1 %-ile

Well, it is official. Ms. Claire has actually hit the growth curve. Mom & Claire headed to the doctor's for another quick checkup this afternoon. Claire weighed in at 6 lbs 15 ounces. Can we just call it 7 lbs? After her meals today she should be there, right?? This puts her in the 1 %-ile compared to other babies her age. We are delighted she has hit the growth curve!! Our doctor said that with her adjusted age, she would be in the 50th %-ile. Since Claire was due around August 5th we assume she would have weighed in between 7-7.5 lbs at birth. She is also 19.75 inches long, which also places her on the growth chart around the 1% mark. Our baby girl is growing up!

6 weeks old

Claire hit the six week mark on Thursday of this week. We can't quite believe she is 6 weeks old already. She had an outing to the doctor on Tuesday for a quick follow up on her diarrhea issue from last week. She weighed in at 6lbs 9 ounces. She really is packing it on. Mom and dad notice how much heavier she is when being picked up - she feels like a full term baby now. She even has outfits she can't fit into anymore - amazing. She is taking roughly 2 ounces at every feeding (around 8 a day) and seems to be keeping more in than is going out as of late - a sure sign she is working on adding the baby fat so she can have the rolls other babes her age have.

Mom went into the doctor the following day for her checkup and all is going well. No more iron for mom and her blood pressure is back down to normal (100/70!). She has even lost most of the baby weight but somehow it doesn't seem to be back where it is supposed to be (curses) so Claire and mom will have to do some more walking. Mom assumes it will be several weeks/months before she feels ready to tackle a run.

Mom & dad, upon Aunt Karey's assurances she could handle it, pulled out the 'bouncy chair' this week. Claire seems to enjoy it and it allows mom & dad to play with Claire in some other position than on her back on the floor as well as wash up bottles or write out thank you cards.

Claire has also increased her neck strength with some tummy time and when mom and dad lay her on their chest. She does really well when being held up by mom or dad's shoulders. We expect her hair to start changing over the next several weeks. Bets are she will end up blond but who knows! We took some pictures of her curls since we assume they will not stick around much longer.

Testing out the crib

Claire tested out the crib this morning under mom's watchful eye as mom attempted to re-organize Claire's room.
With her blanket made by mom

With her blanket made by Aunt Karey

Claire had a pretty exciting weekend, starting with a visit to the ER on Saturday morning. Thank goodness Grandma Joanne was up visiting as Dad and Jordan were canoeing. Mom would have been an even bigger basket case. Turns out it was nothing serious, she has a case of diarrhea and when mom took her temperature (yes, rectally - never thought it would happen) she was below the 'recommended' temperature. Due to her age (-2 weeks), the triage nurse on the care line recommended we take her into the ER. What we learned in the ER: Claire weighed in at 6 lbs 1 ounce (whoo-hoo) and our thermometer at home is about 1.5' cooler than the hospital thermometer (hmph). Had we known that Claire wouldn't have gone into the ER. Ahh well, live and learn. Claire was a trooper in the ER, taking a bottle while we waited for the doctor to hear from the neonatal docs upstairs. Nothing prescribed, just to watch and see how she is doing if it passes through her system. She is not dehydrated and is still eating like a champ. Could be something mom ate...

After her visit to the ER, Claire and mom headed to a shower hosted by Jackie S (hence the reorganization of Claire's room). What fun Claire had with all the girls. Heather made a surprise visit from LA - what a treat for both mom and Claire. Mom and Claire had a great time seeing everyone. Claire even kept her eyes open for a spell so all could see her baby blues. Mom didn't have her camera with her so hopefully one of the girls took pics and we can post them later.

Claire officially moved out of the preemie diapers on Friday of last week. They just couldn't hold up to her size any longer. She has even grown out of one or two pieces of clothing! Mom and dad certainly notice how much heavier she is these days. We realize that to everyone else she is still a peanut but to us she is getting just huge! We can't wait to see what she looks like when she hits her 'expected' due date of August 5. Our guess is she will be around 7.5 lbs. Who knows if she would have weighed that much if she had gone full term. We're just glad she is here and healthy.

Five Weeks Old!

Claire turns five weeks old today. Our guess is she is at 6 lbs or really close to hitting the mark where she can no longer fit into her preemie diapers. She continues to eat and has certainly passed her mom's birth weight by this point. Grandma Joanne is up to stay with mom and Claire for a couple of days while dad and big sis Jordan do some canoeing.

In her sundress from Aunt Angelic.


In the quilt made by Great Aunts Pat and Shirley, Great Grandma Shirley, Grandma Joanne, Aunt Karey and Second Cousin Mary Ann


Claire wore pants for the first time this week.

Exceeding Expectations

Claire and mom went back to see the pediatritian today. The doctor wants to monitor her weight gain for the first few weeks. The doctor is very happy with the results thus far. Claire weighed in at 5 lbs 11 ounces, about 18 inches and a head diameter of 12.75. She is growing quite well! She certainly has a ways to go in the chubby baby department but as we can see by the pictures below - she is adding weight, at least in her cheekers!




We continue to be amazed at the number of people who have similar stories to tell regarding early third trimester births and the success stories. We had a visit from some friends this weekend who have a daugther born 6 weeks early. To look at her now you wouldn't have a clue she was a preemie. She is super healthy and moving around like a champ. Claire will be like that in no time!

Claire attended the first of what is likely to be many of Jordan's softball games this evening. Dad and mom were surpised that she slept through nearly the entire two games. The fields are near some heavy highway construction so it was very noisy when combined with the cheers for the game. Non a peep from the babe. She was sound asleep unless mom moved her. Dad is thinking about grabbing a tape recorder and piping it into her crib so she will sleep longer.

4 weeks old

Mom and dad can't quite believe that Claire is four weeks old already! Claire's four week milestone was spent visiting with family and friends. Carrie S came over for a visit and a walk around the neighborhood. Claire really likes sitting with Carrie as they both warm each other up quite well. Next Claire had another chance to visit with her second cousins Markita, McKenna and Mirari when they stopped by with Cousin Mary, Great Aunt Shirley, Grandpa Jim and Grandma Joanne for a quick visit after their trip to Como. In the evening Claire met Andrea and Chloe for the first time. The social butterfly was awake for quite a stretch in the afternoon when Carrie was visiting but zonked out after her late afternoon feeding.

Claire also had some quality tummy time and started lifting her head pretty well. Interestingly, she sometimes also raises her legs at the same time. Dad thinks this is because her head weighs more and she is trying to find a way to balance things out. Whatever it is she looks like a master of balancing on her tummy. She continues to attempt to hold her head if she is being held with her head up near mom or dad's chest.

Out of curiosity, dad and mom measured Claire yesterday and if done properly (crown to foot) she is now 18 inches long. The scale at home doesn't give ounces (and isn't very accurate anyway) so mom & dad aren't sure on her weight. Estimates are around 5 lbs 5 ounces. We will see on Monday when we go in for another checkup. At the rate she has been eating since switching bottles she could surpass mom and dad's estimate. She'll be out of preemie clothing in no time at this rate.

Big Girl Bottles

Yesterday Claire moved on from the bottles we used in the NICU to the Avent bottles we bought for her. We had tried these when we first got home but she didn't seem to be getting anything. So for the last couple of weeks we have been washing bottles, upon bottles, upon bottles. We used the Avent bottles to mix her milk/formula concoction and poured that into the NICU bottles for feeding. On top of that mom pumps into a different set of bottles. Bottles everywhere! Now we are down to just two types of bottles and can mix and feed out of one - whew!

Claire took the chance to get out of the house today for a quick visit to mom's softball team. (Mom's first time driving Claire - yikes!) Mom had to drop off the new shirts the team ordered and dad had a game as well so mom decided to take Claire with her and introduce her to team Teal. It was too windy for a long visit but the team had a chance to visit with the latest edition to the Teal cheering squad. For the outing, mom dressed Claire in one of her new outfits from last week's shower.






Claire stretching out in her bed. A picture of her tiny toes.

Meeting the family

Claire's first family gathering/shower went well. Mom, dad and Claire headed down to Faribault yesterday. The house was soon packed with Schember family members. Lots of food, fun and family. Claire was a trooper, although she slept through most of the event, much to the dismay of most who wanted to see those peepers! She is quite the day napper so mom & dad weren't surprised. That did result in Claire being up most of the night and wanting to eat every 2 hours.

We can't wait for Claire to be old enough to play with all of her cousins (first and second). Claire's size was the biggest surprise for most. Most people don't realize how small she is until they see her. But the way she is eating she'll be out of the preemie clothing in a matter of weeks.

Many thanks to everyone for your generosity yesterday!


Claire & mom with Great-Grandma Shirley

Dad modeling Claire's new Boppy. Hmm...somehow mom thinks the makers of the Boppy didn't really intend for it to be used this way.

Pete if he let's himself go and quits working out :)

More cousins?!?

You bet. And Claire hasn't even met all of them yet. In total Ms. Claire is blessed with 9 cousins from both mom and dad's families. Friday evening Claire got a visit from her three oldest cousins, Jared, Adam and Rachel. Mom thinks Rachel may turn out to be a potential babysitter based on how much she enjoyed holding Claire. Saturday, Claire finally had a chance to meet Aunt Martha, Lizzie and Nathan when they came over for a visit.


Seeing Aunt Denise again and meeting Jared, Adam and Rachel


Hanging out with Rachel


Spending time with Adam (with his new summer 'do!)


Bonding with Lizzie

Today we head down to Grandpa Jim and Grandma Joanne's for the Schember family reunion. This will be the longest trip Claire has taken to date. We'll see how well mom handles things. My guess is she will end up in the back of the car sitting next to Claire so she can keep tabs. (7.9.07 update - mom made it to Burnsville before having to poke her head into the backseat to see if the peanut was breathing. She decided to ride in the back on the way home.)

Three Week Celebration

Claire hit the three week mark yesterday. Technically with her 'corrected age' she is negative 4.5 weeks old. She is still sleeping quite a bit during the day but has had a couple of times when she has remained awake after a feeding. If she stays awake she can hold her head up for a quick second or so. She will be staring about in no time!

Claire was visited by Robin and Logan yesterday. Logan came bearing gifts for Claire and was so excited. She was so tiny compared to the big boy.

Pictures from our first walk. Mom has since headed out with Claire every evening for some much needed fresh air and exercise.

Two new firsts

Claire had her first well baby visit Monday afternoon. She will go fairly frequently due to her early arrival. The doctor says all is well, she looks and sounds great. She weighed in at 4 lbs 6 oz. At this rate she should be in the 5 pound club in no time. Perhaps she can start to fill out some of the outfits she is drowning in! Claire continues to eat like a trooper. Hopefully she will make a dent in the stash of milk in the freezer (we're going to have to reduce the number of ice cream options at this rate).

Mom, dad and Claire went for their first walk last night after the rain came through. Just a quick stroll around the neighborhood. Claire is one tolerant babe. Being jostled around on some of the less 'well-maintained' streets doesn't seem to phase her. (Picture to be posted later)

Claire's favorite sleeping position seems to be on mom or dad's chest. She calms right down and heads off to dreamland for quite some time. Mom and dad both really like this as it gives each of us good bonding time with Claire in a peaceful setting.

Visitors

Claire had many visitors yesterday on her first full day home. Papa and Grandma Jackie were the first to arrive. It was the first time either of them had a chance to hold #9 in their brood of grandchildren.

Grandpa Jim and Grandma Joanne swung up for a quick visit so Grandpa Jim could have a chance to hold Claire.


Aunt Karey, Uncle Mike and cousins Alex and Ryan came over so the boys could see their new baby cousin. Alex was so very excited to get to touch her (after a thorough hand washing). He couldn't get over how small her feet are compared to his. Ryan giggled every time he touched her.



Aunt Karey having a conversation with Claire about her crazy cousins.

The first Whitcomb family photo.

The cousins

Claire had a visit from a home health nurse on Sunday. All seems to be going well, she lost a little weight but not a lot (back down to 4lbs .04 oz). Pete says it could very well be the difference between an empty diaper and a blow out. Big sis Jordan took the opportunity to feed Claire during one of her evening feedings. She slept a bit longer this morning and took a total of 70 mLs at her 'first breakfast' this morning. She was a hungry babe, which we really like to see. We head into see her pediatrician this afternoon, the first of what will be many visits in the next few weeks.