Thursday, January 29, 2009

Claire in Sepia


Since I have this fancy new camera, I thought I would play with the photos that I have taken of Claire. I sorted through the 500 pictures... no that is not an exaggeration... to find my favorites to crop and play with. I think our angel is cutest in person but not bad looking in sepia!! Enjoy the photos.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Auntie Kristen Comes to Visit

This past weekend we were so glad to have Kristen come to visit. This is the first time she has met her niece and I think it was love at first sight. There were few moments all weekend long when Claire was not in Kristen's arms... mostly during diaper changing! Kristen helped to get Claire's nursery together and got me started on some cute projects to put some personal touches in her room. My mom has been in town since last Wednesday as well so it was great to have some girl time... sorry Ari! Kristen also brought a crocheted blanket that she made just for Claire and I am sure it will be a favorite. The weekend passed way too quickly but I am sure that Kristen will not be a stranger to our little peanut.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Firsts

As I am sure you can imagine, there have been a lot of "firsts" since coming home from the NICU. First trip in the car, first pediatrician visit, first bottle at home, first night in our bassinet, first diaper change at home, first bath, and first experience in our swing. We have captured some of these firsts on camera, so click on the title of the blog and enjoy!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Who Wears the Pants?


I know this is a picture from our previous life at the NICU, but for some reason I get the biggest kick out of Claire in pants. She has spent the last month in onesies, sleepers, or gowns so the pants outfits crack me up! Now if you would have asked us who wore the pants in our house before Claire, that would have been a toss up; clearly Claire wears the pants and is in charge now!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

We Are Home!!

That's right loyal blog followers, we got out of the NICU yesterday at noon. The whole experience was a bit surreal. I mean I knew that eventually they would let us out and we would go home and have a more "normal" newborn experience, but it was amazing to see them take the tube out then take her off the monitor and hand her over to us. To be quite honest, I was as excited as I was nervous. I certainly have never taken care of a baby 24/7. We were as ready as we were going to be, though, so we put Miss Claire in her car seat for the short drive home. She did great, despite my worrying, as we spent the day eating and relaxing. The night was more of a challenge since she has spent the last month sleeping in a noisy NICU with the lights on. We tried to recreate the atmosphere as much as possible but she kind of chirped all night in her bassinet. Her napping today in it was much more successful. I guess there is nothing left to do but settle in!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Claire is One Month Old!

Can you believe our pretty peanut is one month-old already! What a month it has been! Claire made such great strides: she conquered her hyperbilirubinemia; she graduated to a big girl bed; she passed her eye exam (and hopefully her hearing screen this afternoon and car seat trial tomorrow); she now eats by mouth instead of through an NG tube, and she now weighs 4 pounds 11 oz! There is not much more we could ask for. The silly grins are such a wonderful bonus! Not to try to jinx us, but the doctors are predicting that we will go home on Thursday... yep, that's right, only two days from now. Saying that we are ecstatic is an understatement!

We would like to thank everyone again for their love, prayers, gifts, support, and patience (I swear that I will send the holiday gifts and thank you cards tomorrow!). We could not be more appreciative to everyone who has helped us get through this scary and stressful time.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Mommy and Daddy's Night Out


Before baby Claire was born, Mom bought Ari Xavier basketball tickets for Christmas. Since Ari went to Illinois Wesleyan, a D 3 school, he never really got to experience exciting college basketball. When we moved to Cincinnati, he adopted Xavier as his second favorite (do you think I would let him not be an Illini fan?!) college team. He is really into it and "throws up the X" everytime we drive by the school. So Thursday night we headed to the Cintas Center which is walking distance from our house when the weather is good. Our first stop when we arrived was the souvenir shop; baby Claire was on our minds as always and we wanted to see if we could find her a gift. We found a hilarious pink onesie picturing the Blue Blob. For those of you not familiar with the Blue Blob, I certainly wasn't, he is

an ancillary mascot for Xavier. Their official mascot is D'Artangan the Musketeer. The Blue Blob, however, is hilarious. The thing doesn't stop dancing during the entire game and the crowed loves him! So now Claire has a onesie she can wear to root on Xavier, when she is not preoccupied cheering for Illinois! Xavier played the St. Louis Bilikins. They absolutely crushed them but I was a little disappointed in the crowd... it certainly wasn't a Big Ten type of crowd. We had a great time, though, and afterward we were off to the hospital to spend some time with our daughter and kiss her goodnight.


Saturday, January 10, 2009

Rebels of the NICU Strike Again!

So I have blogged before about the stringent rules of the NICU: 1500 grams to wear clothes, parents have to leave 4 times a day for change of shift, and the only visitors can be parents and grandparents. I have a hard time with these rules because my patients are immunocompromised and the rules are less strict. As far as I am concerned, as long as the visitors don't have any evidence of illness they should be allowed to visit. That is where our story begins. Sarah (in this picture) is one of the other first year heme-onc fellows. We get along great and she is the wonderful person who took my pager when I went into labor. Her aunt works in the NICU so we hatched a plan to sneak her in for a visit. Her aunt talked to our nurse who ok'd it and we thought we were set. Wednesday morning we both just walked in and sat down for a visit with Claire. Claire seems to really like Sarah, she woke up and gave her a couple of grins. After about 20 minutes, one of the stockers... that's right, someone who works with the supplies... came up and asked who mom was and if Sarah was grandma. Does she look like my mother?! Regardless, she was asked to leave. Ugh, I hate stupid rules. So we left Claire with Ari and had a nice chat in the lobby. Sarah's aunt actually ran into us and couldn't believe we had gotten in trouble. But Sarah did get to hold Claire, ha! I can't wait until Claire is home and we can entertain any visitors we want.

Friday, January 09, 2009

A+ For Eating

The occupational therapist came to watch Claire eat yesterday. She had heard that she was doing wonderful but she evaluates all the babies to make sure they look age appropriate and to give parents tips on how best to feed a preemie. Claire was all wide-eyed and ready to eat when Sue arrived. She decided to show off her skills and took the entire bottle, which she has never done for mommy before! Sue was very impressed and said she couldn't have done any better. On their scale, 1 is the best and that is what Claire got... I am translating that to an A+!

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Our Au Pair


We are excited to announce that we have matched with an au pair! The young lady to the left is Marine, a 21 year-old from France who has graciously agreed to come to the United States and live with us and take care of Miss Claire. For those of you not familiar with au pairs, let me explain. An au pair is a 18-26 year-old who decides to take part in a cultural exchange program. Literally, "au pair" means equal to; this signifies that they are to become a part of your family not just an employee. The U.S. government regulates the program so the rules are very specific. An au pair provides child care service in exchange for room, board, and a weekly stipend. They must also take 6 semester hours of course work during their year in the U.S. We are thrilled that Marine loves babies and is excited to take care of baby Claire. It certainly doesn't hurt that she also loves old movies, cats, and The White Stripes... all personal favorites of yours truly. We look forward to her arrival March 1st and of course introducing her to all of you.



Friday, January 02, 2009

3 Weeks Old


Oh this was a big week! Not only did we get the okay to start nursing, we are no longer on a pulse oximeter (monitor that reads oxygen saturation), and we are now working on bottle feeding. Could the week get any better? Yep, Claire now weighs 4 pounds and some change. You go big girl!!







Thursday, January 01, 2009

Happy New Year!


Happy New Year everyone! As you can see, Claire was dressed for the occasion. Can you believe the little hat I found? The nurses loved it. Her little nook by her crib was also decked out to ring in the New Year (see the slide show). I did not bring noise makers; that would have over stimulated all the poor preemies. The outfit, or Claire's little black dress/onesie, is courtesy of Jen and Jason... thanks, guys, it was a hit! Daddy had to work, so Claire and I celebrated the New Year a little early and then I went home and crashed. We wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year.