Charlotte is still working on the normal baby stuff (i.e. cooing, sitting, etc) but we have been focusing on tummy time. The doctors and therapists told us that this is very important for normal development. She is getting better at holding her head up but she still doesn't have the upper body strength to push herself up. Her big brother Artu showed her how it is done today but I think she needs a little more time!
Charlotte also has also started sleeping longer at night...yay! She has been sleeping for about 6 hours...not every night but we'll take what we can get!

Entertainment

This is our entertainment on Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day

Charlotte says Happy Valentines Day to everyone!

Freedom

As William Wallace said, "FREEEEDOM". Today Charlotte was able to leave the confines of the house and into the beautiful afternoon weather. Even though she slept through most of her walk, we could tell she thoroughly enjoyed it. Even if she didn't, Mom and Dad did as we are starting to go a bit nuts as we are still being advised not to take her to public places or around groups of people/kids until cold and flu season is over. So we took our first walk as a family! Artu didn't seem to mind sharing his walk time with Charlotte so it was really nice to enjoy a little of the awesome weather.

The nice weather is reminding that golf season is almost here and that White Sox pitchers and catchers report in 5 days!!!!!

Charlotte turned 4 months old this week. She went to the doctor for her 4 month well baby visit and she is now 10 lbs 5.5 oz and 23 inches long. Everything went well at the doctors office except she had some more shots and she was none to crazy about them. Luckily, she didn't cry for too long...hopefully she won't remember the pain when we take her back in a month for another Synagis shot.

Charlotte has been a busy little bee since the last time we wrote. She has met with a physical therapist, developmental therapist and nurse from Dupage County. The physical therapist and developmental therapist are from the Early Intervention Program in Illinois. This program is a collection of services for infants and toddlers and their families who have delays in development or are at risk for developmental delays. Since Charlotte was born premature she is at risk for developmental delays. and we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make sure that she stays on track with her adjusted age (1.5 months).

Charlotte met with the physical therapist, Marilynn, who showed us some exercises to do with Charlotte to increase her flexibility and promote her strength. We received her written report today and she said that Charlotte is right on track for her adjusted age. Yay! She gave us suggestions of what to work on so Charlotte (and we) don't get bored with the same things every day. We'll follow up with her again in a few months and she will re-evaluate Charlotte for any changes.

The developmental therapist and nurse gave us the same report so we are excited. Since Charlotte is so young it's still early to see any issues but so far, so good!

Besides that we are just waiting for cold and flu season to be over and the weather to warm up so we can venture out! Poor Charlotte has been home for almost 2 months and the only place that she has gone is the doctors office.

The Cousins Meet

Over the weekend, Charlotte met her cousin, Kyri. While they aren't able to talk about their first meeting, we took a few pictures to share the time with you. (Just in case - Kyri is on the left and Charlotte on the right).

Happy New Year!

Charlotte got to start off 2009 with a bang. She went for her second Synagis shot today. This shot is to help Charlotte fight off the flu and cold to help her stay out of the hospital. She was a trooper and only screamed a little. By the time she was back in her car seat on the way home she was back asleep. Since she was so peaceful in her car seat we had to take a picture. I also wanted to take a picture to show how much weight she has gained. She's up to 8lb 1.5 oz!!!!

Merry Christmas!!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas! The best present we could have received is to have Charlotte home with us to spend her first Christmas. Ho, Ho, Ho!!

It's been two weeks now since Charlotte has been home and everything continues to go great! She eats every three hours pretty much like clockwork and she doesn't seem to care if it's 2:00 in the afternoon or 2:00 in the morning. So, both Donna and I are definitely learning to function on less sleep. Charlotte had her two month doctor's visit last week and now weighs 7 lbs 3 oz. The doc said that everything looks great which is what her Mom and I like to hear.

We were also very excited when Kyle and Teri welcomed their daughter, Kyri Joan into the world on Wednesday. She is another cute little baby girl Burritt!! Charlotte is so excited too and can't wait to meet her new cousin. But the doctors have given us strict orders not to bring Charlotte out for approximately 8 weeks due to the cold and flu season so she'll just have to wait too meet Kyri.

Merry Christmas!!

My side of the story...(Charlotte's point of view)

Well, my Dad and Mom have been writing about me for a couple months now and I'm not sure of everything they have been saying but I wanted to get my side of the story out there. First off, no one ever gave me a list of rules so I didn't know that I was supposed to wait to arrive until December 11th. I'm a strong, independent girl and felt like I was ready...little did I know how unprepared I was. I didn't realize how good I had it with room and board. The room was warm and quiet and the food was good and plentiful. Now I have to share a room with a snoring dog and the food is this formula stuff that is not so great.

I was in the hospital place for a long time and I'm not a big fan of their accommodations. Granted, they fed me like clock work and I was always clean and warm but they would wake me up all the time to poke and prod me. I kept hearing them tell Dad and Mom how well I was doing so I couldn't understand why they keep pestering me. I figured I would follow there rules so I could get home to the place that I'd imagined. Now, I know that you've heard I had problems eating from a bottle but between you and me, I was just being a little lazy since I knew they wouldn't let me starve. I finally decided to stop the game when I could hear the frustration in my parent's voices.

I can't believe that I've been home over a week already. It is so nice to be around my parents all the time and I think they like it too. I'm sure my parents have thanked everyone but I wanted to personally thank you all for the prayers that you all said for me. I'm strong, but a girl can always use some help. I promise to keep my parents on their toes so they have tons of stories to write about me. If nothing else, I promise to stay cute so they post more pictures of me.

Love,
Charlotte Faith

Charlotte Comes Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FINALLY, after 66 days in the NICU, Charlotte has come home!!!!! She went into the NICU at 3 lbs and came home at 6 lbs 12 oz. We are so happy and excited that it is hard to even explain. Charlotte arrived home about 5:30 tonight and has already had her first feeding at home. She also has met her big brother, Artu. Artu is a bit perplexed by the little one who squirms around a bit and smells different than anything he has encountered before. So, our family is now complete. We cannot thank our family and friends enough for the thoughts and prayers over the last few months. It has been a challenging road at times but your words, comments and emails have helped more than you will ever know. It is truly a blessing to have people in our life who care about us so much. We know it's just the beginning of our fun adventure with her but we can't wait to see her grow up. This blog started as just a way to keep in touch with everyone about her progress but we'll be keeping it updated from time to time with new pictures and family adventures. So stay tuned................

No Tubes!!!

I'm so excited I don't even know where to begin. Charlotte got her feeding tube out and is taking all her feeds by bottle. She has started eating 75 ml's every 4 hours. She has been waking up on her own and letting the nurses know that she is hungry by crying. Actually, it is more of an ear piercing scream but who's counting? Now that she is taking everything by bottle we need to make sure Charlotte continues to gain weight. She lost 15 grams (no biggie) from yesterday to today so hopefully she'll put on a few grams tomorrow to make it up. She'll need to show that she can continue to gain weight while taking all her feeds by bottle.

Once the nurses let us oo-and-ah over the new tube-free Charlotte they gave us the best news yet. They've started Charlotte discharge packet. Yep, you read that right, her discharge packet. As long as she continues with her bottle feedings and gaining weight she should be home within a week. Needless to say we are thrilled to have the NICU chapter of Charlotte's life almost over. We can't wait to start the next chapter of our lives with her at home.

Tough Love

Charlotte has done really well over the past 24 hrs with her bottle feeding. She took 7 out of her 8 feedings all by bottle. At 6pm tonight she just didn't have enough energy left and only took about half. BUT the good news is that the days of everything being handed to our little princess are over. Since the swallow test that was done earlier this week showed no signs of any physical problems with her eating, the doctor has decided that she needs a little push. They have decided to put her on "on demand" feeding. This means that she won't be given formula every 3 hours no matter if she is awake or not. They are going to wait until she gets hungry, wakes up and shows signs (crying) that she is ready to eat.

The best news of all (drum roll please) is that they are going to take out her feeding tube tonight!!!!! Yay!!! If she doesn't do well within 24 hours with the bottle feeds they MAY have to put the tube back in but we won't talk any more about that. We are hoping that when we see our darling little girl tomorrow morning that she won't have any tubes. That will be the first time in 9 weeks that we get a true feel of what our baby girl looks like. If that is the case, you better believe you'll see some pictures tomorrow!!!

Bath Time!

This morning we got the chance to give Charlotte her first bath. Some how the nurse chose to have Dad handle it this first time. Charlotte was surprisingly very easy and calm throughout the entire bath. Apparently, some babies love it and some hate it and scream throughout. So, I was glad my little Charlotte was a good one and just looked around the entire time. It was so much fun to see her look around and just do something different than feed her or watch her sleep!



Afterwards it was time for Charlotte to eat again. She was a bit wiped after her bath so she took about 45 ml's of the 60 ml's from the bottle. Then it was time for her to go back to sleep. The barium test that she went through yesterday went well. They said that everything looks good and there is nothing wrong. Apparently, her not eating completely from the bottle is still due to her immaturity. The word continues to be "patience" as we are told it will eventually just come. The speech pathologist continues to work with her to move her right along. I have faith in my little girl that she just needs more time and we hope to have her home soon!

Closer

Well, it seems like the heart-to-heart that Mom and Dad had with their daughter last night might have worked. When I went to the hospital this morning I was informed that Charlotte took 4 full feedings in a row last night. She took her 9pm, 12am, 3am and 6am feedings all by bottle. She didn't seem to struggle as the longest it took her was 12 minutes to finish all 55 ccs. This is GREAT news!

Owen and I talked to the doctor tonight and even though Charlotte has shown signs of improvement he would like to have a test run on her tomorrow. The test is where Charlotte drinks Barium so the speech therapist and radiologist can watch to see how Charlotte is eating the food and that it is going down the correct pipe. This test will also give them any information necessary needed to alter the formula she is eating so it is an easier experience for her. The easier and more enjoyable eating is for her the more likely she will be to do it better on her own.

So close...

We are so close to having Charlotte come home BUT she just isn't quite ready yet. She is still not taking all of her feedings by bottle and that is the only thing holding her back. The doctors aren't really sure why eating from the bottle isn't clicking for Charlotte since babies her age normally have figured it out by now. They are also saying that Charlotte just doesn't seem as alert and hungry as they expect her to be at feeding times.

As always, they will draw her blood on Monday and make sure that everything looks normal. The only level they have been really watching is her iron level. If her iron level is low she may be anemic which may be the reason why she isn't eating as well as expected. Keep your fingers crossed that the blood test come back normal and Charlotte is just taking her sweet time.

6 lbs!!!!

Hello, it's Dad again. As soon as we walked into Charlotte's room on Tuesday, I saw that she had reached the 6 lb mark. Hard to believe that she has doubled her weight in a little over 7 weeks. She tried taking a bottle while we were there but she would have no part of it. Charlotte kept her eyes closed to tell us that she'd rather sleep than eat. Afterwards, we had our meeting with the head neonatologist, head nurse and the rest of the NICU gang. This meeting was planned so that they can inform us of Charlotte's progress thus far, any areas she needs help in and what we should expect. It was a bit daunting at times but it is always good to hear the doctor say that he is happy with her progress. The only thing she is "slow" on right now is her bottle feeding. They aren't concerned at the moment but if she doesn't pick it up by next week, they may have to run some tests. That of course worries Mom and Dad so we had a little talk with Charlotte afterwards to remind her to work hard on the feeding part. The doctor also mentioned again to us how preemies can be susceptible to some developmental issues, which always puts a scare into us, but the hospital actually has a program which will keep in touch with us, track Charlotte's progress and work with Charlotte if needed. It is comforting in knowing that the hospital will still be there when we need them after we take our girl home. So it seems that we'll be spending some of our Thanksgiving with Charlotte in the NICU but that is OK. We're already thankful that she is here with us, healthy and just looking so damn cute. Did I mention that my little girl is cute?!?!?!?!

Stubborn little girl!

Charlotte continues to improve and gain weight. She is now 5lbs. 13 oz. Hopefully by Thanksgiving she'll be our 6lb. Butterball! The only thing that has changed is she now has to eat her formula within 30 minutes. Before they gave her 45 minutes to eat but they have shortened the time so she has more time to rest in between feedings. They are hoping that this will give her more strength to eat from the bottle.

Our little princess has decided that she likes to be fed when she doesn't have to "work" for it. She will eat from the bottle but she rarely will take the whole feeding that way. She is just fine getting fed through the feeding tube. The little stinker doesn't know that once she masters 'Bottle Feeding 101' she gets to go home! If she only knew the accommodations at home are much more luxurious than the NICU!!

Not much is new with Charlotte but the doctor has upped her feedings to 50 ccs. Since she has been gaining weight like they want, they have dropped the calories from 24 per feeding to 22 per feeding. She'll remain at 22 calories per feeding as long as she continues to gain weight. Besides that everything remains the same.

As you can tell by the pics - she likes to sleep a lot!!

Chunky Monkey

Our little girl is getting bigger by the day and is up to 5lbs 11oz and is 19 inches long! She is also measuring in the 15 percentile for her age for weight and height. I was told that some preemies aren't even on the chart so for her to be in the 15 percentile is great!

I met with the head nurse who caught me up on all the things that have been going on with Charlotte. She passed her hearing screening - good news! The eye exam that Owen talked about in a post was passed with flying colors - good news! She is up to 4 feeds a day by bottle - good news! Of the feedings by bottle, she eats about 75% before they need to finish via the feeding tube - good news! Charlotte still has not had (knock on wood) and breathing episodes that have needed intervention - good news! The nurses think Charlotte's Mom is so nice and laid back that they ask to watch over Charlotte - GREAT news! I know, I know, they say that to almost all the moms but it is still nice to hear!! :-)

I can't wait to get out little girl home so please continue those positive thoughts and prayers. Hopefully with a few extra prayers she'll be home by December. Thanks!!

Charlotte is up to taking three feedings a day by bottle. She still is not taking an entire feeding by the bottle but the doctors and nurses want to build up her strength so they are pushing her a little bit. While I was there this morning they changed the type of bottle she is using to one that has a faster flow. They are hoping that Charlotte won't need to work so hard and she'll start to take the entire feeding by bottle. She got really close today and took 38 ccs! She's getting there...hopefully it will 'click' soon and she'll be eating with no problems.

There hasn't been really any new news on Charlotte for the past couple days. Her breathing has become much more of an involuntary action as her brain is now more developed. She has gone a whole week without having a Brady where the nurses needed to intervene. She has had a few but she recovered on her own!

She is still learning how to eat from the bottle. She is getting better but she needs to get stronger so she can take the whole feeding that way. She is up to 48 cc's per feeding but she is only taking about 1/2 of that by bottle. Charlotte only attempts the bottle twice a day as the doctors don't want her to expend too much energy during feedings. Once she is able to take the entire feeding by bottle and maintain her weight they will give her the bottle more often during the day.

Charlotte's big news is that she is up to 5 1/2 lb.s!!!! She is getting chubbier cheeks and has a little chub on her fingers and toes. She is fast becoming our little pork chop!

The doctors still can't say when Charlotte will be able to come home as everything is up to her right now. Since her breathing has become more stable the main focus is now her eating. They want to make sure that she can eat everything by bottle and still maintain her weight. They have to remind us that she is only 36 weeks and she is right on target so we just have to be patient. Easier said then done since she is so dang cute and we just want to get her home!

Steady Progress

Our little girl continues to make progress. She took two partial feedings by the bottle today. It was a little less than she did yesterday but she ate it in a shorter amount of time. We just need to build up her endurance so she can take the whole feeding via bottle. She is still at 44 oz per feeding but she is tolerating that amount so they might up her again shortly.

The best part is that she hasn't had a Brady, that needed nurse intervention, in over two days!! Her heart rate and oxygen levels have dropped a couple times in the past 24 hours but she recovered on her own and the nurses didn't need to help her. She is at about the age (36 weeks) were the part of the brain that controls respiration is fully developed. This doesn't mean that she won't have any more Bradys but hopefully they won't be as severe.

Growing like a weed

Charlotte is over 5 lbs.! She is up to 5lbs. 1oz. When we were there yesterday she spit up a little on her outfit. As good parents we didn't want her to sit in dirty clothes so we decided to change her. We took out another preemie outfit and started to put it on her when we realized that she was too big for it! Yay! She is starting to grow out of some of her preemie clothes.