This will be my last update. It’s hard to believe but it has been a full year since that frantic email David and I sent announcing Morgan’s arrival. We want to thank all of our friends and family that helped us make it through the 1^st year of parenthood. We have certainly had some ups and downs, but through it all, we look at our sweet baby Morgan and thank God for all that He has blessed us with.

 

So what has Morgan been up to the last couple of months? She is still moving everywhere. We have felt that she has been on the brink of walking unaided for awhile and wouldn’t be surprised if it happens in the next few weeks.  We have given her some objects such as a push toy that help her walk throughout the house. Morgan now has 6 teeth, 4 upper and 2 lower, which have allowed us to increase the variety of food we give her. She can eat about anything these days. She loves my carrot soup and homemade stuffing, but really prefers anything she can pick up herself as she likes to be independent.  Recently, Morgan tried real milk for the 1^st time and it didn't phase her.  As long as her milk is relatively warm and in the right sippy cup, she will drink it up.

 

Morgan had a great 1^st birthday. We kept it somewhat small with family and close friends. She is very spoiled and has toys everywhere.  We gave Morgan her birthday cupcake and she consumed it like a pro.  She started with the frosting and the proceeded to eat the Full Monty!  Luckily, mom got to clean up the mess afterwards. We did forget to put Morgan’s bib and bday hat on, so we may need to reenact the scene for pictures.

 

On Morgan’s actual birthday we planned to have a mini party with just the three of us, but unfortunately she got sick. Morgan came down with RSV, which is a serious respiratory virus that can be tough on little ones, especially preemies. We had to give her breathing treatments every 3 - 6 hours and use the nose suction bulb frequently.  She finally got over it recently.  We did manage to give her a popsicle on her birthday, but she likes those better when it’s warm outside. 

 

We took Morgan to her 1 year apt last week. She is now 18 lbs, 9 ounces and 27 ½ inches tall.  She is starting to grow taller and doesn't have quite the beer gut she once had. 

 

Morgan experienced a few new things over the past few months.  She met Santa Claus a couple of times.  Unfortunately, the day she met Day Care Santa was the same day she got her 1-year immunizations.  As you might expect, she was not very happy in the picture.  She also went to the playground with her San Antonio cousins, tested out the swings and slide (still not sure about these things), went to her 1^st Stars game and celebrated Thanksgiving (she likes the food as much as her parents do). Morgan loves Balls, more than any other toys, she gravitates to anything round!  Later this week, we are heading to Tampa to celebrate Christmas with her Grandmother Howarth, Aunt Sara and Cousin Kendall. 

 

Thank you again for all the support you have provided this year.  We hope you have a blessed year in 2009.

Best Regards,

David, Meredith and Morgan

I imagine I will stop sending these when Morgan turns 1, but the scary thing is that her first birthday is only 2 months away.  We need to start planning her party!

 

What has she been up to over the last month and a half?  I will call this the mobile update.  She is moving EVERYWHERE!!!!! I know I said she was starting to crawl on the last update, but now it has gone to a whole new level. She can be across the room in a matter of moments and also gets up the few steps we have in our house, so no room or cat is safe. Loki is good with her, but overall Morgan is just too rough to play with her right now.  She has started cruising (grabbing onto items while standing up) and balancing unaided.  Next step might be walking.  Note to self – still haven’t childproofed…L

 

Morgan has 2 bottom teeth, and I think she has an upper tooth on the way. She has had her 4^th ear infectionL We were told if she gets 1 more before she turns 1 that she will get tubes. I do wonder if this is why she is not talking all that much. She babbles, and I have heard mama, but I think it is noise, not really meant to indicate me.

 

She had a development appointment last week. she weighs 18 lbs 4 ounces (25%) and is 26 ½ inches long (4%). Her height/weight ratio is 95%, so we have a cubby bunnyJ  The Dr said that her motor skills are on the level of an 11 ½ month old!  Her speech/communication is at 8 months (which is right on for her adjusted age).

 

Obviously she is a champ at eating, based on her height to weight ratio. She sits in a highchair everywhere.  Not only is she eating stage 1 & 2 foods, but she LOVES cheerios and puffs. She finally has started to like fruit, thankfully.  We have been giving her some table food – yogurt, mash potatoes, nutrigrain bars, chicken, fish and more but doesn’t seem to like pudding.  She had her 1^st frozen popsicle – actually she helped herself to Uncle Dan’s and loved it.

 

Morgan now takes a bath in her ducky and loves it. She has always liked baths, but now she can play!

 

As for adventures, Morgan has been all over the place. She went to the Uptown festival, out to happy hour (on the patio), the pumpkin patch, and many dinners.  Her biggest outing was traveling to New York City. We were visiting our dear friends the Hibbards, who have a 1 year old, Julia. The girls had a great time with each other, you will see that in the pictures!  She rode in her 1^st taxi(no car seat), went on the subway, rode the NJ Transit train, went to FAO Schwartz, had a picnic in the park and played with Max the puppy.  It was all so much fun.

 

We continue to enjoy our new (or not so new) role as parents. David and I do manage to get away and have fun on our own, but honestly, it is so much fun snuggling with our little noodle.

Well this one is LONG overdue.

 

I indicated in my last update that Morgan was teething, so now I am thinking she wasn’t because we still have NO teeth! She does chew on a bunch, but doesn’t seem to drool as much, unless she is chewing my face. As for rolling over, she more than accomplished that! It is now impossible to change her diaper b/c she is constantly rolling over during the process. Her other fun trick is making sure she has a dirty diaper just as mom is about to put her in the car seat to head to daycare.

 

Beyond the rolling – Morgan moves all over the place. She is crawling, not just dragging her body, but literally knees and hands, this appears to have happened overnight, but it makes her floor time challenging, you leave the room for a second and she is all the way on the other side of the room. Note to self – time to child proof! Morgan has no problem sitting up, unaided. While in her crib she thinks it’s fun to use the sides to pull herself up to a standing position. This freaked me out, so thankfully dad lowered her crib so she can’t hurl herself over the edge. Walking is next, and she is already practicing that a bit, YIKES

 

Morgan had her first stomach bug last month, it was not fun as she was projectile vomiting on us – nice visual huh? She ended up losing about a ½ pound, but appears to have made that up

 

On to more positive news. Morgan weighs over 17 lbs, not sure on her length, but she has definitely grown. She is a champ at eating solids. So far she loves Oatmeal, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and peas, but hates green beans and rice cereal. She has tried pears, but we are not sure if she likes them since I gave them to her not realizing she was sick. I have given her a sippy cup for her to get use to the idea, but there wasn’t much water in it, so she thinks it’s a chew toy. When David and I take Morgan out to dinner it is clear that she is interested in food. Whenever our food arrives Morgan becomes immediately interested in what we have on the table, to the point that one of us is unable to eat. Aside from that she continues to be an excellent baby, who is rarely unhappy and almost never fussy. We love watching her little smile and listening to her giggle. Her favorite toys are a little teething bunny named Rae and a caterpillar that attaches to anything.

 

During the July 4^th holiday Morgan experienced her first play date. I met up with some girls I met while pregnant, so our babies are all suppose to be the same age, developmentally they are, so it was so much fun to see them interact

 

Morgan was baptized this weekend, and was a perfect angel throughout the service. She is battling ear infection #3, so we were very thankful that she was so good!

On the Ear infection front – she is trying a new antibiotic and it is not agreeing with her at all! Poor Morgan fights the medicine before it goes in and than once it’s in her belly she is miserable.

 

Enjoy the new pictures I have posted so that you can see what we have been up to the last few months!

I know I just sent an update last month, but wanted to send another because we have accomplished many firsts since I last wrote!

 

Our cute little Morgan is really growing up.

 

She recently experienced:

1.       My first mother’s day, we had a nice brunch on the patio (after my soccer game). Morgan gave me a sweet card.

2.       First Ear infection – mother’s day at 2am I woke up and took her temperature, it was 102.5 – man was I scared, but our little trouper weathered the storm.

3.       Attended her 1^st birthday party – Her friend Kate Clancy turned 1!

4.       Took her first flight (actually had 2 flights last month), she did great (better than dad b/c of all the turbulence), minus an early blowout, and silly mom forgot to pack an extra outfit. We were worried about her ears because of the ear infection, but she was just amazing! We are so blessed.

5.       1st baby sitter – we had one in Boise (while there for Jen and Adam’s wedding), and she was great!

6.       She now sleeps in her room in her crib! I didn’t want to move her until she was rid of her cold.

7.       Morgan went to her 1^st baseball game with both her grandfathers! She loved it, so much people watching.

8.       We took her to Jen & Marc’s pool, and she did well. she didn’t cry, so we think that means she liked it!

9.       Rolling over, this is still a work in progress. I was told she rolled belly to back at daycare, at home she rolls back to belly, it is becoming a challenge at night b/c she does it while trying to go to sleep and is stuck on her belly (which freaks me out) This is a new development as of this weekend

10.   Giggling – this is just starting, and we have heard a little one, not a HUGE laugh yet though. She loves to talk, even if we have no clue what she is saying!

11.   David’s first father day – Morgan bought him a new swimsuit! We went to our favorite Greek restaurant with both granddads and Auntie Xtina and Uncle Matt, then on Sunday we enjoyed some BBQ with g-fathers and Auntie Megs, Uncle Dan and cousin Conner.

 

We think she is now teething. There has been a lot of drooling. She likes to chew on her hand and sometimes gets fussy.

 

On the 10^th we had her 6 month appointment; Morgan now weighs 14lbs 7 ounces! She is 24 ¼ inches long,(20% weight, 5% height). She got another round of shots, but overall recovered from them much better than the 4 month round. Our doctor was very pleased with her growth and personality. She indicated we can go ahead and try solid foods, which starts with rice cereal. Funny side note story – David and I both thought that meant Rice Crispies.  You should have seen the dr.’s face when we mentioned that, good thing we said something or Morgan would have had a mouthful of snap crackle and pop!  We gave her Rice cereal on fathers day, and it went better than I thought.

 

 Morgan also had a development appointment last week with a specialist. The findings indicating she is right on par with a 4 month old (I was REALLY hoping she was a little further along), but this is exactly where she should be and for that we are grateful. She does need to work on her core b/c right now she likes to stand or lie down, but hasn’t figured out the sitting thing. We also mentioned that she has been splitting up a ton lately, and arching her back, so we caved and started giving her the reflux meds she had been prescribed a month ago. We will go back to the specialist in another 4 months.  On Memorial Day, our street had a block party, and we met a bunch of neighbors.  There are a lot of babies Morgan’s age on the street!

 

On a side note Loki appears to have settled in as the big sister. She still keeps a bit of distance but is much more daring with checking Morgan out.

 

Check out all the fun we have been having.  New pictures have been loaded:

http://thehowarths.spaces.live.com

So here we are! time has flown by and I have not updated this blog in a while.

 

So much has changed. Morgan is growing into a happy and healthy little girl. Wait scratch that - she has had her 1st cold!

 

I went back to work a month ago and Morgan started daycare. I am guessing that is where she got her cold. it lasted over 3 weeks, she had a stuffy nose and cough, but thankfully never developed into anything serious. Lucky me, I caught the cold too, and it has taken me quite a while to get well 2 + weeks, what a doozie.

 

Morgan loves daycare and they love her. She is so well behaved, I love knowing that she is well adjusted and fitting in! She has had her 2 month and 4 month shots, it's hard to believe she is now 5 months! She made it to the regular infant chart and for weight is 17%, what a chunker! (height it 5%, and head is under 5%). We are guessing she is just over 13 lbs now.

 

We are in a really fun stage right now. She has developed a beautiful smile, and is becoming quite the chatterbox. She has yet to roll over, but we will get there. As for sleep, we are so bless - Morgan sleeps through the night, and has been for 2 months. The weather in Dallas this Spring is great, so we have enjoyed taking her out and about. We joined the Dallas Arboretum, so we go there to enjoy the flowers, music, and picnicking. Morgan has gone to church a few times and has been very well behaved.

 

Our next challenge is traveling. We are going to Maryland next weekend to watch Uncle Bobby graduate from Med School, and then the next weekend to Boise for Jen and Adam's wedding.

Stay tuned for more updates on how our summer goes!

 

As always pictures posted here:

http://thehowarths.spaces.live.com

So I haven't written in ages! We have been keeping busy with our new lives as full time parents! Morgan has been home for 4 weeks. It seems crazy, but for us the days of the hospital are becoming blurry (as we were told they would).

 

The first week was quite an adjustment. While we had been getting up regularly during the night to pump, the added human to the equation took some getting used to! At first we kept on the hospital feeding schedule of 12, 3, 6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9.... This was grueling for Morgan and us! We now have switched to every 3/4 hours during the day and an on demand at night. Really I think it is ALL on demand, but she seems to be adjusting well to this pattern. She eats anywhere from 10-40 minutes when breast feeding. And takes between 2-4 ounces from a bottle.

 

We had our first Dr. appointment the first week she was home. Everything checked out great and she was up to 7 pounds 6 ounces, we went back a week later for her 2 month check up and she was up to 8 pounds 2 ounces. At that appointment she received her 2 month shots - needless to say she was not a happy camper. We gave her Tylenol for the pain. Her little thighs were so sore and every time we touched her we wanted to cringe. This week we had her Synagis shot to help her fight off any RSV exposure, she will get one more to cover her through this cold and flu season. At the appointment she weighed 9 pounds 7 ounces - she sure is gaining!

 

We really enjoy having her home, and finally are able to get on the road of raising her and helping her to develop into a little girl. We try and play tummy time once a day. Morgan has a very strong neck and is able to keep her head up for quite some time, as well as turn side to side. Mom has also noticed that she enjoys looking at herself in the mirror. Bath time is fun for mom and dad and Morgan, she loves it and so do we!

 

Since Morgan is a preemie she has 2 birthdates - her actual one - which puts her at 2 1/2 months of age and her adjusted one, which has her at 3 1/2 weeks. This is done for development purposes. We are told to go off adjusted age for the first 2 years. So having her home we really are working with a Newborn, rather than a 2.5 monther, so it is fun for me to get to lean from the books and all my friends who just had babies since we are all in the same phase. Eventually we hope Mo is able to catch up to actual, but this will be a long road

 

Things she hates - the thermometer, the bugger bulb, burpy gas.

 

Things she loves - 2am, snuggling on our chest, eating when hungry.

 

We have taken her on a few outside activities. Her Granddad Howarth was in town so we took a drive to Arlington and Fort Worth - she enjoyed the towns from the car and was so good. The weather has been incredibly nice in Dallas - the other day it was mid 80's, so we took her for a walk around the neighborhood, she was asleep almost the entire way, but hopefully she will stay to enjoy these walks before the weather gets too hot. It's 70 today so I think we will be heading out for another stroll in just a bit!

 

Morgan got to meet her great grandmother McClure a few weeks ago and loved it, she was snuggled up in her arms and happy as a lamb.

 

We have nicknamed her pack and play (where she is currently sleeping in our room), as Red Bull b/c the second you put her in it to go to bed her eyes are wide open and she has no intention of sleeping!

 

Well I think that is it for now, I will try and not wait so long to update this site and you on our journey.

 

I am working on a Birth announcement – we took loads of pictures to try and get the “perfect shot”. The hard part is now trying to figure out how many I need to order and compile an address list!

On February 2nd, 2008, 54 days after she first entered this world, Morgan Charlotte was finally able to leave the monitors and doctors and nurses behind and come to her new home!  At first, we were hoping she could come home last Tuesday.  She had been nipple feeding successfully and passed her hearing test and car seat test.  However, she had one minor Brady while sleeping on Monday and had to be monitored for 5 more days.

 

The night before she came home, mom and dad stayed up at the hospital to get somewhat acclimated to the responsibilities of a newborn at night.  When driving to the hospital that evening, mom commented that it finally felt like a true delivery.  We rounded up pillows and blankets and other supplies to make our stay comfortable.  But knowing that Morgan was already here made it a confusing feeling.

 

Morgan did her best to keep the 'rents from sleeping throughout the entire night.  When we first went to bed, Morgan decided it would be funny to squirm and squeak, causing dad, who was closest to her bed, to get up and check on her for any little thing.  At 2am, Morgan woke up and became quite restless.  After an hour of squirming and a 3pm feeding, she finally fell asleep and allowed mom and dad to get a little bit of rest. 

 

The next morning, we met with Morgan’s doctor and went through all her paperwork, which summarized every procedure, medication and diagnosis she received during her stay.  We haven't totaled up her final expense tab yet, but let's just be thankful that mom has good insurance through Microsoft.  Hopefully the cost won't be a hindrance in Microsoft's merger with Yahoo.  All of these details are also sent to her pediatrician, so she has Morgan's full history.  We packed up all of our belongings, including dozens of vials of pumped breast milk, strapped Morgan into the car seat, and bid adieu to the Special Care Nursery.  We locked Morgan's car seat into place and finally left the hospital.  Dad was extremely cautious on the drive home, watching out for idiots and crazy drivers on the mile drive. 

 

When we arrived at home, dad brought a sleepy Morgan into the master bedroom, still strapped into the car seat.  Dad set the car seat on the floor and Loki came in, curious about the new piece of furniture in her house.  Loki gave Morgan a quick sniff and suddenly, Morgan twitched.  Loki, who has never been the bravest cat in the jungle, went flying out of the room and has been a nervous kitty ever since.

 

Since we have been home, we have tried to keep Morgan on her 3-hour hospital feeding schedule.  She has done a great job of eating.  Her pacing continues to improve, so that she is not choking on her first sips due to over-eagerness.  Morgan has starting spitting up slightly after feeding.  We have been told this is normal, but as new parents, we are hypochondriacs about everything. 

 

Morgan slept great the first day, but again decided around 2am to be a queen of the night time world, torturing mom for a few hours.  Once she received her 6am feeding, she went back to sleeping like a bear.  (Not sure why they call it sleeping like a baby, since babies wake up every couple of hours - Stephen Wright).  On day two, Morgan got to meet her Grandfather Howarth, in town from Virginia, on his way to see his other granddaughters in San Antonio.  She was asleep in his arms the whole time and was even too sleepy to wish granddad a happy birthday.  After her 3pm feeding, Morgan finally woke up and we were able to play tummy time for the first time.  Mom and dad are very encouraged by Morgan’s strength.  She lifted her head and moved it from side to side.  This doesn't sound like much, but for a newborn, especially a preemie, it is a key developmental step to help strengthen her core and get rock hard abs.

 

After the big game, Morgan got her first bath at home.  She actually doesn't mind getting clean for now.  We do our best to make it fun for her, draping her in big fluffy towels and talking in a soothing manner.     

 

We had our first pediatrician appointment this morning with Dr Diaz.  She said everything was looking good with Morgan.  She is up to 7 pounds, 6 ounces (6 ounces higher than when she left the hospital on Sat) and is 19 3/4 inches long.  Compared to other preemies, she is in the 40% percentile in weight, 25% percentile in head size and 75% percentile in length.  Her amenia is stable, which is a good sign.

 

We have loads of pictures to share. 

Before long we hope to have Morgan home, so these updates may come less frequently!

 

Let’s start with the feedings – Morgan is at 56 ml’s and was nipple feeding 6 times per day.  Several times this week, she took over 60 ml with breastfeeding (we know this by weighing her pre and post), and usually takes around 60 ml's with a bottle.  They have also changed Morgan’s vitamins from 0.5 ml doses twice a day to a 1 ml dose once a day.  The first day she didn’t like this much and managed to throw up on Dad just before he was heading to work.  Welcome to the little joys of parenthood!

 

Mom went in one morning only to discover that Morgan no longer had her feeding tube in her nose.  At first, Mom thought that she was already up to 8 nipple feedings.  She was excited, scared and overwhelmed all at once, and immediately called Dad to share the news.  Well, as it turns out, the little squirt pulled the tube out on her own (there was tape on her hands to prove it).  They decided not to put it back right away considering she was going to be nipple feeding most of the day.  She made it up to 6pm, but then got tired and couldn’t finish that feeding.  So the tube went back in, much to her chagrin.

 

Based on how well she was doing, the doctor today said that she could go up to 8 nipple feedings.  Assuming all goes well, she could be home in 2-3 days !!!!!  Hopefully she'll have the nasal feeding tube out tomorrow, this time for good.  – update, she did get this out this morning!!!!

 

Morgan also had a blood test on Wednesday where we learned she was anemic.  Luckily, her readings were low but not at a critical level.  We are in a wait and see mode.  There is a VERY small chance she might have to get a transfusion to get her readings to the proper level.  The doctor was encouraged by her bone marrow production, and hopefully that will solve the problem. (Mom’s going to eat more iron too)

 

Morgan now weighs 6lbs 10 ounces – we like to call her a moose – or Mo for short.

 

This morning Morgan had an ultrasound to follow up on the intermittent heart murmur. The u/s showed that she has a little hole that still needs to close up, that is referred to as a PFO (http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/3400/3454.asp?index=11626). they say It really isn’t a big deal and that is should close on its own, but we will continue to watch.

 

The last items we need to do before she goes home are the hearing test, the car seat test and a cpr refresher course. We are so close!!!!!

 

A police officer came to the house this week (no Loki is not in trouble again) to install our car seat.  He was extremely nice, although it freaked me out to see his gun in his holster.  Anyone living in Dallas that wants their car seat installed, I have several of his business cards.  He does it for free and you can’t pass up service of a home visit!

 

On the home front the nursery is now complete.  (I still need to work on the walls) The final piece of the room, the glider chair, was finally put in place on Saturday.  Mom and Dad are very happy that the room is finished!  Many thanks to Dan for his truck and heavy lifting.

 

Dad had his first out of town trip this week since Morgan was born.  It was only a 3 day trip, but he was very excited to see her on Friday.

 

Mom had her first soccer practice this week (season starts in a month).  Her legs were a little sore, but it felt great to get back out there.  Hopefully when the weather is warmer, Dad will be able to take Morgan to a game.

 

Saturday night we went out to celebrate David’s birthday with the family. We had a fun time at the local Hibachi restaurant!

 

We will let you know when Morgan can finally come home.  Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers!

 

I wrote this last night. This morning we were told Morgan would come home tomorrow. I just received a call from the Dr saying she is not coming home after all. She had a few feeding Brady’s (which are no big deal, it was just a new nurse that didn’t pace her well – grrrrr) but Morgan also had a sleep Brady around 10am – which she came out of on their own, but they are watching her as a precautionary measure. So many peaks and valleys!!!! So the newest homecoming date we have received is this Saturday. Stay tuned

 

As always I have posted pics for you to enjoyJ http://thehowarths.spaces.live.com

So another fun week for us.

 

David and I are very encouraged by Morgan’s progress.

 

She started at 3 - 4 nipple feedings a day and is now up to 5 a day at 52 cc's.  We were told 5 can be really hard on preemies because that means one of the 8 nipple feedings would be back to back.  It turns out Morgan is doing better than we could have hoped.  She has come close to mastering bottle feeding, finishing her bottle almost every time, including consuming up to 60 cc's of milk!  She also is doing much better with breast feeding, which is harder work than bottle feeding.  The last 2 times we breast fed her, she took 48 cc's.   

 

We also reached another milestone, this time with her weight.  On Saturday, Jan 19, she tipped the scales at a healthy 6 pounds!  She seems to gain a few ounces each day. 

 

Hopefully the doctor will move her up to 6 nipple feedings a day very soon.  At this point, they will get her ready to come home by laying her crib flat and removing everything from her crib, including positioners and her air pillow.  After demonstrating that she can handle 6 nipple feeds, they move her up to 8!

 

We anticipate the car seat test this week, which will be one of the last tasks Morgan has to complete to go home, after she is able to complete all 8 feedings. We are so close. 

 

Morgan gave Dad a fun surprise this week.  The nurse helped Mom put some ink on Morgan's feet to make a footprint on a birthday card for Dad.  Dad is proudly displaying it in his office.  Dad is heading to Boston this week, so hopefully Morgan will come home Saturday once he is back in town.

 

We really appreciate all the calls, emails, letters, gifts, food, etc that our friends have sent our way. We are excited to share Morgan with you all.  While we would love to have visitors over to meet her we are going to ask that you understand it may be quite some time before we are able to introduce her to you in person.  The hospital has told us that her immune system isn't very strong.  With cold and flu season in full swing, she is very susceptible to picking up an illness. 

 

As always I have posted pics for you to enjoyJ http://thehowarths.spaces.live.com

 

As for dad, it looks like he is definitely going to have a lens surgery, one to take out his current lens and another to reconstruct a new one.  L

 

Thanks again for your prayers for our family

Morgan is doing pretty well again this week.

 

I am excited to announce she has gained a pound and a half over her birth weight, and this week finally reached 5 pounds!!! I thought the day would never come. (As of last night she weighed 5lbs 6 ounces!!!!)

 

The doctor is very encouraged by her progress – no “REAL” A’s & B’s for a week (we have seen a few, but they were eating related) so as of a couple of days ago, Morgan again was taken off the caffeine.  It takes 10 days to wean her off caffeine during which time she can't have any A's or B's.  After 10 days, she then has to have 5 straight days without any A's and B's and then she has passed the second to last test before going home. 

 

The final test is taking all 8 of her feedings through a nipple, either breast or bottle.  They upped Morgan’s feedings to 46 cc’s and encouraged bottle / breastfeeding 3 times a day.  She has not had the stamina for 3 full feedings, so we are taking it slow.  The most she has done in 1 day is completing 2 of the 3 feedings with a bottle, which was extremely exciting.  After she completed 2, the doctor offered to increase her to 4 nipple feedings a day, but we honestly don’t see how we can do that given how wiped out she gets.  Hopefully her stamina will increase and we can move towards the final goal of 8 a day.

 

The one issue the doctor brought up today was an "intermittent" heart murmur.  He claims that this is very common with newborns, and he can't hear it all the time.  Thus the "intermittent" qualifier.  I think we just monitor this and hopefully it doesn't become an issue. 

 

As for mom, I got a flu shot this week, to be on the safe side (Dad still needs one).  I went to the gym for the 1^st time, and it didn’t kill me (Soccer season starts next month).  I had a wonderful family shower last weekend, where Morgan continues to get spoiled.

 

Dad and Dan picked up the nursery furniture, and Dad was able to put it all together.  So now Morgan’s room is close to being complete, although we need decorator Megan to come over and work her magic.

 

My biggest stress now is the car seat we ordered which was initially backordered.  But Mom was able to search the dark reaches of the Internet and found it on another site.  Since Morgan can't go home until we have one, it is being expressed to us and should be here in the next couple of days. 

 

As for Granddad Anthony, he is feeling a bit better. The swelling in his eye is WAY down and looking better. As for vision he still is not able to see out of the eye. He goes each week to have a checkup. He may need another surgery, but for now it’s just a waiting game.

 

For update pictures you can check out - http://thehowarths.spaces.live.com

We have had so many milestones in the last few weeks. We were told to be prepared for peaks and valleys. We are now in what we would call a plateau.  Little Morgan has made so many incredible advances and now it seems we are in a bit of a holding pattern.

 

Here is the latest:

 

The big positive news is that Morgan was moved from the NICU to the special care nursery(12.30.07).  This was a very big move since now she just needs to learn how to eat and grow.  She gets to have her own room and doesn't have to be surrounded by the other preemies, many of whom were much worse off than she ever was.  She still is connected to a monitor, but her room allows her to sleep in a private and quiet environment.  There is also couch that folds out into a single bed and a chair that reclines almost fully for parents to spend the night; so when we get a chance and Dad gets over his cold, we will try to do that.  As for size, Morgan is now 4 lbs 10 ounces (started at 3 lbs 13 ounces, and dropped to 3 lbs 6 ounces in the NICU).  She is also 18 inches long (started at 16).  We are so excited by her growth and David feels that she definitely looks bigger.

 

In order for Morgan to come home, she has to pass 5 tests.  She has already passed 3 (oxygen control, temp control, growing) of them, but is still trying to outgrow her apnea / bradycardia (A's & B's, heart rate dropping below 100 & not breathing) episodes and learn to take all of her feedings through a bottle or breast, as opposed to the gavage feeding she does now.

 

Just before moving to the special care nursery, Morgan was put back on caffeine because she was having a ton of A’s & B’s.  They say this is pretty typical for preemies, but we were just hoping she had outgrown it.  She hasn't been able to yet.  We were also told sometimes the babies go home on caffeine and if so, they also go home with a monitor.  The monitor has a lot of false alarms, so if we end up bringing it home with us, we are liable to go insane (or become as ambivalent as the nurses) when it goes off.  We are hoping that she can kick her A & B episodes and bring her home monitor-free.  However, it takes 10 days after they stop giving her caffeine to wean her off.  Then she has to go 5 days without an A or B.  So this makes us believe it will still be quite a while before she comes home.  What could allow her to come home earlier, but with caffeine and a monitor, would be if she learns how to take all of her feedings through a bottle or breast. 

 

So onto the feeding update.  It is hit and miss.  She is given 40 cc's every three hours, and gets to try breast feeding once a day and bottle feeding once a day.  There are some days, like yesterday, where she took 20 cc’s from breastfeeding this morning and 20 cc’s from the bottle at night.  Then there are other days, like the day before, where we are lucky if she gets 4 cc’s from either.  It can be VERY frustrating.  Sucking, swallowing and breathing is something full term babies just know how to do, but preemies have to learn it at their own pace.  So we have some time to wean her from caffeine while she learns the feeding process.  We certainly don’t want her to come home before she is ready.  But her grandfather was able to come up to the special care nursery yeasterday afternoon and hold her during the 3pm feeding.   This was his first time to hold her!

 

On the home front, we now have a cool stork sign (contact Jen Olson when you are blessed to have a reason for your own stork sign - jennifer.olson@ans-medical.com) in the front yard announcing Morgan's arrival.  Dad also was able to put together the closet system in the nursery, so her room is getting closer to being ready.  The last step is to pick up furniture and put it all together.  Which may happen today!

 

Happy New Year to all!

Wow, what a difference a week makes!

 

We have had some nice updates to share regarding Morgan’s progress this week.

 

First off, she moved to a new bed – she graduated from the isolette to the bassinette. This biggest challenge for her in this bed was to prove she could keep her body temperate regulated, if it dips below 97.7 she would have to move back to an isolette. She moved to the bassinette on Christmas eve, and here we are 3, almost 4 days later and she has successful maintained her body temp!

 

She also was doing so well on the oxygen that they took out the nasal cannula, so she now breathes on her own. For the most part she maintains her level at 90-100% Saturation. She usually dips during feedings when her belly is full. She still has the occasional A&B’s but overall they happen much less often than before.

 

She has been able to wear shirts, and they have now encouraged us to bring up clothes for her to wear. I put her first outfit on her tonight! She is now off the caffeine, and the only thing extra they are giving her are vitamins!

 

On Christmas day she finally surpassed her birth weight, and as of today she sits at 4 lbs and 1 ounce! We also learned how to give her a bath!

 

They removed the feeding tube from her mouth and put it in her nose, because as of yesterday she started bottle feeding. That did not go all that well. She needs to learn to suck, swallow and breathe all at the same time. This morning we attempted breastfeeding for the first time. I feel like that went better than bottle feeding, but again it is still a challenge.

 

They have now qualified her as a feeder grower, which means she is not being watched for more serious issues. We are told she could move from the NICU to the Special Care nursery where she will get her own room! We took a tour the other day and the facility is brand new and looks very nice. The room even has a small bed if we wanted to stay overnight!

 

As for me, I am now off all pain meds and have one day left on antibiotics (for the swelling, I felt like I might have an infection where the incision is). I also drove tonight for the first time, it was weird, and raining, but I am back in the saddle!

 

With every week there always seems to be something crazy going on. This week we learned my dad had a detached retina, and he had to go in for surgery. This is pretty serious and there is no guarantee that the sight will return in that eye. He had the surgery today and he seems to be recovering well, but it will be weeks before we know how successful it was. We just pray all went well so he can have two eyes to gave at his granddaughter.

 

We are hopeful that she could potentially come home in the next 3 weeks, it all depends on how her feeding improves.

 

The nursery is getting better each day. David is cleaning out the closet so we can get the container store closet put together and Morgan’s things put away. We will also be picking up the crib and changing table in the next day or so. It feels so great how everything is coming together!

 

We had a really nice Christmas and enjoyed seeing our family. I hope you all have had a nice Christmas and are gearing up for a great New Years!

 

I have loaded more pictures check them out if you likeJ

 

Hi all, I wanted to send you an update on how everything is going.

 

Morgan continues to amaze us with her development. Last week she was taking 2 cc’s of milk every 4 hours. She is now up to 24 cc’s every 3 hours. She officially had her first bowel movement on Tuesday 12/17 – this is very important because it will help to get her Billy Rueben numbers lower, which allows them to stop the phototherapy for her jaundice. This morning it dropped to 5, so they took the light off and we are hoping it stays off this time (she was off it late last week as well).

 

The most exciting development was on Sunday (12/16) b/c she wasn’t under the lamp, we were able to hold her for the first time! I can’t tell you how gratifying that was to have her little body wrapped in our arms. We are filled with peaks and valleys, Sunday morning was so amazing and then we came home and my dad called me to let me know my grandfather(Morgan’s great grandfather) had passed away. He lives in Northern Indiana, and it is frustrating how we could not get up there for the funeral services. Now Morgan has 2 incredible angels in heaven, my mom and my grandfather, so I have no doubt they are smiling down on her.

 

Wednesday brought us even more excitement – I was able to provide kangaroo care for Morgan – this is skin to skin contact and is said to be extremely therapeutic for little babies.  David was able to kangaroo her today. She loves to be on her belly and to feel Mom and Dad's skin next to hers.

 

Her originally weight was 3lbs 13 ounces, and she  dropped to 3lbs 5 ounces. She now sits at 3lbs 12 ounces, so we are very excited to see that mom's nutrition is working. I have had no trouble pumping (sorry if tmi), and produce over 90 cc ever 3-4 hours, so we have plenty stocked up for when our sweet bunny is ready to chow.

 

She is still on the nasal cannula providing some pressure to keep her lungs slightly inflated.  But on a positive note, she is at 21% oxygen (room air), like the rest of us. She still has A's and B's (Apnea, where she forgets to breathe which leads to Bradycardia, where her heart dips below 100 bpm) and those are always scary, but expected at this point.

 

She opens her eyes to great us during some of the feedings, but right now is the sleepy quiet period, in the next few weeks she may be more vocal. I have heard that they may try and bottle feed her next week, so we are hoping to see some development there.

 

It is really hard to see her going through all this, but we keep telling ourselves we are the lucky ones, first off, She could easily not be with us right now, had it not been for my dr appointment and the fast and awesome performance of my dr and the staff. We are surrounded by other preemies who have been in the nicu for over 2 months, there is one that was actually term and has had a surgery and is on a ventilator. Within the nicu we are surrounded by stories, some happy and some sad. They are hard to digest, but also help remind us that our little one is strong and a good fighter. This experience has really changed my perspective, not only now that we are parents, but just reflecting on the gift of life.

 

Christmas time seems like a hard time to go through this, not that any time isn’t bad, but I have to again thank my incredible family and friends. You all have done so much for us and the only way I know to pay it forward is to make sure when I see others in need to lend the helping hand that you all have for us.

 

As for me, I am good. The pain lessens each day. Yesterday morning I took a vicodin, but have decided to try not to take any more, Aleve seems to be good for the swelling and the pain is hopefully on the downward slope. I think I can start driving again next week and will have a dr appointment after the new year to make sure the healing is going well.

 

David has been an incredible support, he really has been doing everything, and I know he is running on empty. He lost over 5 lbs, prob between the stress and the constant on the go. He was able to get our contractor in and the nursery is finished!!! Now we just need to pick up the furniture and put it together.

 

We are staying in Dallas for the holidays, so it will be a nice time for him to relax and try and recoup from the last week and a half!  Hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

Monday morning at 10:45am, we went in for a routine checkup at Mere’s OB.  We were supposed to have a 30 week checkup last week, but our OB was on vacation, so we had to make it our 31 week checkup.  We discussed the 12 hours of infant care / Lamaze classes we took over the weekend.  Of course we had plenty of questions about our birth plan, when to contact her when we start feeling contractions, etc.  After 20-25 minutes of Q&A, we started the exam portion of the checkup.  She measured Mere’s belly, then got the Doppler to check the heartbeat.  That’s when everything changed.  She had a tough time finding the heartbeat at first, then found something that sounded much too slow to be our baby’s heartbeat.  She estimated it to be around 70 beats per minute, half of what it was supposed to be.  Our OB said slowly but firmly, we are going downstairs to L & D.  We didn’t really grasp the seriousness of the situation until we reached the elevator and our OB ordered the other woman who was in the elevator not to push any buttons because we were going straight to L & D.  Also, her nurse was running towards us with Mere’s chart and our OB told her to take the stairs or another elevator.  We couldn’t wait for anything. 

 

When we got down to L & D, they immediately hooked Mere up to a heart monitor, and attached a heart monitor for the baby.  I went to the front desk to admit her, but it still didn’t occur to us that we were down there for anything more than monitoring the baby.  The baby’s heartbeat was fluctuating between 70 and 140.  Not good.  Eventually, one of the nurses said that there was a good chance the baby was going to be delivered if the heartbeat continued dropping like that.  That is when it hit us.  We might deliver at 31 weeks; not something we had considered even an hour ago.  There were no warning signs, no sharp pains, back aches, indicators, nothing.  Mere’s OB was actually in another operating room, delivering a previously scheduled Cesarean.  Her OB partner came down to check on us and basically decided the baby had to come out now.  Our OB came out from her other delivery, concurred and Mere was off to the operating room to get an epidural.  Luckily, I was in another room when they prepped her and put the needle in.  We found out later that the baby’s heart monitor showed her heartbeat dropping into the 50’s (at a heartbeat in the 60’s, they would start chest compressions.)  No time to wait, she had to come out immediately.  Dad almost wasn’t allowed into the operating room, because I was extremely upset and the operating staff was concerned I might get in the way of the professionals.  Finally, I was allowed in right before they started pulling baby H out.  At 12:44pm, Morgan Charlotte Howarth was born.  We heard a little cry and then they took her over to a waiting tray to get bundled up.  They brought her over to us for a quick view and then whisked her away to the NICU.  I followed them up to the NICU and found out she weighed 3 pounds and 13 ounces.  She was 41 cm long, which is slightly over 16 inches.  She had a little bit of dark hair on her head. 

 

When they bring her into the NICU and hook her up to the monitors, the three vitals that are constantly monitored are the heartbeat, the respiratory rate (breaths per minute) and SpO₂ level (oxygen saturation).  They have alarms if any of these exceed specified levels, either too high or too low.  For example, if the heartbeat drops below 100, an alarm goes off and it is called a “Brady”.  All of her stats have been trending fine.

 

Because she was born at 31 weeks, Morgan’s lungs weren’t fully developed.  She was missing something called surfactant, which helps coat her lungs to ensure they don’t deflate.  The reason we don’t want her lungs to deflate is that it takes significantly more pressure to reinflate a lung than to keep it inflated, similar to how the first breath is the hardest part of blowing up a balloon.  To make sure her lungs stay expanded, she initially was put on a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, also used on adults with sleep apnea), which is a machine that connects to Morgan via a nasal tube.  The CPAP was used for the first day and a half.  Wednesday, we moved to a nasal cannula, which is a similar lung expansion assistance machine, but is less dramatic than a CPAP.  Morgan is still getting lung pressure assistance (2 liters per minute, down to 1.5 liters per minute Thursday), but the step down to a cannula is a big positive.  If she was struggling to breathe and the CPAP wasn’t working, she could have been intubated and been given surfactant directly into her lungs.  This never happened and we are happy about the progression down to the nasal cannula.  We have been giving her air with various level of oxygen, ranging from 45% oxygen down to the high 20s%.  Room oxygen levels are typically around 21%. 

 

Another thing we were monitoring was her PH level and PCO₂ level.  Her PH was too acidic (low) and PCO₂ level was too high.  These levels are checked via a blood gas procedure.  The blood gas can either be taken via needle pricks on the heel (a capillary blood gas, or “CBG”) or through a line in the umbilical artery (an arterial blood gas, or “ABG”).  The ABG is more accurate than the CBG.  Morgan’s PH levels have been mostly stable or improving since she got into the NICU.  The ideal level is 7.35 and she has been rising from 7.2 to 7.3.  Her PCO₂ level has also been trending well, coming down from the mid 60’s to 51.  The target level is 45. 

 

Wednesday, they finally fed her some of mom’s colostrum through a syringe that connects to a tube that goes directly into her stomach.  Initially only 2 cc’s every 6 hours, but some is better than none.  She had a tough time digesting her first feeding but was able to digest her second feeding.  Thursday, they moved her up to 3 cc’s every 4 hours. 

 

We just checked on her and she is doing well.  They have photo therapy set up for her to fight jaundice.  We go home tomorrow, but will obviously be spending as much time as we can in the NICU. 

So in additioan to our big news her is a quick rundown of what we have been up to throughout the year.

 

In Feb/March David and i took a trip to London, we visited my Cousin Wesley and his wife Pern (who by the way are due 2/14!) It was so nice to get back to Europe, i hadn't been back sicne 2000, and it was one of those things i wanted to do b4 we started a family. Hopefully we will go back again soon, as David still needs to see my old stomping grounds in Brussels.

 

We went to Virginia/DC in April to visit David's family and some of our friends, it was a nice trip and fun to take in the city, as we usually are just in Virginia.

 

We had a few weddings in the Spring, Darrel and Trish got married in Austin, on the 5th of May, so that was quite a festive time (that explains David in the sombraro witht he mustache). Olivia and Greg got married the next week in Dallas, and was also a fun wedding.

 

The came June(the month we found out we were pregnant). Dads went to South Africa, Megan got engaged and we hosted a post Wedding Party for Matt and Christina.

 

In July we met up with Bobby and Carrie, Sara and Elizabeth at the Texas coast and enjoyed haning out with our Nieces

 

Megan and Dan got married in August, which was a perfect day. We went to Las Vegas for a quick trip over Labor Day - not something i will do pregnant every again!!!!

 

So that is the year so far in a nutshell, more to come as we get more developments from baby Howarth - did i mention it's a GIRL?

 So I haven't written in quite a while. I have a big update to share. David and I learned in early June that we would be expanding our family (currently just us and our kitty Loki).

It is very exciting, but at the same time we are very nervous.

 

The first trimester was a bit grueling. I had a lot of nausea, it was an all day thing, fortunately I never threw up. On top of that I was exhausted, it was really tough to go to work, and once home it was hard to motivated to do anything. On the weekends, I just wanted to stay home, needless to say we saved a bunch of money since we weren't going out to dinner. I had no appetite. And let me just say, being around friends and co-workers was a challenge, as they know my love for wine - fake drinking was such a brutal task. Glad the cat is out of the bag!

 

Now we are in the second trimester. What a difference that makes! the nausea is pretty much gone, I have energy to do things such as shop (yeah I know it's hard to believe I wasn't up for shopping) and now we go out to dinner again. Meat is still a tough thing to eat at night, but overall things are much better. I am in my 18th week and thus far have gained 3 lbs - I am hoping not to gain more than 25 lbs, but we shall see.

 

Attached are some photos of my progress  

WOW, i sure have been bad about updating this lately, let's just say it was a busy year! So for a quick recap, here is what we were up to after our trip to Tahoe in July.

 

Jen had a baby - Peyton. Terra moved to Austin.

 

I am including lots of pictures from summer parties, happy hour, theme parties, bowling and other festive events.

 

David and i went to Virginia for a friends wedding, Napa for our anniversary, Las Vegas before Christmas, San Antonio to visit family. 2007 is gearing up and i will share more later for now enjoy the pics!

 

 

More updates!

 

This was a busy week....Friday David and i flew to Lake Tahoe for a quick trip, we had a nice time, enjoyed dinner overlooking the lake, won a bit of money playing Black jack :), and met some crazy people while we were there. I had my 1st In and Out burger!

 

Sunday we flew back to Dallas and immediately went to Blaire's wedding.

 

Monday night we attempted to watch fireworks in Addison, but it was rained out in a rare summer storm.

 

Tuesday we spent the day at a friends pool and then it began to rain again - then we attempted to watch firework again - no luck!!!!!!

 

Check out the photos from the week

So it's been a LONG time since i have updated my space.

 

May was a busy month - Went to Seattle for work, Jazz Fest in New Orleans (the town is wiped out!),  then Florida for a Vacation with David's family.

 

June was much calmer we celebrated Father's Day and Megan's Birthday.

 

I'm including new photos from the last 2 months!!!

Comments to go along with the pictures I posted.

 

We had a good night out with our friends Jesse and Amanda - Ended up renting a Limo after a low key dinner, to Bar hop on Greenville Ave.

 

Last weekend we had an engagement party and also had some friends in town - so again another fun/drunk night out in Big D.

 

Sunday was Easter - so we got together with my side of the family and had a nice lunch - had to stay inside b/c is was close to 100 outside!

 

Also the picture of Loki(the Cat) - we will call that her birthday picture - we forgot to celebrate this year, but she was 3 on 4/1!!!