Guess who is home!!

Claire's 'going home outfit' which was a bit too big for her. The booties looked like clown shoes.

In her car seat

Dad with his girls

Claire was discharged from the hospital this morning. Mom, dad and big sis Jordan walked out of the hospital with Claire around 11:45am.

In a 'big girl' bed

OK. We know it will be many years before Claire is really in a 'big girl' bed but moving out of the isolette is a huge step forward in going home. She is bundled up tighter than a bug in a rug to help her hold her body temp. Those nurses really know how to swaddle.

According to one of our nurses, preemies have a more difficult time keeping their body temp at first. Makes sense since they are also burning off a lot of energy learning all the things they would have in the womb, while breathing, eating, pooping, etc.

Claire is also doing ad lib feedings now where they feed her when she gives them the cues that she is hungry (like waking from her deep, dad-like sleep). She is still getting a mix of breast milk and formula to pump up her calories and also taking a very nasty smelling vitamin (including iron). Mom & Claire are both on iron now - more special bonding!!

Cousin Nathan and Uncle Joel came by for a visit yesterday. Claire had been moved out into the room nearest the entrance to the NICU (dubbed Dinkyville by the nursing staff) so Nate was able to see Claire from the window. While he was excited to see her, he was more excited that he got to go down to the cafeteria with Uncle Peter and get a cookie. When you were six, wouldn't that be more exciting than seeing a baby who is sleeping through a window? Yeah. Me too.

Claire is doing great with the bottle, not so well with the breast but the nurses say that will come in time. At least we won't have to fight getting her to bottle, eh?

The Four Pound Club

Claire moved into the 4 lbs club on Tuesday evening. Her weight overnight on Tuesday was 4 lbs .08 ounces!! Mom and dad are very excited that the wee tot is packing on those pounds. Based on her weight and the fact that she has been holding her temp consistent the doctor made the call yesterday during rounds while mom was visiting that Ms. Claire can come out of the isolette. She was still being weened from the isolette when mom & dad stopped back for another visit so no pictures yet of the babe out of the isolette. They were planning on moving her into a crib after her 8pm feeding last night so hopefully when we go in for the morning visit she will be isolette free!

Sometime during the course of the day she finally lost what was left of her cord. Now her diaper (which she filled again while mom was trying to feed her after mom had changed her) can lay without always being folded over. It's funny to see the diaper go nearly halfway up her back but what's a preemie girl to do?

She also took a good portion of her bottle yesterday from dad. She had a good feeding again yesterday morning and another during the overnight on Tuesday. If we can get her to increase those feedings off the tube she will be home in no time. The doctor on rounds yesterday said she is doing really well!


Mom and dad have started to come up with some nicknames for the wee tot (besides peanut). Claire makes little squeeking noises sometimes while she is craddled in your arms so mom has coined her Squeekers. Dad thinks Claire's skinny legs are too cute. When she is sleeping sometimes she just kicks them about so dad has named her Crazy Legs. Poor girl, her parents are very nice to her are they?

Thank you again everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We can't tell you how much it means to us.

A visit from 'the boys'

Claire's cousins Alex and Ryan were able to see Claire through the window last night. The nurses and the neonatal nurse practitioner OK'd Claire's removal from her leads monitoring her heart rate, breathing pattern/amount and skin temp long enough for her to be swaddled and held up to a window in the NICU. Alex and Ryan were pretty excited to see her. Claire even opened her eyes - and when she crossed them Ryan was surprised. The boys are amazed at how small she is - especially her fingers. Alex commented on her tiny finger nails and held up his hand to have Aunt Holly try and show him how small her fingers are compared to his. He wanted very much to come into the NICU and touch her, but we explained that because she is so little she can't come out and he can't come into the NICU. I'm sure Karey will have to field more questions from her inquisitive eldest son. It was pretty cool to see how excited they got when Claire came to the window. There is only five years difference between Claire and Alex and she shares the same birthday as Ryan with only three years between them. I'm hoping they can have a very close relationship as they all grow and develop over the years.

In other news, Claire took 2 1/2 bottles yesterday and did good at her 11am feeding with mom. Gestationally she is 34 weeks so we're hoping she will really start getting into the whole feeding from the bottle/breast trick. Her weight continues to grow. Pete estimates she will be at 4 lbs today. Her weight Monday night was 3 lbs 14 oz - almost there.

Visiting with her big sis

Claire got a visit from her big sister Jordan yesterday. She continues to gain weight and as of yesterday was past her birth weight up to 3 lbs 12.8 oz. During mom's visit with Claire this morning Claire took her whole bottle.... from the nurse, not mom. Seems as though Claire likes to fall asleep when near mom. She did stay awake a bit longer and was looking at mom most of the time before she conked out while listening to a lovely woman who volunteers her time to come in and provide harp therapy to the babes in the NICU.

Bath time

Claire practices her 'no more pictures' for her father who was acting as the paparazzi last night.

Mom under the watchful eye of the nurse.

Claire getting her hair washed. Are those curls? Where did she get those???

Mom and dad went in for an evening visit to give mom some more practice with bathing. Dad is an old pro from his days of bathing Jordan so he feels far more comfortable than mom with the whole idea of putting the little one in the bath. Claire handles the bath quite well, no tears and just a few scrunchy looks at mom. Mom has to work on her ability to hold onto a wet baby who has soap on her skin! Once again the nurse was quite helpful passing on some tips while mom slowly worked her way through the bath.

Claire is still eating one bottle well during the day. The nurse practitioner upped her 'order' yesterday so Claire could take up to three bottles a day dependent upon how awake she is at feeding time. Mom & dad swears she sleeps 23.5 hours a day (all but the 30 minutes when she takes her morning bottle). We did get some awake time last night after the bath but she zonked out not too long after her bath. It's tough being 9 days old!

One less wire

Claire has taken yet another step forward this morning. When mom got in for the morning visit the nurse let her know that Claire no longer needed the oxygen lead. This lead read how much oxygen Claire was getting with each breath. She has been very consistent so they decided it no longer needed to be monitored.

She also took another full bottle at her 8am feeding. She was zonked out when mom arrived for her 11am feeding so we decided to see if she would latch on but mom didn't push it. Instead she 'kangarooed' with Claire. This is where a parent is sans shirt and the babe is snuggled up on the parent's chest with a warm blanket(s) covering their back. Very nice bonding time, she was all snuggled up against me and out like a light. She sleeps like her dad with her mouth open at times (but she doesn't snore like her dad - yet...).

We're heading back for the 5pm feeding and hope to spend some good quality time with her this evening.