Great day!

It was a great day for little Ms. Charlotte. She has put on a little more weight and is about 5 grams away from being 4lbs. Once she reaches that mark she'll be big enough to be put in a "crib" in the NICU. Hopefully then we can get some better pictures of our little angel! Per the request of her fans we'll try to get a full length shot so you can see how big she's gotten.

Another good piece of news that I got this evening was that Charlotte took 20 cc's of food from the bottle today!!! This is a huge accomplishment for her and we're so happy. It took her about 8 minutes to eat all of the 20 cc's but the nurse said that she did it without any struggle. We hope that she keeps up the good work but they won't push her. She'll only be given the bottle maybe once or twice a day and probably not for the full feeding of 35 cc's. They don't want her to burn too many calories working at eating. They want to make sure that she keeps gaining weight and getting strong.

I also met with one of the physical therapists and she said that Charlotte is doing good with her excercises. She is tolerating them very well and there isn't anything that Charlotte does or doesn't do to raise any red flags.

Other big news (for Mom) is that Charlotte's crib and dresser came today!!! Yay! Now she'll have a place to sleep when she gets home. I'm sorry that there are no pictures today but I was so excited about all the good news that I wanted to get home and let you all know and I forgot to take a picture. In my defense, she does look about the same - just maybe a smidge cuter! Daddy will be home tomorrow so you'll be back to your regularly scheduled programming...

More from Mom...

I had a couple visits with Charlotte today and both went well! Her Grandpa Seegers came with me this morning and Charlotte as a very good girl for him. Her weight is up again and they have upped her feedings to 35 ml every three hours. At this rate she may get to that 4 lb. mark by the end of the week. That will put her a little closer to getting out of the isolette and into a crib.

My visit with her tonight was uneventful - just the way I like it! I did the skin-to-skin holding and it was great. She fussed a little when I first held her but after about 2 minutes she found a comfortable position and she went straight to
sleep. She is our little trooper that earned that sleep by putting in another hard days work of growing big and strong! We couldn't be more proud of her!

Mom's View

Since Daddy is out of town it is Mom's turn to take a crack at the blog. I went to go visit Charlotte today and she was a good little girl both times. I was there for the 11am feeding and the 8pm feeding. I held her both times for about an hour and a half and she was on her best behavior.

The evening nurse said that Charlotte didn't have any Brady's todays so hopefully our little girl is getting the hang of the whole breathing thing! We can expect her to have more episodes but maybe this is the start of less alarms.

She is still at 32 ml every three hours but all that food is paying off. She is up to 3 lbs. 13 oz. today. I'm hoping by the end of the week/month she'll be 4 lbs. The picture I took tonight is a little dark but hopefully you can see the start of some chubby cheeks!!

We began Sunday with a visit to the NICU's annual Halloween party. Every year, the hospital's NICU sponsors a Halloween party for all the preemies who have been at Central DuPage Hospital. We were able to see all the healthy kids who were at one time a preemie baby and it was a positive sight for Donna and I to see all those kids! I'm already looking forward to seeing my girl being one of those kids screaming for more candy! After the party, we stopped in to visit our little Charlotte. She was doing well and slept pretty much the entire time of our visit. We met with one of the doctors who said again that she is where she should be at her age. He mentioned that he may increase her caffeine dosage in the near future as her Brady episodes are still quite frequent and an increase in caffeine may help this. Charlotte is now up to 32 ml's every 3 hours and weighs 3 lbs 9 oz. As you can probably tell by now, she is gaining about one ounce per day. This is something the doctors watch for so we keep telling her to pack on that weight!!

3 weeks!

So we have passed the 3 week mark now and Charlotte is getting bigger by the day. OK, she only gains about an ounce a day but that is big in our book. The visits the past few days have gone pretty well except for Friday which was a bit stressful. Charlotte had an episode on Friday night at the end of her feeding while Donna was holding her. Her heartrate dropped and she turned a bit blue as she forgot to breathe. She seems to have this at the end of each feeding due to reflux. The nurse came in and helped get her back on track and she calmed down after we put her back in her isolette. While the nurses tell us this is still the norm for a preemie, this was the first time in a while that she really made me nervous. I think she just wants to keep Daddy on his toes and man did she do it that time. On Saturday everything was back to normal and Donna held her without any issues at all. On Saturday night, the Robey family was in town and we were able to tell the Charlotte story all over again. OK, so I became a proud Papa again as I was able to brag about my pretty girl and how good she is doing. So thanks Robeys to listening to our story and how excited we are for the weeks to come.
(Here is another picture to show how big she is getting. Notice the ball is from the 2005 World Series where a certain great team won the World Series.......)

Wednesday morning Grandpa Seegers came to visit. Charlotte was on her best behavior as he held her for quite a while. She is up to 3 lbs 5 oz and eating 30 ml's every three hours now. Donna met the therapist again yesterday who discussed a few more signs to look for when we're holding Charlotte. Since she is so young, she can get stressed out quite easily so we have to watch for these signs and when they show, we need to do certain things to help relieve that stress. Last night, Donna picked me up from the airport and we went straight over to the hospital to see my girl. She had a small episode again as her heartrate slowed down but she got herself out of it. I know we should be used to these episodes but as soon as the alarms go off, it still scares us. But the visit ended well as she again was sleeping when they put her back in her incubator.

Day 17

Tonight's visit was another good one. I changed another diaper and it was only a wet one so I was glad for that. I'm still getting the hang of changing diapers so I'm cool with easing into it. Donna visited this morning too and went through 3 diapers as Charlotte kept going (both 1 & 2) while being changed. Not exactly a blowout but as close as you can get for a 3 lb baby! So, I'm glad Charlotte kept it easy for me. She is up to 1451 grams which is just over 3 lbs and she's also still eating 27 ml's every three hours. Since she is getting a little bigger, her body temperature is starting to stay steady. So now, she started wearing clothes in the incubator. Before she would only wear a diaper in the incubator and we'd give her an outfit to change into when she came out. But now, she can start to wear all the outfits Donna has for her. I have to admit, she looked amazingly cute again!!

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Last night's visit went well again. Nothing much is new as she continues to progress but Charlotte received a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Burritt. Grandma also got her first chance to hold her grand daughter! Charlotte responded by opening her eyes from time to time to say hello. Grandma looked really good and happy holding her and Donna and I can see plenty of baby sitting in her future!

The past few days visits' have gone well. Charlotte is back up to her birth weight of 3 lbs and doctors said she will gain a few grams each day. She is still off the iv and oxygen and is reacting very well. The doctors have seen no reason thus far to reintroduce her to the iv or caffeine she needed before. Each day we try going to visit her around one of her feeding times so one of us can hold her while she eats. She was full of spunk yesterday afternoon and last night while Donna held her as she was looking around and taking it all in.

Dad is unfortunately out of town for a night so Donna visited Charlotte a few times yesterday and both visits went great. Donna was able to hold Charlotte via the kangaroo method. This is where the baby is held skin to skin with a parent so the baby can feel Mom's warmth and hear her heartbeat. Donna said that Charlotte calmed down while doing this and the nurses said they highly encourage it for both the baby and the bonding it can create between us and Charlotte. Donna changed another dirty diaper as the nurses continually encourage us to do as much as possible when we are there. They are slowly introducing us into all the deeds of parenting and we fully welcome it!!!!

The IV is out!

Today's visits went well yet again!! Both times we were there, Charlotte was mostly sleeping without any fuss. One of the first things we noticed this morning was that she didn't have an IV in her arm. They had taken out her little IV and she was doing OK without it. We gave Charlotte a little high five!! The hospital also performed a head ultrasound, which is usual for preemies, and we found out tonight right before we left, that everything looks normal. More good news for Donna and I! So we left the hospital feeling good as Charlotte was sound asleep.

The visits on Monday went quite well. Charlotte is doing fine and everything is going smoothly. The nurses said they tried to give her a bottle to see how she'd react and Charlotte wouldn't have anything to do with it yet. It will be a while before she learns how to bottle feed but the doctor wanted to see how she would react. Charlotte now also receives a visit from the therapists approximately 3-5 times a week. There is a physical, occupational, respiratory and speech therapist. We are just beginning to learn about how each of the therapists will interact with Charlotte over the coming weeks and understand how we can assist in her development. Last night, Uncle Kyle and Aunt Teri came to visit as you'll see in the picture. Charlotte opened her eyes for a bit to say hello but we left her as she fell sound asleep again.

Day 9

We visited Charlotte twice today and she is doing well. This afternoon Donna got to hold her for quite a while and she was peaceful the entire time. Charlotte had her eyes open for most of the time while sucking on a pacifier. The pacifier of course looks huge for her since she still is so small but cute none the less. Donna also changed her first poopy (yes, I just used the word poopy) diaper. The nurse asked me to assist but I thought I'd leave it all to Mom. They still have her on an iv but the doctor said she may be able to get off of it within the next couple days. That would be another good sign and one less tube to worry about. Her food amount continues to increase every three hours which is another good sign for us. Charlotte has had a few Brady episodes where her heart rate slows down but the doctors say this is "normal" for her preemie age. One episode happened just as we were leaving tonight and "normal" or not, it still scares the crap out of Mom and Dad. We kissed her good night until we see her tomorrow morning.

It's been one Week!

We just got back from an early morning visit and Charlotte is still doing well. They are increasing her food 1 ml every other feeding. She is tolerating most of the food but does have a few wet burps or has some left in her stomach from time to time. The nurses said this is nothing to be concerned about as she is tolerating the food overall. The only other change today is that they took the feeding tube out of her mouth and have now run it up her nose into her stomach. I know this doesn't sound too comfortable but apparently, it's better for her. They want to start giving her some oral stimulation so she can be ready to bottle feed and now they can start that without the feeding tube in her mouth. So now, Charlotte has been in the NICU one week. She has done really well in that week and we can only hope that the coming weeks go just as smoothly!!

Daddy's turn to hold Charlotte

Tonight I was able to hold my daughter for the first time!! I've held other babies before but the feeling of holding my own daughter is truly special. I already would do anything for our little one. Her eyes were open for most of the time and just looking around. She also got the hiccups. Yes, to us the hiccups are annoying as hell but seeing a three pound baby have the hiccups and her entire body shakes, is pretty cute. Oh hell, she hasn't done anything yet that isn't cute! It was a great 30 minutes and I look forward to many, many more times of holding her!

Donna was able to do a few newer things too. She helped changed her diaper and put on her first outfit, pink of course. I know these are little things, but for us every small step like this is an important one. She has been in the hospital almost a week and we are counting down the weeks until we can bring her home. We left Charlotte as her eyes closed shut and she was tucked in for another peaceful night of sleep.

We just got back from our first visit with Charlotte today. She is still off the forced oxygen so still there is no tube and she is now eating 7 cc's every three hours and going well. The only issue today is that they had to change her IV and had to stick her twice to find a good vein. The nurses told us that she was not too happy about that as we had to wait in the cafeteria while they put the new one in. On a good note, the following video is of Charlotte in her incubator but she moves around and cries a bit. We welcome the crying as it shows she has spunk!!!

Donna and I visited Charlotte last night and to our surprise, Charlotte did not have the oxygen tube in her nose. We talked to the nurse and they are seeing how she does without the forced oxygen. Yay!!!!!!! So, we were able to see her cute little face without the oxygen tube. She is so damn cute!!!!! She also had her eyes open for a long time just looking around. I know babies can't focus on anything but I swear she was checking our her Mom and Dad and saying hello! Donna also got to hold her again for a long time. Charlotte looks pretty big in the icubator but when she's out, she is so tiny. Tiny but again, cute!! We just enjoyed Donna being able to hold her and watching her sleep. While Donna was holding her, she thinks she may have seen a dimple. Oi vey, my little girl with a dimple....I would sure be in for it then! :)
Charlotte is also now eating 6 cc's of food every three hours and is holding down the food which is a good thing. We're going to visit her again later this morning to say hello but that's all for now.

A New Arrival

Hello all! Well, I was wanting to start a blog for some time but was not sure if anyone really wanted any of my opinions or thoughts. But on October 3rd, an event occurred which to me was definitely worth sharing. Our daughter, Charlotte Faith Burritt was born at 1:48 AM at 3 lbs and 15.5”. We weren't expecting her until December 11 so you can imagine our surprise when she came this early. I have been emailing family and friends over the past few days with updates and news about everything and therefore, thought this blog was a great way to share all the happenings with everyone.

So, how did this all start?? Donna and I went to bed like any other night with no problems or issues on Thursday, October 2. I was awoken suddenly as Donna rushed to the washroom stating she thought her water just broke. Donna called her doctor and he advised her to go to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital and she discussed the night's events with a few nurses. They continued to monitor the baby's heart beat which started to dip which caused alarm for both Donna and I. When the nurses continued to examine Donna, they told us that she is in fact was having contractions and that "you are having a baby tonight!!" Not only was she having contractions, the nurses found out that the baby's foot was coming out. This was not the right way for the baby to come so as soon as the doc found this out, he told the nurses to prepare Donna for the operating room as the baby needs to come out ASAP.

Donna's emergency c-section went smoothly as I waited in a separate waiting room. A nurse came in at one point and told me I was the proud Papa of a baby girl. What??? I, for no particular reason, had expected a baby boy and now had to wrap my mind around a daughter. I just stood there in awe but still hoping that everyone came out of surgery OK. I was then told that both Mom and daughter were healthy and I watched my new daughter being taken up to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Mom then went to recovery but I still couldn't see her and so I went up to the NICU to meet my new daughter. It was a bit overwhelming and scary as she had all these wires and tubes on her while she was in the incubator. I then went to the main maternity wing and Donna's room to wait for her to come down from surgery and when she came down, she was still recovering from the anesthesia. After a while longer, we were able to share our happiness about having a baby girl and decided upon her name, Charlotte Faith.

We were then able to go to the NICU together to see our baby girl. The doctors and nurses explained to us all of what to expect in her progress in the next, at least 6 weeks. While it was still overwhelming, we tried to take it all in.

Fast forward a bit..........Donna was released from the hospital on Tuesday after spending 4 days there. She is doing quite well but due to the surgery, is not able to drive for two weeks or lift anything over 10 pounds for the next 6-8 weeks. As of this morning, Charlotte is doing well. They have moved her to the back of the NICU ward where it is a bit quieter and we take this as a good sign also. She continues to take forced oxygen but the doctor said they may not have to continue this much longer. This would be another great sign and step in her progress. Donna and I will continue to see Charlotte as much as possible as we watch her grow stronger.

We greatly appreciate the thoughts and prayers from all of our friends and family. We still have quite a road ahead of us but we are hoping that all goes well and we can take Charlotte home in December. It is from the support of our family and friends that has helped us keep a smile even at the toughest of this time.

I will continue to update this blog. If you wish to hear about Charlotte's progress, please stop by and read and say hello.

More to come....

Owen