2 months (adjusted)

Here is my monthly update for Cameron's 2 month "adjusted" birthday! Luckily, because of the leap year she has a 2 month adjusted birthday this month, otherwise there would have been no February 29th :)

Adjusted age: 2 months

Actual age: 5 months, 5 days

Weight: 9 lb 5 oz (2/27)

Length: Roughly 20-21 inches. Our next pedi appt is on March 26th where we will get an official measurement. I've measured her but have no idea how accurate my measurements are.

Diaper size: 1

Clothing size: 0-3 months

Medications/medical concerns: None really anymore, I am so thrilled about this! In the past month Cameron came off of her caffeine and her monitor. Her ROP has resolved and we don't have to go to anymore eye doctor appointments! Any reflux/spitting up issues that we had seem to have completely resolved which I'm so happy about. She is still on multivitamins.

Sleep: Sleep is going great for the most part. She is sleeping through the night pretty well, we got an 8 hour stretch and a 10 hour stretch over the weekend, last night she went 9 hours but the night before she did wake up once in the middle of the night to eat. But overall it's going great. The only issue is the time at which she goes to sleep is still all over the place. Some nights she will go down at 10:30 and others she will be up until almost 3 in the morning. I'm not sure how to get her schedule more consistent.

Eating: Eating has greatly improved over the past month. We are still fortifying but it we are now fortifying to 24 calories per ounce instead of 27 calories per ounce. We are also cutting out the rice cereal since her reflux/spitting issues have resolved. She is eating way more every feeding, ranging usually from 2.5-3.5 ounces. She eats about every 3 hours during the day, almost every 2 hours in the evening and then we get at least a 6 hour stretch at night, more recently it's been 8+ hours. She finally seems to be eating a substantial amount, her digestive system seems to have really matured in the past month.

Developmental milestones: She is definitely starting to smile more. Now sometimes if I walk into a room or come back from the kitchen or something she will smile when she sees me. She likes to smile and "talk" on her changing table a lot too. She is interested in toys, obviously not batting or grabbing at them yet, but paying attention to toys when you put them in front of her face. She is tracking faces and toys with her eyes, absolutely loves looking into mirrors, and in general she is having more wakeful periods where she remains content. She is making many more noises and cooing sounds.

Best moment this month: Completing all of her lingering issues from the NICU. No more ROP, no more caffeine, no more monitor! She finally feels like a completely normal baby!!

I have to say, I really love doing these updates. It is so hard to remember how she was acting a month ago because I am with her all day, every day. But looking back at last month's update in comparison is pretty cool. She has made some really great strides without me even realizing it!

And a comparison collage:

Notice the sticker looks smaller in the 2 month photos, really it's the same size but Cameron is bigger! She is also wearing the same onesie in both photos, it's just tighter on her now.

Hh, Ii

I forgot to do an 'H' post last week so I'm combining 'H' and 'I' this week.

So Cameron may not know that she is a Harry Potter fanatic yet, but she will be one day! I guess I should explain this one though. Josh and I both really love Harry Potter. When I was admitted on hospital bed rest we had to do something to kind of pass the time and keep looking forward instead of dwelling on our current situation. If you remember, I was admitted for bed rest with the threat of delivering well before Cameron was considered viable on the outside world. So we decided to start reading Harry Potter. Josh would come to the hospital every day after work and read out loud to Cameron (still in my belly obviously). We figured if we could get through the first and second books, she would have a really great chance at surviving on the outside world. Then every book after that would mean she would have stayed in for even longer and increase her chances even more. Well, we made it through the first three books. It was enough but we wish we could have made it through all seven. Either way, Cameron has been "reading" Harry Potter since before she was even born, and that makes her a Harry Potter fanatic!

First of all, I should mention that Josh was on standby right outside the view of the photo. No, we don't just sit Cameron on top of Penny unattended. Penny is super well behaved around Cameron anyways so I wasn't really concerned. And while I wouldn't say these two are inseparable quite yet, I know one day Cameron will really love Penny, and unfortunately for Penny I'm sure the idea of riding her will be quite appealing to little Cam in a couple of years.

NICU follow up! (long)

Throughout the next couple of years Cameron will have NICU follow up appointments with a neonatologist who specializes in development. As a 26 week NICU grad they want to monitor really closely since she is so high risk for having developmental delays. The NICU follow up clinic is at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital and we had our first appointment today!

First of all, the doctor and the nurse practitioner who will be following her could not believe she was a 26 weeker! They were so impressed with her muscle tone, strength, head control, and head shape among other things. They had absolutely no concerns from a developmental standpoint which is obviously good news. I worry a lot about developmental delays but everything looks good to them so I am really happy! It's still early but they felt like she looked exceptionally healthy for a 26 week preemie.

Unfortunately they did have one concern, and that is Cameron is getting too F-A-T, and if you have ever seen Josh and I, you can imagine my surprise at this (although I have to admit I love the chubby cheeks and leg rolls)! Now, they weren't really "concerned" but it was the only area she didn't get an A+. In a way it's good because she is showing that she is a good eater and a good gainer but she is getting out of proportion. Her length is still around the 5th percentile for her adjusted age and her weight is up to about 20th percentile. Those numbers used to be even, with both height and weight in the 5th percentile, but she is outgrowing her length in width (read: her waistline is growing a little too fast for her height). The worry with this is that when she gets to the age where she should start to roll over, being too chubby can prevent her from being able to do so. Fortunately, there is a reason for all this. If you can recall, we have been fortifying all of my breast milk with formula to help her gain weight, which for a long time she did need because not so long ago her lack of steady weight gain was a concern. So now we are cutting calories since Cameron is basically telling us that she is a good enough eater that we don't need to pack in the calories like we used to. I'll still be fortifying some but only with about half the amount of formula we were before. We go back to the NICU follow up clinic in another 3 months where they will reassess and make any changes as necessary. Oh, and with all this talk about weight, I guess I should tell you what it is! Cameron is a hefty 9 pounds 3 ounces!! She is SO BIG :D

In other BIG news, the neonatologist looked at all of the data from the apnea/brady monitor Cameron has been wearing for the past 2 months she has been home. She had one very small brady (heart rate drop) but nothing that concerned the doctor so we are now MONITOR FREE! I have to admit that it's a very scary thought and I may or may not have hinted that I wouldn't mind her wearing it for a while longer, but the doctor told me in a really nice way that I needed to let it go because she simply doesn't need it anymore, and she's right. In a way I will miss the monitor and in a way I won't. I liked having that peace of mind but it is pretty awesome that Cameron is now free of all things preemie related. She came off the caffeine two weeks ago and will come off the monitor today. The medical equipment company will be here later to pick up the monitor, at which point all the medical equipment and all the medications will be gone. Other than monitoring for developmental delays and a few extra calories, Cameron is officially a "normal" baby. It is such a weird feeling, for the first time in her life, she is expected to just live and breathe on her own. Makes me sad in a way, she's growing up so fast, just in a different way than other people experience. In a strange way I'm not sure I'm ready to let go of my tiny, fragile, "special needs" baby. But I'm happy, truly, truly happy that while I used to question whether or not we would ever get to this point, we are finally here.

Congratulations Cameron, I'm so proud of you, you are so strong! YOU DID IT!!!

Photo dump

These pictures were taken within the past couple of weeks or so and I never got around to posting them so what better than a photo dump? Enjoy :)

More babies?

One of the questions that I am frequently asked and am frequently asking myself is if and when I might want to have another baby. For a long time I was really sad about this question but I am finally in a very good place with it. It took me 5 months to get to this place but I really think I'm totally at peace with it.

At first I felt like I needed to have an answer, I needed to figure out if I was or if I wasn't going to have another baby. I've always been a planner so I didn't like the fact that I no longer had a clear vision for my family. Before prematurity happened I wanted 4 kids that were all 2-3 years apart. I had every intention of fulfilling that vision, but what I had not intended was to start my family this early at the age of 22. Cameron came along though and we were fine with that but then prematurity happened and that is what changed everything.

The nice thing is the pressure is completely off, I no longer have ANY expectations for myself or my family. None whatsoever. With that vision of having 4 kids 2-3 years apart no longer possible I have completely let go of the dream. I am putting no pressure on myself to have another baby at a certain point in time. I am putting no pressure on myself to even decide if I want another baby by a certain point in time. I honestly just don't really care anymore what my future self decides. So my simple answer to the question of will I have more babies is "I really don't know".

Here is what I do know: Cameron is the center of my world and the light of my life. Right now the only thing I care about is enjoying every single day that I get to wake up and be just Cameron's mom. I love that little girl more than anything I could possibly imagine and I am excited about the fact that I get to enjoy her and only her as much as I want, for as long as I want without worrying about if and when there will be more babies to follow. And I have to say I am really liking this freedom.

In hindsight, I am so glad I had Cameron at 22 because when it comes to having more babies, age isn't a factor which allows me to put no pressure on myself. I don't have to worry about how my time is running out to have another baby. I could decide I want another baby in 10 years and I will still only be 32 years old. But I could always decide I want one sooner. Again though, I'm not concerned about what my future self decides, all I know is I have plenty of time so I'm just leaving it at that. Either I will wake up one day and feel ready to try again or I won't wake up one day and feel ready to try again but that only time will tell.

Do I have a guess? Yes, I think Josh and I will be ready again one day. I think my desire to have another baby will eventually outweigh my fears. But I truly have NO idea when. And while I think I will be ready again it doesn't mean I will be and I am 100% okay with that.

Gg

Remember this from Halloween?

Well Cameron is once again channeling her inner giraffe!

Happy Valentine's Day to us!

Cameron had a bittersweet Valentine's Day. I took her for another ophthalmologist appointment and that was the part that she obviously didn't enjoy. What is exciting though is that her ROP is gone and her retina are fully developed! Which means we have graduated from the eye doctor!! No more eye exams for Cam :D

After Cameron's eye appointment was over, Josh had set up a massage for me at a massotherapy place near our house. I dropped Cameron off at home and went to my massage, which was amazing! So today ended up being a great day for me, great news and a massage!!

And in case you're wondering I got Josh a Mr. Beer brewing kit. It takes 2 weeks to brew your own small batch of beer and he's really excited about it. He will probably start the project sometime within the next week. We will let you know how it tastes :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

An early Valentine's Day post!

I took a bunch of Valentine's Day pictures of Cameron and they turned out so great! I was even lucky enough to get some REAL smiles on camera for the first time! I had gotten some smile-like photos where it happened to look like she was smiling at the moment I took the shot, but these photos are a real prolonged smile (they are towards the end)! I was so excited :D So here they are!

Cameron really is turning out to be quite the model! I am loving all the great pictures I am getting of her. Also, Cameron is getting to be a very high maintenance baby which is a-okay with me, but the blog is suffering a little bit. I have so much stuff I want to post about, just never the time but I will get back to it!! We have an eye appointment this week so I may have news after that, but overall everything is going quite well in our hosue. I should also mention that Cameron is a whopping 8 pounds! Actually 8 and a quarter at this point and she is soon to be growing out of her newborn diapers and clothing. She has almost quadrupled her birth weight which is crazy!! It is still so surreal to look back on the days when I wondered if we would ever get to this point. But Cameron is so strong and she truly amazes me, I am so incredibly proud of her and I hope one day she understands how proud I am.