want to be able to introduce her to you one day. Can't do that if you're not around.

Anyway, today marks the end of the second week that Hannah has been home with us, and we couldn't be happier. We could, perhaps, be a little more rested, but that can wait til she's in college, I suppose. However, we've proven that we can keep her fed, dry, and reasonably happy without tearing our own hair out, so it's time to open the doors to visitors, if anyone is interested.

Because this is RSV season (a variety of the common cold that can be fatal to preemies), we'll ask anyone who has a cold or who has been around someone with a cold to postpone their visit. And everyone will need to wash their hands upon arrival. And the doctors recommend avoiding any non-family members under the age of 12 (children are more likely to have this particular strain of cold without even knowing it). With those disclaimers, we'd love to see you and introduce Hannah. I'll be back at work next week, so evenings after 6:30 or weekends would probably work best. Just give us a call or email to let us know when you'll drop by.

Chemistry Set

2007-11-09T23:08:00.000-06:00

Hannah now has seven medications: two inhaled and five in her milk (not all at the same time). I suppose the formula we add to the milk to fortify it might count as an eighth. In any case, one corner of the kitchen now looks like an evil scientist's lab, with vials, bottles, syringes, and graduated mixing containers. I spend a half hour each night preparing the next 24 hours of milk and dosing the overnight feeds so we don't have to wake up and do math in the middle of the night. Distinguishing between 1.1 ml and .1 ml can seem like advanced calculus at 3am.

Hannah got a bath tonight, and unlike last time, seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps she enjoyed it a little too much, since we had to do a quick water change mid-bath after noticing a sudden marked degradation in water purity. I suppose there will be time later to teach Hannah that it is counter-productive to poop in one's bath water. And a significant social blunder if one happens to be in a friend's hot-tub.

Ahh . . . the joys of parenthood.

Another Ride in the Car

2007-11-08T21:49:00.000-06:00

We were sitting around yesterday thinking "You know, what we need is one more piece of medical equipment for Hannah to play with. All her other toys are so bright and cheerful and soft and fresh-smelling . . . how about something that we can plug into the wall that will hiss and hum and blow smelly chemicals up her nose!"

Coincidentally, today's trip to the pediatrician happened to intersect with one of Hannah's relatively rare grunt-and-snort episodes, where she breathes like a hyperactive piglet, and it was decided that she might benefit from a Nebulizer. This is not, as I first guessed, a machine that creates impressive clouds of interstellar gas and dust in the safety of your own home, but rather a device more like what I described above. It atomizes medications and blows them up Hannah's nose, so she can breath a bit more effectively. She doesn't seem to mind it, probably because she got these treatments often at the NICU. The medications are a bronchodilator (latin for "bull expander") and a steroid.

Hannah is doing great and getting more alert and interactive every day. She's also expressed a desire for slightly bigger meals, so we'll ask the doctor tomorrow if that's OK.

Here's a picture to remind us how far we've come. Life is good.

Back to Work

2007-11-06T13:08:00.000-06:00

Hannah is now 6 and 1/2 pounds. We took her back to the hospital yesterday for some routine blood tests. She slept the whole time, except the part where they poked her in the heel and drew some blood, of course. We're getting used to changing the nasal cannula (it gets blocked with snot after a few days), swapping the pulse oximeter probe from foot to foot (it can cause irritation and deformity if left on the same toe all the time), and threading her clothes over the air tube and wires any time she needs a change of outfit (once per spit-up).

We've adjusted the routine so I can get in a half-day of work each day this week, from home. Unfortunately for Carla, this means she's doing the bulk of the diaper/bottle duty. We were splitting it 50/50. I usually pre-measure all the bottles for the nighttime/morning feeds, and add the medicine to each, before going to bed so Carla doesn't have to do all that measuring and mixing while half-asleep. We envy parents that ONLY have to change and feed their baby during the night, without the hoses, wires, and five medicines. :-)

Carla's parents left yesterday morning after a good visit. Here's a picture of the cool tiger-skin rug they brought (among a cartload of other stuff) for Hannah.

One Week at Home

2007-11-03T21:18:00.000-05:00

Doesn't seem that long, but Hannah has been home a week now. Not much new to report, but we're all doing great.

Yawn

2007-11-02T23:22:00.000-05:00

Those of you with children already know why I haven't updated the blog in a couple days. There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day. It didn't help that I was sidelined for a while with some sort of intestinal ailment that I am tempted to blame on a bad burrito from Taco Bell. Fortunately, Carla's parents are visiting, so we had a couple extra hands around to help out while I whimpered and whined.

Hannah is doing great. She actually stayed awake a few hours today, so maybe she won't be up for her usual 12am-3am "Hey, where is everybody?" time slot tonight. I should be back to my usual self tomorrow and have a photo or two to share.

Technical Difficulties

2007-10-31T16:59:00.000-05:00

The blood oxygen saturation monitor has been driving us crazy, and is depriving us of more sleep than Hannah is. To cut a long story short, we've been through a defective probe, three defective cables, and still are getting readings only by taping the cable to the unit in a certain way to avoid a short in the connection. You'd think that since this is medical equipment, repairs and replacements would be at the door within an hour or so, but apparently not. There are only a couple reps in the area, apparently, and they're busy. Anyway, they brought by a replacement unit a few minutes ago, and it seems to be working fine.

To put things in perspective, Hannah would be fine without the oxygen monitor, but having it around and working allows us to not hover over her bassinet making sure that she's still breathing. Without it, we'd have to wait for the apnea monitor to tell us she hasn't breathed in 20 seconds.

On a completely different topic, we've gotten a few excellent tips and bits of advice from some of you, and it is always prefaced with something like "I know you didn't ask for advice . . . " Well, we're not the sort of people that get offended when offered advice, so go ahead and keep it coming. We need all the advice we can get. If we get any conflicting advice, we'll arrange an arm-wrestling match to settle it.

One more thing . . . the infant grandchild of a long-time friend of my family is battling leukemia. His parents live in Shreveport but have been staying at St. Jude's house in Memphis for many months while Ethan is treated there. Ben and Becky have been an inspiration to Carla and I since before Hannah was even born, and particularly when we faced serious problems with Steven and Hannah. Please include Ethan and his parents in your prayers. We need another miracle.

Helping Hands

2007-10-30T22:04:00.000-05:00

We're getting into a routine of feedings, and Hannah is graciously allowing us to stay on the 3-hour schedule established in the NICU. That's convenient, because it's much easier to schedule her medications and put them in her milk than try to squirt them in her mouth and hope she swallows. She's also been sleeping at night (mostly) so we've been able to grab a few hours of sleep between feedings. She only gets cranky when we slip the vitamins into her milk, and if they taste half as bad as they smell, I can't blame her a bit.

Hannah's doctor prescribed daily visits from a NICU nurse for the next two weeks, so we have a helping hand and sounding board every day.

Hannah seems quite content. Sleeping most of the time, but alert and well-tempered when awake.

First Field Trip

2007-10-29T11:30:00.000-05:00

We made our first trip outside the house today, to the pediatrician's office. She agreed that Hannah is doing great and was surprised at how alert she was. Carting around the oxygen and pulse ox monitor wasn't all that difficult, and Hannah seems to like riding in the car just fine.

She's now 6 pounds 3 ounces.

I just noticed that Hannah is still wearing her hospital ID bracelet. We've gotten so used to it, it didn't occur to us that we could take it off. Speaking of bracelets, Hannah had her own Paris Hilton fashion accessory while we were rooming in at the hospital, in the form of an ankle monitor to detect if she tried to leave the hospital. All babies get them, to make sure the parents don't steal their own babies before they are ready to leave. It's mostly a legal protection for the hospital, since they are responsible for the children until they are discharged.

Aunt Cat and Uncle Jon were Hannah's first home visitors yesterday, although Hannah was either zonked out or cranky the whole time they were here.

Some quality time with Mom.

Settling In

2007-10-28T11:10:00.000-05:00

We're getting settled after the big move yesterday. Last night went fine, with Carla and I serving diaper/bottle duty in shifts so both of us got some sleep. The machines and medicine routine are working well. Today we'll try to straighten out the tornado that moved from the NICU to our car, then to our house . . . bags and boxes of supplies and paraphernalia sent home with us from the NICU. Those folks think of everything and provide lots of samples to make sure we don't have to run to Wal-Mart for several days for supplies. And it's a good thing, because we weren't doing much clear thinking the past few days.

Below are some pictures of Hannah's set-up. Most of this will go away once she's off the oxygen in a month or so. The yellow unit with the orange display is the pulse oximeter, displaying the percentage of oxygen saturation in Hannah's blood, which it measures by shining a light through her toes and watching the pulse rate and the color of her blood (oxygen-rich blood is redder than oxygen-poor blood). The white unit with the orange sticker on top is the apnea monitor, which measures her heart and breath rates using two electrodes held against her chest with a velcro band. The gray unit with the round white lid is a suction machine in case we need to clear her airways of gunk. And her meds are in the white tray in the middle, with the exception of one in the fridge because it has to be kept refrigerated. The pink unit in the bassinet is the food-oxygen exchange unit. It requires a constant supply of oxygen, fat, protein, and calcium, which it turns into poop and baby. The bassinet is raised slightly on one end with bricks because a leaky seal in the unit's input port sometimes causes some leakage that affects operating efficiency.

The unit below is the oxygen machine, which pulls oxygen out of the room air and concentrates it from 21% to 97%. This is better than a tank because it never has to be refilled. It's fairly loud, so we have it across the hall, with the oxygen tube running into the bedroom. There's 50 feet of tubing, so we carry Hannah all around the house, dragging the tube behind. The tanks to the left of the machine are portable oxygen tanks used for backup (a power outage, for example) and for traveling to the doctor's office.

Hannah Elaine Minor

2007-10-27T20:25:00.000-05:00

Arrived October 27th, at 5 pounds 14 ounces, after 105 days of labor. Mom, Dad, and baby are doing great.

On a day like this, it's very easy to feel that it's all about us. But Hannah would not be with us today, as healthy as she is, without the round-the-clock care from a huge team of extraordinary people. The doctors and nurses at Medical Center of Plano have earned from us a lifetime of gratitude and respect. They have nerves of steel and the compassion of saints, and have been patient with both Hannah and her parents through the worst of times. Doctors Lucena, West, Kuforiji, and Jain, and too many exceptional nurses and therapists to name, and Doctor Kathy and her staff at CAR . . . thank you a million times over for this precious gift of life.

To the friends we've met in the NICU, please keep us updated on the progress of your little miracles. We miss them already.

Week 39, Day 1, Home Stretch

2007-10-26T12:35:00.000-05:00

We're still on schedule to bring Hannah home tomorrow afternoon. Our second sleepover with Hannah last night went well, except for one brief bradycardia spell. That's what the monitors are for, though, and we were able to react quickly and make sure Hannah remembered to breathe. Equally important is the fact the monitors didn't generate many false alarms, which will be crucial to us getting even the token amount of sleep that new parents are allowed. Despite the brady episode, we got more sleep last night than we did the first sleepover . . . maybe three hours instead of one.

This afternoon, I'll pick up her prescriptions, and we're still awaiting delivery of the big oxygen tank (we have three 8-hour portables). We've watched the infant CPR video and scheduled Hannah's first appointment with the pediatrician. Tomorrow is the big day. Tonight will be our last full night of sleep for a while.

Week 38, Day 7, Two Days to Go!

2007-10-25T23:17:00.000-05:00

We're at the hospital, rooming in with Hannah for the second time tonight. This time, we have all the same monitors that she'll go home with, and I got to set them up and attach them myself to make sure it was as easy as it looked. Hannah has been bright and alert and seems to be ready to get out of here.

She's now 5 lbs 12 oz, and passed the car seat test that verifies that she can make the trip home (they put her in our car seat and leave her there for two hours while monitoring, to make sure she's OK in that new position). We got her prescriptions and are about to watch the infant CPR training DVD.

We were completely exhausted after Wednesday's sleepover, and I'm sure we'll be worn out tomorrow as well, so I figured I better get a blog update in tonight. Here's a picture I snapped while Hannah was checking out the new room.

Week 38, Day 6, Preparation

2007-10-24T18:15:00.000-05:00

Today we got most of the medical devices we'll use at home to make sure Hannah is OK. This includes a pulse oximeter (measures blood oxygenation), apnea monitor (warns if Hannah stops breathing), suction machine (to clear out her nose or mouth if necessary), and portable oxygen tanks and cannulas. The big oxygen tank will be delivered to the house later. A nurse will also visit the house daily for the first few weeks, then three times a week after that. We learned how to connect, monitor, and react to any warnings the machines produce, but they are very similar to the ones we're already used to in the NICU.

The training for the medical devices happened to be held in the same small room in the NICU where we last saw Steven. I'm sure that everyone there wondered why Carla was crying over the medical monitors we were being shown, but I couldn't think of a suitable way to explain the real source of her grief. We hadn't really thought much about that room since the day Steven died, but as the trainer led us toward the room I saw Carla's stride falter as she realized where we were headed. I paid extra close attention to the trainer and demonstrations, because I am almost certain Carla will remember none of it, and I can't blame her.

Our sleepover with Hannah went well last night, but neither Carla or I got much sleep, so we were pretty much zombies today. Hannah's hearing was tested today and checked out OK. Her fourth eye test was yesterday, and also checked out OK.

We'll probably room in again tomorrow night and hopefully bring Hannah home Saturday. Carla is apprehensive, but I'm sure we'll do fine.

As I walked the hallways of the hospital this morning to fetch a soda for Carla, having left her and Hannah in the room, I felt a serenity that I've been missing for many months. I realized just how far we've come from those days in July when I walked the same corridors, trying not to cry. It's clear now from the optimism of the doctors and nurses that Hannah will be more than just fine, and that most of our little worries are now on the same scale as those of any new parents.

I just wish that my Dad were still here to see Hannah smile, and that Steven were lying next to her in the crib, and that Carla and I were still worrying about the challenges of raising twins instead of the challenges of raising a preemie. And I wish I could tell Dad just one more time that Hannah will be home and healthy soon, and everything is going to be just fine.

Week 38, Day 5, Rooming In

2007-10-23T23:08:00.000-05:00

Tonight is Hannah's first camping trip. The three of us are sleeping (I use the word loosely) in a nice private room at the hospital. This is essentially a practice run to make sure we can handle Hannah when she gets home, and that she can handle us.

She's up to 5 and a half pounds today, breathing and eating fine. If all goes well, she'll come home Saturday. Most of the hurdles are logistic at this point, like getting the home oxygen equipment delivered, taking an infant CPR class, and testing how well Hannah does in the car seat (she hasn't spent much time sitting up yet).

We've been worried about Mel and Butch (my sister and brother-in-law) out in San Diego, since they live very close to where the wildfires are. In fact, the fires were just one ridgeline away when the wind shifted, but their house is relatively safe for now. Who needs that kind of excitement?