Month 1

Last Friday we reached a big milestone! Nina turned one month old. We had a doctor's appointment and she is doing fabulous! She weighted in at 5 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 inches long. Our pediatrician was very happy with this progress. She's been gaining weight so fast, she even has a herniated belly button...which means it sticks straight out! This is very common in preemies, and nothing to be concerned about. She is eating up to 100 milliliters, which is a lot more than the 40-60 she was doing in the NICU. Here are some other moments we've enjoyed since having Nina home this first month:

1. Getting to meet and be held by: Branden and Nancy, Ben and Gina, Ali and Joe (although Joe chickened out on holding her), Brandon S., and Betty.

2. She attended her first social event at Paul and Roy's house for a barb-e-cue.

3. She got to have TWO play dates, both with our friend's little boys (Watch out Nate, she's gonna be a heartbreaker!): Bennett and Walker.

4. Took her first trip to WI to see Walker.

5. Took her first walk with Mommy, Daddy and Dexter.

6. Took her first walk alone with Mommy and Dexter (this was an adventure, but we have it down now).

7. First trip out of the house with Mommy (another adventure, thankfully our carseat is super easy, so I have it mastered now).

8. Daddy went back to work.

9. Discovered a new rocking thingy that Nina LOVES to sleep in.....yay! This was a BIG moment for us!

10. Her favorite and most alert time of day is when Daddy gets home from work.

11. Gives a half smile when Mommy and Daddy give her tons of kisses on her cheeks!

12. Mastered the K'tan wrap and use it ALL the time.

It was a busy first month, and month two is shaping up to be even more exciting for us! We'll have many visitors and we'll be celebrating the best holiday of the year...Halloween! Be ready for a TON of pictures next time; I will make up for not so many this time. This sleep deprived mommy was bad with the camera last month!

Newborn Picts

Nate and I decided to get creative and try to do Nina's newborn pictures ourselves. Here are some of the edited ones. I played stylist and Nate played photographer. Not too shabby for our first try at this!

Home Sweet Home

Tuesday was a big day for us! After 14 days in the NICU (yes, I know I had the wrong arrangement of letters in my last post…sorry!), we FINALLY got to come home! It was not without work though. Nina had to pass a hearing test, car seat test, and the process for proving she could eat on her own was intense. 

First the doctor wanted to see her eat a full bottle on her own. She did this for Nate, and then they needed to see that she ate at least 60% of her food from the bottle in a 24-hour period of time. We were at 51%, and Nina was cueing on her own to eat, so I used my mad selling skills to talk the doctor into letting us try the next step of feeding, even though we were a bit under the requirements.

The next step is called cue based feeding. Nina got to go off her schedule feeding, but had to meet certain amounts of milk every 8 hours within a 24-hour period. As soon as she could eat when she wanted, this took off with eating. We easily passed this step!

Next came, adlib feeding. This is basically what you do at home. Nina got to eat what she wanted, when she wanted and all she had to do was gain weight. We also easily reached this and bam….we got to come home!

Some of the big firsts we’ve experienced while at home are: Nina’s first time in her bassinet and all her chairs, meeting Dexter, our first all nighter, first stroller ride, first doctor’s appointment, first ice cream run (drive through style, she can’t go into public places yet with a lot of people, because a preemie’s immune system is fragile), and visitors!

It has been amazing being home; we are enjoying it so much! Right now Nate is here with us and will be for at least another week. Both Nina and I are so happy to have lots of time and help from him!

Right now we are just adjusting to our new routine and enjoying our time with family. It truly is a wonderful time in life!