A Week of 1st's

I know - it's been a busy week and I haven't had time to post. Here is a synapse of what has been going on...

As of today, Addi weighs 3 lbs 4.8 oz. She is taking 35 cc (a little over an ounce) every three hours. I am able to feed her twice a day. She breast feeds for 15 minutes, then takes her full feeding by bottle. So far she is doing GREAT! She takes the entire bottle almost every time. Other than that, not much change. The doctor has not made any new orders and we are just waiting on her to gain weight before they move her to an open crib. Everyone says she will be home before we know it....when exactly will that be???

3 Weeks Old

5-28-08

Stretching those legs out

I love my teddy!

Daddy feeding her for the first time

(what a good daddy)

PaPaw holding her for the first time

Dink holding her for the first time

Another first this week (that we forgot to snap photos of) was Addi meeting Uncle Justin and Aunt Elise for the first time. We snuck them in so they could get a peek of Addi :)

3 Pounds Today!

Addi weighed 3.08 lbs today. YEA! They say now she will start growing like a weed. The doctors orders today was for her to try and breast feed for 15 minutes, then bottle feed (with her full 30 ml) for 15 minutes. She did GREAT! The nurse said she might not take much of her bottle after breast feeding, but she took the WHOLE thing. We were shocked. She must have been hungry. Afterwards she was out. She had the hiccups for a few minutes, then fell fast asleep.

We are a little concerned about a diaper rash she has. We are on her second medication for it. Today is was bleeding some. :( But, Nurse Stormy was going to take her diaper off this afternoon and put some oxygen on it to see if that helped. Hopefully it will go away soon.

The two other babies in the NICU are going home today and tomorrow. So...she will be the only one left. That's ok with us though - more attention for Addi :)

She loves to sleep with her legs crossed. :)

Daddy's girl

Today was a big day for Addi. She weighs 2 lbs 15.2 oz! Almost to 3 pounds!!! They upped her food to 30 ml every 3 hours and are continuing to bottle feed her once a day. It wears her out. Here are some photos of her first bottle feeding (a couple of days ago) and the first time Daddy held her (today).

Daddy's girl

5-25-08

First bottle

5-23-08

Goodinight Moon

Last night LaLa (Lauren) - I know, we have knick names for everyone - came to visit and brought a good book to read to Addison. She loved it. Thanks LaLa

Addi snuggling up with her "lovie" and bear while listening to LaLa

An exciting week!

Lots of great things happened this week. As of yesterday (Thursday) she weighed 2 lbs 12.9 oz. ALMOST her birth weight. Maybe today??? They took her off the caffeine they were giving her, which was the only medication she was receiving. So now she is literally just sleeping and eating. Our most favorite nurse, Stormy, let me try and bottle feed her yesterday. She didn't like it much. Life was much easier when you could sleep and eat at the same time. She did good though. Out of the 26 ml she ate 7-8 ml over the course of 30 minutes. Then we gave the rest through her feeding tube. Stormy said that was really good because the first time they usually only get 1-2 ml. We will continue to try this once a day until she gets really good at it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADDI! 2 weeks old

5-21-08

Addi is always wide awake in the evenings when we visit.

The first time YaYa got to hold Addison.

She is the favorite, I'm pretty sure :)

All the nurses LOVE Addi! Everytime I go into the NICU the nurses have done something new with my baby girl. I know I am partial, but I think they are too :)

We also had to take the opportunity to support our favorite college!

Today Addi weighed 2 lbs 11.3 oz. We are working towards her birth weight so they upped her food intake to 30 ml every 3 hours. She seems to be handling her feedings well. They also took her off her oxygen monitor which makes me a nervous wreck. They say they are confident she is breathing fine though. Other than that, not much change, which is a good thing. We are just waiting patiently for her to gain weight and grow. :) My favorite thing to do each day is hold her. I spend LOTS of time doing this.

10 days old

Well, today was a good day for Miss Addi. She weighed 2 lbs 11.2 oz. They are going to start giving her iron supplements to increase her blood. Apparently that is common with preemies. Tomorrow they will begin to start teaching her to feed from a bottle! How exciting! Although she won't be able to take a full feeding from it, they will try once a day so she learns to start sucking. This is exciting because when she got there (10 days ago) they said they wouldn't even try for 3-4 weeks. Eric and I spent most of the day with her. Now that she is not jaundice or hooked up to a c-papp I get to hold her as much as I want! So...I hold her for hours each day. I love it. The nurses are letting me change diapers, get her temperature, and teaching me the things I don't know how to do like her monitors. Today, nurse Susan made her a bow :) She looked so cute! I can't believe how far we have come in just 10 days.

Feeding and Growing

Last night Eric's mom (YaYa) and I went to see Addi before bed. She was awake and alert. It was the first time I felt like she was a "real" baby. She didn't have all the tubes and wires hooked up to her face. Daddy went to see her before work so he was able to see her before me without all those yucky tubes. When I got there I sat and held her for the longest time. The nurses were nice enough to let me hold her beyond my allotted 30 minutes since she was so peaceful. All of her "stats" (heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen level) looked great. The doctors were confident enough to actually move the c-papp machine out of the room. Yea! She feels like a FREE women!







This morning I made my usual visit but they were admitting another baby so I had to wait a while. I waited patiently and when they let me in I held her. She was sleeping the whole time but I didn't mind. The nurses always comment on how well she does (her "stats") when I am holding her. That's because she wants her Mommy. :) They moved her feeding tube from her mouth to her nose so it wouldn't bother her as much. Now I can see her beautiful lips. They are fortifying her breast milk so it has more calories and she can gain some more weight. Today she weighed 2 pounds 10.8 ounces.

Our nurse today, Susan, grabbed my camera for a quick photo so I would have plenty of pictures with both of us. I will return to the hospital this afternoon and again with Daddy this evening. I am so glad to see her this way.

What a day!

Addi is doing great today. She was taken off her CPAP which is what helped her learn to breathe. She also was taken off the IV, as she's taking 25cc's of milk every 3 hours now. That's just a teaspoon less than a full ounce. We were able to see her face now that the CPAP is off. What a beautiful little princess!

Here's a picture for you. The piece above her nose will be removed when they are confident she won't need to have the CPAP again.

She gained another ounce today and is 2 lbs 11 ounces. That's just 2 ounces short of her birth weight.

Carrie was able to hold her against her chest today without as many tubes and Addi was so happy being snuggled up to her Mama.

Addison is one week old today

Addi gained another ounce today and is 2lbs 10.2 ounces! She is not quite to her birth size but is on her way. She had a good day, with Carrie and Eric visiting her as usual. Carrie told me today she starts her day and ends it holding little Addi.

I've added a little video we took while Carrie was changing her diaper. She wasn't too happy, but what a sweet little cry! It's okay, Mama does a great job calming her down afterwards.

Growing little girl

Little Addi weighs 2.98 lbs today. This is up a complete ounce from yesterday. She is also taking 18 cc's of milk every three hours. Her progress is so encouraging.

Her bilirubin is down, so she is not longer considered jaundiced, and they have removed the light above her bed. They also lowered her IV today. With these changed, Carrie is able to hold her much more and enjoys every minute with her.

Mama and Daddy visited her several times today. It's so good to see her little skin so pink and healthy. Carrie is there now with her, ending a good day with her little girl.

Addi is 5 days old!

Today was a fairly good day. Addi is now in an enclosed bassinet, an isolette. This is a step up for her, she was in an open bassinet (open table warmer) until last night. They keep them in the open ones when they are more critical and may require quick access from the medical staff. The enclosed bed allows her body temp to stay more consistent and encourages better growth. She is still at the same weight, but is now taking 14 cc's of milk per feeding.

Dink (Eric's dad) and Yaya (Eric's mom) have been visiting her regularly. We heard today that Dink is looking for books to read her. Papaw (Carrie's step dad) is in Houston for the next 2 weeks, but he visited her as much as he could before he had to go back. Of course, Nana visits her regularly as well. Her visitors are limited to only 6 who are on the "list", but they can't wait until she is well enough to share with everyone. The hospital also sent blankets with her scent home for the other babies (Carrie's dogs Franklin and Chica) to get used to her smell.

Carrie and Eric spent the day with Addison, and in between ran errands and took care of a few things. The church brought in dinner tonight, which was a big relief for her and Eric. It was nice to have a good home cooked meal. It's such a blessing to have the church family, we had no idea how much they would do for them. They also recieved a beautiful afghan from one of the church members. It was from an elderly lady who made it, prayed over it, and then sent it to Addison. What a wonderful gift!

Carrie and Eric can't thank everyone enough for the gifts, card, flowers and mostly the prayers they have recieved. They are overwhelmed by the love and generosity from everyone.

You can also visit this blog at http://www.addikate.com/. Thanks to Uncle Bubba (Carrie's brother) for setting this up for us.

Mothers Day

It's been a busy few days for the Welborn's. Addi is 4 days old, is doing well and progressing as expected. She weighs about 2 lbs 8 oz today. She lost a few ounces due to water weight, but that is expected. She went from taking 3cc's of milk to 10 cc's as of today.

Mom and Dad have held her a few times, and today Nana (Carrie's mom) got to hold her too! She is so sweet and small, we all love her so much. Today Mama and Daddy went to church and were able to hear her birth announced to the congregation. After church they spent time with Addi. Then off to lunch with Mama's family and back to see Addi and feed her. Carrie & Eric are tired, but happy she is doing so well. Carrie was able to get a small nap in, then spent time tonight with Eric's mom, and back to the hospital.

It was a good day overall as they celebrated their first Mother's day with Addi.

Here are a few pictures to share:

Daddy's Little Girl

Happy Mother's Day