Merry Christmas!

A picture of us on our first Christmas. Kylie wore her new
Christmas outfit given to her by Val Martin! Thanks, Val!

It was so great to be able to celebrate Christmas as a family of 3 this year, especially because we weren't expecting that until next year! We didn't do a whole lot, but we did get to see both the King Family and the Barlow Family.

On Thursday, the 23rd we made the trip to Stewartville to celebrate with the Kings. We ate pizza and opened gifts with my mom and dad, my brother, John, his girlfriend, Rochelle, their son, Emmit, my sister, Mia, and her bf, Brady. Kylie was spoiled rotten by her grandparents and aunts and uncles! It was a great time!

On Christmas Day, Kriss, Doug (Jon's parents), Greg (Jon's younger brother) and Greg's gf, Sarah made the trip from Hudson to our house in Rochester. We had an Italian themed meal, which was delicious! We also opened gifts and skyped with Tony (Jon's older brother), Ingrid (Tony's wife) and Elias (Tony and Ingrid's son). Tony kept us entertained by turning himself into a werewolf, basketball player, and many other things while we skyped! It was a wonderful day!

Merry Christmas!
Love,
Jon, Emily and Kylie Barlow

Going Home!

After spending about 4 1/2 weeks in the hospital, Kylie finally came home on Tuesday, December 21st. Here are the details...

In order to be able to leave the Special Care Nursery, Kylie needed to be completely oral fed either by breast or bottle AND be able to gain/maintain weight. On Saturday, December 18th we were given the go ahead to start a "12 hour trial" on Sunday morning. That meant we would try oral feeding and check her weight after 12 hours. If she had gained or maintained weight, we would continue the oral feeding for another 12-24 hours. If she had lost too much weight, we would do a tube feed and try the oral feeding again at a later time. We started out the morning by trying breastfeeding. Kylie is excellent at latching, but she gets really sleepy as soon as she gets close to me. So, needless to say, the breastfeeding was not going well...We tried 3 different times about an hour apart before we decided to move on to the bottle. When I say bottle, I mean that she is getting breast milk from the bottle. I have been pumping every two to three hours since the day she was born, so we have quite the supply saved up. Anyway, we quickly learned that Kylie is a pro at the bottle. She took to it immediately and was able to eat quite a bit each time, so things were starting to look more promising. At 7pm, we weighed Kylie to see how she was doing...At that point she had lost 10 grams. I was worried, but the nurses said that was nothing to squawk about so we continued the oral feeding trial. I spent the night on Sunday and bottle fed her through the night. She continued to do a great job, although a few of the nurses were a little pessimistic about the amount she was taking. She was weighed again on Monday evening and she had gained 65 grams!!! We couldn't believe it...The nurse even checked her weight twice to make sure it was right! That's when we got the best news of the year...Kylie was going home on Tuesday!

We brought Kylie home on Tuesday evening. I fell apart as soon as we got in the car...I had no idea how scary it would be to drive with a baby in the car. All of a sudden, this little person's life was solely in my hands...No more nurses, doctors or monitors. How was I going to keep a little baby alive?! I continued to be a disaster through that first night, as I assume most first time parents are the first night their baby comes home. After we got through the first night, however, I started to feel better and we've been doing well ever since!

Through all the excitement of bringing Kylie home, we forgot to take a picture of her in her little outfit. So, here are a couple of her at home the next day. One is of Kylie taking a nap and the other is of Kylie holding her bottle..Yes, I said holding her bottle. I think it happened by accident, but I like to believe she is just advanced...Not that I'm biased! :)

Steady Progress

Kylie has been making steady progress to go home. She has been doing a much better job of feeding, which is the last big hurdle before she goes home. Emily stayed over last night, to feed her when she is acting hungry. This went well for Kylie, and makes mom feel much more like a real mom!

Sometime during the night last night she pulled her feeding tube out (I guess it was HER time). We are hoping that it was the last time! Today she has been doing a really good job of eating, and she was just weighed at 3030 gm (6lb 11oz). This is up 65 gm from yesterday with no tube feedings. If things keep progressing, we expect to be home in the next few days. This will be a fun new challenge for us! Both mom and Kylie are doing great. I have put in a few pictures of the two of them.

Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, gifts, and meals! We are incredibly blessed.
Jon
(guest blogger)

Making Progress

A big stretch!


Sleeping with daddy! Can you see a resemblance?


She pulled out her feeding tube during her bath...Little stinker!


Kylie is continuing to make good progress...Each day she gets a little bigger and stronger. You can almost see the neurons firing inside her peanut head. She has reached another weight milestone...She passed 6 pounds yesterday! YAY! She actually weighed in at 6 pounds and 2 ounces. I think she might be the biggest 35 weeker here! :) You can see the weight in her belly and cheeks...She is definitely starting to plump up! No more preemie clothes for her! Because her weight is going up, so is the amount of food she gets with each feeding. She is up to 51 milliliters of 24 calorie breast milk every 3 hours. They supplement the milk with calories to help her gain weight faster. It's clearly working like a charm!

In other Kylie-related news...She still has a full head of hair, but it's starting to rub off on the sides where her head rests on the bed. She also still hates her feeding tube...She pulls it out at least once every other day. It's kind of funny, but I feel so bad for her when they put it back in because she sneezes until it's all the way down to her stomach. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt her. Her cry, while it stresses me out a bit, is one of my favorite sounds. It reminds me that she is like any other normal baby. I can't wait until you all hear it...When you hear that wail, there will be no doubt in anyone's mind that she has a really strong set of lungs! Sometimes, right before she cries, she does a lower lip quiver. It's super cute and impossible to resist! With that little lip, she will always be able to get what she wants! She has had 3 or 4 more baths, and she still loves them. When her hair is wet, you can definitely see some waves...I am crossing my fingers for her dad's curls!

AND I saved the best for last! She has reached one more important milestone this week...She has finally started to breastfeed!!! She is not eating enough to gain weight, but she is eating enough that we have had to hold some tube feedings off for an hour or two. Eventually, the goal is for her to be completely breastfed AND gaining weight.

The three pictures of Kylie were taken within the last few days! Enjoy!

Nursery Fun!

Our routine at the Special Care Nursery can be kind of repetitive and boring, but sometimes the nurses try to spice it up for us. One day I arrived to Kylie's room to see a note that Kylie "wrote" to the nurses. It is posted on the computer for everyone to see! Check it out in the first picture above.

Another day, I was looking through the pictures on my camera and I came across one that I had not taken. Apparently, when I was napping one day, one of the nurses took my camera and had a little fun. See the second picture above!

...But Who's Counting???

Everyday, "the team" made up of a doctor, nurse practitioner, nurse manager, social worker, and some others, does their rounds at 1:30pm. I try to be in Kylie's room during that time because it is usually the only time I see the doctor and nurse practitioner during the day...They tend to spend most of their time in labor and delivery waiting for other preemies to arrive. Anyway, the nurse practitioner asks me everyday, "How many days have you been here now?" I always know the answer. And it never fails for someone else to say, "But who's counting?" I am definitely counting...We have been here 18 days, and there are 18 days until Christmas! Come on Kylie...Keep on fighting so you can be home for Christmas!

Like I said, Kylie has been in our lives for 18 days now, and I already forgot what life was like before her. I can't remember what I did with my time before I started spending my days in this room, watching her grow, helping her eat, changing her diapers, holding her, comforting her and, of course, pumping like a dairy cow. It's a crazy change from my old life, but I am loving being Kylie's mom.

Our little Kylie Bean (Jon's pet name for her) continues to impress us and make us proud. She is still growing like bamboo (I just learned that bamboo grows something like 6 inches a day). Her weight is up to 5 pounds and 7 ounces! She is getting a really chubby belly...One of the nurses said it is because I am making excellent milk...YAY! She is still learning how to breastfeed. We practice two times each day and she is getting better slowly but surely. Apparently, her feeding skills are above average for her gestational age, which is 34 weeks and 5 days. She is spending a little more time awake each day. Yesterday and today she had a couple of awake periods that lasted an hour or more. She is also starting to make it very obvious when she is going to the bathroom with lots of little grunts and squeals...Not very ladylike, but that's okay! Her umbilical cord is starting to fall off and soon we will be able to see her belly button! I'm also pretty sure she is going to have at least one cheek dimple, which I am super excited about! You can kind of see a tiny, little dimple when she accidentally smiles!

Here are some more recent pictures of Kylie. She continues to change everyday!

Baby Showers!

My wonderful family and friends have been showering Kylie and me with lots of baby gifts and gadgets these last two weeks. I can't believe how generous everyone has been to us. I am so grateful for my family, all the pink stars, their moms, the ortho wives and my Side By Side friends!

The pictures are from the two showers I have had so far...The pink star shower and the ortho/SBS shower!