Ee

I am fully aware that I skipped 'E' last week. I don't know what happened but I realized it right after I posted 'F'. Anyways, I'm backtracking this week so here's 'E'.

It's that time of year

We need to get ready for our March for Babies event! If you don't know what it is, it's the March of Dimes' annual fundraising event. I registered our team for the event, which is called Team "I Can" Cam! Now we just need members to march with us :) This is really important to us and we would really love your support so please join us if you can. The Cleveland march is taking place on April 29, 2012 and is 3 miles starting downtown at 9 am. Anyone can do it and it's free, all you have to do is go to our team website and register with our team! Depending on how many team members we get to participate we may do t-shirts but we're still looking into that. It's going to be a lot of fun and Cameron may even make a guest appearance :D

If you can't walk with us and would still like to show your support, we need donations to help reach our team fundraising goal. We chose a goal of $1400 since Cameron came 14 weeks early. Obviously all the money goes directly to March of Dimes and supports their efforts to stop prematurity, birth defects, and infant mortality. It's an incredibly important cause and we would appreciate any kind of support you are willing to give.

Click here to go to our team webpage where you can sign up to join us or donate. I will also place a link to it on the side menu under "preemie links" so that you can go to it at a later time too if you'd like.

Thanks everyone!

And of course, what would this post be without a picture of silly Cam?

1 month (adjusted)

I'm going to do monthly posts around Cameron's "adjusted" age. I know it probably doesn't make a lot of sense to other people but she is nothing like a 4 month old baby. Plus I want to use these onesie stickers and I couldn't the first couple of times I would have wanted to use them in the NICU so I figured I would just start out fresh now. In case you didn't know, adjusted age is basically how old a preemie would be had they been born on their due date. Pediatricians go by this age when it comes to growth and development. Yesterday she turned one month adjusted (due December 29th) so this is a day late but these pictures were from yesterday. The shoot didn't go that well because Cam wasn't really cooperating but these are the best photos I got, she had stopped crying just long enough for me to get them but still has kind of a sour face.

Adjusted age: 1 month

Actual age: 4 months, 5 days

Weight: 7 lb 8 oz

Length: 19 inches (January 18th)

Diaper size: Newborn

Clothing size: Newborn

Medications/medical concerns: Still on caffeine although we have less than two weeks left of that. Also still on the apnea monitor at night. It never goes off and I can tell her breathing has really regulated and she has reached full maturity in that way, she should have no problem coming off the caffeine and the monitor. Also still on vitamins. Still in limbo with the ROP, we go back to check up on it on Valentine's Day. A little bit of reflux issues also but easily managed.

Sleep: Going so much better! I think she has figured out her nights and days. She has very long wakeful periods all day and sleep through much of the night, only getting up once to eat but then quickly goes back to sleep. This has been consistent for over a week now so I'm hoping it continues as her party time used to be smack dab in the middle of the night. Still sleeping in her rock n play right next to me.

Eating: Breast milk fortified with formula, bottle fed. Also adding a little bit of rice cereal for reflux/vomiting. She is so much better than she used to be, spitting up smaller amounts vs projectile vomiting. She is taking anywhere from 1-2 ounces at a time usually every 2-3 hours, at night she goes longer stretches (more like 3.5 to 4 hours). Not as much as I would like but she is still small and gaining weight just fine. Plus fortified milk is more filling than regular milk.

Developmental milestones: Starting to smile occasionally, makes infrequent cooing sounds, has close to total head control, lifts head on her own and turns from side to side on belly and back, can lift herself a little bit onto her elbows, can bear weight on her legs if held stable, follows objects with eyes, looks at faces, and she does a lot of staring nowadays, staring at lights, mirrors, windows, etc. She wants to be worn and walked around the house constantly so that she can look at things.

Best moment this month: Seeing a huge surge in development. She is a different baby from when we brought her home and I love how far she has come. The baby we brought home was not doing anything in that developmental milestone list aside from lifting her head. She literally slept the entire day and only woke up to eat. Now she is often awake and I am able to interact with her a little bit.

Ff

Bumbo seat

We tried out the bumbo seat for the first time on Saturday. Cameron has great head control so I thought she might do well in it. I wouldn't say she liked it but she was being fussy in general to begin with so who knows what the culprit was. Either way she looked adorable sitting in it (of course) so I thought I would post pictures.

"What is this seat I'm sitting in?"

"I don't think I like this..."

"Get me the heck out of here!"

Dd

Daddy's Little Girl. This week the photo is self explanatory :)

Oh and by the way, Cameron is 4 months old today! Can't believe how fast she's growing up :)

Another photo shoot

These photos are unedited but they don't even need much. I think they turned out great. Enjoy!