6 Pounds...and more!!

Callie had an appointment with her pediatrician today and she is up to 6 lbs 4 oz!! She has officially outgrown her preemie diapers! I love how fast she is growing.

Other than her fluid issue with her head (which will be addressed with her surgery next week) the Doctor says that she looks "great" and is developmentally right where she should be!

Daddy loves this picture because she is wearing something that is not pink!!

Medical Update

Callie has been home over a week now and she continues to thrive! She is up to 5 lbs 8 oz now...she just loves to eat!! She has more and more alert time each day, which is a lot of fun!

Last week we met with Callie's Neurosurgeon, and it has been determined that she will need the VP shunt. The reservoir that she has now is designed for smaller babies and it just can't keep up with her production of CSF. As of now, the surgery is scheduled for 6/4. At first, we were pretty upset, but then we realized that we knew that this was part of the plan from the beginning and it is what Callie needs. After having Callie home, it is so hard to face going back into the hospital, but maybe perhaps it is better to just get this behind us so we can focus on the future!

I will try and update the blog a couple of times each week, although it is definitely more difficult to find free time now that Callie is home!! We will also update as we hear more about the surgery. Please continue to keep Callie in your prayers!

5 Pounds!

It is so great to have Callie at home!

We are starting to get in a routine and grabbing what little sleep we can! Part of being a preemie is that she gets twice a week visits by a nurse for the first two weeks. It is to make sure that she is continuing to gain weight and thrive at home. Well our little girl proved just that! She is now 5lbs 1 oz!!

This is a picture of Callie in her swing. She absolutely loves it! She just stares at the animals and she swings back and forth! So cute!!

I am Home at Last!!!

Callie did it! She officially graduated from the NICU today! Mommy and Daddy couldn't be any more excited and proud! It is so amazing to have her home after three long months! Now we can finally settle down as a family! We couldn't have made it through these last three months without the love, prayer and support that we have gotten from all of you! We will continue to update the blog as Callie continues to grow (she is 4lbs 12 oz!). As for the surgery we mentioned on the last post, that is still a possibility, but doesn't seem to have any urgency at the moment, which is a good thing. Callie has a follow up appointment next week at Johns Hopkins with the Neurosurgeon and we hope to get more answers then!

Medical Update

Callie has been getting bigger and stronger every day. One part of her getting bigger is that she is outgrowing her reservoir. She had a head ultrasound on Monday that verified this. The Neurosurgeon from Johns Hopkins wants to see her next week to evaluate where to go from here. Most likely, we are looking at another surgery in the next couple of weeks to put in a more permanent shunt. The doctors all seem to have been expecting this, as it is part of the progression with the shunts (the initial reservoir was only a temporary fix). We were just hoping to have a little longer before she needed another surgery. But we have faith in God, the Doctors and Nurses, and in Callie that she will come out of this stronger than ever!

Callie's 1st Bubble Bath (on tape!)

It took Callie a minute to warm up to the feeling of the bubbles. She appears to be giving mommy and daddy a look of "what are you doing to me"

But shortly after she began to like the new feeling and bathtime was fun again.

Preemie Princess

Here are a few cute pictures of our "Preemie Princess"! (Thanks for the cute outfit Michele!) We hope that everyone is having a nice weekend!

Callie's New Friend

There haven't been many changes over the past couple of days, Callie has been doing better with her feeds and continues to grow! Here is a picture of Callie's new stuffed animal; one of the Nurse Practitioner's daughters got it for her. Thanks Lauren, Callie loves it! We are glad to see she is now as big as the bunny and it makes the once equal in size stuffed dog look small!

4 Pounds!!

Our little girl keeps packing on the pounds!! We love it!! We are hoping that with each ounce, she is gaining strength that will help her keep making strides to recovery. She is still struggling a little with her feeds, she just gets really tired and ends up choking. Luckily, we haven't had to revert to the feeding tube and we hope that we don't have to. All we want is for her to continue to feed and grow!

Just Callie

Here is our Callie, completely free of tubes! We love it! It is so great to see her chubby cheeks without anything taped on! They have now put her back on full feeds from her bottle. We are on day three and so far she is doing pretty well. We just hope it doesn't tire her out too much!