Operation Preemie Parade

Clara passed her car seat test and is set to be discharged tomorrow morning after her 10:00 a.m. feeding! The doctors are so optimistic about Clara's departure that they asked us to clean out the hospital freezers and take home our remaining milk supply. (There was a lot there from when the power went out in August). We don't want to jinx things, but we believe we'll be able to get our sweet baby girl tomorrow.

Thank goodness we now have a deep freeze in the basement!

We anticipate completing the discharge process around 11:15 - 11:30 and being at our house around Noon for Clara's Homecoming Parade! Just to set everyone's expectations, there won't be any floats and the parade route won't be long (the length of our front walk), but it is going to be one of most memorable celebrations we'll ever have. Unfortunately we will not be able to pass Clara and Wilson around and let people hold them (doctor's orders), but we are excited for them to meet so many of the people who helped them (and us) through this journey. We also can't have too many people in and out of our house because we have to be very careful about exposing the kids to germs. We'll have some drinks and snacks outside and, of course, plenty of hand sanitizer. We can't wait to bring Grand Marshal Clara home to celebrate our stay in the NICU finally coming to a close. 

Get ready for Operation Preemie Parade - you down with OPP?

Past Due

Today is our due date.

Tomorrow Clara and Wilson will be 14 weeks old.

Those two sentences succinctly describe our first pregnancy; so much unexpected, but so much for which we are grateful. As with any anniversary or date of remembrance, our due date caused us to reflect on this journey. There is still some pain, but those wounds are being healed by the joy and relief of finally bringing our babies home. We will shortly reunite Clara and Wilson and have our first night together as a family. The joy in that seemingly simple accomplishment is immeasurable, regardless of what the future holds.

There is also relief in knowing we should no longer be pregnant. Especially early on, we grieved over losing our pregnancy. As of today, we can no longer harbor such thoughts. Now we can focus all of our attention on walking out of the hospital, bringing Clara and Wilson home, and starting a new kind of craziness. Thanks to prayer, love, support, and a little bit of luck, that is exactly what should happen in the next few days.

And it looks like Clara is coming still coming home on Saturday! We went to the hospital today and learned how to operate the heart rate/oxygen monitor and administer her breathing treatments. As long as nothing bad happens, we will pick Clara up around 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning and should bring her to the parade route (our driveway) by noon. We hope to see you all there. Please check the blog tomorrow and Saturday for updates.

Chris received training on how to connect
Clara's oxygen/heart rate monitor when she comes home

Our pregnancy isn't the only thing past due. We are also starting to get behind on writing thank you notes. We are embarrassed we have not done a better job staying on top of this and want you to know we plan to complete our thank you notes soon before Halloween by Christmas before Clara and Wilson are old enough to write the notes themselves. All kidding aside, we hope you accept our tardiness as further evidence of exactly how much we need and appreciate your generosity.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!

Sorry for the bad song reference in the title, but the attending physician told us today we might be bringing home our sweet little Clara this Saturday! We could have gone with "Saturday Night Live" or "Saturday Night Fever" and chose to go with a cheesy song by the Bay City Rollers. Did we mention we're sleep deprived? 

As we know from going through this with Wilson, anything can and will happen. Just because the doctors think she will come home on Saturday doesn't mean she will be ready on that day. However, we are all moving forward as if Clara will be joining us this weekend.

Clara's departure from the NICU will be a little more interesting than Wilson's because she will require extra care. On Thursday, we have to go to the hospital to learn how to administer Clara's breathing treatments. Clara will also come home with an oxygen monitor. She is breathing on her own but we need to be able to see how well she is breathing so we can react quickly and appropriately if there are any problems.  

Regardless of what accoutrements Clara brings with her, we cannot emphasize enough how excited we are about the prospect of her joining us at home. Wilson had an amazing recovery in the NICU, but Clara's story is nothing short of miraculous. Clara's amniotic sac ruptured at 24 weeks, she was born breach in an emergency delivery at 26 weeks weighing 1.5 lbs, was briefly on a ventilator, and contracted MRSA while in the hospital. Yet here we are, standing on the precipice of bringing home a beautiful 5 lb baby girl.

Clara has fought so hard for so long that we've decided to try something special to mark the occasion. Balloons and a sign aren't enough to welcome her home; we need to have a real celebration. The NCAA, Trivial Pursuit, and Jeopardy all credit the University of Missouri with having the first ever college homecoming celebration. Chris and Morgan are both proud graduates of the University of Missouri (where Homecoming is still a really big deal) and, in a nod to their alma mater, have decided to throw a homecoming parade for Clara whenever the big day arrives. Ok, the "parade" will probably only last the length of the driveway, but everyone is invited. We are lucky to have had so many of you join us on this journey and it would be awesome to have you with us as this initial phase comes to a close. Morgan is paranoid about putting our address on the internet so email, call, or leave a comment if you need directions.

There is still a long road in front of us, but getting Clara home from the hospital is worth celebrating. We won't be able to have too much of a party because we can't have the kids in a confined space around many people, but we would love to see you if you're able to stop by. We truly could not have made it to this point without our friends and family and would be honored to share this moment with you all, even if it is somewhat brief. Watch the blog for updates because, as you know, we won't know exactly when she'll be arriving until closer to that moment.

Wilson is so excited about seeing his sister that
he peed his pants (which he somehow manages to
do in the front and back of his outfits).

Three months down, (hopefully) not too much more to go

Unbelievably, Clara and Wilson turned three months old over the weekend . . . and what a difference a month makes. When they turned two months old, both kids were in the hospital with feeding tubes. Clara was also dependent on oxygen and had just received her first dose of steroids at the two month mark. Now, Clara is breathing and eating on her own and Wilson is quickly taking over our home.

 

 

We thought we would have BIG news to announce yesterday, but as usual, Clara decided to change our plans. On Saturday evening, the doctors and nurses told us we might be able to bring Clara home on Monday (today) or Tuesday (tomorrow). This sudden change in direction seemed too good to be true, and on Sunday, Clara proved our suspicions correct. Shortly after her mid-morning meal, Clara's heart rate plummeted to 43 beats per minute. The common name for a sudden drop in heart rate is "bradycardia" - known as a "brady" - but 43 beats per minute is dangerously low. The infant CPR instructors tell you to call 911 and administer CPR at any pulse below 60 beats per minute. Fortunately Clara recovered without needing CPR, but her potential departure date has been pushed back several days. We still think there is a chance she could come home late this week or this weekend, but we'll have to wait and see how well she recovers.

Yes, we were upset, but we also do not want Clara having these kinds of episodes away from the hospital. She is doing well today and hasn't had any drops in her oxygen or her heart rate. We'll continue to closely monitor her progress and hopefully she'll being doing well enough to come home before October.

It's Game Time!

Get 'em started early.

**UPDATE** - Wilson, get used to being a Kentucky fan during football season. Don't worry, basketball is just around the corner.  

Biggie of the Smalls

Wilson had a big day. It started with an early trip to the pediatrician's office to check his weight and see how he is adjusting to life outside the NICU. Wilson has been eating well and weighed a whopping 5 lbs 5.5 ozs. The doctor was happy enough with his weight gain that we don't have to go back for another three weeks. Clara has yet to reach 5 pounds, which officially makes Wilson the Biggie of the Smalls.

"Throw your hands in the air,
like you's a true player"

After his doctor's appointment, Wilson made his first trip to his grandparents' house! I don't know who was happier, Wilson or Grandma (we're calling her "Mimi," but still aren't 100% sure it will stick). As hard as this has been on us, we sometimes forget it hasn't exactly been easy on our parents either. Today, Morgan's mom got the chance to feel like a "normal" grandparent for the first time. She took Wilson for a walk in the stroller, had his crib and cradle ready, and was able to show him off to any visitors. Morgan's Mom has been at our house every day to make sure Chris could go visit and feed Clara, and it was nice for her and Wilson to have a little change of scenery. Judging by Wilson's attitude tonight, he didn't want to come home. Don't worry Wilson, we hope you spend many more days (and nights) with your Kentucky grandparents . . . . :)

Wilson's great-grandfather made this cradle.
Too bad NONE of those skills were passed on

Clara also had a good day. It has been 24 hours and she is still without her feeding tube. Hopefully Clara will continue progressing and get back on track to join us at home. And if she is at all hesitant to come home with us, maybe Wilson can tell her how cool it is at their grandparents' house.

Delirious

No new parent gets much sleep. That is of some comfort as we stumble through much of our day half awake. Chris was so tired she fell asleep pumping on the couch yesterday. Morgan looks so bad one of his friends told him if he shaved his head he would look like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family. Last night however, our fatigue reached its zenith. After Wilson's first late night feeding (around 1:00 a.m.) we were able to get him burped and put him to sleep with some ease. Wilson is pretty consistent on his feeding schedule and only eats about every 3 hours, but we give him formula during his night feedings which helps him sleep a little longer. (The doctors ordered us to give him formula twice a day, so we give it to him at night so we all get a little more sleep). 

It was in the dead of the night, about 3:30 a.m. that Chris officially became delirious. She woke up in a panic and started shaking Morgan while urgently asking "where's Wilson!?!" Morgan was delirious enough he thought he had lost him. Rational thought never entered our heads. We recently moved Wilson into the room next to ours but we have a video camera trained on his crib. We also have a Halo monitor attached to his diaper that will beep loudly if it doesn't detect Wilson breathing. The kid has everything but a life jacket and an electric fence to keep him safe. Had we been thinking, we could have looked at the monitor on our bedside table and gone back to sleep. Instead, Chris bolted out of bed and ran to Wilson with Morgan hot on her trail. Of course Wilson was there, sleeping soundly. We're total idiots . . . or just delirious . . . or both.

These people are nuts. How much longer until I get
to go back to the NICU?

Wilson is doing well and we have another check-up with the pediatrician tomorrow to officially see how he is progressing. Not that Clara would want to come home to this loony bin, but we think she is trying. This morning she ripped out her feeding tube, so the doctors and nurses decided to let her try to take all of her feedings naturally again. Clara needs to continue gaining weight and getting stronger to be able to come home, and that will only happen if she tolerates her feedings. Hopefully this time it goes a little smoother. As we are writing this, she is still off oxygen and is either nursing or getting all of her food from a bottle.