The road goes on forever but this party is coming to an end!

It looks like Wednesday will be our big day!  Caroline is in the process of doing a sleep study to make sure she is breathing correctly.  The study goes for 10 hours and then she does a 1.5 hour car seat study also looking for the same thing.  She has already gone up to 8 bottles a day (Fast I know, she decided she was done with the NICU).  We are planning to do what the NICU calls rooming in on Tuesday night.  Basically we stay the night and do all of her care but we have a nurse there for any questions we have.  Then Wednesday is our big day provided she passes all of her tests and keeps up the hard work of taking all of her bottles.  Just a reminder of how hard all of this is for her babies don't develop the suck, swallow, breathe technique until 36-37 weeks gestation.  She is 36.3 currently so she's not even supposed to be able to do all of this yet.  It's like exercising 8 times a day.  She's pooped!  Then again so are we.  We are READY to have her home!  Below is something that we got from an organization called Hand to Hold.  They are a support program for NICU parents and have offered some great suggestions for now that she's coming home.  Please take the time to read it... I know it's a little long but it really is exactly what we need.  Thank you all for the support and I will keep our blog going as our road is just really getting to start!  Now we get to be full time parents!  I can't wait!  The girls went home today too so we are going to get to have her all to ourselves.

For the other fun news.  Laura will be doing my shower do over on August 4th.  We will be sending out the invites this week.  So keep your calendars free as there will be a short guest appearance by our sweet girl!

We may need some time alone at first.

Any NICU stay is rough. Ours may have been harder than others. Now that our baby is home with us we need time to adjust to our new roles as parents of a medically fragile child. Please understand that while we want to spend as much time with you as possible we also need a few days to settle into our routine and get some much needed rest.

We’re on a schedule.

While our baby is now home with us, we are still following the routine they got used to at the hospital. We are on a round-the-clock schedule of breastfeeding, pumping, fortifying feeds and administering medicine. Our baby is still adjusting to life outside of the womb. We’re trying to give our baby a safe, quiet environment to rest, grow and develop while still trying to manage multiple specialist and therapist visits. We encourage you to call, text or email us before coming over. And don’t be surprised if we ask you to pick something up from the store or pharmacy when you come!

Please respect our need to be “germaphobes”!

While some newborns may seem to acclimate to the world of germs and colds quite easily, that is not the case for our child. They are especially vulnerable and are susceptible to severe complications and even re-hospitalizations from what might be a minor cold or slight sniffle to you or me. Our baby’s immune system needs time to develop. The most important thing you can do to protect our baby is to WASH YOUR HANDS! We need you to do this every time you come to visit and especially before holding or touching the baby.

Understand that cold, flu and RSV seasons are serious threats.

We need to do everything we can to prevent our baby from contracting any of these illnesses. If you aren’t feeling well or are even slightly worried you might be coming down with something, please wait and visit another time. One thing you can do to show you care is to get your vaccinations, especially for influenza and whooping cough. And please don’t smoke. If you do, please don’t be offended if we ask you to bathe and change your clothes before visiting.

Know that while we may be quarantined, we’re still craving interaction.

After an isolating NICU stay and an extended quarantine upon arriving home, we feel alone. Even though we might not be able to see you as much as we’d like, we want to stay connected to you. Please call, email and write. Send us photos or videos of your family and we will, too. We can share our love without sharing our germs!

We still need help taking care of our most basic needs.

It’s true, but it may still be hard for us to say. We need your help now more than ever, but we’re still uncomfortable asking. Please continue to bring us meals and run errands.

When you offer to help please be specific.

We all appreciate hearing, “Let me know if you need anything,” but the reality is we are often unprepared to really know and ask for what we need. You may have to be very direct. Go ahead and bring by that casserole. Do a load of laundry when you visit. Pick up a bag of diapers on your trip to the store. Offer to drive the car pool. Mow our lawn or wash our car. We will appreciate it, and we’ll return the favor when we can.

Thank you as always for your help, prayers, shoulders and love during all of this.  It has truly been life changing.  I can speak for all of our family when I say that we could not have made it through this with out all of you.

xoxo,
Casey, Tom and Our Sweet Caroline

Please meet my very two best friends Laura and Tasha.  This is the frist time each of them got to hold our sweet girl. 

Here is a wonderful letter I received from a woman that knows my road a little to well.  Lorri Brown is the proud mama to four beautiful children and three of them were preemies (one set of twins).  She has been a wonderful inspiration to me and reminds me often I can get through this.  Lorri and I have actually never met each other because she lives so far but our bond is strong and soon enough we will get that chance to meet.  She and I became close friends while I worked for FAS she was one our vendors.  I am lucky to have had the chance to work with such a great woman and I am glad to call her my friend.  Lorri, thank you for your kind words and continued support you are amazing!  Love you!


PS Caroline is up to 4 bottles, 5 lbs and 3 oz.  Our sweet girl is working hard to come home!  Half way there!




Casey, Tom, and not so itty bitty Caroline:
I have known you Casey for over a year now, although we have never met in person we have an amazing bond and friendship many states apart. I have seen you grow so much as a person in this last year, from your meeting of Tom, a very exciting and eventful pregnancy, to the amazing miracle we have all grown to love, Caroline. I am so blessed to know you and love you and so proud to call you my friend. You have been there for me through some tremendous milestones in my life, and I have followed yours. You are so wise beyond your years and offer such great insight and advice that has helped me overcome a lot. I am so thrilled for your family at how well "our" Caroline has been doing. She has by the way become all of our little girl, in a very special way. I will forever love you and cherish our friendship. I am so glad that you created the blog to keep us up to date and sharing such a special, private and intimate moment of the life of your little angel. Tom has proved to be an amazing man to you, and you deserve it, you deserve the very best, you compliment each other so well. It is rare to find your perfect match, and yet you have been so blessed to do so. Thank you again friend for never judging me and being there. We may not talk every day or even every week, but that goes to show how strong our bond is that we never miss a beat. You always speak your mind and from your heart and I value that. I love you dear friend for who you are, always real, I love you Tom for taking such wonderful care of my friend and loving her as she deserves, and Caroline oh Caroline, I love you beyond words, you are a perfect addition to all of our worlds, you have made my life a brighter place and I cannot wait to give you sweet kisses one day little bit. Thank you Caroline for fighting the fight and making your mom and dad oh so proud, and showing mommy unconditional love. You were born into the lives of 2 of the most amazing people ever, you could not be more loved or wanted little one. I love you guys!

Hello my name is Caroline and I...

Like to pull out my tube in my nose...

and...

I like to get it put back in...

Here I am with my mom...

Here I am with my dad...

OH AND PS I CAN NOW WEAR BIG GIRL DIAPERS...

AND I WEIGH 5 LBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY MOM AND DAD ARE SO EXCITED BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN COME HOME SOON! 

We had a great day!  All of these things and she is taking 3 bottles a day now.  She took a bottle at 2pm today and then at 5pm (both her scheduled feeding times) and she breast fed for 20 min at 5 too!  My big girl only needs to get to 8 bottles or breast feedings per day and she gets to come home!!!  I am so very excited.  Today her pack and play came in so we are getting our bedroom setup and ready to go.  She has to do a car seat study but we are probably going to need to buy a new "preemie" size car seat.  I will see if she fits in the pretty one Tom's parents bought us but I think she may be a little too small length wise.  Our NICU is very specific on what it takes to discharge and we of course will follow their directions.

I will tentatively be having my shower do over on Saturday July 28th at Laura Herrin's home.  I have had people ask what I need so here are my thoughts.

I will not need many preemie items because she's such a chunk!  I have purchased quite a few preemie out fits so I think they will get me through until she grows into newborns.  Diapers of course are always great.  All sizes.  I am sure we will need them.  Receiving blankets and cloth diapers for burp cloths will be great!  I am still registered at target and walmart.  I may have to update it some.

A great day for Caroline and a very happy mama and daddy!  Lots of love and as always thank you for the support and prayers.

xoxo,
Casey, Tom and Our Sweet Caroline

Strangers in the NICU... Caroline Meet Grandma and Grandpa Anderson!

Tom's parents came up to see our sweet girl last night.  They were ecstatic to get to hold her!  Thank you to both of them for all they have done from helping with watching Mikayla and Kirstin to driving us around.  We would have been lost with out them!

BATH TIME!

She weighs 4 lbs 13 oz!

So the road goes on forever but this party will end.  Tom and I are very proud of our chunk.  Caroline is 5 weeks old, growing and doing good with bottle feeding.  As you can see from the pictures I got to give her a bath yesterday.  She loves the water but is not crazy about washing her chubby parts.  She is a very laid back baby and doesn't cry much.  She's not crazy about diaper change or taking her temperature but hardly ever fusses past that. 

She is up to two bottles a day!!  We are looking at about two more weeks if I were to guess with the progress she is making.  Every time she gets the bottle we practice breast feeding too.  She wears out very quickly and it's important for her to get all of her food via bottle so we can get her out of there so I only breast feed for a short period first.

Our sweet girl is growing big and I can't wait for all of you to meet her.  We have decided that for my shower it will not be a meet the baby type event but I am shooting for a guest appearance for a very limited time.   It will depend on how long she has been home and how many people are there.  She can not be around too much noise and it is critical that she not be around anyone who is sick.  We will have to play this by ear but I hope that she can come for a very short period of time.  I will however be happy to have visitors to the house a few days after we get her home.

I am excited to say that I am doing very well too.  My c-section wound is almost completely closed and with out my wound vac I am doing 500 times better.  It did it's job but darn it was a pain in my butt... or belly in this case.  I feel like a person again.  I'm even wearing pre-pregnancy clothes again too!  YEH!

Thank you all as always for the support and prayers.

Love,

Casey, Tom and Our Sweet Caroline

Photo Bomb!

Hello everyone!  I don't have much of an update so I think I'll just photo share.  Caroline is doing great!!  Just growing which is exactly what she needs to do to come home!  A few more weeks and she will be home!  Keep up the good work baby girl!

Tonight's star... Well always Caroline but also Judy aka Mama aka Grandma (Not sure what she will call her yet) Our first person to get to hold her beside Tom and myself.  She has done so much for us and since this is her first grand kid we wanted her to be the first to hold her.  She couldn't look up for the pictures because she just couldn't take her eyes off our sweet girl.

Here is Caroline in her open crib.  Go baby Go!!!  Holding her own temperature!

Mama and her 4.57 pound chunky monkey! 

Baby girl getting her first bottle!  She took the whole 41 ml... most babies only do about 10 on their first time.  Tom uploaded a video on his facebook page where I tell the nurse... "I told you she would take the whole thing.."  Like duh she's my fiesty kid!  She's got her mama's will and her daddies smarts!  She's ready to come home and cuddle!

So in the next few weeks I need to decide on a shower and or get approval from her pediatrician/NICU doctors for a meet and greet type shower.  I of course canceled my shower on the 9th of June because I was a little busy :).  I'll have Laura and Hailey (My awesome hostess) let all of you know the details.  Be sure to watch for an invite via facebook.  I am not sure we will send out full shower invites a second time. 

Thank you as always for the continued support and prayers.  Caroline is rocking the house in NICU 3.  Keep growing baby girl!

xoxo,

Casey, Tom and Our Sweet Caroline

Holly smokes it's hot outside!
Well to start with my dad broke both bones in his lower right leg last night.  : (  OUCH!  Had to have EMS come to take him to the hospital where they sent him HOME!!  Splint and a pat on the back that said good luck.  It came time for him to go to the orthopedic surgeon and he had to have more help getting in the car.  Fire dept call number two... two fire men later and he was in the car for the doctor to send him home to suffer until Friday where he will have a rod in place.  So poor Daddy.

Here is an update on Caroline... She on the other hand is doing amazing!   They have move her to NICU 3 where this chunky monkey weighs...


3.14 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 


As I have said before go girl get your chunk on!  So from 3.11 yesterday to 3.14 today she's 50 grams away from getting to come out of her current bed to a normal crib!  The joys of NICU 3 is that we can come and go more freely and take her in and out more on our time.  I am sure that they will still be closed during shift change but this will help with my tough schedule.  The unfortunate thing about my dad's leg is that my mom will now be tied up with helping care for him so I have lost one of my main supporters.  I am not sure how that will effect us but we will work through.  I have had some people come through for us lately and help with dinners or taking the girls and even some rides for me!  I still have one spot on my visitation list... any takers?

More to come soon.   Keep an eye out on my facebook for more pictures of my super sweet beautiful girl.

xoxo,

Casey, Tom and Baby Caroline