Allison is 30 weeks gestation age today - yeah! She is doing great and has moved out of the "micro-preemie" intensive care unit to the regular neonatal intensive care unit - a positive move for her! She now has a "window" room as the doctors would like her to get some natural sunlight.

Allison is now up to 2.3lbs and is taking in 13 cc's every 2 hours - she continues to lower her numbers on her respirator and is progressing well.

Her latest talents include pushing herself out of her little nest of cloth bumpers and doing yoga poses. She is quite strong and pulled out her feeding tube the other day and crawled off her pillow! We get to hold her each day and participate in her daily care.

We really appreciate all your thoughts and prayers and all the support from our family and friends.

How exciting a couple days can make. Allison continues to do well and she is really growing. She is taking in 1/3 of an ounce every two hours. She seems to have grown a head of hair overnight, and she really likes to show her disapproval with the nurses when they mess with her!

The pictures:
1 - Being held by dad
2 - the "change my diaper!!!" look
3 - sleeping after "the change"
4 - Look at all that hair!

Keep Growing and Growing...

The website hasn't been updated in a couple days because we all have been real busy, especially Allison who keeps growing and growing. She started out at 11 3/4 inches and today is just over 13. She has hit the big 2, pounds (and then some) and no more I.V.!!! She seems real happy to have that "pain in the leg" over with. We both hold her regularly and is probably the most enjoyable part of our schedules. She is definitely an energetic girl and likes to move around a lot. We forgot the camera so todays picture is with a cell phone...

Here's looking at you...

Not a bad day but not the best either. Allison has been fluctuating a little today and although this is normal, it is still hard to watch. She is up to eating 3 ml every 2 hours and is growing every day. The most incredible thing is that for the first time, when we talk to her she looks at us, they tell me that she can't see us and we are probably a blur, but nothing is more thrilling than to see her focus on us when we talk to her.

No news is good news, and that is what is going on today...Another day older and another day stronger. Respiratory rate down to 26 (a good thing), oxygen still low and now eating 2cc's every 2 hours - although no chocolate milk.

Another couple days and Allison grows bigger and stronger. Well, the PDA did not close as we had hoped, but the murmur is so weak and she is doing so well that talk about surgery has been put on hold at least for a while or never if the valve decides to shut on it's own soon. She is back to feeding which makes her happy and she has grown 2 cm over the last couple of weeks.

Hi everybody, mom and dad are tired so I snuck out of the NICU to write the blog tonight. Today has been a good day for me, the doctors and nurses think that the PDA is closing up for good, only time will tell. I sure do hope so, I've been stuck eating through my IV the last 2 days and am ready for some milk. I requested chocolate but I don't think that is going to happen.

Mom came and held me in the morning, it was great, we sang and she read to me. Then I took a nap and in the afternoon mom & dad came back. They kept talking to me and kept making funny faces, when will they learn...

My nurse David took real good care of me, I overheard him talking to mom & dad and said that I'm almost at room air and that things were really going well - I tried to tell mom & dad that but they don't speak preemie (yet).

Well, I have to sneak back before the nurses know I'm gone, I look forward to meeting all of you real soon, they tell me just a couple months.

Love,
Allison

Happy Mother's Day

Well, today was the best mother's day ever, we got to spend it with Allison. The doctors and nurses think that the PDA is closing, but we won't know for a day or so. She is doing much better though, her vitals don't bounce up and down nearly as much as they used to, especially during handling (taking her temperature, changing her diaper etc.).

Even though she hasn't been able to eat (because of the medication for the PDA) she has gained another 10 grams today, and she keeps filling out. We think she is going to be a blonde - only time will tell...

Have a good mother's day.

May 10, 2008 (Saturday Morning)

The nickname around the NICU for her is now "Alli-Cat". One of our nurses told us that Allison is one of the toughest girls he has ever seen. She is doing well but her newest challenge is her PDA - a duct in the heart that closes after birth in full term babies but in preemies is more likely to stay open and causes a back-flow of blood into the lungs. It made her vitals fluctuate the last two days but she is now on a medicine that hopefully will fix the problem. She has surpassed her birth weight and is quite the eater. Nicole changes her diapers now and is excited about it (a "treat" she can do as long as she wants). I had the opportunity to hold her yesterday for the first time, an experience I will never forget.

Thank you again to all of you for your thoughts, prayers and generosity. It is shocking the outpouring of love that we have experienced and words alone cannot express how grateful we are.

May 7, 2008

The days go by in a blur, but each one seems like an eternity.
Gained 22 grams today!

Tuesday, May 6 2008

Another good day,

Allison continues to grow and grow, she is now eating every three hours and her digestive system is moving along well. Nicole held her for an hour this afternoon and until you have seen the benefits of physical contact (Kangaroo Care) for yourself, you wouldn't believe it. Allison continues to get bigger (by the grams) each day, but the days do add up!

Once again we are so grateful to the Doctors, Nurses and Staff at the hospital for their professionalism, service and compassion, especially answering our questions and taking our phone calls at all hours of the day and night and we truly appreciate all the support we have received from our friends and family, your thoughts and prayers mean so much.

Thank you,
Matt, Nicole and Allison

Dear friends and family,

As promised, I've attached some pictures of Allison. Thank you to all of you for your support and notes for our family, we really appreciate it. Allison is doing good - we've had our ups and downs, but she is making progress day by day. Her weight is now 1lb 6oz - lost weight at birth as expected, but is gaining it back. She is starting to be fed 1 ml every 4 hours - 1 ml =literally drops, it's amazing. I had the opportunity to finally hold her yesterday - which was just wonderful. We do "kangaroo care" where they actually put her in my shirt and we cuddle skin to skin. I got to change her diaper yesterday too for the first time. It was like dressing a Barbie doll. We also had her baptized yesterday, so it was quite a day for her.

She has a lot of sweet facial expressions and responds to our voices - it makes my heart just melt. We are spending most of our days at Royal Oak Beaumont. The staff and her nurses have become like second family. We can call and check on her anytime we want and can stay with her as much as we'd like, so that really helps. I can't say enough great things about Beaumont and their staff - truly amazing.

We've been so fortunate to have Matt's parents and my Mom stay with us and help with everything at home - we could not have made it through this first week without them!

Again, thanks to all of you for your well wishes and prayers!

Love, Matt, Nicole and Allison