Jamison Nicole Conway

1 down....99 more to go!

2008-08-09T22:55:00.014-04:00

Happy Birthday to me! I know, this post is coming a week after the fact and I told mommy that everyone wants to see my birthday pictures...but she told me to be patient! Doesn't she know by now that I'm not patient...if I was, I wouldn't have decided to come into the world 3-months early!

So let me tell you about my birthday! My birthday was last Saturday and daddy had thought it would be nice if we went to visit the nurses in the ICN. I thought this was a great idea...I missed my friends in the hospital. I saw a bunch of people that I recognized but I didn't see any of my primary nurses. I was starting to get bummed but then I heard someone say "Hi peanut!" Only one person calls me peanut and that's Patty! I was real happy that she was in work that day because I didn't get to say good-bye to her when I left the hospital. I didn't see Meghan or Kim, but Patty said she'd tell them I said hi. Patty and Meghan are going to have little peanuts like me soon! I'm real happy for them, I hope they have helathy babies just like me! Patty told me to come back and visit again and I think I'll take them up on the offer, I'm sorry that I didn't stop in when I was down there for my follow ups. I will definitely visit when I have my follow up eye exams!

After the visit at the hospital Oma and Poppy came over to our house and they sang to me. They tried giving me some cake but I wasn't too fond of it. It kind of reminded me of the paints I play with at school and they're icky!

Sunday was my birthday party! I got dressed up like a fairy (mommy and daddy refer to me as their TinkerBell) and I had a fairy themed party. Keri and Courtney even dressed up and wore fairy wings! I was feeling a little bit under the weather during my party. I was pretty cranky...I'm just now starting to feel better. They gave up on trying to give me cake so instead they tried giving me a cupcake. I still wasn't having any of it...they'll just have to try to get me to put my hands in it next year.

Here is a general update on what I've been up to since my last post. I weigh 12lb 14.5oz and I am 25.5 inches long! I am crawling all over the place but my real passion is walking! Don't get too excited, I can only walk while holding my mommy or daddy's fingers, but I won't be needing them soon. I can pull myself to standing and I can cruise along the couch (I'm still kind of slow with this but I'm getting there). Tony and Danza (my cats) are beginning to get nervous whenever I'm around...they never know when I'm going to get their tail!

I know you're all not going to be happy with what I'm about to say...but this is my final entry in the blog. It has been a great year, although at times I know things seemed scary, especially those first few months. I thank you all for your continued prayers. If you are interested in knowing how I'm doing, please feel free to call or email my mommy or daddy and my grandparents.

It's been awhile....

2008-07-11T07:42:00.020-04:00

I know it's been awhile and I apologize but I'm trying to ween myself off the blog. After today I will be doing one more entry around my birthday and that's all. There's just too much going on for me to be filling you in all the time!

Let's see....I had my first family vacation during the 4th of July week! I went up to the Poconos with mommy, daddy, Keri and Courtney for the week. Towards the end of the week Oma and Poppy showed up. It was a great vacation! It didn't start at so great though. The Saturday before we left I had to go to the doctors, I had an ear infection! I must have gottent it from the daycare because it was the first time I've been sick since I was born! I'm all better now though, they gave me some medicine that I had to take....good thing it was tasty! They weighed me when I was at the doctor's office too....I weighed 11lb 13.5oz! I'll be 12 lbs before you know it, probably even before my birthday!

On our first day of vacation mommy, daddy and I went to eat breakfast at the diner (this was before we picked up my sisters). They sat me in the big kid high chair there! This was so neat...I felt like I was hot stuff! I could see all around me and I could even play. This is so much better than having me lay in my car seat all the time! While on vacation we went miniature golfing, went to the beach and saw fireworks. I actually didn't see the fireworks but I sure did hear them! I don't like the fireworks, they scare me!

I'm almost beginning to crawl now too. I get so frustrated when I can't reach my toys or Danaza (one of my cats). I even get upset when mommy and daddy put me down and I just want to go to them. I try to get them but I can't! I then start crying to get them to come back over to pick me up...I'll be getting there soon though! I must say I do prefer standing up. I like to hold onto someone and pull myself up. Who knows, maybe I'll learn to walk before I crawl...I just need to learn how to balance myself first....this may take some time.

First Phillies Game!

2008-05-01T12:31:00.014-04:00

I know, I know...two new blogs in two weeks, what's going on!! Well I've been doing some things, that's what's going on!

This past weekend I went to my first Phillies game with Mommy, Oma, Poppy, Uncle Tommy and Keri. We went to Pittsburgh and I had such a great time...

The wierdest thing that happened to me during the trip was that I got to meet Elvis! Elvis, I know, I couldn't believe it either! I must say though that my white jumpsuit was way better than his black one! Who dresses this man!?!

After meeting Elvis we walked around Pittsburgh a bit and had lunch, the game was at night time. This was also cool because it was past my bed time and I got to stay up! Mommy didn't think was cool because I did get a little crank, just a little though ;) Ryan Howard hit a 2-run homer in the first inning, I couldn't believe it, that was so cool to see!

The worst part of the trip was the drive. It was soooo loooong! I was so tired of being in my car seat. I am SOOO SOOO HAPPY that my sisters didn't move out to Pittsburgh, I would never have seen them becuase the drive would be too long to go all the time. I'm much happier that they're closer to me and I can even see them on Wednesdays when daddy goes to visit them. But I'm digressing here...All in all the trip was fun and I can't wait until my next Phillies game!

March for Babies

2008-04-25T07:56:00.006-04:00

Hi everyone,

Mommy, Oma and I walked for the March for Babies this past Sunday in Harrisburg. It was a beautiful weekend! It's for a good cause and we raised a lot of money to help babies and preemies like me :)

I was the smallest (and cutest) baby there! It was great for me because I didn't have to actually walk, Mommy and Oma puched me in the stroller. That was nice because then I got to nap! But we had such a good time that we're planning in doing the walk again next year!

This time we're going to walk in Philadelphia though to try to recruit more members for Team TinkerBell....so I hope to see more of you next year! With a face like this, who can resist!!

Just some pics

2008-03-27T12:52:00.007-04:00

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post some recent pictures of me from the Easter holiday. As you can see, my mommy got all excited and dressed me up (again!). Thankfully there are no more holidays coming up that she can do this to me! I'll let her have her fun this year, but that's it, no more!!

Check out all of us...what are we doing? No one's looking at the camera except my cousin Jen! Keri's sleeping, Kayla is mad and Big Pop-Pop has my skirt up around my chest!

Here is a picture of me and my cousin Caitlin on Easter. The pictures above were from Palm Sunday at Granny and Big Pop-Pop's Easter Egg Hunt. Mommy figured it out, bows are much prettier than bunny ears!!

March for Babies

2008-03-13T14:55:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone!

As most of you may already know, my mommy, Oma, Poppy and I are going to be walking in the March for Babies in Harrisburg on April 20th. This event helps raise money for premature babies like myself. It used to be the March of Dimes, but they renamed themselves. It's also not just for preemies but for all babies!!

If you want to learn more about the cause and would like to join us or sponser us on our walk, go to www.marchforbabies.org/511082 This is the link to our team "Team TinkerBell"! You don't know this but TinkerBell is my nickname...because I'm so cute and tiny like she is!

See you in April!

Snowy Weekend

2008-03-03T08:37:00.011-05:00

It's been about a month since I last wrote to everyone. I am now 7 months old, yesterday was my birthday! At my last weigh in ~2 weeks ago I was 8 lbs 10.5oz, but I figure I'm just over 9lbs by now.

This past weekend I had so much fun! I went up the mountains with my sisters and Oma and Poppy. Mommy and Daddy were there too but I always see them...I was excited to see Keri and Courtney and to play in the snow with them! I made my first snow angel! Well Courtney technically made it, but I asked her to do it for me. I don't have the coordination yet to move my arms and feet in the snow angel position.

There's not much else going on. I have a physical therapy evaluation on Thursday. I'm still pretty stiff so I need someone to show Mommy and Daddy how to stretch me. I'll let you all know how that goes and what the therapist says. Other than that all is good with me!

Attached is a photo of me and Poppy from this weekend...a bunch of people have been asking for them! I can see why, my Poppy is one handsome man!

See I am Big!

2008-02-06T08:48:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I bet you're all excited to see me on here today...that means I have some updates!

I saw my new friend Ava the other day and I'm a big girl when I'm next to her! Ava was born weighing 5lbs. All of her clothes are way too big for her so my mommy and I went over to let her borrow some of my preemie clothes that I out grew. Hee-hee, already we're sharing clothes, I wonder what it will be like when we're teenagers!

When I saw Ava she weighed less than 5lbs though, she was 4lbs 12oz. I don't ever remember being that small! She was so tiny, I felt like I could have eaten her! Speaking of eating...the doctor said that I'm allowed to start eating cereal and any stage 1 foods that I want to! I'm excited that I can start eating big girl food now. Not that I don't want any more of mommy's milk but to be honest, I'm getting tired of just drinking milk! It's going to take me a little while to get used to eating from a spoon though but it sure is fun trying! Making messes is fun! So far I had rice cereal and bananas...I really like the bananas!

At the doctors visit yesterday I weighed 8lbs 4.5oz and am 20 3/4" long! The doctor said that I am gaining weight and growing beautifully! The first thing she said to me was "It looks like you have some meat on you!" I'm still not quite on the growth chart yet. Meaning I'm still small for a typical 3-month old (3M is my adjusted age). But I should be on the chart at my 9-month.
Today is my mommy's last day home before she goes back to work :( We're going to have a good day today. I need to get my naps in with her, I won't be able to sleep on her again until Saturday...she's so comfy!

7x myself!

2008-01-22T13:31:00.000-05:00

Wow! I am now practically 7x myself from my birthday! On Friday I weighed 7 lbs 10 oz! Can you imagine if I was 7x myself if I was at a normal birth weight...ha-ha, I'b be like 42 lbs now!

I have a developmental follow up tomorrow down at my old stomping ground at PA Hospital. I hope to see some of my favorite nurses there. So Meghan, Patti and Vildan, if you happen to read my blog tonight I hope to see you tomorrow! I'll be there ~11:00!

In addition to getting bigger I have been doing some more things. I smile more often now, I have also found these wonderfully delicious things that fit perfectly into my mouth! I think they're called hands...but whatever they are, they're so good! I have also been sleeping through the night. This is good for mommy and daddy...that means we all get a good nights sleep!

Not much else has been going on...I'll update again this week to let you all know what the Drs say tomorrow about my development!

Happy New Year!

2007-12-29T19:12:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone!

I'm sorry it's been awhile since I last wrote. Since my last post some things have happened. I had my first Christmas. That was a lot of fun! I spent the holiday with ALL of my family. Keri and Courtney were over...Santa came early again so we could all have Christmas together. I met all of my cousins on my daddy's side of the family and I saw my Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop and aunts and uncles again. And I saw everyone on my mom's side of the family. Although, I still haven't met everyone there yet. I keep on seeing Kayla though, she's funny, she reminds me of Courtney!

I weigh over 6lbs since my last post! My last weight form the doctor was 6lbs 3.5oz! I probably weight over 6.5lbs by now...I don't go back to the doctor again for a little while so I won't know for sure.

I can now smile on my own now! I smiled at mommy and daddy for the first time the day after Christmas. I don't do it too often though, but I can smile even when I don't have gas! And I tell you what, that sister of mine cracks me up!!!

All in all, this next picture summarizes my holiday...it was exhausting! I can't wait until next year!

I'm not going to writing in very often anymore. I want to focus on getting into some routines at home and on getting bigger and stronger! I will continue to post from time to time when I reach major mile stones or when something fun and exciting happens so continue to check back often. Until my next post, I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Keri and a Special Visitor...

2007-12-16T14:34:00.000-05:00

Saturday was Keri's birthday! I didn't get to see her, but I did get to sing to her! I waited until everyone else was finished with their singing then I sang my version of Happy Birthday! I thought it was pretty good myself. Keri is 11 years old! She's so big! I wish I was able to see her on her birthday, but I did get to celebrate with her the weekend before. Happy Birthday again Keri, I love you!

I had an extra special visitor on Saturday as well! I was surprised because he's very busy, especially this time of year. I must be very special for him to come to see me. At first I thought it was Big Pop-Pop coming to see me. But then I noticed that his beard was longer...that's when I realized that it was Santa Clause!

It's only a little while longer before Santa cmes to my house this year! He told me though that I need to be asleep before he comes to visit again, so I better make sure that I sleep real good for mommy and daddy that night! I asked him how I'll know what night it is and all he said was that I'll know and he winked at me!

Weight updates...

2007-12-12T09:12:00.001-05:00

On Friday I had my weigh in...drum roll please...I weigh a whopping 5 lbs 11.5 oz! I'm a big piggy! I'm going through another growth spurt too because all I'm doing is eating...constantly!

Now you're probably wondering why I titles this post weight updates, plural. Well it was just by chance that I found out what Sophie weighs! She coms in at 8 lbs 4 oz! She's a monster compared to me!

Now you're probaly wondering how I know this about Sophie. Well, my mommy and I were watching the news today and we saw them on Action News. Sohpie's Christmas tree got stolen right outside her house! They got the tree, set it outside to bring some things into the house, they were in the house all of 5 minutes and when they came out to get the tree, it was gone! We're happy to report though that Lowe's stepped in and gave them another tree along with some lights and decorations for it and a gift card for some other stuff. I'm glad that Sophie and her family will have a Merry Christmas just like me and my family!

Attached are some more holiday pictures....mommy and daddy put me in a stocking! It's a good thing they didn't hang me over the fire place, the song would have gone something like this "Jamison roasting on an open fire..."

Early holiday pics

2007-12-05T14:28:00.000-05:00

I like to get dressed up and get my picture taken...NOT! Mommy likes to dress me up and take my picture! I sometimes let her do it other times I cry. Here are some early holiday pictures that Mommy took of me yesterday. I'm sure that there will be LOTS more to come in the next few weeks until Christmas, but here is a little preview...

Like my "old man" pants in the pictures above!

And we're done for the day!

Funny pics...

2007-12-04T11:12:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I'm sorry to say that there isn't much of an update. I don't know how much I weigh, I will get an official weight on Friday. I can tell you though that I'm out of the preemie diapers! I'm not quite out of the preemie clothes yet, they are however just starting to fit me real well! I'll be out of the preemie everything real soon! Mommy and Daddy do put me in newborn size clothes, but they're big on me.

Since there's not much of an update I decided to post some pictures. These were taken on Sunday, my 4 month birthday. Sunday was going to be my first trip to church. I was dressed up in a nice dress and everything, but then we looked outside and there was snow! I decided to stay home and take the dress off and relax instead! So here are the pics...enjoy!

Getting ready to sneeze and mid-sneeze!

"I like your sleeves, they're real big!"

Ok, that's enough picture taking for me!

Ok, just one more!!

Hawaii Five-O!

2007-11-25T21:31:00.000-05:00

Hello there!

I believe that I am the big Five-O now! I got weighed last Tuesday and I weighed 4lbs 14.5oz. After Thanksgiving though and all of that turkey, stuffing and pie, I should definitely be 5lbs! I don't have a doctors appointment at all this week so I won't know until the end of next week what I weigh. What do you all think, think I look 5lbs?

This past weekend I went and helped pick out our Christmas tree this year! I really couldn't see the tree that I helped pick though, I was bundled up and was all cozy up against mommy. You can see my head in the picture, that's about all! I don't care, I was warm! I figure I can see the tree after it's decorated...

I've been following voices and mommy and daddy with my eyes a lot better now. My neck muscles are stronger too because mommy gives me tummy time. I don't like tummy time that much, I'd rather kick around when I'm on my back! I like trying to stand too, that's fun. I feel like a big girl!

1st trip to mountains!

2007-11-18T21:15:00.000-05:00

Hi everybody! I hope you had a good weekend because I sure did! I went up to Oma and Poppy's mountain house. We didn't do a whole lot, just the standard eating, sleeping and pooping! I was told all of the things that I can do when I'm up there...like go to the playground, swim in the lake, go sledding and so much more! Unfortunately it's too cold to go to the playground or swim outside. We also need snow to go sledding so there wasn't much luck there. Mommy and daddy were also telling me about the other things I can do in the snow such as skiing, snow boarding and of course making snow angels! I think I'm going to make LOTS of snow angels, one for evey angel that gave me a kiss! I couldn't wait for it to snow! I think God heard me too, because today it snowed! I'm not big enough to actually go outside and play in the snow just yet :( I'll have to ask my sisters to help me with the snow angels the next time it snows and they're with me.

Have a Happy Thansgiving!

Angel kisses...

2007-11-12T20:38:00.000-05:00

I went to the doctors today again for another weight check. I weigh 4lbs 8oz, just another half pound to go before I reach 5lbs! While at the doctors mommy and daddy asked about some other things as well. One thing in particular they asked about was a red mark that's between my eyes. It's pretty faint but will darken when I make certain faces like my infamous poopy face. The mark has been there since I was in the hospital. The doctor told mommy and daddy that it was an "Angel kiss". It must have gotten there from my guardian angel that was watching over me in the hospital...and of course from everyone else's guradian angels who said prayers for me.

This past weekend was the first time I slept in my first big girl bed at home (the bassinet not the crib). Prior to that I've been sleeping in a "Moses basket". I was told the story about Moses and daddy kept on telling me not to worry, that they wouldn't put me in the water.

I don't know, this kind of looks like water to me, don't you think!

It's ok though, I actually like the water...bath time is relaxing!

Where's Jamison?!

2007-11-06T09:46:00.000-05:00

See if you can find me in the picture!

If you can't tell, I'm the baby on the right, the baby to the left is my friend, Jamie. We went shopping and bought matching outfits!
My weight as of yesterday is 4lbs 3.5oz! The doctor wants to see me start gaining an ounce a day....that's going to be a lot of work! I guess I need to stop shopping and start eating more!

Halloween, Uncle Tommy's B-day and more...

2007-11-04T21:02:00.000-05:00

Wow, so much has happened since I last wrote! I had my first Halloween! Yes, I was Elvis! Mommy dressed me in the flashy suit again. It didn't fit that much better from the last time I wore it, but I still looked cute! I had my first treat for Halloween too...mommy was dressed just like me!

The day after Halloween I had two doctor's appointments. Well, one appointment really, my eye exam and the other was a "feeding study". The feeding study was first, this was at Pennsylvania Hospital, my old stomping ground. They weighed me there and I was just over 4lbs! I'll get an official weigh in tomorrow when I go to the pediatrician for a weight check. But the best thing that I found out when I was at PA Hospital was that Sophie went home! She went home on Halloween, just the day before! That was the best treat for her and her family! I was so happy when I heard that she went home!

After the feeding study (this isn't important by the way, it's just for research), I went over to CHOP for the eye exam. There was more good news there waiting for us! My eyes are improving! I still need to go for follow up exams but I won't go back for two weeks. This is really great news!

Friday was Uncle Tommy's Birthday! I'll always remember his birthday because that is the day I was supposed to be born, Nov 2nd. Instead of it being my birthday it was my 3-month birthday! Can you believe that three months has gone by already, I can't!

2nd Homecoming!

2007-10-27T14:09:00.000-04:00

I'm finally home home, I made it to Macungie! The car ride was nice, Oma sat in the back seat with me. She kept on talking to me, it mde the ride not seem so long.

I had my first doctor's appointment as soon as I got home. Well, it's not really my first because ever since I was born I've been around doctors and nurses. But it's nice not having to see them everyday! But all went well with the new Dr. I go again to see her on Monday. Oh, and I have to go back to PA Hospital on Tuesday for one last eye exam there.

When I got home I was so surprised! There was a nice welcoming! I had a BIG sign and lots of balloons! My neighbors did all that for me! I can't wait to meet them, that was really nice of them to do that for me!

Mommy and daddy showed me around the house. They showed me my room first! Let me just say I love it! I saw the green chair mommy used to talk to me about. Oh I think I'm going to like spending time with her on the chair. It looks so comfy! Daddy then showed me my "princess bed". It's HUGE compared to me! I can't wait until I'm bog enough to sleep in it!

They then showed me a bunch of my new things. I realy like my smaller bed. It plays all kinds of music and sounds...it also had some lights and flying things that I could see! It was really neat, I hope I get to spend some more time in here!

It's taking me a little bit getting used to my new house, but I must say that I love being home! Oma spent the weekend with me too! I hope her and poppy come back often to visit! Now that I'm home I'm not going to have much to report on. I will cotinue to blog every once in a while, especially if I do something exciting or when I reach milestone marks, such as 4lbs...so make sure you check back often. I'm not going to blog everyday, I want to spend my free time with mommy and daddy, especially now before they have to go back to work :(

Keri & Courtney

2007-10-24T21:16:00.000-04:00

Today I saw my sisters and guess what...they held me!! This was their first time too. They weren't allowed to hold me at the hospital. They did a pretty good job too! They also brought me a present. They, along with their mom, bought me a really cute outfit! I thinkI'm going to save that as my Thanksgiving outfit it's so pretty!

Other than the girls holding me not much else happened today. Well, except for the poop explosion I had on daddy today! That was funny!! It reminded me of the good 'ole days when I exploded on Oma. Courtney is lucky she wasn't changing me...she wanted to too.

I'm going to have my 2nd Homecoming tomorrow! I can't wait to see my house, especially my room!

1st Homecoming!

2007-10-23T22:08:00.000-04:00

I did it, I finally made it home!! Today I left the ICN and made my way home. Well, partially home, I stopped off at Oma and Poppy's and I'll be here a couple of days until I head to my house in Macungie!

I'm sad in some ways because I'm going to miss my nurses at the ICN: Meghan, Patty, Kim, Dianne, Vildan, Chris, etc... :( I saw Meghan today but no one else :( I'm sad I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone else. I'm going to miss my friend Sophie too, she's still in the hospital. I hope he gets to go home real soon. I wish I could tell her now how wonderful it is to be held by mommy and daddy ALL the time. I bet if she knew that then she'll get better so her mommy and daddy could hold her all the time too!

I went home without any monitors! The Dr said that during my sleep study I didn't have any Bradys or apneas. He hasn't had a sleep study come out this positive in years!

You know what, today was the first time I've been outside since I've been born! I wasn't out for very long. It's a lot different being outside, it's much louder and brighter and bumpier! Mommy sat in the back seat with me while daddy drove. She wanted to make sure that I was ok in my seat because I'm still so tiny! By the way, my weight leaving the hospital today was 3lbs 13oz, just 3oz shy of 4lbs!

I had a few visitors today. Besides Oma and Poppy (they live here so of course they'd be here) , Granny and Big Pop-Pop stopped by and this other thing was there. It wasn't a human that's for sure but I don't know what it was!

I'm excited for tomorrow, Keri and Courtney are going to come see me! They're going to get to hold me for the first time too! I'm so excited I can't fall asleep, I think I'll keep mommy and daddy awake with me too ;)

I'm going home!!!

2007-10-22T10:59:00.000-04:00

It's official, I'm going home!!

I don't know what else to say I'm sooo happy and excited! I still just have a few more tests to have run but I'll be going home tomorrow!!

Great News!!

2007-10-22T07:28:00.001-04:00

On Friday I said I was hoping to have great news and guess what, I do! You're not going to believe this but I might be going home tomorrow!! I'm so excited I can hardly stay awake!

I'll know later this morning if I can go home or not. It all depends on what my caffeine levels are. They need to be less than 5. Five what, I'm not quite sure, I really don't care. I've been thinking of things that are less than 5 all weekend: 2 parents, 2 sisters, 4 grandparents, 2 uncles, 3 aunts, etc...I'm hoping thinking things that are less than 5 will help!

If my caffeine levels are less than 5 then I'll have my sleep study test, this will determine if I need to be sent home with a monitor or not. I'll also have my car seat test, this is to make sure that when I'm in the car seat I can breathe right.

So please continue to say after me "less than 5, less than 5, less than 5" and check back later in the day for an update. I won't make you wait until tomorrow to find out if I'm home or not!

Oh, other good news, I had my hearing exam on Friday...both of my ears passed! I'll have my follow up eye exam tomorrow morning.

3 more ounces!

2007-10-19T08:24:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it, I gained three ounces in one day! I'm up to 3lbs 10oz! This eating until I want to stop eating is good stuff!

Not much happened yesterday. I nursed from mommy again...we're both still getting the hang of it, but I think we're doing a pretty good job.

Since nothing really happened I figured I'd show you some of the faces I make throughout the day...

These are some of the faces I make when anyone is holding me:

This is my poop face!

This is me when I wake up...I just love to stretch!

I hope everyone has a good weekend...hopefully when you come back on Monday I'll have some great news to share!

Piece of cake!

2007-10-18T07:42:00.000-04:00

This nursing business is a piece of cake! I knew that I was going to like nursing from mommy much more than eating from the bottle. It's pretty easy too...I just hope next time mommy comes I'm more awake! I tried waking up but I guess I ate too much at my earlier feeds becuase I wasn't very hungry. But I know I did a good job because everyone around me was saying so! Now that mommy and I know what we're doing, we're going to do this eveytime she comes in to see me!

I've been continuing to gain weight in the open crib. I'm up to 3lbs 7.2oz, only 9 more ounces to the big Four-O! Any bets as to when you all think I will get there??? The one who is the closest can come visit me when I'm home!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2007-10-17T07:17:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to the best daddy in the whole wide world...Happy Birthday to you! I love you so much and I can't wait to see you today so I can tell you that in person!

For my dad's birthday my gift is me tripling in size! I was so excited that I had to give him that present a little early, I reached that goal last night, now I'm 3lbs 6oz! Whoo-hoo! If you forget, here is a picture of me from my birthday and one of me from last night. What a difference! I'm still tiny, but I feel like a giant!

For anoother one of my gifts today, I'm going to try nursing from mommy! That's just one more step closer to being able to leave here! That will be the best birthday present of all, but that will be my belated present to him
:-)

He Lives!

2007-10-16T07:32:00.000-04:00

My mommy is a little strange...she decided to dress me in my Halloween costume a couple weeks early. It's still a little big so she said she'll try dressing me in it when I'm a little bit bigger. I don't even know who she's dressing me up as. She told me that it was "Elvis", I don't know who that is! All I know is that I have these huge glasses on me! I can also feel some stringy stuff, I like the strings, they feel nice! This Elvis guy sure knew how to dress!

I had my eye exam yesterday. Right now they are slightly abnormal. That means that I have some small blood vessels in my eyes. The more blood vessels that I have, the higher the risk that the retina can detach which will then cause blindness. So say some prayers for me that the my eyes correct themselves. I don't want to be Ray Charles next Halloween!

I am on full botte feeds now and the green tube is gone! I have problems with some feeds but that's because my acid reflux is acting up. Sometimes it just hurts too much to swallow
:( Please say a prayer for that too...

Big girl bed!

2007-10-15T07:38:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a good wekeend because I sure did! They moved me to the big girl bed yesterday! They also took the nasal canula off again! I may not be permanantly out of my house, but they're trying to see how I can handle being out of it. So far so good...they will constantly check my temperature and weight. If they see that I'm staying the same weight or if I'm losing weight they'll put me back in the house. But if all is good, they'll take the house away forever!

The same goes for the nasal canula. If they see that I'm breathing too fast they'll put it back on. Although, I don't know how that helps. They're not giving me any extra oxygen. I think I breathe a little fast when they take it off only because it feels weird with nothing on or in my nose! Ever since I was born I always had something there, it's all I know!

I currently weight 3lbs 5oz (1510g)! I gained 2 ounces since Friday. We'll have to see what I weight tonight to see if I get to stay in the big girl's bed! Oh, I almost forgot...I'm now eating a whole ounce of milk too!

Suck-alot-n-poop!

2007-10-12T07:21:00.000-04:00

Let me begin by saying that I'm not going to brag anymore about how well I'm doing. Why? Because the day after I brag, I revert back to the way things were before...example: the nasal canula was off, then back on the next day...I switched to the regular flow nipple, then barely feeding from the bottle at all.

That's what the deal was yesterday. I had a tough time eating from the bottle. I kept on desating and would Brady, I just couldn't do it. I'd like to say it was because I wasn't feeling well because of the shot I got the day before, but that's not really it. The nurse said that I have a common dilemma for preemies in what I'd like to call "Suck-alot-n-poop"! (I can't remember the medical term, something like gastroblahblah reflux). It is just what it says it is...when ever I suck from the bottle, I have to poop. The sucking stimulates my bowels and I can't figure out how to eat and poop at the same time. I don't think it can be done! I hope to out grow this...if not, I don't think I'll be going out on too many dinner dates when I'm older! Dad may be happy about that though ;) Anyway, I asked mommy and daddy not to take a picture of me like that, I'm not at my cutest...

Ok, so it doesn't happen at every feed because I can manage to get some milk down at times but it hasn't happen lately. Oh and another thing...I'm supossed to be sleeping all the time now. That's one of the reasons why they moved me to North. It's much more quiet without all the beeps and the quietness is to help me sleep so I can focus on growing! So that's what I'm going to do this weekend...sleep, grow and suck-alot-n-poop!

So big!

2007-10-11T07:19:00.000-04:00

Wow! I can't believe I'm 10 weeks old today! I feel sooo old! I think I'm one of the oldest babies in the North Nursery. I think Sophie is the oldest but she's going to be going home soon. I guess it'll be up to me to keep all of the new babies inline!

I've been doing much better with my bottle feeding. They moved me to the regular nipple now. That slow flow nipple wasn't doing anything except making me tired! I had to work so hard to get any food. This one is so much better. Although, I am still sleepy when I take the bottle. I think because they increased my food to 26mLs now, that when it's time to eat again I'm just not hungry. That's a lot of food still for my little belly! But all the food is worth it, I'm up to 3lbs 3oz now!

I had my Hepatitis B shot yesterday :( Only one more shot to go...I do but I don't want the next shot. I do want it because then it means I'll be going home shortly after (they said I'll get it when I'm ready to go home), I don't want it because it'll hurt!

It's back on...

2007-10-08T23:55:00.000-04:00

It was too good to be true...the nasal canula is back on again :( I was breathing way too fast so they figured it would be best to put it back on for a little while. They're starting to try feeding me with the bottle every other feed now depending on how I'm feeling at the time. If I'm awake or if they can wake me up they'll feed me. I think I would have been good last night when mommy fed me but my food wasn't ready so I started falling asleep. When the food came I just didn't have the energy, I was so sleepy!

Don't I look so different without that green tube hanging out of my mouth! I need to start getting real good with my feeds so they can take it out forever! I must say though, I am pretty good at getting it out myself ;) When I'm outside being held, I look around a lot. Things look so much different! And the sounds are so much clearer! I'm not very fussy, at least not now. Now I'm content just hanging out in mommy's or daddy's arms just checking things out. Oh and Keri and Courtney, I won't tease you about the boys you like...BUT if you tease me you better watch out because the game will be on!!!

Three pounds and more!!!

2007-10-07T20:55:00.000-04:00

My G.U. Joe told me that once I reach three pounds I'm getting a sweater. Well guess what, he better pay up because I reached three pounds over the weekend!! Whoo-hoo!!

That's not all that happened this weekend either, let me tell you...

I drank my full feed from the bottle 3x over the weekend...

They turned the temperature off in my house, I'm still in it though, they're just seeing how warm I can keep myself...

I don't have the nasal canula anymore, my nose FINALLY has a break...

That's a lot of stuff for little me! I'll be home before you know it!

Here's some little more details about the bottle feeds. Everytime I took the bottle this weekend I didn't Brady at all. My oxygen saturation levels did but only just a little bit. They then came back up quick. This usually happens when I hold my breath in the beginning or when I need to burp! I did this when I was off the canula! I think I did better with my feeds being off the canula than when it was on. I know I didn't like that thing for a reason! Also, today, I took a whole bottle at 5:00, that's anhour earlier than I normally eat. I must have been hungry, they better start feeding me more!

I think if I do well tonight without the canula, I'm pretty sure they're going to keep it off. Before you know I will be in that open crib! That's a lot to be happy and smile about!

No more shots, please!

2007-10-05T07:05:00.000-04:00

I started getting some of my immunization shots and boy to they hurt! I got two last night and two more the night before! I heard that I'm due for even two more after that! I don't think my little legs can take it anymore :(

I'm just truckin' along here. As of last night I weigh 2lbs 15oz (1320g)!! Just one more ounce to go and then 16 more after that :-) The extra food should start to help out. Two more mLs have been added to me feeds so now I'm taking 24mLs. I'm still just doing the bottle feeds 3x a day. Last night I took 9mLs from Mommy. I'm hoping by the end of this weekend that I'll get it right. Well, let me rephrase that. I have it right, I just don't always have the energy to suck hard enough for the milk to come out. The longer I try the more sleepy I get so I have to stop.

Oh, I think last night was the last that Nurse Kim is going to take care of me :( I was happy to see another familiar face when I moved into North, but she said that that was only because someone else was out. I hope she comes to visit me from time to time.

First full bottle feed!

2007-10-04T07:06:00.000-04:00

Yay! I had my first full feed from my bottle yesterday! It wasn't a FULL bottle, but I drank my shares worth! It was at my 3:00 PM feeding. Afterwards, I slept real well, I slept like a baby ;-) I bottle fed again at 9:00 PM but I only had half of the feed. That wasn't too bad...I think I'm really starting to get the hang of it. Now I just need to learn how to burp better! The lack of burping is what makes me Brady. I wish I got that ability from my sisters too, but I hear that their burps come out the other end, hee-hee!

As of last night, I weigh 2lbs 13oz (1280g). I am also 36cm which is approximately 14 1/2", I gained almost 3" since birth. I guess that's not too bad.

I hope to have pictures posted later on today, Daddy has the camera and he's not near a computer right now. But I look pretty much the same as yesterday, I just have a different outfit on :-)

Go Phillies!

2007-10-03T07:23:00.001-04:00

Today is their first playoff game. Unfortunately I don't have any Phillies clothes or hats :( But I do have my rally towel that's on my house! That should help them today!

There isn't much to report on. I'm still practicing with the bottle. I say practice because I don't always get any milk out of it! Like yesterday, when Mommy was feeding me, I kept on sucking on the bottle and when Mommy looked, I only took 4mLs! By the way I was working it looked like I should at least have had 10mLs gone! I'll be practicing more today. I had another eye exam yesterday and I'll have it again in two weeks. My eyes are still immature...

Sophie's back!

2007-10-02T07:47:00.000-04:00

Last night when I woke up I looked over and I saw a big baby. One just left the other day and now there's someone new. I bet she's going to go home soon. I was looking all around and I saw Mommy, Daddy and Nurse Kim things were normal tonight. I kept hearing Mommy and Daddy mention Sophie. I haven't seen Sophie in a long time, I kept on wondering why they were talking about her. Wait a minute, that big baby is Sophie, Sophie is next to me again! Wow, I didn't recognize her, I bet she doesn't recognize me either! I was so excited that my neighbor was back!

But during my bath I realized something else, there was a baby next to me on the other side. That was new...there used to be a door way next to me...I was confused! Then I was listening...I didn't hear anything! It was so quiet. There were no beeps or alarms going off all the time. It was almost too quiet so I decided to cry to make some noise! Then it dawned on me...Sophie isn't back, I joined her! I'm in the Norh Nursery!! This is so exciting!

Now that I'm in North, I want to be like Sophie, she doesn't have a little house like me, she's in an open crib. I guess that's my next step. I ate 12mLs from the bottle last night! That will help me achieve my goal...oh and I weigh 2lbs 12oz now! This is all just too exciting I can't take it!

Thank you!

2007-10-01T07:58:00.001-04:00

Thank you all so much for all the wonderful gifts! Mommy told me last night about everything that I got, I can't wait until I'm home so I can try it all out! I heard too that I got lots of new clothes, maybe Mommy will wash them soon so I can wear them in here (hint, hint)!

Here's a brief update on me...

I weight 2lbs 11oz! Only 5oz to go for the big 3.0! I have been doing very well on the bottle. I can now take more than 10mLs, the largest amount so far is 15mLs! Before you know it, I'll be in North Nursey. I think they're preparing me for it now though because I don't see Nurses Meghan, Patty, Diane or Kim as much. I hear them from time to time but I don't see them hardly anymore. I guess they want me to get used to other nurses :(

I'll post pictures later tonight...I need to go take a nap!

Two months today!

2007-09-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

Today I'm two months old! I had a pretty good birthday too! I gained 1oz, so I am now 2lb 10oz, I did not have a transfusion (my hemoglobin was up), I took 10mLs of milk from the bottle without any Bradys (go me!) and the Phillies are tied for first place!! All in all I think it was an excellent day!

Today the nurses have been putting me back at 1 liter on the canula, but sometimes they would put it to 2 liters depending on what they were doing. Like tonight, Nurse Kim had me at 2 liters while she bottle fed me. She started me with 5mLs and since I did so well with that she gave me another 5! I hope I get to try it again tomorrow!

Back to 2 liters...

2007-09-26T21:54:00.000-04:00

I knew it was too good to be true, for tonight, I'm back to the 2 liters of pressure on the nasal canula. Nurse Kim put me back on that and I'm glad. When I Brady now I really Brady! Mommy told Nurse Kim that she noticed that I've been doing that since I went down to 1.5 liters the other day. Nurse Kim feels that I may not have been ready for that since I'm anemic right now. I'll be getting blood drawn again tomorrow morning to check my blood count but it looks like I'll be getting another transfusion tomorrow...I'm hoping that this will be my last one! It's been awhile since I had one, but if that's what I need to keep me going until my reticulyte count is up than so be it...we'll all be happier!

North Nursery...

2007-09-25T23:43:00.000-04:00

Well, it looks like I may be on my way to the North Nursery. This is a good thing, although I don't want to go there. I want to stay with Nurses Meghan, Patty, Kim and Diane! They're not in North all the time. The North Nursery is the transitional nursery...this is where the babies go when they're getting ready to go home. Now that doesn't mean I'm ready to go home anytime soon, it just means that I'm not "critical" anymore and I can hang with the big babies! I'm down to 1 liter on the air pressure of the nasal canula. I was at 2 liters and 1 is lowest. If I'm at 1 liter at 21% oxygen without any desaturations, then the next step is to take the canula out! I would breathe naturally just like everyone else! So far so good on the 1 liter...

After the breathing, the next step is the eating. Nurse Meghan tried giving me a little bit of the bottle again today, but I Bradyed. They may try me again tomorrow, I don't know. It's that whole suck/breathe/swallow combination that I can't quite do just yet. I'm still a little bit young though for that though, I hope to master that by the end of next week...

After the breathing and feeding comes the weight. Of course I'll be gaining weight as I master the other two, but I need to be at least 1800g (4lbs) before I can come home. There is a chance that I can come home smaller than that, but I'm shooting for 4lbs anyway. I don't want to be too small, Danza will think I'm a mouse he can play with! Today I weigh 2lbs 9oz!

Got blood?

2007-09-24T23:05:00.000-04:00

I do! I'm starting to keep up my own blood supply now. I'm slightly anemic right now, but I can't get a transfusion because my reticulocyte count is high. If they give me a transfusion then it kind of defeats the purpose of me trying to give myself blood, so we don't want that!

In the beginnings of my feeds I tend to Brady now. This is because of my acid reflux. There's not much that can be done to help this now. I'm not old enough for the medicine yet and I'm still too small for rice cereal. But those would be the next steps to help with the reflux.

Today I weight 1100g, 2lb 7oz! I'm getting there...I think I lost an ounce yesterday on Oma!

Hee-hee-hee :) Waa-waa-waa :(

2007-09-23T22:10:00.000-04:00

It all started out to be a nice, restful, sleepy weekend. It was pretty quiet, not too many visitors came on Saturday. I just practiced eating and sleeping! Oh, they put my feeds back over an hour. I had some desaturations and they were talking about putting me back on the C-Pap, but lucky for me Nurse Patty was there and she SAVED me! Turns out that my acid reflux was acting up with the gravity feeds and I just needed the slow feeds.

Today started out nice too. I met one of Daddy's best friends and my honorary grandmother, Theresa! She'll have to let me know what to call her, I don't want to call her "honorary grandmom" all the time. But I'm lucky, now I have 3 grandmom's just like Keri and Courtney! Wow, there's so many people to keep track of at this young of an age!

Daddy and Mommy both held me today. I was out of my little house for quite awhile! I was doing ok and felt pretty good for the most part. But my tummy was hurting me a little, I was uncomforatble. I had to go poo really bad! I hadn't gone all day. Mommy thought for sure that I had gone, so when I went back inside, she told Oma that she could change me! Oma loves changing my diapers! But, sadly to say, I hadn't gone poo :( Hee-hee, at least not when Oma first checked! While everyone was talking about it and trying to help me out, I shot poo everywhere! Literally, I shot it everywhere especially on Oma! Ha-ha-ha! My tummy felt sooo good afterwards!

What didn't feel good afterwards was my bath! Nurse Patty made me get washed up after the poo episode since my bed needed to be changed. I don't know why I needed a bath though, there was no poo on me, it was all on Oma! Needless to say I didn't like my bath at all! I was screaming so loud that Daddy heard me from out in the hallway! That's how much I don't like baths...Granny even had to go into the hallway she couldn't stand to see me crying!

After the bath I calmed down. The best thing about bath time is when I get to wear a new outfit!

The picture below doesn't quite fit with the story for today, but I'm just too cute to not to share with you all!

Poppy's turn!

2007-09-20T22:16:00.000-04:00

No, not to change me, but to hold me! He was offered the chance to change me but he said he was afraid of the things on me, but he's not too afraid to hold me outside of my little house! I'm not going to let him get off that easy...I'm working on a real big stinky just for him!

There were no changes today. They didn't try to bottle feed me today. I have a feeling Nurse Kim didn't mention it to the day nurse...she wasn't one of my regular nurses. That's ok though, I'm sure I'll do it again real soon, I can taste it! Ha-ha, taste it, get it!?!

First bottle feed!

2007-09-19T12:14:00.000-04:00

I weigh over 1000g now! I'm at 1070g, which comes to about 2lbs 6oz! I'm still doing really good on the nasal canula. I've been having some Bradys but that's normal. They increased my caffeine to coincide with my increased weight. This should help me not have too many Bradys. Other than that there are no changes. Well, just one little change...Nurse Kim wanted to see if I could handle the bottle...and sure enough I did! She only gave me 5mLs for the first time and she's only doing it this one time. She'll have to see if the doctors want to try it again tomorrow. I hope so...that was fun!

You know, one thing I'm not too fond of....baths! Mommy really likes it though. But I don't like it when my face gets wiped, I cry. When I my body gets washed, I cry. I like it when I'm dried off and when I get dressed again. It's always fun to see what outfit Mommy and the nurses put me in next!

E-A-G-L-E-S!!!

2007-09-18T06:32:00.000-04:00

Boo! I tried showing my support by wearing my new hat for the home opener. Maybe because it was the first time I was wearing it and it just threw off the team. I'll have to wear it every game day now so they get used to it...maybe that will help, maybe!

Now an update, I'm still on the nasal canula and I'm doing great on it! My respiratory rate tends to go up only when I'm being held. This is because I'm using some energy to maintain my body temperature but I say it's because I'm excited and happy to be held! I was getting real excited yesterday when I was being held, not so much when mommy was holding me, I'm used to her now, I was more excited when Oma was holding me!! That was a nice treat for the both of us! I must be doing really good, because Mommy didn't even like people touching me, let alone hold me!

I had my eye exam again yesterday too, the results were immature again. That's the story of my life, everything about me is immature :( I hope I'm big just like Sophie, she's in an open crib now! I'm so happy for her but I'm going to be sad when she goes home with her mommy and daddy, I'm going to miss her.

Today they increased my feeds again I'm getting 22mLs of food now. Instead of getting it over the course of an hour, I'm getting it via gravity. They're just going to hang the syringe over my head and let it go! I used to get fed this way but once the feeds increased my belly wasn't happy. It was too much too fast! I really hope that the same doesn't happen today. I think I should be good because my belly definitely has matured, just look at those pictures!

So Big!!

2007-09-16T23:55:00.000-04:00

What a difference just a few days of rest gives me! All weekend long the nurses were saying that no changes were going to be made. I was going to stay on the 20mLs of food and the C-Pap was going to stay on. No big deal, the rest is good for ALL of us! So on Friday you can see that there really isn't much of a change, I just like stretching everytime I get turned on my back! If you notice in the picture below, I graduated to the next size of the preemie diapers! On Saturday, Mommy gave me a bath. I love bath time! This is when I can have the C-Pap mask off for a little while. I know I say this all the time, but it feels so nice! I can't stand that mask! Just look at that big belly of mine! I'm starting to bust out of my shirts now! Big belly and little shirts....

After bath time though the mask went back on :( So on Sunday when Mommy and Daddy came to visit me, along with Oma and Poppy, they were surprised to see me without the mask! They thought that I started "sprinting" again. Sprinting is when they take the mask off and put the nasal canula on for a few hours and then the C-Pap goes back on. They'll do this a few times a day. But nope, not this time...I'm on the nasal canula for good, well, at least until I tell them I need to go back on the C-Pap for some reason. Some reasons may be that I'll start "desating", which is when my oxygen saturation levels go down a lot, or if I start Bradying too much, or if they see I'm getting tired of breathing. But I pray to God that that doesn't happen! I want that mask off for good! I know I can do it, I know that I'm bigger now and with everyones' prayers it will happen!

Oh, and since I grew out of most of my shirts, Nurse Meghan didn't want me to be naked baby, so she put me in this huge hospital T-shirt! Oma needs to make me some new outfits, either that or Mommy needs to buy me new ones!

Feed me!

2007-09-13T23:55:00.000-04:00

Wow! Today they started giving me 20mLs of food! That's a huge jump from the 13mLs I was getting yesterday! Instead of being fed every two hours though I'm being fed every three hours. But I still get fed over the course of one hour...does that make sense? Other than the feeds nothing has changed. The main focus is food, hee-hee, I feel like Courtney when I say that! Today I am 2lb 1oz, wow, I almost doubled my birth weight! Before you know it, I'll be just as big as Sophie (my neighbor) or even bigger at this rate, and she's huge compared to me!! I hope Mommy has enough food for me ;)

Well, I'm going to rest up now for the weekend. If anything real exciting happens I'll let you know, if not assume all is well and I'll get back to you on Monday!

Day of the "Greats"

2007-09-12T23:45:00.000-04:00

Today was the day of the "greats"! My great grandmom (aka Granny) and my great godmother (Aunt Millie) came to visit me this afternoon. They were cute! Nurse Patty was nice and turned me on my back so they could get a better look at me. So I stretched out my ams and legs and woke up for them...I gave them a little show! Mommy even changed my diaper for them. They probably could have stayed all day long if they could! Hopefully they'll come back to visit me again soon...they were too cute!

Tonight my "great" parents came! They both held me tonight. Mommy was told by the doctor that they should hold me once a day, that that will also help me to grow, just like the food. By the way, I'm getting 13mL of food righ tnow, that's almost a tablespoon (15mL) worth! That may not seem like a lot to you, but for my little belly it sure is!

I wonder when I'm going to gt a visit from this "Great Uncle Joe" that's been posting to my blog...

2 Pounds!!

2007-09-12T08:23:00.001-04:00

Enough said...Enjoy the pics! I need to rest so I can gain more weight!

Brief Update

2007-09-10T20:55:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry but there's not much to report on today. I'm eating 12mL of food right now. The Drs said that they will try me again on the nasal canula later this week.

I'm mostly at 21% oxygen, which is if you recall, the same percentage of oxygen that is in room air. Occasionally I need more oxygen, but that's usually when Mommy or Daddy are holding me or when the nurses are doing things to me. Other than that, not much has been happening. I guess that's good because that means everything IS good!

Sorry about the dark picture!

Oma's first diaper change!

2007-09-09T23:06:00.000-04:00

Mommy gave me a bath on Friday night! Nurse Kim helped her out for her first time. She just needs a little more practice and she'll be able to give me baths on her own. She already does diapers by herself! Oma changed my diaper on Saturday! I must say she did a pretty good job...she hasn't changed a diaper in forever! But that's good that she's starting now, she's going to be changing LOTS of diapers soon! Mommy said she can have all of my stinky ones, hee-hee!

I haven't been on the nasal canula since Friday night. My breathing has become slightly labored at times so the Drs are resting me again. So I'm on the C-Pap full time again...this time though I've been between 21-25% oxygen; that's really good! On Saturday they increased my feeds to 11mL! And on Saturday night I weighed 1lb 15oz!!!! Just one more ounce to go (depending on who weighed me)!

The crazy picture to the right, is me with my binky! That's Mommy's arm there, she's holding me!

All Smiles!

2007-09-06T23:47:00.000-04:00

Today I met Big PopPop! He asked me if I wanted him to sing "The Rich Maharaja" to me and I went A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah! Ha-Ha-Ha!

I was on the nasal canula again today for 2 hours and I did very well! I'll have it on again later on tonight, I can't wait! My face feels so much better when that's on!

Mommy and Daddy saw me at night time and Mommy held me again. I wasn't as awake as I usually am but I tried staying awake for a little while. When they were there with me tonight I was all smiles for them! I can hear and understand them a little bit now because when I would hear Mommy ask for a smile and then I would! I may be small for my age, but I'm pretty smart right now!

I tried something else tonight when Mommy and Daddy were leaving. Instead of crying, I tried going with them! Obviously that didn't work out too well, I could only get my leg off my bed...unfortunately this is where it hurts to be small!

A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah: A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah!

2007-09-05T21:25:00.001-04:00

A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah: A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah! I can't get that out of my head! Mommy was singing some kind of crazy song to me while she was holding me today! All I remember about it is A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah: A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah! I guess when I'm older I'll know what it is that she was singing....Oh, she was also singing some song where she kept on repeating "Far Away, Far Away!". I think I like my Daddy's lullabyes better (shhh, don't tell Mommy!)!

I'm doing very good today! They put the nasal canual agian on me, that was much sooner than I expected! The most annoying thing is, none of the equipment they have, fit me! It's all the smallest they have, but it's still too big for me! They should make "extreme micro premie" equipment, sheesh, there's enough of us here! Anywho, I weigh 1lb 12oz today! Only 4 more ounces to go, oh yeah! And, I did awesome on the nasal cannula, I went for 3.5 hours on it! They're going to put it on me again for a little bit tomorow, but this time longer provided I'm tolerating it well!

Daddy saw me tonight! Nurse Patty was telling him how well I was doing today. When he was leaving he noticed that I was crying...he brought it to Nurse Patty's attention. All of my levels (oxygen, heart and respiratory rates) were looking good so he didn't know why I was crying. Nurse Patty told Daddy that it was because I was a baby and babies cry. But this has not been my normal behavior, I usually make one of my levels alarm to let the Drs and nurses know something is wrong. But what it turns out is that I'm starting to let them know something is wrong, just like full term babies do, by crying! Nurse Patty said it looked like I was crying because I was working on a poop, but I know I was crying because Daddy was leaving and I didn't want him too :(

A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah: A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah! A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah: A-ah A-a-a-a-a-ah!

I can see! Well, kinda...

2007-09-04T19:33:00.000-04:00

I've been opening my eyes for a lot longer these days. I especially open them when Mommy and Daddy are holding me, I'm trying to put a face to the voice! It's still all blurry though, so I'm not getting much of a look. I had my eye exam today but it was "immature". That means I'm still too small for them to get any good measurements on them. So, they'll just redo the exam in two weeks. I'm not worried about it though, this test doesn't hurt at all.

Mommy and now Daddy hold me more often. Like I said previously, I try to stay awake as long as I can when I'm with them. I do real good when I'm with them...my oxygen saturation levels stay up and I don't brady! Nurse Patty was telling Mommy today that if my oxygen saturation levels stay up and I don't brady very often, than they'll try me back on the nasal canual again! It won't happen for a little while yet though.

I still weigh 1lb 10oz today, but my feeds have increased to 10ccs. I'm slowly gaining the weight, but for right now I like being small, I want to be able to wear all the new outfits Oma is making me! I hope she knows how to make bigger shirts though! By the way, my head is squished in the previous pictures because of my C-Pap mask! Have I mentioned this before, I can't wait until that thing comes off!

Fun Weekend!

2007-09-01T20:57:00.000-04:00

This weekend was much more exciting than last weekend!

On Friday Nurse Patty said that Keri could change my diaper! I let her get away with an easy one, there was just some pee-pee when she changed me. On Saturday, Courtney got to change my diaper! Ha-ha, when I was in Mommy's belly, I used to hear Courtney talk about the bathroom all the time...so I figured if she talks about the bathroom then she must like poo! And boy did I give her some poo! Not only did I leave her with a poopy diaper, but while she was changing me, I went poo again! Ha-ha-ha, we were all laughing about that!

On Saturday Mommy AND Daddy got to hold me. I started out by being kangaroo held, but I wasn't liking that too much. Nurse Patty then wrapped me up in a blanket...I was happy after that! Mommy held me first and Nurse Patty said that she would take a family picture with ALL of us! I like Nurse Patty too, she's another one of my primary nurses now. After Mommy held me Daddy got to hold me for a little bit...he smells so nice! I can't wait until they can hold me again!

(Sorry that you can't really see us in the picture Daddy, I promise, the next one will be better! I forgot to use the flash!)

Today I weigh 750 grams (1lb 10oz)! I'm being fed my 9ccs over the course of one hour now. The Drs and nurses noticed that after I was fed, I was working real hard to breathe. So they experimented with some things and they found that with this method of feeding I was the most relaxed and comfortable. The added volume of food was just too much for my belly to handle at once.

On Friday they took a scan of my brain to look for blood clots. It came back negative, AGAIN! I say again because this was my third one over the course of my life and all the scans have come back negative. I'm scheduled for my first eye exam next week. They're going to look for blood here too...wish me luck for that test!

(You can't really see me in this picture, but I'm there, Mommy is holding me!)

No more belly button!

2007-08-30T21:40:00.000-04:00

Technically I still have a belly button, it's just not black anymore! What was left of my umbilical cord finally fell off!

My feeds have increased today...I'm now eating 9ccs of milk, but it's still 24 calories. I'm glad too, the 8ccs wasn't filling me anymore. I started waking up and would get all figedty a half hour before my next feed! I was cranky! Now I sleep pretty much in between my feedings. My tummy is much happier now :-)

Nurse Meghan fixed my C-Pap mask too...she noticed that it wasn't on right from yesterday so she fixed me. She put on a different kind of mask too, one that didn't cover my nose. Boy, did that feel nice for a change! That was Nurse Meghan's birthday present to me...I am 4 weeks old today!

Happy Birthday Courtney!

2007-08-29T11:45:00.000-04:00

Today is my big sister Courtney's 9th birthday! As you can see, I got all dressed up for her! I'm wearing my new shirt that Oma made for me! For her birthday I got Courtney a necklace. Mommy and Daddy said that she really liked it. I'm glad too, it was the first gift I had to pick out!

In honor of Courtney's birthday, I graduated to the C-Pap again! I really hope this is the last time I'm on this...I don't want to have to wear the ventilator again. So far I am doing great! At night time though it kept on slipping off of me, but Mommy and Daddy fixed it! Nurse Sue weighed me last night, she said I was 1lb 9oz! I'm getting there!

Happy Birthday Courtney, I love you!

More calories...

2007-08-28T23:00:00.000-04:00

My calorie intake has been increased to 24 calories per feeding. Nurse Kim says that once babies are eating this many calories that that's when the weight gain really begins! She noticed that my weight was 1lb 11oz and she didn' t think that was right, so she weighed me last night. When she weighs me, she takes everythinf off, except the ventilator, so she gets a more accurate reading. She said I'm 1lb 8oz with the ventilator. From now on I'll go by Nurse Kim's weight readings! Unfortunately though, I'm not going to reach my goal of 2lbs by Thursday :(

So far I have been doing very well with my added calories. If the rest of the feedings go well tonight, then I'll get the ventilator out tomorrow! If I don't have any more set backs, I should definitely reach my 2lb goal by the end of next week...I would think anyway.

I'm Sorry!

2007-08-27T21:34:00.000-04:00

Sheesh, I didn't know that missing a couple days of posting would cause such a ruckus! I am thankful that every cares so much! But to be honest, I was resting a lot...the resting worked too because I am now approximately 1lb 11oz! I say approximately because the ventilator adds to the weight. But the resting has also kept away any infections and the settings on the ventilator have been reduced all weekend long! It will be off in a couple more days and then we can get my true weight!

Tonight was fun. I played a quick game of peek-a-boo with Daddy. He would look at me and then I would close my eyes. When I opened them again he was gone...but then I saw him again and I closed my eyes! I think I like this game!

Not much happend to me over the weekend medical wise. On Friday, I had my 4th blood transfusion and the Drs decided to give me more calories to help boost my weight. I am now eating 8ccs (~8mL) of milk which is a whopping 22 calories!

I tried making it a little more fun over the weekend, my goal was to get the nurses to pay more attention to me. On Friday night, the IV line that was in my leg was bothering me, so I decided to kick it out! That wasn't such a good idea I soon found out, because the IV was then put back into my arm! But it did make the nurses laugh!

On Saturday, during one of my feeds, I pulled the milk down on top of me! I wasn' ready for the nurse to leave so, I had to do something...Let me tell you though, milk is much better in my belly than on my face!

There's not much else to report on. Thank you again for thinking of me and I promise I won't go so long without an update. I didn't mean to worry you all so much!

My new shirt!

2007-08-23T23:10:00.000-04:00

Today I'm wearing my new shirt that Julie bought for me! I'm pretty in pink! I like wearing clothes, I like it better than being naked baby!

When Mommy and Daddy saw me today I was just sleeping. It wasn't until later that the Drs noticed that my glucose level was high. They think I may have an infection so they started me on two antibiotics. It stinks though because now I have to get my foot pricked at every feeding! I have to do what Poppy does everyday, only he only has to do it once, boy isn't he lucky!

I'm also back on the ventilator... I know I've been calling it respirator, but I was confused, it's a ventilator. Mommy and Daddy knew that this was most likely going to happen and it has...

And so are the days and nights of the ICN...pokes, pricks, infections, on/off ventilator, feedings, etc...I can't wait until this is all over and I just get hugs and kisses everyday!

Naked Baby!!

2007-08-22T23:30:00.000-04:00

Earlier today when Mommy and Daddy came I wasn't doing too good. Since I've been getting more food, I've been using more of my energy digesting the food that I just want to rest. It's taking a lot of energy for me to breathe that I get tired and I stop breathing sometimes. They may put me on the respirator again so I can focus on digesting and getting bigger right now. They haven't decided yet though.

By the time Kim came on though tonight I was doing much better. Mommy and Daddy watched me get a bath! Courtney better watch out, there's a new naked baby in town! Kim was nice and took the C-Pap off of me while I got washed. In fact, she took everything off me! It was fun for Mommy and Daddy to watch, I heard them laughing a lot! I guess I think I would look funny myself too...I'm all belly right now! I also have a lot more hair on my head and my body too...I hope I don't begin to look like a monkey like Mommy when she was a baby!

Mommy held me again tonight after my bath! While she held me, Daddy held my food! I have such good parents!

A two hour hold!

2007-08-21T22:00:00.000-04:00

Mommy held me for two hours today! She started holding me at my 4:00 feeding and Meghan took me back for my 6:00 feeding. Mommy held me so long that Oma got to see me! I think I would like it if Daddy could hold me next time...I miss Daddy. I've only been hearing him for a short time lately. I guess he's busy with Keri and Courtney because I've been hearing them for a little bit too lately.

Get this, I weigh 1lb 7oz (640 grams) now! Although I don't know how I can go from 600g to 640g and go up 3oz...I was 1lb 4oz the other day. But hey, I'm not complaining, I'm gaining weight! I'm doing well back on the C-Pap although my oxygen levels have been higher. The Drs said that that's not a big deal, but I would like it back to 21% oxygen, this is room air oxygen. Maybe once I'm bigger it'll get there again...Other than that there's not much else to say for today. Oh, when Mommy and Oma were leaving today my neighbor, Sophie, wasn't doing too good. I said a prayer for her that she gets better.

I have cheeks!

2007-08-20T20:07:00.000-04:00

I have cheeks! Although they'll probably get squeezed in now that I have the C-Pap on again...that mask squishes my face! But I am definitely getting bigger, it's noticeable to Mommy and Daddy now so that's a good thing.

Today I had my 3rd blood transfusion and like I said before, the C-Pap is back on. If I do well tonight and tomorrow, Meghan told Mommy she could hold me again. Meghan is one of my primary nurses, I like her! I have three primary nurses right now...Diane and Kim our my primaries at night, Meghan is my primary during the day. I'll have another primary during the day real soon Meghan says. She says someone else will get me real quick because I'm so cute! I think I have to agree with her :-)

I have successfully completed Day 10 of my feedings! From now on they'll increase my feeds based on my weight. I'm still 600 grams right now but that should start changing real soon!

Sleepy weekend...

2007-08-19T22:27:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone...there's really not much to say from this weekend. Not much happened, I slept most of the weekend. I think it was all the food I've been eating lately. Tomorrow I will be on Day 10 of my feeding. If I complete tomorrow successfully then the catheter pic line will be removed from my leg and I'll be eating only Mommy's breast milk! I've been continuing too gain weight...I weigh a solid 600 grams (1lb 5oz)! My goal is to weigh 2lbs by the time I'm a month old...do you think I can do it!?

I'm a STAR!

2007-08-17T22:30:00.000-04:00

Or so the Dr. tells Mommy and Daddy and if I must say that I agree with him! They put me on the respirator again today and I'll be on it through the weekend. I'm on this only because I have a swollen nose and not enough oxygen is getting through. My nose is pretty small anyways so if one of the nostrils is swollen, than I'm definitely not getting enough oxygen. Oh, and my nose is swollen due to the C-Pap! I told them that I don't like it and I want it off! But noooo, they hve to wait until my nose hurts before they take it off of me!

But the Dr. said that this is no way a sign of a set back...in fact I am a STAR! I am continuing with my feeds and they increased the amount today. I am now eating a whopping 2ccs (~2.0mL) of breast milk! I have been digesting it all too! I still weigh 1lb 4oz today, I'm not gaining too much weight because I learned how to poop on my own. Keri got to see one of my diapers today! Hopefully Courtney will get to see one tomorrow!

Mommy's first poopy diaper ever!

2007-08-16T21:08:00.000-04:00

Ha-ha! Mommy changed her first poopy diaper ever today! She managed all of these years to never change one. Boy, was she surprised when she changed my diaper today! It was a good one...so good, she needed two wipes to clean my teeny tiny heiny! I'm just glad Daddy wasn't there to get a picture of it, that would have been embarrassing. I did weigh 580 grams, which is 1lb 4oz, but I had two "blow outs" today so I may have lost all that I gained!

My day didn't start out so good, they were going to hold my feeds for a day or two and they took an X-Ray of my belly. I hadn't been digesting some of my feeds so they were going to rest me. But the X-Ray came back normal, so the Dr. decided to continue. I'm glad he did too, because I was getting hungry since emptying myself out. So far, I've been digesting everything since.

The only bad thing today is that I was on the C-Pap all day :( My lungs got too tired last night after being on the nasal cannula. I think they're going to keep me on the C-Pap for a while longer. I'm not too happy about that...that thing is SO annoying!

Mommy's heartbeat!

2007-08-15T23:50:00.000-04:00

I felt Mommy's heartbeat again today! At first I didn't know what the nurse was doing to me so I cried...but then I felt it. It was such a familiar sound but I couldn't place it at first. Then I heard her and I knew what it was....Mommy's heartbeat! I calmed down instantly...I tried looking to see what she looked like, but all I saw was shadows. I heard someone else talking too, the voice was deeper. That must have been Daddy, I like the sound of Daddy's voice too!

I still weigh 550 grams. They bumped me up to day 6 of feeding which means more food every 2 hours! So far I've still been keping it all down...I still need to make a poop on my own though. Hopefully that will happen tonight.

The day nurse tried taking me off the C-Pap today, but I wasn't cooperating with her. I knew that Mommy and Daddy weren't coming until later today so I waited until they came. Once they came I was put on the nasal canula and I did a great job on it! Mommy saved me from having some Bradys tonight too. I wish she could save me from them all of the time...she's so much more gentle than some of the nurses!

Yesterday was nothing...

2007-08-14T22:12:00.000-04:00

I thought yesterday was a big day, that was until today came along. Today, they took the C-Pap off of me for 6 hours! I was so happy to finally have that thing off! I guess they finally got the hint after seeing me trying to pull it off so many times... But it was so nice to have that mask off. They just had a nasal canula in me to help me out. I'm going to have the C-Pap off tomorrow too. If I do well with the nasal canula tomorrow, than they may let me have it off 2x a day!

My feeding has been going well too, I already weigh 550 grams! Today was my second day of feeding, but they already bumped me up to day 4! That means I'm eating every 2 hours instead of every 3. So far I'm digesting everything...oh, and I made a stinky today too! I had some help, they gave me a suppository, but since my poop I've had some smears...so things are working their way out!

Mommy and Daddy wanted me to tell you that the pictures may not be clear for today's post. I tend to get stressed out easily and when I do, I tend to have Bradys. If you remember this is when I forget to breathe and my heart rate drops. Loud sounds tend to stress me out and also flashes of light! With all of the new stuff happening with me today they didn't want to stress me out any...

Get this, I over heard the nurse today tell Mommy that if she's my nurse tomorrow night, she's going to let Mommy hold me! I can't wait until I can feel Mommy again. I miss being in her belly and hearing her everyday :(

Busy day...

2007-08-13T20:35:00.000-04:00

Phew! Today was a busy day for me. I had my second blood trasfusion today. They said I was a little anemic so they gave me more blood to help with my motility. They put in the catheter pic lne in my left leg. They got it in the right spot the first time! So now the tubes in my belly button are gone! And saving the best for last...I started eating real food again today!!!!

I'm going to start giving my weight daily to see how I'm progressing. Right now I'm 530g, that's 1g over my birth weight! I hope I can keep the weight gain going. Mommy and Daddy were there for my first two feeds today. I digested all of my first feed, I hope I digested all of the 2nd feed as well. I forgot how good real food was!!

Oh today, they brought in a brand new baby. I'm not sure if it is a boy or girl...but they weighed 483g! I'm going to pray for him/her just like I pray for all of the babies. I tell them that Green Bear is there to watch over us all!

My first blankie...

2007-08-12T22:02:00.000-04:00

I got my first blankie today from the nurses. It's really soft and comfortable, it actually calms me down. I think the nurses did that on purpose, this way I'm not kicking around so much! But today I was just sleeping again. I'm still resting up for tomorrow. If all goes well with my tummy X-Ray tomorrow I'll start feeding again. I weigh 490grams, so I really need to start eating!

Today they tried putting in a catheter pic line in my leg. They need to do this because they need to take the tubes out from my belly button. This is how I'm currently getting the fluids I need. They said though that they normally take the tube out after 14 days because it can cause an infection in my belly button. So this pic line will now be used to give me my fluids. Unfortunately they couldn't get it in today :( They'll try again tomorow. Once it's in though they need to do another X-Ray to see if it's in the correct position. I don't know about all of these X-Rays, they better watch out or I may turn into the Hulk! But if they can't get the pic line in, they'll have to just give me a regular IV. This is ok, but not the best...if they do the regular IV they'll need to change it every few days. I really hope they can get the pic line in!

Green Bear!

2007-08-10T22:11:00.000-04:00

Today Keri and Courtney stopped by. I only saw Keri though. They had their chicken pox immunization yesterday and they were told they can't see me for at least a week....a week! That's so long for me :( I'm going to miss them during that time. One good thing though, Keri is letting me borrow Green Bear. She told me the story of how Daddy gave Green Bear to them when they were little. That whenever the girls started to miss Daddy, all they had to do was take out Green Bear and it was like Daddy was with them. So now whenever I miss Daddy or Keri and Courtney, I just have to look at Green Bear and they'll be with me! I thought that was very nice of Keri...I love her and Courtney! I can't wait until I can see them again...

Mommy's turn!

2007-08-09T18:35:00.000-04:00

I'm doing pretty good today. I'm just basically just hanging out trying to relax. Let me tell you though, it's kind of hard to relax when I have all of those things coming out of me! The worst is the IV that's still in my arm. They're going to keep that on for awhile. I may even have it in for a long while if hey need to take my tubes out of my belly button. I'll need the IV to get my nutrients. Oh, and this C-PAP nonsense...that's gotta go soon! I keep on trying to take it off, but I guess I'm just not strong enough yet. They better watch out, because once I can start eating, I'll get stronger and I'll be able to take it off...

Tomorrow morning I'm going to get another X-Ray of my tummy. The one this morning had no change to it so that's a good thing. I did notice that my belly is a little blue. The nurse told Mommy and Daddy that this was a sign of poor motility. That just means that things aren't moving through my belly as well as they should. They should also get my blood cultures back tonight...this will tell Mommy and Daddy if I have an infection or not. I hope that that's all that it is!

The best part of today was when Mommy changed my diaper! She did a much better job than Daddy (sorry Dad, you did a good job too...I just think mommies are just naturally better at it). The nurse asked Mommy if she wanted to hold me today too, but she said no. She said she didn't want to hurt me or make me any sicker...I understand, but I sure can't wait until she can hold me for real! I guess I'll just have to get better quicker for her!

My tummy hurts :(

2007-08-08T23:35:00.000-04:00

Ughh! Today was not a good day :( I think I tried eating way too much...my tummy was starting to hurt.

The day started out ok, but by my 3:00 feeding I had enough. So much so that my breathing kept slowing down that I had a bunch of Brady attacks. I was cranky this afternoon! And the nurses kept on coming in bothering me, I kept on hitting them! The doctors knew that something wasn't just right so they ran some tests on me. I guess it was all the Brady's that gave them a clue, and the fact that I always hit the nurses, hee-hee!

The first test they ran was an X-Ray of my tummy. It showed that my belly was dialated (no wonder it was hurting!). They also took some more blood to check its levels. The blood results showed that I was running a little low on blood. This makes sense because they keep on taking it out of me and not putting any back in! I heard that they were going to give me a transfusion tonight. This is good because I'm so tiny that my body can't replenish the blood as fast as they're taking it from me! I also heard the doctor say that they are looking to see if I have something called NEC. I don't know about nintendo but I know I heard Daddy playing Xbox 360 at home a few weeks ago.

They're going to run another X-Ray on my tummy tonight as well. In the meantime, I'm not getting any food for awhile. I'm happy that my belly will have time to rest, but I'm going to miss the food. I keep on hearing Mommy and Daddy around, I guess they're not leaving until they know I'm going to be alright. I'm much more relaxed knowing that they are here, I should be able to sleep for the rest of the night. I'm hoping too, because I'm pretty tired.

Oh, I almost forgot...Keri and Courtney came to see me today. Courtney read me a story. I'll think about that as I sleep, it will make for some wonderful dreams. Keri didn't get to see me though because I started acting up earlier...I'll have to make it up to her the next time she sees me. I'll promise to be good for her!

Mommy and Daddy left. When they said good night they told me that things are looking ok...it looks like I may just have an infection. I'm getting another X-Ray in the morning. For now, it's bedtime....

First feeding...

2007-08-07T12:05:00.000-04:00

I had my first feeding today at 12:00pm. Boy was that yummy! They only gave me a little bit though, I better keep this down so I don't waste any of it. And besides, my next feeding isn't until 3:00 pm and every 3 hours after, this is crazy!? Don't they know how hungry I am!?

Good news though, I'm on the 10 day meal plan instead of the 15 day plan! Because I'm doing so well with everything else, they figure I can handle it and I know that I can! So I'm going to do my best for everyone and try not to disappoint them.

Let me tell you though, after eating real food, it kind of makes you sleepy!

BIG DAY!!

2007-08-06T19:48:00.000-04:00

Wow, today was such a huge day for me! At least Mommy and Daddy think so...but I'm a Conway AND a Jones , I don't know what they would expect anything less!

They turned off the Bilirubin lights...I'm glad about this. Even though the lights were cool, the eye patch was starting to make my eyes sweat. It was also a little irritating as well so I'm glad that it's off.

Daddy changed my diaper today too. He did a pretty good job for not having changed a diaper in such a long time. But I'll cut him some slack...I don't have much of a heinie so it's kind of hard to get the diaper to stay on!

They also ran another EKG to see if the hole in my heart was closed. Now we all know that it is and has been ever since I heard Mommy, but the doctors don't know this. Sure enough, they did the test and it was closed! I so want to say "I told you so!" I'm glad that it is closed though because I was tired of that medicine they were giving me. It was keeping me from going pee-pee...now I'm peeing like a champ! It feels so good...

Oh, and the best thing now that I'm not on that medicine, I can finally eat some real food! This makes me the happiest because I am sooo hungry! I need to start putting on some more weight, I know this will make everyone happy, especially Mommy and Daddy!

So many new voices...

2007-08-03T14:48:00.000-04:00

There were so many new voices I kept on hearing today. Besides hearing Mommy and Daddy, I heard so many other people. Oma, Poppy, Keri, Courtney, Uncle Tommy and Julie...I finally heard Julie. She's the one that told the doctors about HELLP Syndrome. She's funny...I heard that she's going to be my godmother, whatever that is!

Today was my first round of medicine to fix the hole in my heart. They don't know that it's already filled though, so I guess I need to appease them and let them give me the medicine. I better make sure it works this first round. Apparently I'll get three doses of the medicine over the next few days. I hope it at least tastes good!

Mommy is here!

2007-08-03T10:37:00.000-04:00

It's been a full 24 hours yet and I still haven't heard mommy. I don't know why she hasn't come to see me yet, doesn't she know I'm on the outside? I'm starting to get worried about her...

Today they hooked up some probes to my chest...they ran an EKG. I heard the doctors telling Daddy that I had a small whole in my heart, called a PDA. They say that this is normal for premature babies, especially for me because I'm so tiny. If you ask me, it's because I miss my Mommy and my heart won't be completely full until I hear her! They say to fix the hole they need to give me some medicine and this will usually work, if not, they'll have to do surgery. I don't know about the surgery, that's what they did to Mommy and I haven't heard from her since.

What's this I hear? I hear Daddy and also hear some other smaller voice...I can't quite make it out because she's crying. Mommy, is that you Mommy!? I can hear you, please don't cry I'm right here, I'm going to be ok...Yay, now my heart can get complete!

Today I started hearing "Jamison" all the time. I didn't hear "sweetie" too much, I guess Jamison is my new name. I like it, it sounds pretty cool. I still like sweetie though, hopefully they'll still use that once in a while : )

Birth Day! Part II

2007-08-02T04:37:00.000-04:00

Whoa, bright lights! I heard the doctors working on mommy and the next thing I know, this huge light is shining on me...at first I said "Jesus, is that you?", but I didn't hear him reply, I just felt some hands grab me and pull me out from mommy. I started crying right away, I wasn't too happy that they were taking me away from my mommy! But then, I heard Daddy! And Keri and Courtney, Uncle Tommy, Oma and Poppy! I heard them all! I can't see them yet...but I can hear them. But someone is missing, where's Mommy?? I can't hear Mommy!

Right away they ran some tests on me. Apparently I scored an 8 on the Apgar test. I hear that 8 is excellent for any baby, it's even great for a baby that stayed in their mommy for 9 months! I only stayed in for 6.5 months and I scored that! I don't know why they're so surprised, I am half Jones you know!

Being on the outside can get pretty rough! The doctors shoved some kind of ventilator in my mouth...what is this I was wondering. I had those shots, don't they know I don't need this, I can breathe on my own! Ok, wait...this is better, they just took the ventilator out of my mouth. Oh man...what's this now, they're putting a C-PAP on me. Well at least they're not giving me any extra oxygen...they realized that room air is just enough for me!

It's starting to be relaxing on the outside, aside from the occasional pokes, they sometimes hurt. Right now I'm just chilling out underneath some blue lights. I hear it's called a "Bilirubin" light...it's kind of cool, the only annoying thing is that there's this patch over my eyes. I can't see clearly yet anyway so it's not so bad.

Birth Day! Part I

2007-08-01T07:10:00.000-04:00

Today is the day that I chose to come into the world. I know, I know, I'm three months early but it was getting really tight and uncomfortable being in mommy's belly. I don't know why that was happening and neither did mommy or daddy (I could hear them talking about it when I was on the "inside"). But I heard them say that I would probably do better "outside". There were some considerations though because I was so small, that my lungs were not developed so it would be hard for me to breathe. I don't know what that word means yet but I'm sure it's real important! They were mentioning some kind of steroid shot called Betamethasone...mommy got the shot on Monday and Tuesday so I figured it was safe to come outside now! Here's the my dilemma though, how do I let mommy know that I want to come out now???

I wasn't too thrilled that we had to drive into her work the next day...I like mommy's work and all, but that drive is soooo long! Anyway...we're at work and I was talking to my buddy "Liver" that I can see on the inside and I was asking him what I can do. He said to leave it up to him; he knows what will work. I told him that I did NOT want him to hurt my mommy at all! And he said not to worry, he knows what will work and he promises not to hurt her. I trust Liver, I've known him for quite some time now...

I don't know what Liver was up to, but I just know something was happening. Mommy was getting all uncomfortable at work so much so that she was crying a little bit. Once I heard her crying I told Liver that he had to tone it down some! It was getting me upset that she was crying. So he did and she stopped crying, but she went to the Doctor anyway. I asked Liver if this was it and he said it might be. Oh this is exciting I told him, I can't wait to be on the outside!

Something went wrong though, where they took mommy the doctors there told her she had "acid reflux" and they sent her home. Liver and I were both disappointed...so Liver said he'd "kick it up" a notch. I reminded him that I did NOT want mommy to get hurt and he reassured me that she wouldn't.

Later that night we were all at Oma's house! I love going to Oma's house, she's so nice! She lets Keri and Courtney do whatever they want! Courtney is allowed to go outside in her "dress up" clothes and Keri can eat ice-cream without having any dinner, but Poppy lets her do that more than Oma! Oma and Poppy's house sounds like a really fun place to be, another reason why I want to get out early! Oh, and I hear Keri and Courtney, even Mommy, always asking Oma to "tickle" their backs. I don't know what tickle means yet, but it sounds fantastic! I can't wait until she tickles me too!

Sorry for the digression...we're at Oma's and Mommy isn't feeling very well again. I feel bad that I asked Liver to make her feel this way, but I needed to get out! I was starting to not feel well in there myself and I had that shot so I figure that I was ready to go. They took mommy to another doctor. Daddy told the doctor that he thought that mommy may have this thing called HELLP Syndrome. I never heard of it, and neither did mommy or daddy until that night. Some lady named "Julie" told them about it. I've heard that name before, "Julie", but I'm not real sure who she is yet, I think she's a friend of mommy's, like Liver is a friend of mine. The doctor's took mommy's blood and the blood tests results said that she did have HELLP Syndrome! I was excited, I knew what Liver was doing was working! I heard the doctors say though that I needed to be delivered because this syndrome could really hurt mommy and me! I started to panic, I started yelling at Liver saying that he promised he wouldn't hurt mommy...but he said to "relax", (Liver reminded me of Uncle Tommy when he said that) and that mommy was at the doctors now and that they wouldn't let anything happen to her. He did his job and he would stop what he was doing so the doctors had time to get me out.

Mommy seemed pretty relaxed too, she was happy that she had gotten that steroid shot for my lungs and that I was far enough along that I could "survive" on the outside. Wait, what was that!? You mean I may not have been ready to come out!? I wish someone had told me that!!! I then heard mommy praying to Jesus and I started doing the same thing. She was praying for me and I was praying for her. I was sorry that I made her so sad and upset and that it was my fault because I wanted to be on the outside. Jesus told me though, that this was the best thing for the both of us right now, because I couldn't stay in there too much longer anyway. He promised me that he would look out for the both of us...once he said that, I relaxed, I know that Jesus can make everything better!