We would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Santa has already delivered the perfect present to us – a beautiful, healthy girl. Thank you to everyone who has supported and prayed for us over the last few months, and we hope that this holiday will be as wonderful for you as it is for us.
With love,
The Ryans
This past week was a good one. We went back to the Doctor on Wednesday to check Kaitlyn’s weight and she was up to 5lbs 3oz. She’s slowly gaining weight which is great, but the Doctor would like to see some rolls starting to form on her arms and legs so we are fortifying her milk a little more. She’s continuing to eat well. We are starting to move up to another nipple with a bit of a faster flow so she is eating a lot faster now. What use to take her thirty minutes to suck out of bottle is now taking her between 10 and 15. We are still at two ounces, but we are going to start increasing the amount tonight since she is not getting as worn out trying to eat. We are very excited with her progress.
She’s continuing to improve with making eye contact. She likes to carry on conversations, though only one-way right now, and likes to be sung to as well which Daddy is doing now (some Frank Sinatra). She’s lifting her head up well too. She lifts it up a lot while laying on my chest and is improving while on her tummy on a flat surface. We took some pictures tonight of her lifting her head up while Daddy got her attention with her new toy. She also rolled over! I’m not sure if she meant to, but it was still neat. It was a slow roll so I was able to catch it on camera. Check out the pictures from today to see for yourself. Oh, and she had a very quick visit from Santa Clause tonight too. He decided to make a trip through our neighborhood today and Kaitlyn got her first visit. Sean and I aren’t sure what she asked for though, I guess thats between Kaitlyn and Santa.
Well our baby girl is 2 months old today! It is hard to believe it has been that long already. She had her two month check up last Friday with the pediatrician and everything looks good. She has grown over the past two weeks being home. She weighed 4lbs 15 oz on Friday, and I’m sure she’s well past 5lbs by now. She has also grown in length, now measuring 17.75. Kaitlyn had blood drawn and received four shots. She wasn’t too happy about the needles. Kaitlyn actually let the nurse know what she thought of the shots when she decided to poop after the first shot.
Home life has been great. Kaitlyn is still eating about every four hours and has increased her amount to 2 ounces! We also moved up to a different nipple for her bottle with a little bit of a faster flow. She’s starting to be more aware of her surroundings. Over the past few days she has started to make more eye contact with you when you talk to her. Sean and I are still waiting on the social smiles. I can’t wait until she starts smiling more and actually means to. Sorry for the delay in updating the pictures, but there are some new ones up now. There are a couple of really cute ones from today. Enjoy!
We’ll get to the title in a moment, as I am sure all of you are anxious to find out how the last two weeks have been.
Well, to keep it simple, they have been pretty damn good. Yes, we do have to get up and feed her in the middle of the night, but it really isn’t as bad as everyone makes out. She eats about every four hours or so, which means if she eats at 10p, we get up at 2a and again at 6a. Really not terrible. Of course, we will both be happy when she can go a bit longer than every four hours, but from what I understand, most newborns only go about two hours between feedings at first, so I guess we missed the worst of it while she was in the hospital.
Other than that, when she sleeps, we either nap or get things done around the house. When she is awake, we play with her as much as possible. Right now, we are watching TV, as she is asleep on Tori’s chest. Basically, take the mundane things of a normal life, and add a baby in the vicinity, and you have our lives.
So what is with the title? Well, as parents of a preemie, we have two dates to keep in mind in terms of development. The first is her actual birth date – the day she came out of Tori and into this world. The second is adjusted birth date, which is her original due date.
So since today is her due date, we can say she is two months on Tuesday, or she is a newborn.
Now you may ask why we do this. When babies come out at term, they are physically and mentally ready to face the world and begin developing the way babies do. Because preemies come out before they are fully cooked, some of their development starts when they are born, but some of it doesn’t fully kick in until closer to their term date.
So some things – primarily physical development milestones – will be “delayed” if you use her birth date, which is why we will sometimes use her adjusted date for reference. Other things – primarily mental milestones – will be in line with her actual birth date, so we will use that.
She will catch up, though, to other babies her actual age, and by about two years old, she should be just like any other two year old.
For better or worse.
-Dad
PS – I know the photos page went a bit wonky. It still works, it just looks weird. Just hang with me until I have a moment to correct it.