I like her, I really like her!!!

So, I think we may have turned a corner in the last 24 hours! Amelia has really started to LIKE and LOVE her little sister. Yeah!! She put a show on for Caroline (pictures below) and also has started mimicking everything we do for her. For instance, her dog from Uncle David and Aunt Lydia has become her baby and she makes bottles for him, feeds him, burps him, and lays him down for naps. She also has to check on Caroline all the time and is constantly worried about where she is and does she need anything.

As for Caroline, she had a good night last night in her own crib. She went down after a 10 o'clock feeding, got up at 2, then up again at 6! It was a great night! I would say her only downfall has to be her pooping explosions she has before and after her feedings. I promise that kid poops 12 times a day and sometimes it sounds like a volcano erupted and it is only a smear!!

Putting a show on for baby Caroline.

No matter how long her bangs get they won't stay pulled back!!



Big stretch.

Amelia getting ready to feed Jingle!

I tried to get some good pictures but I think my camera is not a professional grade!

She is wearing preemie clothes - the newborn stuff is way too big for her!

She is just not very photogenic!

Amelia will now let us take pictures of her with Caroline and held her for more than 30 seconds.

Love - Us!!

Home Again, Home Again!!

Hello, again!!

Well since we have been home it seems to be going alright. Amelia has been pretty good with only a few out bursts over wanting whichever of us was holding Caroline. She does occassionaly want to help with her and sometimes wants nothing to do with her. She will ask to hold her and then be done in 30 seconds!

Caroline is doing alright, I think she will be sleeping in her own room tonight though because I did not sleep at all last night due to her grunting! I do not hear the child grunt at all upstairs but last night she was like a little pig!! She got up twice during the night but we didn't acutaually go to bed until 11:30.

Today was her appointment and they said all was well, she is eating really well and has gained weight, she now weights 4 lbs 14 oz. So we are really close to the 5 lb mark! So far it has been relatively easy juggling both kids but when Ben goes back to work Wednesday or Thursday I am sure my patience will be tested!

Here are a few pictures since we have been home, neither of them are being very photogenic. Amelia does not want her picture taken and when Caroline is awake it means she is hungry and when she is hungry she is wriggling all over with her outh wide open!

Hope you enjoy!!

Love - us

Caroline expressing that she needs fed now!!

Loving the outfit Aunt Kim got her!!

So cute!

Feed Me!!



Ben and I thought she did not look like Amelia, but now we are certain she is Amelia's mini me!!
But only time will tell!





Love her!

Thursday night when we got home we played Dora Candyland and read books! I was just happy to sit on my own couch rather than a hotel bed!!

Just a few pictures from the hospital after they took her nose tube out.

Looks exactly like Amelia did!

Christmas Weekend 2011!!!

Hello and Merry Christmas!!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas weekend.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Love -

Ben, Kori, Amelia, & Caroline

Amelia meeting Caroline for the first time.

She was excited!

We built a cave for Amelia to sleep in at the hotel, she loved it and we even had to add a gate, a busch, and rocks for her!



The pillow is her gate and the ottoman is the busch.

Peek a boo, I see you!

Amelia found a nice relaxing place to rest.

Christmas morning! Right as she woke up!

Presents!

Caroline is doing great, she has been a lot better at eating all of her feedings. Unless there is a major set back she will definately go home this week!! We are just hoping it is sooner rather than later this week! She is so cuddly and warm!

Snoozing on Daddy's lap.

She is so little!

They put the cutest striped pajamas on her with reindeer footies!!

She was all decked out for Christmas!

12-26

Yesterday we were able to go into the family room with Caroline because she is in a regular crib now.













Amelia checking out her new little sister.




More open eyes




No much nicer than inside the ISCU room.




Amelia says " I just want to tickle her mom".

Doctor says we may be able to go home on wedensday or Thursday if she keeps making progress. We'll see the past couple of times she has taken about 75% of her milk then got the rest through the nose tube, so she has got to stop that.

12-24 Christmas Eve

Amelia and I got up early to go to breakfast. She wanted chocolate chip pancakes, but I made her eat some strawberries and bananas because our diet lately has been less than ideal.




If you noticed the lady in the first picture, she came over and was totally enamored of Amelia who would not even look at her (stranger danger). The lady offered to take our picture, I think she was missing her own grand children and came over for a kiddie fix.




Today was a good day for Caroline. Today she lost the canula, IV and got her feeds increased to 35cc's. We went for feeding and she was pretty tired because she has to breathe, regulate temp and gain weight all on her own now with out any medical assistance. She took most of the bottle, but we did have to give her the last 10cc's through the feed tube. The nurse said it was probably because they removed all the tubes and wires so she is working harder and she should recover quickly if the past couple days are a good indicator.

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12-23

Today has been good. Caroline is up to 30cc on her feedings and mom is making it all and then some. They did a sonogram of her head (normal procedure for premie's) and found nothing bad. The plastic surgeon came to look at her foot again, he said it is healing well and that it may look bad from the outside but it will heal from the inside out. He does want to look at her 2 weeks after she get discharged to see if it heals well or if she needs scar therapy. They are continually having to reduce the temperature on her bed which is a good sign she is regulating her own temp, and may need to be moved to a crib. The nurse today said she could not hear the heart murmer anymore. I think I forgot to post that they found a heart murmer. They say murmurs are normal in a lot a babies especially premature babies and they usually close up on their own, they are a valve that is open when the baby is in the womb and closes after birth sometimes it takes a little bit of time to close up. We are hoping that she takes the reduction of air flow on her canula better this time so she can lose it altogether this time. Also they will probably take her IV out in the next day or two.
Sorry no new pictures, but when I was going to have the nurse take them they baby across the room started having problems and their were about six doctors in the room and a lot of commotion, all the nurses were busy. Tomorrow I promise there will be pictures of her being held and fed!


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12-21

Well today was a good day.

When the doctors did rounds on Caroline they increased her food intake, decreased air flow and moved her to an isolate bed so they could start the billi Ruben lights. The plastic surgeon also came by to look at her foot, he says she will be just fine and when it is healed she will have a scar no bigger than a chicken pox scar...so much for the foot model idea.

Tomorrow we are going to attempt to feed her from a bottle, I think she will do good because she sucks on the pacifier pretty well.

I went home today to do some laundry and to pick up Amelia, we are going to have Christmas in the double tree hotel. We thought it would be good for her to spend the night in her own bed and play with her toys at home for a night so I will head back in the morning.

I will post more pictures tomorrow.





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