Sweet as P-I-E

Chappy refurbished Peyton's dragster wagon from way back when she was little and he and Nana brought it to Camden on Tuesday for their play date. The sun was out so they took it for a spin. Looks like he's a huge fan of the wagon!

So happy together!

Here's our first ever family picture as 4, and also one of Blake holding both of his babies for the first time ever this afternoon. We were very happy that Camden didn't try to cream Landry, although he did grab her face once! So far Landry's been sleeping almost the entire time since we got home, so we're sure to be up ALL night long!

We're home!!!

After 7 pretty long days we're finally all home - together - in the same house! Aunt Haley and her sweet friend Michele came by and did a little decorating before we got home. Camden was pretty interested in his little sister, but he was in desperate need of a nap, so hopefully when he wakes up we'll have some brother/sister pictures to post. So far he's tried to pet her head and grab her hand. We're very excited (and maybe a little nervous) to see how it all goes down!

The Cookie Monster and Peek-a-boo

Camden was especially excited to see his afternoon cookie today!

This is Camden's version of peek-a-boo. He doesn't quite get his face covered sometimes. He's still cute as heck though.

The news we've been waiting for

Landry's coming home tomorrow!!!

My biggest baby

Camden and I had a little cuddle time before he went to bed tonight. We needed it. I've never, ever left him as much as I have in the past week. We're normally together 6 days a week. I think he's really enjoying playing with all his people (so far he's had Nana and Chappy, Pop and Dee, Aunt Dodie, Aunt TK and will have Aunt Beth with him tomorrow), but he definitely knows something's out of whack. He's sweet to me and then cracks me in the head or pulls my hair. At least there are sweet moments in the mix!

Tubeless and no longer topless!

Today was a good day for Landry. She got the tube out of her nose and they finally got her dressed. We also got moved into a less fancy room, but it has a TV. We still can't get anyone to give us a good idea of when we can go home, but I guess that's typical. She's eating really well and keeping her temperature close to where they want it, so hopefully we'll see even more progress tomorrow!

A lot of Mommy and Daddy time - for one kid at least

We had another really good day with Landry. We spent a lot of time at the hospital, and much of that time was spent holding our sweet baby girl. We got to hang out almost like normal people. Blake took a little nap in the recliner with his baby girl and I got to try to feed her. She ate really well for the speech therapist, but I think maybe I was too gentle with her. We were really surprised when they said a speech therapist would be in to feed her. I thought maybe she had a little extra time and fed the babies when she didn't have any speech therapy to do. It turns out (and many of you probably know this) that they evaluate the baby's suck, muscle tone and all sorts of things. It's very interesting. Landry ate 50 ccs in 8 minutes with her, and that was with a couple of breaks the therapist made her take. It looks like our baby isn't so coordinated when it comes to putting sucking, swallowing and breathing together. She recommended that they continue to bottle feed her in the hopes that she'll get better at it if she's given more of an opportunity. When I fed her she didn't act entirely interested, so I gave her back to the nurse who coaxed her to finish most of the bottle. Maybe we can get it together tomorrow. Blake just talked to the nurse on duty who said she did pretty well for her 8 o'clock feeding. She's maintaining her temperature well, and if she keeps that up she'll get moved into a regular crib later tonight.

We had to attend a discharge class this afternoon. It was basically a mini-class on infant CPR that's required before you can take your baby home. That sounded promising at first, but we still think it will be the end of the week before we get to bring her home and introduce her to her big brother.

We hated to give Landry up tonight since we were still able to hold her, but we were really anxious to get home to Camden. I got to thinking about it and realized that we haven't been here in the evening to put him to bed since last Wednesday. How sad is that? We're ready to get Landry home and find out what our new normal is!

Carrie did such a dang good job at keeping everyone updated, that she didn't even need me to help. I did manage to get a few different pictures than they got so I figured I would share those.

I love that one

Morning report

We called NICU at 3 a.m. to see how the bottle feeding was going. Landry took 32 ccs (just over an ounce) in 23 minutes at 11 p.m. without getting stressed, but that apparently didn't impress them much. The nurse said it wasn't bad, but it wasn't really all that great either. They tried again at 2 and she took 45 ccs (1.5 ounces) in 10 minutes, but she got the hiccups and it stressed her breathing. The nurse thinks she may be having tummy aches because her poo has been pretty loose and watery, but that could also be from the antibiotics she's been getting. They decided to put a teeny tiny tube in through her nose down into her tummy so they could alternate bottle feeding with tube feeding until she's regulating her breathing better for the bottle feedings. The nurse did say that she's regulating her temperature really well, so they've been able to turn the heat on her bed down. They're still planning to remove the IV line from her belly button today. Hopefully cutting out the antibiotics will solve the poo issue. We'll update more after we see her today.

A really good day

We called the NICU this morning and got a really good report. They had lowered Landry's oxygen to 21%. The nurse told Blake that's what you and I breathe from the air, so she was down as low as possible. They still had the flow (how fast it blows into her lungs) at a 5, but expected to lower it also. Blake went to see her this morning while I stayed home with Camden to see if we could kiss and make up. After he clocked me in the face first thing this morning and made me cry (we think he was trying to take my glasses off), I thought I might better spend some one-on-one time with him. It turns out that once he was forced to hang out with me because I was the only person here he decided I really wasn't so bad. He was giving me kisses before too long, so I think he's forgiven me for leaving him.

Dr. Manchandia made her rounds while Blake was at the hospital and told him that they were going to remove Landry's oxygen tube and try to remove the feeding tube and give her a bottle in the evening. We made sure we were at the hospital for the 5 and 8 o'clock feedings to see if they would let us give her the bottle. Unfortunately, since they removed all the oxygen support her breathing was a little labored, so they didn't want to stress her further by removing the tube. They still plan to remove it at some point, but it will be one of the overnight feedings that we can't be there for. We were packing up getting ready to leave when I made the comment that I really couldn't wait to hold her. The nurse, Melissa, said "do you want to hold her?" I was shocked that she even asked the question, since at one point one of the nurses had asked us to not even touch her. She got out some blankets, bundled Landry up, made sure all her cords and tubes weren't compromised and then put her in my arms. It was really sweet. It really felt like I was holding her for the first time, since we held her for such a short time on Thursday. We both got to cuddle and rock her and her breathing immediately improved while she was in our arms. She just needed her mommy and daddy!

Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to hold her all we want. If the bottle feeding goes well and they get the IV out of her belly button like they plan we should be able to have a lot more cuddle time.

We'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

We're home - 3/4s of us, anyway.

Blake and I got home about an hour or so ago. It was sad leaving the hospital after having a baby without a baby, but Landry's doing so well that it's hard to be upset right now. If she weren't improving I think WK Security would probably have had to remove us from our room. It also helps that we really needed to see our big baby! We'll be going back up there a little later to kiss her goodnight.

We got a report from Dr. Manchandia, the neonatologist, before we left. She said that they would increase her food and decrease her oxygen daily as much as she would tolerate. The nurse said that there are quite a few requirements for letting her go home, besides getting her respiratory rate where they want it. She's being fed through a tube going down her throat into her tummy, so she'll have to learn to suck on a bottle before she can go home. They put a pacifier in her mouth while they feed her so she thinks she's accomplishing something, so hopefully "nippling" won't be a big deal. She's going potty just fine, so that won't be a problem. There are several other things that I can't think of right now. My brain is pretty much mush, so it's kind of hard to process all the information they give us. This is just an educated guess, but the nurse thinks we're looking at 5 to 7 more days before we can bring her home. It'll be tough, but we'll manage, and hopefully in a week or less we'll bring home a very healthy baby girl.

In Camden news, I don't think he was very happy to see me at all. He was napping when we got home. We went in to get him when he woke up and he just laid in his bed looking up at both of us like we were complete strangers. He finally stood up and got excited to see Blake. He's still a little unsure about me, but I guess it'll take a little while to get back into our routine. Blake's enjoying having a daddy's boy right now, so at least somebody's happy!

NICU/Dermatology Clinic

Our little girl has monkey toes!
And she likes holding her Daddy's hand already.

When went up to see Landry this morning she was WIDE awake just hanging out. The nurse came in and said she had one more baby to feed and then it was Landry's turn. We checked her over and sang her the good morning song. Her respiratory rate is really getting a lot better. They decreased her oxygen again. They started out at 60% on Thursday. It was 43% yesterday and is down to 37% today. I changed her diaper again and it was FULL of her very first poo. We learned that it's a little difficult to change the poo diaper of a little girl in near darkness, especially when there are wires and cords and tubes getting in the way. It was pretty comical.

When Maria, the nurse, came back in to feed Landry she had to check the tube going into her tummy to make sure it was in the right place so she didn't fill her lungs up with milk. She started pulling the tape off of her face and I said "her little mole is under there" and just about that exact moment she said "Oh! It came off!!". After I quickly inspected her face and realized nothing was missing except the little skin tag I started laughing hysterically. Landry didn't make a peep. Maria started apologizing saying how embarrassed she was, to which I responded "it works for me!" I never liked that mole anyway. So anyway, we had a little neonatal care and minor cosmetic surgery this morning. See, Willis Knighton South really IS the place to be!

Dr. Dyess is on call for Dr. Pineda today and just came in to say he's going to let us go home. It'll be a little while, but he said I can put on my street clothes! We'll have to work out a schedule for visiting Landry and getting back in the groove with Camden, but I think we're both ready to take on that challenge - and sleep in our own bed!

Can you say "firecracker?"

Sorry I promised a lot of posts and haven't delivered. We've had a lot of company and I even found time to doze off a couple times.

We just got a pretty good report on Landry. The nurse gave her 10 ccs of water, and because she tolerated that so well she got 10 ccs of breast milk and formula at 2. She'll get another 10 ccs at 5 and if all goes well they'll increase the amount she gets tomorrow. They said they're seeing more respiratory numbers under 100 than they are over 100, which is very reassuring. They expect to see more 90s tomorrow, 80s after that at so on. She might not be all the way in the 60s by the time she goes home, but the pattern should indicate she's heading in that direction. I finally got to change her diaper, which is the most physical interaction we've had with her since they took her from us yesterday. She's already produced twice as much urine today as they wanted her to, which is another way her lungs will continue to clear. We're really glad to finally get some news that isn't "no news is good news".

Earlier today I walked in and she was pitching a big, fat, loud fit. She pulled her nasal cannula out, tried to pull the tube out that goes down into her stomach, and kicked the pulse thingy off her foot. She has quite an attitude to go with her red hair! When I just went back in she was throwing another really large fit. They think that she's wanting a little more than 10 ccs of food at a time. While I hate that she's mad, it sure is good to see some regular baby behavior coming out from behind all those tubes and cords. She's quite a firecracker!

Almost 24 hours old

We went up to the NICU about 7:30 this morning to see Landry. The nurse said she had a pretty good night. There's been no huge improvement, but there's also been no decline, so we'll take that as good news. The nurse asked us not to touch her because her breathing became more labored when she was stimulated, so I just got as close to her as I could and we had a little conversation. Blake was watching the monitor while we were having our girl talk and her respiratory rate consistently stayed between 30 and 50 almost the entire time. When the nurses came back in it spiked back over 100. I think she doesn't care for her Friday nurse much! She probably overheard the lady telling us not to touch her! I commented on how hard it was not to touch her and she decided we could hold her head, but that we still shouldn't stroke her or anything that might get her excited. I understand the need for her to stay calm, but it just seems to me that being in her mother's or father's arms might be beneficial. But what do I know?

She was apparently giving them hell this morning for not feeding her yet, which is what got her all excited in the first place. They expect her to start trashing her living arrangements soon and a that point they'll give in and let her eat. They'll have to feed her through the tube going down into her stomach until she's strong enough to suck. She's getting sugar and fluids through her IV, so she's not actually starving, she just thinks she is.

I'm going to eat my breakfast now, but seeing as how all we have to do is visit the NICU and sit around and look at each other, I'll likely be posting pretty often.

Apologies

Good morning. I tried to send a mass-email out last night and it appears that it was sent because I'm getting bounced mail, which means there's a chance I sent it like a thousand times. It kept hanging out in my outbox with windows mail telling me something about the bellsouth server not being able to send it. So basically, if you got it 10 times I'm sorry, and if you didn't get it at all, I'm also sorry. I'd like to blame it all on drugs, but I'm down to Motrin at this point, which I'm pretty sure doesn't cloud my judgment! We're using an Alltel Wireless card for access and it doesn't care for me too much. Or maybe it's just my pictures - who knows!?!

We'll be going up to visit Landry at 7 when the NICU opens for visitors and will give you guys an update. I'm anxious to see how pretty she looks today!

Landry has arrived!

Sorry for posting so late. We've had quite a day. Landry arrived at 10:16 this morning. She weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces (an ounce more than her big brother) and is 19.5 inches long. She has a ton of strawberry blond hair and made a very rapid entrance into the world! She's having some respiratory problems so she's going to be spending a few days in the NICU. Her respiratory rate was higher than her heart rate, which was not cool. It should be 30-60 and it was going into the 130s. They're keeping a very close eye on her and she's in the best of hands. She's really made a lot of progress today, which is very encouraging. I'm sorry if this information is a little cloudy, but the pain medicine has me pretty jacked up right now! I'll post some tomorrow when I can think a little clearer. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers that have been sent our way today! Here are some pictures.

Definitely on for Thursday

We went back to the OB today for another check today. I'm not quite 3 cm dilated, but my cervix is very soft (which thrilled Dr. Pineda to no end), and that's good enough for him to keep us on the schedule to be induced Thursday. We have to be there at 4 a.m. Dr. Pineda told me to stay off my feet as much as possible, which would not be at all possible if I were here alone with Camden all day tomorrow, so I've called in back up. I have to let Blake get one more day of work in, so my mom is going to babysit us both tomorrow. Haley had to babysit us on Sunday, so I'm feeling a little inadequate, but I'll get over it. I'm going to do my best to take it easy, because as anxious as I am to get her here, I'd really prefer to wait until Thursday at the appointed time. Now watch her surprise us tomorrow! Girls . . .

Ankles, where have you gone?

I once had ankles. They were nice ankles. My cousin Katie longed to have ankles like mine, though she wouldn't want what I have to offer these days. Sometimes it's fun to put on tight socks just so I can get a glimpse of what my ankles used to look like. How's that for pathetic? Just for grins I give you the definition of cankles:

The area in affected female legs where the calf meets the foot in an abrupt, non-tapering terminus; medical cause: adipose tissue surrounding the soleus tendon, probably congenital, worsened by weight gain and improved in appearance only by boots. From the English "calf" meaning wide portion of the lower leg, and "ankle" meaning slender joint of leg with foot.

Am I destined to suffer this abrupt, non-tapering terminus forever, or will this too end in a few more days?

Blake's new baby

SAFE Planning opened up an office in Sarasota, Florida a few months back. Steve is going to be manning the Florida office while Blake runs things back home. Since there's going to be so much traveling going on they decided getting some wings of their own might make the commute easier. Something about them flying around in a small plane scares the bejesus out of me, but I'm trying to be a big girl about it. Here's what they ended up with:

Blake wants to learn how to fly it, but I'm going to do my best to put that off as long as possible! I can think of two really good reasons why he shouldn't get all wild and crazy with his life these days. And just in case any of you are wondering, we ARE NOT planning a move to Florida in the near future.

Landry v. Camden

No, it's not a featherweight title fight, just a comparison of belly size.


This is Landry minus 5 days. 37 weeks, 3 days gestation.

This is Camden minus 1 day. I was 38 weeks 5 days, I think.

No baby yet

No, we haven't had the baby. I think Haley was just practicing for when we do. And it never hurts to make a tired, fat, achy lady feel a little better about herself!

Because I Can- by Haley

Carrie added me as a contributor so I can update for her while she is in the hospital taking it easy. ;) So I thought I would take this opportunity to hijack her blog, and make her rethink letting just anyone have free rein over it. Kinda makes me feel powerful actually! I may just have to dig up a few deep dark secrets to reveal. Just kidding- I would never give those away.....but maybe I would sell a few--- do I have any takers????
To be perfectly honest, when Carrie told me that she was pregnant the first time, I was kinda concerned. Well not kinda, really concerned. She has always been a wonderful aunt, but the aunt that had never had children. She has amazed me and then some at how well she jumped right into "Mommy Mode" I have seen her give Camden nothing but patience, and love. Seeing her with her son actually makes me want to be that kind of mom. The kind that is slow to frazzle and quick love. She has been nothing short of fantastic and Camden and Landry are so blessed to have her as their mom. And I am equally blessed to have her as my sister! I love you, Carrie and can't wait to be in awe of you again!

**I give her 20 minutes before she revokes my contributorship!

Enough of that girl stuff!

Back to the normal blog posts! Camden enjoyed his big boy bath with Daddy tonight. He's quite a ham! I included the after-bath, curly-headed picture for Dee and Nana since they enjoy his curls so much.