It's in the genes

Normally when we eat dinner Heather puts her laptop on the empty chair next to her to get it off of the table. While we were eating tonight, Ryan was scooting around under the table and out of the blue we hear the clicking of keys on the laptop keyboard. This is what we found...

Happy 1st Birthday!

Well, as you may know by now Ryan just turned 1! It's amazing that it's already been a year. She's come a long way from her low weight of 2.3 lbs. She's now 20 pounds and healthy as can be! I decided to update her blog with a bunch of pictures and a few videos in honor of the occasion and since I've been quite the slacker in getting it updated. I think there are 8 posts total so you may have to go to the next page or use the Blog Archive links over there on the right in order to see all of them.

Here are a couple of videos of her birthday cupcake. Please forgive the awful singing or mute your computer for the beginning of the first one. :) I split it into 2 parts so that it wouldn't get rejected.

10 Month Pic...

9 Month Pics...

Happy 4th of July!

8 Month Pic...

The girls at the Atlanta Temple

7 Month Pics...

6 Month Pic...

5 Month Pics...

Baby Barf Pancake :)

Ryan's Nanna whipped up this little goodie. I'll let you guess which Nanna.

We're Back!

So shoot me, things have been a little busy around here. It's been ages since I posted but fortunately nothing too newsworthy has happened. As of two weeks ago, Ryan was 11 Pounds! I was looking through some old pictures and it's amazing how big she is now compared to those first few weeks. Other than her reflux still acting up (normal for premies but still annoying) she's doing great. She's a little behind schedule for stuff that a 4 month old would normally be doing but if she were 6 weeks old (like she should be) she'd be right on schedule. Here are some pictures that were taken in the last few days...

Brooke actually took this one :)

This one just made me laugh.

Another funny one... Looks kinda Psycho :)

Day 57 - No Tubes!

That's right, Ryan had her feeding tube removed today so she's all bottles now with no backup system in place. She's been growing like crazy too, weighing in at 5 lbs. 4.5 oz. It's amazing how much she has changed. Here are a couple of pictures from tonight...

And a little reminder of where she started!

Day 38 - Bad Daddy

Okay, I've been REALLY bad about the updates this past week. I can't explain it, just been busy. My Mom is about to go crazy though so I thought I'd better get an update on here. Ryan has been growing like a weed lately. She's nearly 4 lbs. now! 3lbs. 14.5 oz to be exact. I talked to the nurse when I was in last night and she said she expected them to try and start feeding her from a bottle soon, possibly in the next week. She's starting to act like she wants to suck (while eating) so they've been giving her a pacifier along with her feedings to try and satisfy it. They probably would have given it a shot already but she still has a little bit of reflux so they're trying to hold off as long as possible. Thankfully we haven't had any big surprises from her so all I really get to do is post pictures and tell you how much she weighs. I hope it stays that way. Here are some pictures...newest on top...

Brooke saying "Hi" to her baby sister (Day 35)

Me and my girls! I'm in a little bit of shock, hence the scared stupid look on my face. (Day 35)

Brooke doing her scrub. We have to do this each time we go into the NICU. 2 Minutes each, finger tips to elbows with a surgical scrubber. Gotta keep those babies healthy!

A Big Girl Bed! Ryan is wearing clothes now and sleeping in a regular bed. No added heat other than 15 or 20 blankets and a hat. :)

Ryan laying on Heather - a good size reference - That's a regular newborn diaper swallowing her up (from Day 33)

(Day 33)

Just snoozing away (from last wed Day 32)

Day 23 - Room With A View

Ryan has a new room. She's old enough now so she can be in a room with windows. It looks out over the construction on the new main entrance to the hospital but it's nice to have some natural light in there. She still hanging around the same weight but it did creep up a little bit. She was 2 lbs. 13.7 oz. and is still getting her max on food. They were able to remove her PICC Line yesterday so she's only attached to her oxygen and the feeding tube now. Other than that not much has changed and we kind of like it that way. No more surprises please.

Day 19 - Big Girl Bed

Ryan got herself a new bed. Apparently she was getting too big for the Giraffe Bed so they have moved her up to the Ohio IC. I took a picture of it but it was way out of focus as you will see.

She weighed in today at 2 lbs. 12 oz. and is getting 18ml with each feeding. 23ml is her max so if she gets to that point and is still tolerating her feedings well then they will remove her PICC Line and go only on her food. That could happen within the next few days. Oh yeah, she also graduated to a bigger pacifier which apparently she loves even though it is almost the same size as her face.

Oh, and Ryan wanted to say "Happy Halloween" to everyone too.

Day 14 - Caption This!

My brother had a pretty good idea so I thought I'd run with it. Post a caption to this photo (in the comments) and we can all have a good laugh. Post as often as you like.

Day 12 - Ready for the Road

Ryan is doing great today. She's off the nasal cannula again and hasn't missed a breath so far. They increased her feedings to 3ml every 3 hours and if she's still tolerating it well then they will bump it up to 4ml overnight tonight. She weighed in at 2 lb. 7 oz. today so there was a tiny weight gain. My mom came into town last night and was able to come to the hospital today for a short visit. I feel sure it won't be her last. :)

I have no good explanation for this picture other than perhaps she's seen me drive.

Day 11 - Say Cheese

Ryan was either in a really good mood today or really gassy. She was smiling an awful lot. I'm thinking gassy. They got back to feeding her again. She's getting 2ml of formula every three hours and still holding at 2 lb. 6 oz. The nasal cannula is still on to force a little bit of air into her lungs and keep that apnea under control.

I took a quick screen capture of Ryan's toes sitting on the end of my finger. As you can see, all five of them fit right there.

While I was visiting I was able to hold her for the first time. The nurse snapped a quick video of it for me.

Day 5 - Blue Light Special

Ryan got an upgrade today. The light that they've been using to help her with her jaundice got switched out for a newer, more high tech LED version. That's why the video looks kinda blue and her color looks a little odd.

She's doing great on the Bubble CPAP and is still getting antibiotics but they think that will only last a couple more days since all of her blood work is coming back good. Tomorrow she'll have a brain scan done which is a normal part of the routine in the NICU. Hopefully those results will come back normal. There's never a shortage of tests with potentially scary results but so far she's passed with flying colors so that takes some of the edge off.

On a lighter note, here are some observations from the NICU staff...
- She likes her pacifier
- She hates having her diaper changed
- According to the nurse, you can tell how feisty a baby is by how many pacifiers are in their bed. Ryan already has two in there so if my math is correct, she should have around 40 by the time she comes home.
- And finally, here is a comparison of a regular newborn diaper and the diapers Ryan is wearing right now.

Day 4 - Look Ma, No Chest Tube

Well, as promised, the chest tube has been removed. The baby now has a Bubble CPAP in her nose that is feeding her slightly humid air. The stuffed hand you see in the picture is trying to hold her mouth closed so that the system works the best it possibly can. The nurse said that Ryan figured out pretty quickly that if she opened her mouth wide it took some of the pressure off and was more comfortable for her. It seems she's developing an attitude right along with her lungs.

Day 3 - Meet your Mommy

Well, today Heather was finally able to get down to the NICU to meet the baby. We dropped the side of the bed down so that she could reach her from her wheel chair and as you will see in the video, the baby wasn't exactly thrilled with us letting out all of her warm air . She'll get over it.

They didn't take the breathing tube out today but they will tomorrow if she does okay overnight. Apparently preemies can get a little too comfortable and forget to breathe so right now the tube is just adding a breath in if she skips one. The technology is amazing. She's mostly breathing on her own though and she's getting no supplemental oxygen, just what you'd get with normal room air. She's also off the dopamine which they had been using to regulate her blood pressure. Once she's breathing okay their attention turns to the heart to make sure that the Ductus Arteriosis closes off. If it doesn't, they will give her medication to try and get it to close. If that doesn't work they have to do surgery to clip it and tie it off . Her doctor said that hers is very small right now so she hopes it will take care of itself. Oh, and sorry Nanna Jones, no red hair under that hat...

Day 2 - Size

This should give you a little bit of and idea of how big the baby is. My wedding ring is on her hand and pretty much covers it. We were going to put it on her wrist but her fingers are still a little swollen from the fluids they were giving her. You can also see that the nurses finger is about the same size as Ryan's arm.