And More Feedings

My first full bottle from my Dad! My parents dressed me in pink because I am eating like a little piggy

Last blog we said we were going to try breastfeeding every other feeding, but Calla did so well yesterday we tried every feeding yesterday and she rocked. She took 2 full feedings from the breast yeasterday and the majority of the other feedings from the breast also. If she did not finish, she would receive the rest through the feeding tube. So today we took it another step and tried to do an entire feeding with the bottle and she took every drop, from her dad! She is doing really well. The nurses and doctors are quite impressed with little Ms. Calla. So for now we are going to try mostly breast feedings with 2 or 3 feeding a day with a bottle to give her a little break. This way I can also do some feedings.

We thought are days were busy earlier, we were mistaken. Our days start now at 5:30 am and we walk over to the hospital for the 6 am feeding and then we go over every 3 hours until 9 pm. Each feeding takes at least 1 hour, and usually longer. We are missing the midnight and 3 am feedings because we have to sleep sometime and we want the nurses to have something to do. We are just glad we have the guest house just a few blocks away where we can recharge for 1.5 hours between feeding. But the more feeding we are at and doing ourselves, the sooner we go home!

That was hard work dad, can I throw up on your shoulder now?

Full tummy and new cloths means one thing, nap time!

All About Feeding!!!

Aha, nothing like a good workout!! Now time for a nap. Don't you like my Hippie Smurf outfit, I fit right in here in Eugene.






Calla had a great achievement today she took 24 ccs breastfeeding at the 3:00 feeding and 10ccs at the 9:00 feeding . This is a huge accomplishment and Scott and I are very excited for our little girl. Calla has shown a lot of interest in breastfeeding for the past week but she always seems to get frustrated a few minutes into the process. Today at the 3:00 feeding we used a nipple shield for the first time and it worked wonders. A nipple shield is a flexible plastic cover that goes over the nipple so that there is something with a little bit more structure for Calla to grab onto. This was all the assistance she needed. She did a great job and afterwards Scott and I were sharing high 5’s with all the nurses. Breastfeeding takes a lot of energy for such a little girl so Scott and I are going to try and breastfeed her every other feeding for the next few days and hopefully by the end of the week we will be able to do some bottles in between breastfeeding. Things are moving forward and we hope to be home by the end of the month.
Thanks as always for your continued love and support!
Courtney, Scott, and Calla

4 Pounds!

This is from the first week, but it is one of my favorites.

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone, Calla celebrated by reaching the 4 lbs. mark today. She is also starting to feed a little better. She tried her first bottle last night and sucked down 5 cc, then proceeded to spit up most of it an hour later. Overall she did good though. She is showing a lot of sucking cues and is waking up every 3 hours for her feedings, which are really good signs. So now Courtney and/or I have to be at every feeding so we can to help her become a better eater, so we can take her home as soon as possible.

This is where we can not wait to take Calla, besides her own house.

My own crib

Isolette, I do not need no isolette!

That is right, my big surprise is I moved out of my isolette last night and moved into an open crib. I knew last night that I weighed 3 lbs. and 15 oz. so I am big enough now to better maintain my own body heat. I still have to be wrapped up burrito style in a few blankets, but that is better than living in a closed in box. I now have the same bed as all the other kids in my room.

My best friend and neighbor, Madison, was just told her parents can take her home today to Albany. I am excited for her, but I will miss her.

My new digs are so comfortable.

I am all smiles tonight because I know something that no ones else knows. I might spill the beans tomorrow though.

So you are the one that has been carrying me around for 7 months, nice to meet you. What, I was suposed to stay in there for 10 more weeks? I must have missed that memo, sorry about that.

Check out my fleece jacket, it is so cool. I love this fleece stuff.

May 2, 2008

Safe holding mommy and daddy's hands!!

Hi All – It is time for another mother’s update. It is hard for me to believe how fast the days go by. I guess that is a good thing when we are living away from our home and counting the days until our little girl can go home. This has been a busy week for Scott, I and Calla. Grandma and Grandpa Shaff left on Tuesday and I drove to Salem for the day and visited with my co-workers. I had the opportunity to share pictures of Calla with everyone and left with a huge basket of food and some beautiful preemie baby cloths. Calla is now the best dressed baby in the NICU. Soon she will be giving out fashion advice to the other babies.

Our friends Nicole and Kevin from Corvallis came down on Tuesday night, Thursday night, complements of Grandma and Grandpa Shaff, Scott and I went to see Mama Mia here in Eugene. It was a great evening and we really appreciated the night out. Friday our friend Christine drove down from Portland to meet Calla and she also brought us lunch.

I want to tell you a little about the wonderful people that are caring for Calla while Scott and I out and about enjoying Eugene, taking naps, and missing our daughter. The nurses here are amazing people and we are begining to care for them like family. It is so hard to go about each day going to and from the hospital without Calla. But we do know that she is being cared for by people that really care about here while we are not there. Last night while we were out at the play instead of at the 9pm feeding like usual Calla’s nurse Molly held her during her feeding and cuddled with her. Katy, Calla’s usual daytime nurse always dresses Calla in cute outfits before we arrive in the morning. These women, and the many other men and women that care for our daughter make us feel truly blessed. We can’t yet be her primary caregivers so we are so happy that the people that care for her while we are not there are so wonderful.

I will finish tonight with a poem that my aunt Ginger sent me. It is beautiful and made me cry.

For the First Time Mother
Relax, my dear, your little elf
Is just an amateur herself.
So if your hands, so newly filled
With tasks, seem somewhat less than skilled
Relax, I say. This little pinkling
Doesn't have the slightest inkling
That you are new to baby lore--
She never had a Mom before!!

Comments

Hi all. We have had several people tells us that they are having problems leaving comments, so I will try and explain how to do it.
First - Just click on where is say " 0 comments" at the end of each blog. The number will vary depending on how many comments have been left, so it could say "4 Comments". The little envelope next to that is for emailing someone that days blog.
Second - At the bottom of the comments window that opened up, there is a space to type in your comments, so type away.
Third - Below where you typed in the comment you have several options. If you have a gmail account, sign in. But if you do not have an account, select the Name/URL button. It will then give you the option to type in your name, the URL is optional.
Fourth/Final - Click on the "Publish Your Comments" button at the very bottom.
We love hearing from the people that are reading this so please leave us comments if you like. It is also something we will save, so Calla can read someday.


So a blog would not be complete without a Calla update and a few photos.


This morning Calla weighed in at 3 lbs. 11 oz. and she is just over 17 inches long/tall now.
We got a little more information about her heart condition. She has a couple of openings in the lining between the two lower chambers of the heart. One of these is in the muscle section, which will fill in as the muscles get bigger. There is another one that is in the non-muscular portion, which we will have to monitor. They are both very small opening. We will meet with a pediatrics heart specialist from Portland in the middle of June.

So all is well and we are enjoying our new digs. It was nice and quite last night, so I brought in my mandolin and played some tunes for Calla. I am now learning all the childrens tunes, I have London Bridges, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and Row, Row, Row your Boat down now. I should have my Grandpa Nelson's Mandolin back from the shop this week, so I can start playing that for her. My Aunt Sandy gave it to me last month when I saw her in Ohio for Courtney's baby shower, I was blown away. It is a 1912 Washburn Bowback Mandolin that he played and now I get to play, pretty cool. Maybe Calla will play it also when she gets older!

We got some better pictures last night with the lilly. Is that what you had in mind Charlotte?

How do I look in my little stawberry shortcake outfit?