She's huge!

Myla had her four month check up yesterday. She tipped the scales at EIGHT pounds, 7 1/2 ounces. And she stretched out to an even 20 inches long. She's huge! When he plotted her growth on the chart, it was almost a straight up shot! Along with the check up came four immunization shots and a prick on the big toe for iron levels. That was not fun. But she didn't scream as loud or as long as some of the other kids we've heard in there. All in all, the doctor said that she was doing great, and she looked like a normal little baby. He was very happy with her growth and told us to just keep doing what we are doing. And he doesn't want to see us again until her six month check up!

She had a home oxygen test today to see about kicking the oxygen habit. They wanted to test her while she was eating, awake and sleeping to see what her saturation levels were. She did really great on the first two, and then her levels tanked when she fell asleep. So, dad made a call to the supply people and ordered one more month of oxygen.

She's a pretty good baby. She's started really watching things with contrasting colors and even tracking us a little bit with her eyes. She's really strong too. Her little head is up a lot and she kicks like crazy with her legs. Almost shot herself off mom's lap one day. She loves to swing and talk to her Carebear that her Aunt Aimee gave her in the hospital. She loves it when we sing to her too - maybe remembering from our time in the NICU. She's just an awesome little being.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our big little girl is doing so well! She went in for a shot on Saturday and weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces! She is just growing and eating, just like she should. She's even started cooing a little bit which is a nice change from all the grunting.

We went for a check-up with the eye doctor today. Her left eye has developed stage 2 ROP, but her right eye is holding steady. The doctor wasn't concerned about it, he just said we'll continue to watch it. So, we go back in two weeks! While we were waiting for her eyes to dialate, we met another NICU mom (not from our NICU, but we're all part of an elite club now.) Her twin boys were born at 28 weeks, and the smallest one weighed 2 pounds 2 ounces. He just got discharged four days ago. She was shocked when I told her how small Myla was, cause she looks so big and healthy now! Sometimes we look at her and are so thankful for the fight she had in her to be such a big girl now.

We've started putting her in her crib for her daytime naps. Its kind of a trick to find a place for the oxygen tube where she can't yank on it. But she does well once she gets to sleep. She looks so tiny in her crib. But she's almost four months! Where has the time gone!

Doctor Updates

We went to the doctors yesterday as promised. Her peditrician says that Myla is doing "really, really good." He was impressed with her weight gain - she's 7 pounds 3/4 ounce now! Her oxygen test went well too, she stayed in the upper 80's, but we still have the Tin Man with us for three more weeks. They like to see mid-90's on oxygen saturation. So, when we go in for her four month check-in, we'll try again!

Her eyes are starting to get better too. The blood vessels have moved into stage 3, which means they are growing again, and the ROP is now back to stage 1 in both eyes. We are still watching that too, and will go back in two weeks for another check-up.

She looks so big sometimes and is starting to be more awake and focused. The peditrician told us to talk to her all the time, tell her what we are doing when we change her clothes and diapers and so on. This helps her get a grasp on the language. Her dad was so cute last night, "and now I'm going to snap you up, one snap, two snap, three snap!" She watches us too when we are talking to her. I can't wait for her to start cooing and talking back! Its going to be so much fun!

3 month anniversary

Today was the three month anniversary of Myla's birthday. She's so big compared to then! We had a good little family day to commemorate the occasion. Myla went for her first walk with the dog - don't worry grandmas, she was good and bundled - she got a bath and we took a brief pause to snap this picture of her without the oxygen in her nose. She is so cute!

Next week is the doctor rounds. It will be another test for the oxygen levels, another eye exam and another morning of everyone saying how cute she is. Ah, darn. ;o) Cross your fingers with us that the eyes are starting to really resolve and - no offense Tin Man - that the oxygen is gone. We had some more tanks delivered today, just in case though.

Right now, our little girl is snuggling up to her dad after a little late dinner. She loves to snuggle and be held. Johnny and I were playing a game tonight and she sat right there on my lap and just watched. She's so much more alert and awake. She's been home almost a month now and time has really flown. We think of the first nine weeks a lot and are so thankful with each passing day that she was such a fighter and that she continues to amaze.

Myla reaches zero!

Today is Myla's due date, she is officially zero now. Ok, so she's actually three months, but in terms of her development, this is the zero point. I'm sure she will start doing things so fast we won't be able to keep up with her. Good thing we got that video camera last night.

Myla's week of doctor's appointments went good. She looks great (so says the doctor) and weighed 6 pounds 3/4 ounces on Thursday. We also measured her at 18 1/4 inches. Her eyes are stable, which means even though they aren't getting better, they aren't getting worse either. That doctor said that in most cases, at about 45 or 50 weeks, it just suddenly goes away and the baby is fine. Its hard to imagine we have to wait another 5 or 10 weeks, but if that's what we have to do...

So, we go back to both doctors in two weeks. This week, Myla gets to rest and grow. She is still attached to the Tin Man. In fact, they almost bumped her up after the first test to an 1/8 of a liter, but after the second test decided to keep it at 1/16. But she looks great and is really a little growing machine. We are having so much fun watching her grow and change. She's such a little miracle and we are so thankful every day for this bundle of joy.

Getting in the swing of things.

This week Myla weighed in at a whopping five pounds, ten and a half ounces! That's six and a half ounces in one week, so she's got a pretty good average going on so far. She's starting to make more noises lately, different sounds than the grunting and snorting we're used to. It's all very cute though, no matter what it sounds like. We've been enjoying our time being parents to such a wonderful little baby, yah, we lose a little sleep every night but I think it could be a lot worse. I'm sure teething will be a blast!.....

Everything elese seems diminished next to caring for and loving Myla-bug. We're cleaning and putting all the baby stuff somewhere, really, I don't know where it all goes. This week I get to be home during the day with Myla since I'm doing overnight inventory at work for a couple days, I'll have to try and sneak in some sleep but we'll see how that goes. This week is also the first week Kara works part time to spend more of it with our baby girl so we'll have to see how that goes too, but I'm sure it will be fine.

A big week planned for Myla too, she has two doctor's appointments on Thurday, hopefully they both go well. It's expected to fine but being parents we just worry a little 'cause we love her. Hope everybody likes the blog eventhough it's not a daily thing anymore, there's just not enough time but we will update the big events especially.

Enjoying ourselves

We've become such slackers on this blog huh? I won't lie to you, its because we are so enjoying our little girl home with us that we just haven't even turned on the computer! Myla is doing great. She's getting bigger - we can see it. We've been doing some good tummy time with her to help her build muscles in her neck and shoulders. She's doing pretty good at it too. Its crazy to think that she shouldn't even be here yet and here she is stretching her neck and lifting her head.

This week is pretty quiet - next week is all the doctors appointments. She does get another round of RSV vaccine this Saturday. Its a shot once a month for the whole RSV season, which is until about April. Up until now, all the shots have been done in the hospital when we were not around, so I don't know how I'll do with this. I know she's going to scream, how could she not!? I guess I'll just have to bring her home and love her. Ah, nuts. ;o)