Three Months

This is a little late, but Bayden was 3 months old on July 18th.  She has now been home longer than she was in the nicu.

She weighed 10 pounds 10 oz today when she saw the nicu doctor.  Her doctor says she is doing great; growing and developing.  I was hoping he would say she could be done with the caffeine medication and monitor, but she has had enough apnea spells still to show a need for the monitor.  It has improved, her first 10 days home, she had 7 apnea alarms.  Now in the last month, she has had 4.  We can tell she is doing so much better and are comfortable having her off the monitor so we can take her out and about more.  She's finally been to a couple restaurants, malls, grocery stores, and the liquor store.  Trying to socialize her a little more.  She is giving lots of smiles now days and I feel like she is trying to giggle.  My best friend is hoping there is a way for her to have my giggle even though we had an egg donor.  Her movements seem more organized and she is following us with her eyes and following me when I leave the room.

Here is a pic of our pretty little gal at 3 months old.

InFertility Flashback for the Fourth

Today as I rock my baby in her red white and blue, I'm thinking back to a few summers ago when we were in the middle of a cycle.  It was one of our more memorable ones so I wanted to share and document it.  Not sure if my mom and aunts (my main followers) will think it's as funny!

It was the summer of 2009, I had been taking meds to get ready for an IUI and was in for a monitoring appointment.  They said I was set to ovulate and have my IUI procedure on the 4th of July.  Luckily, they had a doc and nurse on call that day so nothing would be cancelled.  We would be heading across the state after the procedure because Gav's cousin was getting married that weekend.

We were all packed up for the weekend and headed to the clinic.  Gavin took care of his part and then we went for breakfast while they prepared the swimmers.  Then, we were back to the clinic for the IUI.  Everything went fine and as I sat with my legs up for awhile the nurse practitioner went over instructions for the next 2 weeks.  As usual, we were told to follow up with intercourse as much as possible over the next 72 hours.

Well, there was a problem with this.  We were headed to a small town wedding with not many choices for hotels and there were 2 rooms for the 6 of us from Gav's family going to the wedding, we were sharing a room with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend.  So, I had no choice but to ask her to write on a prescription that we would need our own hotel room at the wedding.  I thought it was so funny, she didn't really, but wrote it out.  Of course she is from this small town and knew several of my husbands family members I found out as we made small talk while she wrote a prescription.

We were then on the 7 hour road trip across the state.  When, we were getting to close to the middle of nowhere and near country roads, Gav starts looking for a turn.  I thought we were getting close to his grandma's house.  Turns out he's looking for a place to park in the country.  Just following the doctor's orders!  There was a small issue with a horse fly, but it was fun to be a little spontaneous after all we've been through.  I took a picture of an old abandoned shed where we stopped thinking it would be great to frame in the baby's room if it worked out.

When we arrived, I gave Gavin's dad our prescription and they had to go move luggage around at the hotel.  Ha!  I spent the wedding dance making up stories about why I wasn't drinking  (not sure why everyone always thought it was so odd if I wasn't having a drink) and dancing with a cousin's little boy.  We were maybe the only 2 sober people, it was a barn dance with free beer.  We were glad to have our own room over the next 72 hours!

Obviously this cycle didn't work out, but we sure gave it our best try!  It would have been a great story, but we have a better story now.  This year we will be heading to another cousin's wedding on our first trip out of town with B.

Happy 4th of  July!

It's a Book

Yesterday a friend from work came to visit with her baby, who looks huge next to Bayden.  We thought he might rollover and eat her.  She said she had a present to bring over.  I assumed it was from someone else and that she was just delivering, she's given us a few gifts already.

She had my entire blog made into a book!  It was such a surprise and so special.  Of course I cried as I flipped through seeing our entire journey.  A book all about Bayden.  Molly has done so much for me during this journey already.  She covered for me for appointments.  She hugged me as I cried when I found out none of our embryos made it to freeze.  She covered my class as I called the doctor and Gavin from the time-out room freaking out about some bleeding early on.  She gave me my shot one evening at parent - teacher conferences.  She sent me cards and put notes on my desk during those hard days of waiting.  She brought gifts and cards from my students to the hospital.  She delivered food when we were home.  She did everything at school for me at the end of the year that my sub couldn't do.  Now I have all of the stories and memories of Bayden in a book.  Thank you so much Molly!

Mommy's First Race & B's First Softball Game

Last weekend the run or dye 5k was in town.  Of course I hadn't signed up thinking I wouldn't be able to exercise yet if Bayden would have come on or around her due date.  When she came early and the nicu stay was over I decided to sign up in hope it would motivate me to start running to help lose those last 10 pounds of baby weight.  I didn't train very hard, but got a few run/walks in when Gav would get home from work in the evenings and some walks with the stroller.  I know a 5k isn't a big deal, but I was feeling pretty good when I crossed the finish line with a group of friends.  I had a baby 10 weeks ago, then, for 43 days she was in the nicu, now she's home, and I just ran my first 5K as a mom!  Now, I'm hoping to stay motivated to run a half marathon in 7 weeks.  Wouldn't you know the money raised from the run goes to the nicu Bayden stayed at.  Too bad funds can't go towards her medical bills.

Last Thursday night, I was really brave and drove with B by myself.  We had been driven around by Gavin or Gavin's dad until then.  The monitor has never gone off in the car so I decided to try it for a short drive to go to Gavin's softball game.  It was nice to be back into an old summer routine and see friends.  And of course watch daddy's game.

She's cheering!

2 Months 6-18-13

Just a few days late.  Our little B is 2 months old already.  It goes so fast,  just like everyone tells us.  Soon she will be home longer than she was in the nicu.

On Monday B weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces.  She eats between 2 and 3 ounces at a feeding.  When she realizes she is hungry, you just can't get the bottle to her fast enough.  She is still mostly bottle feeding, but we keep working on breast feeding.  Some times are better than others.  We've been getting help at weekly lactation appointments so that's been good.

Bayden loves to be held, snuggled, and sleep in anyone's arms.  Of course we love this as much as she does.  It's crazy how fast she learned when she is put down and how she can get someone to hold her again.  We've gotten a couple little smiles, but nothing consistent so we aren't sure if they were the real thing or not.  She is watching our mouths when we talk to her and moving her mouth and tongue around though.  She is starting to grab and hold on to things (blankets, shirts, my hair, etc.).  She loves to move her legs and arms around.  She is very squirmy and can break her arms of her swaddle unless daddy swaddles her.

Everyone who meets her comments on how much hair she has and the color of course.  It's funny when people say it has a red tint.  It is red people!  My joke is that she was too busy growing her hair on the inside instead of developing her lungs.  Everyone also comments on her eyelashes and how long they are.  It seems like every time we look at them, they are longer.  People must think I'm putting mascara on her.

Can you see her lashes?

And just because we don't want to forget what it was like with her equipment.  You can see she doesn't find this as funny as I do!

Cousins

Yesterday was a busy day for B.  She met her little cousins for the first time!  My mom, sister, and her twins came to spend the day with us.  It was a fun day, but sure different from if they would have visited a year ago.  This time we fed, burped, changed, pumped, snuggled, visited, and had lots of laughs.  No shopping or out to lunch and drinks this time.  Maybe next time if the dads are around to let us out for a few hours.  It was a great day!  I didn't get many pictures  with all that baby stuff we had to do!

Grandma with the 3 new babies (Maysen, Jack, and Bayden)

Auntie Megan and B

Grandma and Maysen sleeping in her favorite position

After a busy day with company, B had a photo shoot last night.  It's a little harder to get newborn pictures when she acts like an 8 week old baby in some ways.  Our friend worked so  hard and got some really cute ones though.  Towards the end of the night though, here is what little Bayden thought of pictures....

F%&#   this!

Dear NICU

Today we went to see B's nicu doctor and occupational therapist for a check-up.  She will be going in for these check-ups about once a month.  She checks out fine.  They'd like to see her gaining a little more weight and she still needs the monitor of course.  We also brought a thank-you note for the staff in the nicu. While it was not a fun place to visit for hours a day for 6 weeks, we are very thankful for the care and love they gave Bayden.  Her thank you note went something like this.

Dear NICU -

Thank you for taking such good care of me during my stay at the NICU.  Thank you for feeding me, changing my diapers, giving me my medicine, giving me baths, and putting me in cute outfits with matching bedding.  Thank you for the head massages (the ones you called "stim").  They were a little rough sometimes, but it was a nice reminder to take a breath.  And of course thank you for all the little bursts of oxygen you gave me!  Sorry for causing so much trouble.  Most of all, thanks for snuggling me when my mom and dad couldn't be there.

I also want to a apologize for my mother.  She really was the biggest baby in the NICU, poor gal.  My mom and dad tried and waited a long time to have me and they have gone through a lot of hard stuff.  She just couldn't help it.  Thanks for giving her hugs and helping her through my hospital stay.  She's better now that I'm at home!

Thanks for all you did for me and all the other babies.  I will stop in and visit!

Love, Bayden