Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Still Going Strong

Elise is still doing quite well and continuing to progress. She's taking bottles more frequently (about every other feeding), though she still gets tired and often can't finish. Last night I gave her another bath and she managed to finished 27 out of her 37 cc in the bottle (or maybe two more since I believe this nurse adds 2 cc since those are always hard to give at the end when the bottle is practically empty).

Yesterday morning I ran errands to Home Depot to look at rugs and pick up some spray paint for a project, home to drop off the paint so it didn't explode in my trunk due to the high-ish temperature here yesterday, Babies'R'Us to try to find a car seat we liked in stock, and Target to make sure the Babies'R'Us one was really the best one that our local stores carry.

The Babies'R'Us I went to (the new one in Jantzen for anyone who's interested - it's a nice one) didn't have the car seat I wanted at that location so last night I went to another one to pick it up. And I had a 15% off coupon, always nice to get a deal.

This may sound odd to everyone, as I know Kit wasn't quite sure why this meant so much to me, but buying Elise's car seat and knowing I had it in the trunk when I went to visit her last night felt extremely comforting. Now that we have the car seat, I feel much more like we really have a baby and she's really going to come home at some point in the near future. Not sure if that makes sense, but I guess the car seat was a pivotal item for me in preparing for baby. Thanks mom and dad for the wonderful present!

Here's she is in her open (non-heated) bed last Friday.


Another shot of her in the bed. It kind of looks like a Rubbermaid on a cart to me, but I'm sure it costs a lot more than a Rubbermaid.


Sleeping soundly.


Precious.


The infamous Tower. As you can see, we now have lots of space and windows.


Sporting a cute outfit from my mom.


I couldn't resist buying a little three pack of headbands with bows at Target a few days ago.


The headbands are clearly two times too big, but still cute for a quick photo. Keep in mind that Ellie's head has nearly (or maybe fully) doubled since she was born.


Wide awake and showing off her cute tummy.


Getting weighed.


Another cute outfit (this time from Kit's mom). Not sure she's too thrilled with me for taking this picture.


She had just wriggled out of her hat and seemed pretty pleased with herself.


Two seconds later she was pouting and crying. Gotta love how quickly babies emotions change.


Not sure if you can really tell in this picture, but this is one of the onesies that was rather large on her a couple of weeks ago. It now first quite snug around her tummy.


Another cute crying photo.


From April 19, 2009

Ellie looking around. Ignore me talking like a goof throughout the video.
Click on the picture above or the link below the picture to watch the video.


From April 21, 2009

Ellie talking and crying. I don't think I'm a bad mom for videotaping this...they say you should capture your baby's cry to see how it changes when they get older. (I promise, the nurses have told me this is a good idea. :))
Click on the picture above or the link below the picture to watch the video.



14 comments:

Katie said...

Your little bundle looks like she is coming along great! Listening to the video clip reminded me of that newborn cry and you are so right to video it because I didnt and wish I had. Trouble was I had such a colicky, refluxy baby that at the time we heard not much but crying and at the time I didnt think I would want to be reminded of it!

And I think you make total sense about the car seat - it is hard to believe that you have a baby, and that baby is yours even when you have gone to term and are at home, let alone having a baby who cant be home with you straight away so having the carseat making it more real makes total sense to me :o)

Before you know it Elise will be home with you in her beautiful pink room.
Katie (Texas)

Hayley said...

Hi there! I've been following your blog from Kelly's Korner and just wanted to let you know that your sweet little princess is getting closer and closer to coming home! I have twins and my daughter spent the first 12 days in the NICU because she was tiny and it wasn't much longer after they moved her to the open crib that she was able to come home. Hopefully she will be able to maintain her own body temp, comtinue to take her feeds well, and pass her car seat test (when they tell you to bring that, then you know it's really close). Good luck...you have a little sweetie on your hands!
Hayley

alexandrea said...

not sure what car seat you settled on , but also check out
segal's, they are off of murrey by wash square
14755 S.W. Teal Blvd.
Beaverton,OR,97007
503-579-1477

they have car seat techs too that can make sure the seat is installed properly,
we got the chicco , the weight starts at 4lbs and has the infant insert and really fits the smaller babies better, We also felt it was the easiset to use.
before you know it, she will be home

Jennifer said...

That belly picture is adorable! Congratulations on the car seat!!! Bringing her home will soon be a reality! What a fantastic update. Are you going to share your spray painting project?

alexandrea said...

hey one more thing, when you bring in your car seat for her car seat test, make sure you bring in the base, thsi is what iwas advise at doernbecker nicu as it is much easier to set it up correctly amnd make sure it is at the right angle

Stephanie said...

She is absolutely adorable!!!!!

I can totally understand how monumental of a moment it was for you to have Elise's carseat in the car!

Can't wait until you're strapping her in and taking her home :)

Amanda said...

It totally makes sense that you feel more like a parent with a car seat in your car. It's a strange kind of limbo when you are suddenly parents, but you leave your baby in the NICU every night. You can still go out, but you don't need a baby sitter yet (and you feel oh so guilty when you are doing something away from the NICU because you feel like you should always be there even though you know you really need time away), and you have to consult with doctors and nurses about EVERYTHING, it's hard for your baby to feel like well, she's yours.

I took lots of videos of my daughter crying (and yes, I struggled with a little bit of guilt too about it) but it's true, they sound different every month so it's fun to look back. My hubby and I were surprised to watch the video of the day after she came home and listen to the "goat noises" she made, we had forgtten about them. And also, with our baby, she was several weeks old, maybe months, before she cried so crying was a milestone we were proud to get to.

She certainly is filling out those onesies better! She'll be in Newborn clothes before you know it! Yay!!

Susan Carson said...

Hi Emily-

I understand completely what you mean about the carseat. Being able to do things like that makes us feel like parents, and so much of that feeling is taken away while our babies are in the NICU.

Elise is absolutely beautiful!

-Susan Carson

Krista said...

Emily,
She looks so adorable in her cute little brown polkadot onsie! I love it! I sure can tell that she's getting picture. Too cute for words! I love ALL her pictures to! Still prayin' for her! That's great that she's in the tower now though! Woohoo! Movin' up! =)
~Krista Lynn

Melissa Nickerson said...

Em, Ellie is looking so good!! So fun to visit with you on Thursday, we had a great & fruitful trip & are now catching up on life back home. Much love!! Mel

absees123s said...

She looks absolutely wonderful and so much bigger! I have been following your blog for some time, praying for you all and Elise and watching her grow...How amazing! Thank you for sharing!

Amy said...

Oh. My. Goodness. She looks SO good!!! I've been a lurker on your blog and following her story since she was born, and I just had to de-lurk and tell you that she looks amazing! She's growing so much - I can see such a big change in her! These pictures make me want to cuddle and kiss her... so cute!

I can't wait to see how much she grows in the next few weeks, and can't wait to see pictures of her at home!

God bless you guys!
Amy

Erin said...

Oh my goodness I haven't checked in for a while. She looks WONDERFUL!!!! I love the pics, so nice to see her smiling. So happy things are going so well for you and your family!

Rebekah said...

Hi! I came across your blog awhile ago through kelly's blog. Been following it since. Elise looks absolutely adorable in these pictures! I am a NICU nurse and LOVE the way the hospital you are at has done things. She is truly in good hands!!! So glad she is doing so well too.
Rebekah