This time last year we were still in the NICU. I can't even begin to describe how hard the holidays were with having a 3 year old at home and another in the NICU. Liam actually had a NEC scare in December so I was pretty much a nervous wreck the entire month of December. One thing that really lifted my spirits was receiving a holiday goodie bag that a fellow NICU mom at EJ made.
My friend Jessica from Thumba-Lea made adorable gifts for those of us who were still in the NICU. My favorite thing she included was the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll go!". I just remember being so touched that someone was thinking about the little ones in the NICU and I knew then that I wanted to do something the following holiday season. So alas, here we are!
I contacted Jessica and told her I would love to follow the tradition and make something for those families still in the NICU this holiday season. Check out her blog here to see what we included.
My favorite thing that we put in the gifts this year was the Preemie Hang Tag! You can click here for your free printable!
Thoughts and prayers go out to all the families who have preemies in the NICU. I hope you all have great homecomings in 2013.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Where have I been? Oops!
I can't believe I haven't blogged in two months! Stay tuned, I plan to update the blog with all the happenings that have gone on lately.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Liam's Baptism
We finally got around to having Liam's baptism this past weekend. I know a lot of people thought he was baptized in the NICU but he wasn't. A priest actually came out and told us there wasn't a reason to baptize him unless he became very ill which is when he would baptize him and also give him the anointing of the sick. Thankfully he didn't need those services in the NICU and we were able to celebrate his baptism this past weekend.
The service was very nice and Liam cooperated when we had to dunk his little head. We had a party at our house after where we celebrated with everyone and had some yummy food and cake to enjoy. It was a great day and thank you to all who attended!
The service was very nice and Liam cooperated when we had to dunk his little head. We had a party at our house after where we celebrated with everyone and had some yummy food and cake to enjoy. It was a great day and thank you to all who attended!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Pampers Gift to Grow Points and The Graham's Foundation
I'm currently sitting here plugging away my Pampers Gift to Grow Points. For those of you who don't know, Pampers places a 15 digit Gifts to Grow code on their diapers and wipes. You can redeem your codes for many different items including prints from Shutterfly, toys, magazine subscriptions...you name it! They have quite an extensive rewards catalog.
They even have organizations that you can donate points to which is pretty awesome! My favorite organizations to donate to are the March of Dimes and the Graham's Foundation. Both of them are very special to me but I feel like everyone knows about the March of Dimes but not a lot of people know about the Graham's Foundation yet. I'd like to let you all know about this awesome organization.
The Graham's Foundation is an organization for preemies. They have been a great source for me while Liam was in the NICU and even still after discharge. Their Facebook page is very active, check it out here. One of the best things about them is that they offer care packages to families while in the NICU. A friend of mine Jessica (who also has a micropreemie, you can read her story here) did this for me and I remember feeling such hope when I was going through the package.
Please consider donating some of your Pampers Points to the Graham's Foundation. Every little bit helps!
They even have organizations that you can donate points to which is pretty awesome! My favorite organizations to donate to are the March of Dimes and the Graham's Foundation. Both of them are very special to me but I feel like everyone knows about the March of Dimes but not a lot of people know about the Graham's Foundation yet. I'd like to let you all know about this awesome organization.
The Graham's Foundation is an organization for preemies. They have been a great source for me while Liam was in the NICU and even still after discharge. Their Facebook page is very active, check it out here. One of the best things about them is that they offer care packages to families while in the NICU. A friend of mine Jessica (who also has a micropreemie, you can read her story here) did this for me and I remember feeling such hope when I was going through the package.
Please consider donating some of your Pampers Points to the Graham's Foundation. Every little bit helps!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Micropreemie Mom domain!
Well I finally did it, I took the leap and bought a domain! I kept on going back and forth of what I wanted the domain to be and finally decided on Micropreemie Mom. I thought the name was fitting because I want this blog to serve as a resource to other micropreemie parents out there.
Hopefully in the near future my blog will get a new fresh face lift. I've loved the look of my blog but I now need to move on to a new look. Any blog designers out there want to help?
Hopefully in the near future my blog will get a new fresh face lift. I've loved the look of my blog but I now need to move on to a new look. Any blog designers out there want to help?
Physical Therapy Update!
I was so excited to finally get the call from our Children's Hospital that we were finally off the waiting list for PT! Our evaluation was last Monday and things went pretty well. The evaluation lasted about an hour and she mostly just let Liam play while she observed him.
The PT told me that he is behind but he is doing well for his adjusted age of 7 months. He is on track for his 3-5 month milestones and is doing what most 5-7 month olds are doing. He is not doing any milestones for his actual age of 10 months which is totally expected with a micropreemie.
Liam qualified for physical therapy twice a week. We went on Monday and Tuesday of this week and let me tell you, Liam is pooped after his sessions! The PT is working with him a lot on the yoga ball with him trying to gain his balance (the OT does this as well). He made such a change just from last Monday till yesterday. Today he actually was able to sit by himself for a total of 10 seconds! My goal is for him to be sitting up unassisted by his birthday. I'm not sure if this is realistic or not but it's always good to have goals, right?
Also, about two weeks ago I had a meeting with our case worker with Early Steps to add PT to his schedule. There is a lapse in time between the meeting and when services can start and I just got the call yesterday to schedule Liam's first PT appointment with Early Steps. Things are rolling right along for us! Liam will be receiving PT 3x a week now which is awesome. However, his schedule is filling right up! The only day we don't have services/therapies is on Thursday. He is one busy micropreemie.
Till next time.
The PT told me that he is behind but he is doing well for his adjusted age of 7 months. He is on track for his 3-5 month milestones and is doing what most 5-7 month olds are doing. He is not doing any milestones for his actual age of 10 months which is totally expected with a micropreemie.
Liam qualified for physical therapy twice a week. We went on Monday and Tuesday of this week and let me tell you, Liam is pooped after his sessions! The PT is working with him a lot on the yoga ball with him trying to gain his balance (the OT does this as well). He made such a change just from last Monday till yesterday. Today he actually was able to sit by himself for a total of 10 seconds! My goal is for him to be sitting up unassisted by his birthday. I'm not sure if this is realistic or not but it's always good to have goals, right?
Also, about two weeks ago I had a meeting with our case worker with Early Steps to add PT to his schedule. There is a lapse in time between the meeting and when services can start and I just got the call yesterday to schedule Liam's first PT appointment with Early Steps. Things are rolling right along for us! Liam will be receiving PT 3x a week now which is awesome. However, his schedule is filling right up! The only day we don't have services/therapies is on Thursday. He is one busy micropreemie.
Till next time.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
6 month NICU Developmental Clinic
We were told while at discharge to make this appointment as soon as possible b/c it fills up so quickly, so we have had this appointment planned for months. I feel like I've stared at the appointment on our calendar forever! Alas, the day has finally came and is almost gone.
My plan was to wake up early enough to not be late as I had plans to go to Starbucks and had to drop Noah off at my parents. I feel getting both kids dressed and fed and getting somewhere before 9AM is pretty impossible, it doesn't help that sometimes Liam takes as long as 30 minutes to take a bottle. I'm spoiled that Noah's preschool starts at 9:30.
As I pulled up to Childrens I saw the helicopter and I was flooded with anxiety...ugh. When will the sight and sound of helicopters NOT bring me major anxiety? Anyway, we did make it right on time but I swear I walked all over Childrens Hospital trying to find this clinic. I think I parked the furthest spot from the clinic, no lie. And even at 9AM it's hot as heck here in New Orleans.
The waiting room was PACKED! I though oh great, we will be waiting forever. However, we were called pretty quickly. For whatever reason the administrative people at Childrens can NEVER pronounce Liam's name right. "Limb? Limb? Lime? Lamb? Lllll?" were the exact words the receptionist said today. I about died laughing as the mispronunciations went on. Liam isn't hard to say, is it? I also don't think it's very uncommon. Sheesh.
The first thing we did was get Liam's weight. He weighed in at 11lbs 9oz which is what he was last week at the dietitian. Then they tried to get a blood pressure reading on him which was quite impossible because he kept on looking up at me like "mom, really?" and wiggled so much that the machine wasn't able to register a reading. The nurse then measured him and he measured up to 22 inches but he was 23 last week at the dietitian, so let's average the numbers to be a fair 22.50 inches.
And then we waited for a good bit and then 2 neonatology fellows came into the room. One actually remembered Liam from when he was in the NICU. They are switching over to a new system at Childrens and they couldn't find his discharge summary. But...don't fret, daddy to the rescue! Seriously, Clint carries around a notebook and accordion folder of ALL of Liam's notes, letters, discharge papers, etc. so they were able to go and make a copy. Awesome.
They then began an evaluation on Liam. This part of our appointment was the longest and the most thorough. They began by asking basic things like can he grasp things (yes), can he put pressure on his feet (yes), can he track things (yes) and other questions of the like. They asked if he is verbal with sounds and Clint made a comment that he felt that Liam has become less vocal in the past few weeks and right then Liam began cooing, it's like he was saying "Not true! Listen to me!", we all got a good chuckle from that. The fellows both agreed that in addition to the services Liam was already receiving that he would benefit from adding a physical therapist to his schedule.
The next person who met with us was a Psychologist. She had a booklet and began asking us questions and started scoring Liam based on his interaction and our answers. She gave Liam items like blocks, bells, hoops and watched how he interacted with them. She was amazed that he was only 15oz at birth and that he is doing well for his adjusted age of 6 months. She also noted that adding PT would help him.
Once she left we waited for quite a while to meet with the Neurologist. The Neurologist came in with the fellows and it looked like maybe a resident and a med student. He quickly went over what we already spoke about with the fellows and agreed that he needed PT and wrote a script for him to receive PT at Childrens. I also made a call to Early Steps to let them know that we needed to add PT to his plan.
So for a summary: a unanimous response was that he is still small so he needs to catch up with his weight gain, that he needs PT and that he is doing what most 6 month olds are doing. I was very pleased to hear that he is doing well in their eyes but that he still needs to be doing more and "catching up" at a possible faster pace. They say most preemies are caught up by age 1 but if not they need to be caught up by 2. We follow up with the clinic again in 6 months. I left feeling happy and at ease.
Once we left the clinic we headed down to give the script to PT. Well, there is a waiting list so I have NO idea when he will be receiving the services that all the docs says he needs. Ugh. I guess if I don't hear back in 2 weeks, I'll give them a buzz.
My plan was to wake up early enough to not be late as I had plans to go to Starbucks and had to drop Noah off at my parents. I feel getting both kids dressed and fed and getting somewhere before 9AM is pretty impossible, it doesn't help that sometimes Liam takes as long as 30 minutes to take a bottle. I'm spoiled that Noah's preschool starts at 9:30.
As I pulled up to Childrens I saw the helicopter and I was flooded with anxiety...ugh. When will the sight and sound of helicopters NOT bring me major anxiety? Anyway, we did make it right on time but I swear I walked all over Childrens Hospital trying to find this clinic. I think I parked the furthest spot from the clinic, no lie. And even at 9AM it's hot as heck here in New Orleans.
The waiting room was PACKED! I though oh great, we will be waiting forever. However, we were called pretty quickly. For whatever reason the administrative people at Childrens can NEVER pronounce Liam's name right. "Limb? Limb? Lime? Lamb? Lllll?" were the exact words the receptionist said today. I about died laughing as the mispronunciations went on. Liam isn't hard to say, is it? I also don't think it's very uncommon. Sheesh.
The first thing we did was get Liam's weight. He weighed in at 11lbs 9oz which is what he was last week at the dietitian. Then they tried to get a blood pressure reading on him which was quite impossible because he kept on looking up at me like "mom, really?" and wiggled so much that the machine wasn't able to register a reading. The nurse then measured him and he measured up to 22 inches but he was 23 last week at the dietitian, so let's average the numbers to be a fair 22.50 inches.
And then we waited for a good bit and then 2 neonatology fellows came into the room. One actually remembered Liam from when he was in the NICU. They are switching over to a new system at Childrens and they couldn't find his discharge summary. But...don't fret, daddy to the rescue! Seriously, Clint carries around a notebook and accordion folder of ALL of Liam's notes, letters, discharge papers, etc. so they were able to go and make a copy. Awesome.
They then began an evaluation on Liam. This part of our appointment was the longest and the most thorough. They began by asking basic things like can he grasp things (yes), can he put pressure on his feet (yes), can he track things (yes) and other questions of the like. They asked if he is verbal with sounds and Clint made a comment that he felt that Liam has become less vocal in the past few weeks and right then Liam began cooing, it's like he was saying "Not true! Listen to me!", we all got a good chuckle from that. The fellows both agreed that in addition to the services Liam was already receiving that he would benefit from adding a physical therapist to his schedule.
The next person who met with us was a Psychologist. She had a booklet and began asking us questions and started scoring Liam based on his interaction and our answers. She gave Liam items like blocks, bells, hoops and watched how he interacted with them. She was amazed that he was only 15oz at birth and that he is doing well for his adjusted age of 6 months. She also noted that adding PT would help him.
Once she left we waited for quite a while to meet with the Neurologist. The Neurologist came in with the fellows and it looked like maybe a resident and a med student. He quickly went over what we already spoke about with the fellows and agreed that he needed PT and wrote a script for him to receive PT at Childrens. I also made a call to Early Steps to let them know that we needed to add PT to his plan.
So for a summary: a unanimous response was that he is still small so he needs to catch up with his weight gain, that he needs PT and that he is doing what most 6 month olds are doing. I was very pleased to hear that he is doing well in their eyes but that he still needs to be doing more and "catching up" at a possible faster pace. They say most preemies are caught up by age 1 but if not they need to be caught up by 2. We follow up with the clinic again in 6 months. I left feeling happy and at ease.
Once we left the clinic we headed down to give the script to PT. Well, there is a waiting list so I have NO idea when he will be receiving the services that all the docs says he needs. Ugh. I guess if I don't hear back in 2 weeks, I'll give them a buzz.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Article on PTSD for NICU parents
I follow the Grahams Foundation on Facebook. They post some really great tips via status updates and their blog. This past week they passed along an article that the New York Times posted. You can find the article here.
I haven't talked much about my mental state since everything has happened with Liam. This article really touched close to home and made me realize that I am not alone. Being a micropreemie mom is such a roller coaster that extends past the discharge date in the NICU.
I think my favorite quote out of the article is this: “It may be several months later when they’re ready to process what they experienced, but at that point, family and friends don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Dr. Holditch-Davis said.
That is so true in my situation. I feel that now that I'm ready to finally talk about what happened and now it's not on anyone's radar but mine. What most people see is that Liam is growing and thriving and he is but I'm now able to process my thoughts of those 101 days. I've found a support system with other micropreemie moms locally and a few that I've met online, so I'm very grateful for that.
If you have a second, please check out the article. It gives a great insight on what I have I'm going through.
I haven't talked much about my mental state since everything has happened with Liam. This article really touched close to home and made me realize that I am not alone. Being a micropreemie mom is such a roller coaster that extends past the discharge date in the NICU.
I think my favorite quote out of the article is this: “It may be several months later when they’re ready to process what they experienced, but at that point, family and friends don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Dr. Holditch-Davis said.
That is so true in my situation. I feel that now that I'm ready to finally talk about what happened and now it's not on anyone's radar but mine. What most people see is that Liam is growing and thriving and he is but I'm now able to process my thoughts of those 101 days. I've found a support system with other micropreemie moms locally and a few that I've met online, so I'm very grateful for that.
If you have a second, please check out the article. It gives a great insight on what I have I'm going through.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Beach Vacation Summer 2012
Obviously my little family of 4 hasn't done any traveling since last summer before I was put on bed rest. To say we were ready and excited for a week of vacation was an understatement! This was also Liam's first trip, oh how exciting!
When we travel on vacations with our extended family we are now a group of 15. We have kids in our family ranging from the age of 13 down to Liam who is currently 8 months. Noah was so excited to spend a week in Florida with his cousins.
We had an awesome time and I'm sad to be back home. I'm already looking forward to heading back next year. It's hard to believe that next year Liam may be walking while we are at the beach. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.
We also got family portraits done on the beach which turned out awesome. It's hard to get a family of 15 all together in on place for pictures (with so many kids!), so I'm glad we now have group shots of us all. The kids had a blast playing in the water while taking the pictures. If you are looking for a photographer in the Destin area, please check out Jessica Aten Photography. I loved how the pictures turned out and she was so easy to work with and very patient with all our kiddos! The adorable outfits the kids are wearing were made by Sew Much Fun, they received tons of compliments on the beach.
See you next summer Destin!
When we travel on vacations with our extended family we are now a group of 15. We have kids in our family ranging from the age of 13 down to Liam who is currently 8 months. Noah was so excited to spend a week in Florida with his cousins.
We had an awesome time and I'm sad to be back home. I'm already looking forward to heading back next year. It's hard to believe that next year Liam may be walking while we are at the beach. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.
We also got family portraits done on the beach which turned out awesome. It's hard to get a family of 15 all together in on place for pictures (with so many kids!), so I'm glad we now have group shots of us all. The kids had a blast playing in the water while taking the pictures. If you are looking for a photographer in the Destin area, please check out Jessica Aten Photography. I loved how the pictures turned out and she was so easy to work with and very patient with all our kiddos! The adorable outfits the kids are wearing were made by Sew Much Fun, they received tons of compliments on the beach.
See you next summer Destin!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Fiesta for Liam!
My friends Ann and Jenny threw Liam and I a get together this past weekend. It was a lot of fun and Ann made some delicious shrimp tacos. It was a celebration of Liam being out of the NICU and just us girls getting together. We sipped on yummy frozen margaritas and played a few rounds of Apples to Apples (which is a fun game by the way!).
My friends also gave Liam and I some goodies! Liam is set for his solid feedings with new spoons and bowls. I lucked out with a Starbucks gift card and massages! Score for us both.
I had a great time and am fortunate to have such sweet friends. Thanks y'all!
My friends also gave Liam and I some goodies! Liam is set for his solid feedings with new spoons and bowls. I lucked out with a Starbucks gift card and massages! Score for us both.
I had a great time and am fortunate to have such sweet friends. Thanks y'all!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Starting solids!
Today was a very exciting day for Liam, he was given the green light to start solids! We gave him his first taste of rice cereal tonight. We took many pictures and video taped the event. Enjoy the video, big brother Noah was the most excited.
At the dietician today he weighed in at 10lbs 9oz. Yay! He still isn't on the charts but he is moving in the right direction.
At the dietician today he weighed in at 10lbs 9oz. Yay! He still isn't on the charts but he is moving in the right direction.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Noah's Preschool Graduation
Well, here we are saying goodbye to our last year at Noah's preschool. Noah is really growing up.
His graduation program was very cute. They sang all of the songs they learned all year, Noah's favorite is "Scarecrow, Scarecrow". The teachers gave out little diplomas and all the graduates wore graduation caps. It was such a nice event and I was lucky that Liam cooperated the whole time.
Check out my little graduate!
His graduation program was very cute. They sang all of the songs they learned all year, Noah's favorite is "Scarecrow, Scarecrow". The teachers gave out little diplomas and all the graduates wore graduation caps. It was such a nice event and I was lucky that Liam cooperated the whole time.
Check out my little graduate!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Mothers Day 2012
Happy Mothers Day to all the ladies out there!
This was my first Mothers Day as a mom of 2. My boys were very good to me this year and made my day very special. I woke up to a delicious Starbucks frapp and then we decided to go out for brunch. Yummy.
I've mentioned to Clint quite a few times that I want a mom necklace with the boys names on them. I sent him a few that I liked off of Etsy and was very pleasantly surprised when I opened this beauty up!
This was my first Mothers Day as a mom of 2. My boys were very good to me this year and made my day very special. I woke up to a delicious Starbucks frapp and then we decided to go out for brunch. Yummy.
I've mentioned to Clint quite a few times that I want a mom necklace with the boys names on them. I sent him a few that I liked off of Etsy and was very pleasantly surprised when I opened this beauty up!
I loooooove this necklace! It's from Etsy and this is the seller.
I had a great day and I hope all the mommy's out there had a great one as well!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Father of the Year 2012- Nola Baby
I've been reading the Nola baby magazine ever since I've became a mom in 2008. I always look forward to the yearly "Mom/Dad of the Year" and the "Best doctors" articles.
I'm a fan on Facebook and I saw that they were taking nominations for their annual Mom/Dad of the year. I knew I wanted to send in a submission for Clint but I just couldn't get all the words down. Well...then I waited until the last possible second and finally submitted it around 1AM Easter Sunday.
I was so excited when I got the call that Clint was Nola Baby Dad of the Year! I didn't tell him I nominated him so when I was told I needed to get a picture of him and the boys for the magazine I started to scramble. I honestly didn't have a picture yet of just them three. I called the photographer who did Liam's newborn pictures and she was able to meet us the next day to take a shot for the magazine. I then called Clint and told him to clear his schedule around lunch the next day and told him that he was selected as Dad of the Year and I could tell he was really excited!
I've mentioned before how patient Jen Amato is and such a delight to work with. She managed to get a great picture of my guys despite Noah was a pain that day to work with. Funny quotes from Noah that day: "I can't open my eyes! I just can't! They won't open" or "I can't smile, I don't know how". Zoinks! I was happy Jen was patient and got a great shot because I was close to losing it. Eek!
The article was in their May/June magazine. Please check out the article here. I'm so proud of Clint!
I'm a fan on Facebook and I saw that they were taking nominations for their annual Mom/Dad of the year. I knew I wanted to send in a submission for Clint but I just couldn't get all the words down. Well...then I waited until the last possible second and finally submitted it around 1AM Easter Sunday.
I was so excited when I got the call that Clint was Nola Baby Dad of the Year! I didn't tell him I nominated him so when I was told I needed to get a picture of him and the boys for the magazine I started to scramble. I honestly didn't have a picture yet of just them three. I called the photographer who did Liam's newborn pictures and she was able to meet us the next day to take a shot for the magazine. I then called Clint and told him to clear his schedule around lunch the next day and told him that he was selected as Dad of the Year and I could tell he was really excited!
I've mentioned before how patient Jen Amato is and such a delight to work with. She managed to get a great picture of my guys despite Noah was a pain that day to work with. Funny quotes from Noah that day: "I can't open my eyes! I just can't! They won't open" or "I can't smile, I don't know how". Zoinks! I was happy Jen was patient and got a great shot because I was close to losing it. Eek!
The article was in their May/June magazine. Please check out the article here. I'm so proud of Clint!
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Friday, May 4, 2012
March of Dimes 2012
Last Saturday was our first March For Babies walk. The March of Dimes is such a great organization and I fully support any research that is in favor of preemies! Once I became a micropreemie mommy I knew it was something I wanted to get involved in.
I'm happy to say that our "Leaping Liam" raised a total of an amazing $1,720! How awesome is that? The support I received from family and friends is quite incredible! I also had fantastic friends that help raise money as well. Liam is so fortunate to have his family and many friends supporting him!
The day of the walk was quite pleasant and it wasn't scorching hot. The venue had lots of things for the kiddos to do including having Hugo from the Hornets there. They also had a space walk and an egg hunt for the kids.
I was so happy to see many staff members from EJ. I saw the L&D nurse who prepped me for my C section and she was also my nurse when I was in labor for Noah. I went up to her and began to explain to her who I was and told her about Liam. It was so sweet, she started crying. She was so incredibly sincere. I had Liam there with me and the nurse from my high risk doctor was also there. It was a great reconnect.
Liam also saw 2 of his NICU nurses! It's weird, when you are in the NICU you can't WAIT to get out but once you see any of the staff from the NICU you get so excited and get a sense of relief just by seeing them. I was so happy to see them and loved showing Liam off. He has come a very long way from 15 ounces!
The day was such a day of celebration of Liam and I can't wait to do this again! Thank you to all who donated and especially those who came out in support of Liam, it means the world to us. It truly does.
I'm happy to say that our "Leaping Liam" raised a total of an amazing $1,720! How awesome is that? The support I received from family and friends is quite incredible! I also had fantastic friends that help raise money as well. Liam is so fortunate to have his family and many friends supporting him!
The day of the walk was quite pleasant and it wasn't scorching hot. The venue had lots of things for the kiddos to do including having Hugo from the Hornets there. They also had a space walk and an egg hunt for the kids.
I was so happy to see many staff members from EJ. I saw the L&D nurse who prepped me for my C section and she was also my nurse when I was in labor for Noah. I went up to her and began to explain to her who I was and told her about Liam. It was so sweet, she started crying. She was so incredibly sincere. I had Liam there with me and the nurse from my high risk doctor was also there. It was a great reconnect.
Liam also saw 2 of his NICU nurses! It's weird, when you are in the NICU you can't WAIT to get out but once you see any of the staff from the NICU you get so excited and get a sense of relief just by seeing them. I was so happy to see them and loved showing Liam off. He has come a very long way from 15 ounces!
The day was such a day of celebration of Liam and I can't wait to do this again! Thank you to all who donated and especially those who came out in support of Liam, it means the world to us. It truly does.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Liam's NICU Journey
I've been trying to find unique ways to document Liam's NICU journey for him to see as he gets older. If he is anything like his mommy and big brother, he will love looking at old photos of himself and his family. I have plans to make an NICU photo book. I've actually found a site where you can take Facebook photos and create an album...with all of the comments! How cool is that? It will be a great way to show Liam how people all over were rooting him on every step of the way.
I most recently made a video of Liam's NICU journey. I put a lot of thought into it between the song choices and narrowing down my millions of pics. Just a warning, it's 12 minutes long! Enjoy!
I most recently made a video of Liam's NICU journey. I put a lot of thought into it between the song choices and narrowing down my millions of pics. Just a warning, it's 12 minutes long! Enjoy!
Friday, April 13, 2012
6 month update
Wow, I can't believe Liam is already 6 months. A half a year has gone by since Liam was born.
Last week we had Liam's last Synagis shot for the season as well as appointments with his pediatrician and his nutritionist.
While in the NICU Liam got weighed daily, so waiting a whole month for a weight just seems like an eternity! I can certainly tell he has gained weight though, I just wasn't sure how much. At his last visit a month ago he was 7lbs 4oz.
I'm happy to say Liam is now 8lbs 13oz! How amazing is that! His weight and length are still not on the charts but his head circumference is now at 9% (adjusted age).
Our next visit with the pediatrician is at 9 months, crazy! I can't believe that Noah was 20.5 inches at birth and Liam is still behind that at 6 months.
I have to say though, at 3 months Noah just made 9lbs so Liam isn't that far behind with his adjusted age.
Just a bit of a recap of Liam at 6 months:
Weight: 8lbs 13oz (15 oz at birth)
Height: 19 3/4 inches (11 inches at birth)
Head: 15 1/4 inches
Size clothes: For the most part Liam is in newborn clothes. We are finally out of preemie clothes, woohoo!
Diaper size: Newborn diapers
Eating habits: Liam is eating 80-90 cc's every 3 hours during the day and will usually wake up once at night to eat. We are still seeing the nutritionist and are bulking up his formula to 24 calories.
Sleeping habits: Liam is still pretty much like a newborn baby. He mostly eats and sleeps! After he has a bottle he sleeps a good bit. At night he goes down around 10PM or a bit later and wakes up usually around 3AM.
Milestones: As far as development and milestones go Liam is smiling up a storm, trying to swat things with his hands, sitting up in his bumbo like a champ and doing great with his tracking. With Noah I didn't pay half the attention to these things like I am with Liam. He is obviously behind in many things since being a micro preemie but he continues to amaze us with all that he can do. Liam has been working with Early Steps and I feel it has helped him tremendously.
Here are some recent pics of my cutie.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Easter 2012
I hope everyone had a great Easter Sunday this past weekend!
The Easter Bunny was good to Noah and Liam. Noah's favorite treats this year were skittles, chocolate bunnies and his Batman beach towel. Liam scored quite a few good treats as well. The bunny dropped him off some new burp cloths, a beach hat and some new booties.
We hosted Easter and this was actually the first time that most of my family met Liam. My niece and nephews who live in Mississippi were very excited to meet their new baby cousin Liam. Georgia and RJ were very smitten with him and Georgia wanted to hold little Liam so bad. I told her he is still a wee bit too small but she can hold him on our vacation to Florida in June.
At times I could tell Liam got a bit over stimulated with the noise (we had about 25 people over) so we resorted to his room a few times to calm him.
All in all it was a great Easter! The kids had a great time with their cousins and had a blast at our egg hunt in the back yard. The eggs are stuffed with bunny money and then the kiddos redeem their money at the bunny shoppe! My Aunts go all out and get treats for the annual bunny shoppe.
Enjoy the pics!
The Easter Bunny was good to Noah and Liam. Noah's favorite treats this year were skittles, chocolate bunnies and his Batman beach towel. Liam scored quite a few good treats as well. The bunny dropped him off some new burp cloths, a beach hat and some new booties.
We hosted Easter and this was actually the first time that most of my family met Liam. My niece and nephews who live in Mississippi were very excited to meet their new baby cousin Liam. Georgia and RJ were very smitten with him and Georgia wanted to hold little Liam so bad. I told her he is still a wee bit too small but she can hold him on our vacation to Florida in June.
At times I could tell Liam got a bit over stimulated with the noise (we had about 25 people over) so we resorted to his room a few times to calm him.
All in all it was a great Easter! The kids had a great time with their cousins and had a blast at our egg hunt in the back yard. The eggs are stuffed with bunny money and then the kiddos redeem their money at the bunny shoppe! My Aunts go all out and get treats for the annual bunny shoppe.
Enjoy the pics!
All the fixins for a good crawfish berl!
Star Wars 3D Easter egg dying kit, he was stoked!
Look what the Easter bunny dropped off!
The kiddos are off on the hunt to find eggs with bunny money in them.
The boys in line at the bunny shoppe!
Liam's first Easter
Liam's first Easter
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Walkin' in New Orleans
I'm so excited for the March of Dimes walk this month. I named our team "Leaping Liam" after one of our favorite NICU nurses Pam who affectionately referred to Liam as Leaping Liam. So far our team has raised a little over $1,000! How awesome is that?
I'm so thankful to the March of Dimes as they provide many research studies to help preemies and end preterm deliveries. One big thing I am so happy I received before delivering Liam over 12 weeks early was the steroid shots. Since we knew I would be delivering early my doctor suggested that I get the steroid shots. I'm positive that the steroids are what helped Liam only being on the ventilator for 8 days.
I heard via the NICU nurses where I delivered Liam that the March of Dimes donated car beds during Hurricane Katrina to help transport the preemies to another facility. I was told if Liam didn't pass his car seat test that there were car beds that we could use from the March of Dimes. Car beds are super expensive since you only use them a handful of times.
We still have 23 days left till our walk and there is plenty of time to donate or join our team! Any donation is accepted, even $5 is greatly appreciated. Just think of what you have spent $5 on today. If you are like me, it was probably a ridiculously over priced delish coffee (I'm currently sipping on mine now!).
I'm hopeful that there will be a cure for preeclampsia found soon in order to help keep mommy's pregnant until 40 weeks and deliver big happy babies! Hopefully with the donations received from the March of Dimes a cure can be found to help other miracles like Liam.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Fashion show
Today was Noah's fashion show at his preschool. We were told to bring clothes from mommy or daddy for your kiddo. I wasn't really sure what to expect but it was really adorable. Noah picked out this shirt that his daddy wears and paired it with a navy blue tie. I think he looked precious in it!
This is a video of him being announced at the fashion show.
I had no idea Noah wanted to be a pilot! It made me giggle. Too cute.
We actually took Liam to the fashion show and he did very well. He was quiet during the show and several moms glanced by and I was able to be the dotting mom. One of the grandparents guessed that Liam was 3 weeks old and she was shocked with my response that he is almost 6 months, hehe. Oh well, that's the first of many times I'm sure!
Noah was very proud to show off his brother, he loved showing the teachers his baby. After the fashion show the kids filled up on sweets brought by the parents (Noah insisted that I make rice krispie treats). It's sad to think that Noah's preschool days are almost over and that he starts Pre-K 4 in the fall, wah!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Chick Pics 2012
Noah has talked about his Chick Pics since last Easter constantly. So when I received the notice that Double Takes Photography would be doing her annual chick pics I knew without a doubt I had to sign us up.
I was super excited that this was the first set of pictures that I had of Noah and Liam together. I haven't really taken Liam out yet except to doctors appointments so the worry wart in me came out.
Nikki has a set of locations to choose from and I decided to go with Longue Vue Gardens. I was so impressed with how beautiful the grounds were. I've passed by the sign a million times but can count on one hand how often I have been and it hasn't been in about 10 years.
Anyway, the boys did great! Noah was less than gentle with the poor chicks this year but they were adorable he just couldn't get enough of them.
Check it out!
I was super excited that this was the first set of pictures that I had of Noah and Liam together. I haven't really taken Liam out yet except to doctors appointments so the worry wart in me came out.
Nikki has a set of locations to choose from and I decided to go with Longue Vue Gardens. I was so impressed with how beautiful the grounds were. I've passed by the sign a million times but can count on one hand how often I have been and it hasn't been in about 10 years.
Anyway, the boys did great! Noah was less than gentle with the poor chicks this year but they were adorable he just couldn't get enough of them.
Check it out!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Look Out! I'm 4!
Noah had his fourth birthday party this past weekend and he had an absolute blast! We had it at Storyland in City Park in New Orleans and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Usually by March we are sweating it up but the Saturday of the party it was beautiful! Noah even had to wear a hoodie for some of the party.
This was the first year that we invited the kids from Noah's preschool and Noah was so excited that his friends came to his party. On top of his preschool pals, Noah had many cousins there and my friends children.
The favorite part and highlight of the party for the kiddos was the dragon slide. At first Noah was too scared to go on it alone so my friend Jenny took the first few slides down with Noah. I always remember as a child that the dragon slide was super steep but as a mother I was even more terrified! I think my cautiousness rubs off on Noah but after a while Noah was zipping down that slide in no time alone.
This is my favorite picture of the party, look at how excited Noah is! I know it's blurry but he just looks so so happy.
This is the first birthday party out of the home and both ways have it's pros/cons but let me just say, it was so nice to just do a quick clean up and we were out of there! Definitely something to remember for next year.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
First Smiles
Since Liam was born 3 months early we are obviously delayed for milestones. We are told to go by his adjusted age which would make him now 2 months old.
Today I was talking to Liam and he started to crack a smile! It was a big smile, not a smile where you *think* he is smiling but a legitimate smile. It warmed my heart, it was the cutest toothless grin ever.
With Noah I was reading baby books on what I should be watching for as far as milestones and what not but Liam is a completely different story due to him being a micropreemie. He is definitely writing his own book. Seeing him reach milestones like this makes me so happy.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Big Brother Love
When Liam was born Noah really didn't know how to take it, it was very hard for him to understand. Our NICU didn't allow children to visit so Noah wasn't allowed to see Liam until he came home (except twice through the glass) so to him he still really didn't exist. The question he would always ask is "is he fixed yet?" and we were asked this almost every other day. When I was pregnant we told Noah the baby was coming at Christmas, so once Christmas came and went he kept on asking us why Santa didn't bring his baby brother home. I told him that Liam wasn't quite "fixed it" and that he would be home soon.
When we first brought Liam home Noah asked "why is he still so little? I thought he was big now" so we had to explain to him that even though Liam was born in October he was still a baby. He thought Liam was going to come home and be crawling and eating baby food like his cousin Graham who is almost a year old. Poor little guy!
As the weeks have gone by, Noah has really started to love his little brother. He takes his big brother title very seriously and loves telling people about his preemie brother who he affectionately calls Baby Liam. Noah loves to talk about when Liam gets big that they are going to play together. He has already assigned Liam as his sidekick Robin for Halloween when he dresses up as Batman.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Noah is 4!
Today my big boy is four years old. The big 4! For whatever reason I think 4 sounds so much older than 3, don't you think? I can't believe this fall Noah will be going to big boy school all day. Time is really flying by.
This morning I took Noah for a special birthday breakfast, beignets! Noah loves licking up all that powered sugar. Oh the joys of being a little boy with sticky fingers.
Since Noah's birthday party isn't for another 2 weeks I wanted to let him know that today was indeed his birthday and that he could open up our presents as well the presents from my parents and my sister. Noah had a request for vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. He had such a hard time blowing out the candles, it was really too cute.
While Noah was opening up his presents, his comments were just priceless. "BATMAN underwear! Are you serious? You've got to be kidding me! I love Batman!". Needless to say Noah was very impressed by the Batman underwear he received. It's amazing how fast he can change from his obsession of Star Wars (which is why we had Star Wars invites) to now him playing with Batman 24/7.
A highlight of the night was facetiming with my sister Robin and her kids. It was a lot of fun to be able to share the night with them. Noah had a blast showing Deuce his new Star Wars masks while Deuce showed Noah his Darth Maul mask (which really kinda freaks me out!).
I can't wait to see where our 4 year old journey takes us this year. So far it seems to be filled with Nerf gun fights, Star Wars masks and Batman! I think it's official to see that Noah is no longer my baby but my big boy.
Happy Birthday Noah!
This morning I took Noah for a special birthday breakfast, beignets! Noah loves licking up all that powered sugar. Oh the joys of being a little boy with sticky fingers.
Since Noah's birthday party isn't for another 2 weeks I wanted to let him know that today was indeed his birthday and that he could open up our presents as well the presents from my parents and my sister. Noah had a request for vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. He had such a hard time blowing out the candles, it was really too cute.
While Noah was opening up his presents, his comments were just priceless. "BATMAN underwear! Are you serious? You've got to be kidding me! I love Batman!". Needless to say Noah was very impressed by the Batman underwear he received. It's amazing how fast he can change from his obsession of Star Wars (which is why we had Star Wars invites) to now him playing with Batman 24/7.
A highlight of the night was facetiming with my sister Robin and her kids. It was a lot of fun to be able to share the night with them. Noah had a blast showing Deuce his new Star Wars masks while Deuce showed Noah his Darth Maul mask (which really kinda freaks me out!).I can't wait to see where our 4 year old journey takes us this year. So far it seems to be filled with Nerf gun fights, Star Wars masks and Batman! I think it's official to see that Noah is no longer my baby but my big boy.
Happy Birthday Noah!
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