Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Scott's Blog "Blessed are the Pure in Heart."

A family near and dear to many of our hearts lost their 8 year old son suddenly, without warning. I hope you find time to read Scott's thoughts and memories of a little boy who made a huge impact.

5 mo/2mo "First Christmas"

Slugger
December 28 2010
5 months old
about 11 weeks adjusted

I can't believe it's been five months since our lives turned upside down. The NICU life seems ages ago although we just had lunch with some of our nurses the other week so it still lingers with us. Two days into the new year 2011, Slugger will be exactly 2 months adjusted. I may go into a lot of detail but this will all go into her baby book whenever I get organized.

Slugger is still a smiling machine. Her lips disappear when she smiles, and she's all dimply cheeks. Her left cheek still has a dominant dimple but sometimes we see a faint glimpse on the right...it's elusive so we may be imagining it. I know everyone thinks she's a mini-Scott. I can pretty much pinpoint whose features she inherited. Her hair looks black but in the sunlight it's actually dark brown (from me). She's got my forehead, poor thing (we'll be growing out those bangs from an early age). She has Scott's eyebrows and eyes but she has these beautiful, thick and long eyelashes (yah me). My nose, Scott's mouth and chin. So, all in all, Scott's genes seem to have kicked mine in the butt. But, as Casey gets bigger and bigger each week, I see less of Scott and more of Casey. I just see Casey when I look at her. And she's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Fair skin with dark hair and thick eyelashes. A cute little smirk when she looks you in the eye.

She's finally learned to bring her hands to her mouth. She sucks on her palm when she's hungry. I saw her try for an hour to get her thumb in her mouth and when she finally succeeded, she made a face and spat it out. Only to try again. When she's hungry, she'll start sucking on her left fist...we're crossing her fingers to see if she's a lefty like her daddy (although they say babies are pretty ambidextrous until they're older). Temperament wise-she's a mellow, sweet baby all morning. She'll wake up and just smile away, content just to lie wherever she is. But once the clock hits 4 pm (like clockwork), she becomes super fussy/super hungry/super needy. They call it the witching hour. After shunning the pacifier, we've just started to use it at nights until bedtime because I was afraid we were overfeeding her. We're still working on decoding the hunger cues.

It's awesome but we have the bedtime routine down great. At her 11 pm meal, we put her down in her mini cosleeper in the room and she knows that it's bedtime. She'll lie there quietly and drift off to sleep in no time. She gets up at 3 pm to eat and then she'll sleep in until 6 or 7 am. She's discovered kicking and uses her feet to push off when you're holding her. She's also started a new trick of kicking and walking on the side wall of her cosleeper so she somehow manages to turn sidewards by morning. When we're in bed, we can see her little legs "matrix climbing" her bassinet wall. I once saw that she had turned from her back all the way to her side in her sleep and I tried to wake up Scott but he refused to open his eyes. He said she'll do it again when he's awake...eventually. Oh, and she's started cooing. It's so adorable. I left her alone in the living room and she was staring at the christmas lights and talking to them.

11 lb 6.5 oz (according to our bathroom scale)
~22.75" long


[above: we can't believe how big she looks in her co sleeper]

Her first Christmas was a fun one. Scott has a small music gig every Christmas morning for Pleasant Holiday in Waikiki. So, we all woke up at 5:30 am to trek down to Waikiki to see Scott play Hawaiian Christmas songs (did you know there were other songs besides Mele Kalikimaka?) for all of 10 minutes. Then we drove around trying to find a breakfast place was open...ended up at Kenny's in Kalihi. Since we were out and about, we drove to Waipahu to drop off presents and for Casey to see her cousins only to find out that no one was awake at 11 am.
So we went to Scott's parents house to open presents and enjoy an amazing dinner. Scott's sister, Sara-Anne, was home for the holidays so everyone was all together. I borrowed some pictures from Scott's brother, Stanton.

The picture below shows Casey's grandpa, Pat. If you look closely at his right hand, you might see something pink. That's a pink pig puppet. No one seems to know where Grandpa Pat got it from but whenever they babysit Slugger, he entertains Slugger with little puppet shows. Sometimes he gets her so riled up when she should be sleeping. Well, I guess not everyone loved the frequent appearances and shows of the pink pig because somehow the puppet mysteriously disappeared on Christmas day. I believe certain members were aware of it's location but remained close-lipped. Poor Grandpa kept asking everyone where it went...I hope it didn't ruin his Christmas.

[below: Grandpa having to entertain Slugger without the pink pig]
[below: Scott and mini Scottlyn]
[Slugger with her dad, Auntie Sara, and Uncle Stanton]
[Slugger and the cousins]
[slugger, me, Scott, Uncle Stanton, Auntie Sara, Grandpa and Grandma ]
Scott's sister, Sara-Anne, gave us this beautiful framed song for Christmas. It's completely handwritten, she even did the golden inlay part herself. I, not being the Beatles expert, didn't recognize that it was a Beatles song and initially thought she also composed it herself. Hey, she did get her graduate degree in professional writing so it wasn't a far reach. At the end of this post, you'll see a video of Scott singing a Beatles medley with this song to Slugger.


Slugger got amazing gifts for Christmas. She's going to be a well-dressed baby with awesome toys. She actually had 3 different adorable Christmas outfits that she'll be wearing every day until this weekend (I don't think you can pull Christmas clothes off once you hit New Years). Here she is sporting one from my Aunty Linda.





Thanks for tuning in. Mele Kalikimaka a me Hauoli Makahiki Hou!!!!

The video clip below is Scott playing and singing a medley of "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight" to Slugger....although it's the end so you'll only hear Carry That Weight. Watch Slugger's joy and she even tries to join in singing a duet.

















Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Christmas Newsletter 2010-all fixed now

1. Click on image below and it will open in new window
2. Scroll over picture (magnifying glass icon will appear) and click to enlarge for reading

It didn't work at first but should now. But do leave a comment if it stops working.

1.5 months old/4.5 months old

10 lb 7 oz.

Last week, I saw the saddest story on the news. A family had their home broken into and their computers and cameras taken. On those computers were videos and pictures of their 18 month old son that had just passed away. What a cruel act of thievery. There are things that can never be replaced. I remember just last month my sister texted me that my 2 year old niece was playing with her flip video camera and managed to delete EVERYTHING on it. I laughed at my little destructive niece but shrugged it off. My sister brought it up again the next week and I realized what she was trying to tell me...everything on it was gone. Even the video my sister had taken of Astro the only time my sister was able to visit the girls in the hospital. It hit me and I was saddened the rest of the day. I have just a few short videos of Astro and a bit more pictures. I love the pictures but the videos mean so much more. You can see movement in them...and thus you can see the life in them. Allie was alive on those videos. When she passed away, I realized how much i wish I had just taken tons of videos every day....of her little legs kicking or her hands batting at her CPAP. It's the reason why I have tons of video clips of Casey. From that day on, I video taped everything. My heart goes out to the Stringer family and I hope there's a happy ending to this all.

Casey had her monthly RSV shot last week. Just a few more to go to get us through the flu season. Also, while we were at her nutritionist appt. I saw her pediatric cardiologist, Dr. S., and her maternal specialist, Dr. O, in the hallway. They were with us throughout the whole triplet pregnancy and it was wonderful to show them Casey. Poor things, I also peppered them with questions in the hall. Women who go into premature labor are more likely to do it again with subsequent pregancies. So, I read that even with triplet pregnancies, it's important to ask your doctor if it's likely that you would go into preterm labor again. Scott and I really hope that we'll be able to have more children and make Casey a big sister. It was wonderful to hear Dr. O say that he believes the only factor that sent me into premature labor was the stress of carrying three babies.

I cornered Dr. S about Casey's ASD, the hole in her heart, since he is not scheduled to see her until her 1st birthday. He says that he didn't need to see her soon because he's pretty sure the hole will close on it's own. Awesome!!! I brought up my concerns about heart defects. When Rory was diagnosed, I did research into it. Most heart defects are genetic but it can also occur randomly. Since Allie and Casey were fine and there was no history of it with me or Scott's family, I assumed it was random. Now that Casey was diagnozed with a small heart defect, I asked the doctor about it. He says that most of his patients don't show a family history of it. And if Scott and I are able to have more kids, we would be getting echos during pregnancy to watch for heart defects with those pregnancies. [Casey on her last visit with Dr. I]

Lastly, Casey had a visit with the retina specialist, Dr. I. He's such a nice guy. He has two boys of his own and he's always so excited to see Casey. It takes both of us now to pin Casey's head so he can look into her eyes...and she's strong enough to squint her eyes closed. So, unfortunately, Dr. I had to use a tweezer-like contraption to pry her eyelids open. I couldn't look. She did quite her fair share of screaming. But, Dr. I announced that her retina blood vessels were finished growing and there were no need for any checks until her first birthday. Another one down!!!

At 6 weeks, Casey is still smiling a lot. She's also in love with sticking out her tongue. I'm a little nervous she's going to develop the habit of licking things like her crazy cousins. I caught my niece, Lauren, licking the sidewalk at church once. Not much else development-wise, I can't wait until she starts rolling. She does love practicing holding her head up. She's getting so good at it, although, it means she has to claw at your chest sometimes to get leverage. I've got some mean scratches. Her reflux has really diminished. This past week, we've graduated Casey from sleeping in an incline rocker to her flat bassinet. She's done great. No spitting up. Of course, we've still had some incidents of major spitting up after feeding. Sometimes I feel like it would just save time if I uncapped the bottle of formula and just poured it down my back and over the seat cushions. She's outgrown all her newborn clothes and fits all her 0-3 months clothing. She's fascinated with people talking to her. She stares at your mouth and she moves her lips and tongues but hasn't figured out how to make sounds on demand.

She has one learned one crucial thing. Man, she can cry. No longer can we brag that Casey is not a criar. Before, we had time to get that bottle ready before she got so fussy she would cry. Nope. Now, it's "happy happy giggle giggle...slight pause....WWWWWAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Uh-oh.



Another monumental step is that we have started to relinquish her to Scott's parents for babysitting. We started off with Sunday mornings so I could go to church. Not only did Casey come back alive, but she is super happy at her grandparent's house. She stays awake the whole time and is treated to being spoiled non-stop. Scott's parents live right down the street and are always willing to help out. It's such a relief. It's unbelievably nice to take a few hours and run to do errands or Christmas shop. Scott and I even caught a movie, Tangled. I think I caught a cold when we went to the movies. So, Casey caught her first cold. We took her to the doctors and had her tested, but it came back NEGATIVE for RSV. Out of the three of us, she did the best. I think it's the breast milk antibodies. Scott and I are still hacking our lungs out but she had a cough just for a day. She is truly protected by prayers.


[grandma and Casey]
[she loves to just be adored]


[grandpa and Casey taking a snooze]

On certain occasions when we have needed to, we have taken Casey out with us. The picture below is a wedding ceremony at church that we took Casey too. That's Scott telling everyone "NO touch!!" Actually, he also said "Don't look at her with your germy eyes."

After staring at Casey all day every day, I've come to the conclusion that she bears a striking resemblance to Crayon Shinchan. Do you see it?










Thanks for tuning in. I love the holidays and I hope that you're all enjoying every moment of it!!!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Slugger 4 months real/1 month adjusted

Slugger
4 months old (chronological)
1 month old (adjusted)
10 lb even
~21 inches long

Casey has been eating every three hours. That's three hours from the start of her first mealtime (before I was a parent, I never knew that). Just this past week, she's started to stretch it out to 4 hours more consistently. Her nutritionist also took her down from 3 formula bottles to 2 and the rest is breastfeeding (which who knows how much she's intaking). So, we were wondering if she was getting enough food. Even when fed bottles, she's still eating about 80-90 mL, the same as when she came home from the hospital. Yesterday's trip to her pediatrician for her 4 month check-up erased all worries. The girl is 10 lb. She's 8 lb heavier than when she was born. She gained a whole other baby. So, if she wants to sleep for 4 hours, we let her. Whoo hoo!!!

Just last week, I noticed she really started to make eye contact and stare at faces. She's smiled before but usually just at impulse. Now, she smiles AT us. It's amazing. Usually in the morning. She wakes up and is so quiet. She lies there until you see she's awake and then she smiles. Heart melt right on cue. When you hold her, she's also really working on trying to hold her head up. It's wobbly and she can only do it for so long before sheer weight brings her crashing down. I had just filled out the doctor's questionnaire and answered "no" to whether she was using her arms to push herself up. Her peds doctor put Slugger on her stomach and we were shocked to see Slugger use her arms and push herself up. Her face was like 2 inches from the mat but she was holding her head up.

I exclaimed "Wow, we didn't know she could do that. We never reallly put her down. We usually are carrying her. Ooops."

So, we may put her down more and see what else she can do. The doc was super impressed and said she's not too far from rolling over...albeit probably by accident than intentional. Easter Seals is coming back this week to help us make goals for Slugger of what we want to accomplish and then they'll help us try to work towards those goals.
Last week, Slugger had to go for a swallow test. Preemies have trouble coordinating their suck-swallow-breathe function when eating. We've been thickening her feeds to keep her from choking. And at home, she's doing great. We were looking forward to the swallow test because we thought we might be able to just give her straight formula or milk, no thickening agent needed.

This is the huge X-ray machine that they use with Slugger. We had to feed her a solution with barium in it. It's about the consistency of her thickened formula. I was a little weirded out by the solution. I mean, it's not like it's milk or anything nutritious. It also had the appearance and consistency of watery white paint. But she loved it. She was smacking her lips and licking it up once the test was over. So, Slugger had to sit in that red chair.

Then Scott had to suit up and he was the only one with Slugger as he fed her the barium solution. The rest of us were behind a glass partition. I would have taken a picture of the whole thing but they turned off all the lights once the test began.

Here's Scott all suited up.
They used X-ray to make a video of Slugger's mouth and throat as she drank from the bottle. Then they went over the video with us afterward. Even though she looks like she's perfectly fine, you can see from the video that she's aspirating as she swallows. As she swallows liquids, a little bit is going down her airpipe each time she swallows. It explained why sometimes she sounds congested or coughs when she's eating. It settles into her lungs. Our lungs can handle a little bit of fluid but it does put her at risk for developing pneumonia. So, she has to stay on thickened feeds and have another swallow test in a month. Thankfully, the peds visit checked her lungs and says they sound clear.
We had a second baby shower for Slugger. Our wonderful friend, Lori, organized it and threw it for us. Scott watched Slugger and I headed over to Joyful Gardens restaurant to spend time with beautiful women. Slugger got some great gifts and even gift cards to pick out what she wants But, seriously, the best part was being able to hang out with good friends. I sat at a table with my family and Scott's mom. I haven't hung out with my sister in so long.
[My auntie Linda, my Mom, Scott's grandma, and Scott's mom]
[My niece Lauren and my sis, Cassan]
My niece Lauren and I are very close. Or we used to be very close. She used to stay at our house a lot until I got too pregnant to run after her. I've really missed her. Unfortunately, I'm no longer her favorite. My sister says Lauren now tells everyone that she loves Casey. Casey who she really hasn't ever seen except for videos on my phone. But one morning, Lauren packed a bag and told my sister that they had to come pick up Casey so Casey could sleep over their house. Oh, I can't wait for Slugger to get bigger so she can play with all her cousins.
We did take Casey out for things beside doctor's appointments. It's not for Casey, it's for me. It's rough to quarantine yourself from the world. I love TV and I'm pretty bored with it. Scott's family had to work for Thanksgiving and my family has too many sick toddlers to risk taking Casey around. Scott's job involves a lot of people who don't have families and thus, he usually has gatherings on Thanksgiving Day to give everyone a place to go. So, Scott was going to be at a church Flag Football Game all morning and then at an Ignite Thanksgiving Lunch. I couldn't bear the thought of spending most of the day by myself so I packed up Slugger and took her to the park for the Flag Football Game. We wrapped her stroller with this handy blanket from Aunt Gina to protect her from wind, sun, and yes, people. It was an awesome day. Plus, everyone at the game knows how fragile Slugger is so everyone looked at Slugger but from a distance. I appreciated being able to socialize and not worry. Slugger has so many protective aunts and uncles.
[Casey in her stroller tent]
Lastly, here are some pics of Slugger one morning.
Slugger had two shots at her doctor visits yesterday, plus they drew blood from her heel. Poor thing. And what am I doing during her shots? Running to get my phone so I can video it? Warning: She makes crying look cute.