Smiles!!

ahh something that melts my heart, I just can't help but smile when i see this every morning. It melts my heart. I just love it.

The March of Dimes holds a very special place in my heart. Because of the amazing grace of God, the might power of prayer, and the research done by the March of Dimes our baby girl is alive and well.


Until this past year I really knew nothing about the March of Dimes. Of course I knew they had an impact on babies and families, they held walks and raised money. But I didn't really know anything more.


After having Alexandrea the March of Dimes gave us us a packet full of information. The packet included information about premature babies, information about the NICU, information about how to be a parent in the NICU, and so forth. The information was very helpful. At this point in time I still didn't know exactly what the March of Dimes did. We also met the March of Dimes Head of Oregon Chapter at Doernbecker, Her Name was Jennifer, She gave me a disposable camera, and printed pictures, gave me some scrapbook supplies etc.


Since that time I have learned. And I am so very thankful. The March of Dimes conducts research. Research that helps prevent pre-term births and research that helps those babies that are born pre-term. Matter of fact in 1985 the March of Dimes funded research that led to the use of surfactant to treat respiratory distress syndrome. Babies don't have the surfactant they need in order to breathe. The minute babies are born too early surfactant is administered and helps them breath. Thank you March of Dimes! The March of Dimes also educates women on how to have a healthy pregnancy and in turn have a healthy baby. And they provide information to families with newborns in intensive care.


I will be participating in this year's walk which will be held on May 2nd and other cities is April 25th. I will be walking in honor of Alexandrea and Chaselynn and their lives. I will also be donating money to this worthy cause. If you feel led to donate to the March of Dimes you can click on the purple button in the left sidebar.

ONE YEAR

one year ago Lars and I took a test, this one was positive.
one year ago we found out we were pregnant.
one year ago.

it is amazing how our lives have changed in one year
we can't believe it has been one year we love our little muchkin more and more everyday and look forward to the years to come and getting to see her grow more and what she will become.

I have almost caught her smile on camera.

Her new thing this week is putting things in her mouth, she seems to like to chew on whatever and of course, then she starts drooling and blowing bubbles it is rather cute.

please continue to say a prayer for Alexandrea's growth, it is still slow but the dr ok at this point as long as she is growing.
we did meet with the feeding clinic, they were happy that we had tried numerous bottles, nipples, formula etc. They really did not have much to offer at this point other than what I was already doing. The occupational thereapist was there and also due to Alexandrea's prematuraty , they also gave her a develpmental eval. She did great, So far she is on track , they did give us a few exercises that we can do with her, to help strengthen her muscles, rolling over,and standing.

please also pray for kayleigh, she was born around 12 weeks early and is now almost 10 months old, she is still in the NICU and has never gone home, She has had so many challenges in her short life and again has to recently again had to have surgery, please click on the side button or visit http://www.kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/

Happt Easter!

our day was great! she was addorable all day and full of smiles and we still have been unable to capture on camera.

more later!

this is from saturday in a pre easter dress. We dressed her up, She was given soem really cute dresses from her uncle Eric and Aunt Julie.

HAPPY 5 MONTHS

Wow Our baby girl turned 5 months old yesturday. We can't believe Alexandrea has been here for 5 months, it seems like yesturday that we were spending our day at the NICU.



Alexandrea is doing well, feeidngs are much better but there are still times where they are so difficult. We will be meeting with the feeding clinic this next week and see if there is anything they can offer. On a great feeding, she has taken as much as 5 1/2 oz, other feeds, she screams and we can only get 1 oz down her. We as parents have tried so many differnt things , differnt bottles, different nipples, formula. The one thing we want most of all is for her to eat so she can grow, She is just abotu 8 lbs and she has not even made it to the growth curve but is following it.



thnak you to all who have prayed for us as it has helped us gt through the past 5 months.

Overall shs is truly a joy, we love her so much and cannot imagine our life without her.

On another note

This is my neice, she too entered the world about 7 weeks early and look how far she has come she is now 10 months and already trying to walk. She is a sweetheart . She alos has become quite the chunky monkey and weighs like 20lbs (was 3 lbs 15 oz at birth)

Just another day

Hello everyone





Alexandrea is doing fairly well, we have had a busy week with her.


Yesturday, she went in for her 4th rsv shot. We were told at her last appt in march that April would be her last shot, but due to rsv season, she will get 1 more next month, unless they determine rsv season over here, the shot only last for a month, so hopefully rsv season will be over soon.





Lexi also went to the dr today for a well baby check and she weighed in at 7lbs 13.2 oz and was 21 3/4 in longShe also had to get some of her shots, she was not a happy camper, but soon after gave me big smiles.





We still have not managed to capture her beautiful smile on camera, every time I try ang grt a picture she just stares at it and sticks out her tongue, Got lots of tongue pics though.





next week we do have an appt with the feeding cinic, we hope this will be sucessful and give us ideas, on what we can do to get her toeat better. Changing formula has done wonders already.


we are still tweaking some. she also seems to be tolerting eating breastmilk as well. We just need her eating more, so she can gain just a little more and make it on the growth curve.

Thumbs up

hello
I had a busy week at work. We are getting excited as Alexandrea's brother will be getting to meet her soon, It won't be for a few months yet though, For those who read and do not know, he lives in oklahoma,with his mom while we live in oregon. We can't wait till ya meet.

here are some new pics enjoy.


On a exciting not, Alexandrea nused tonight, the first time in weeks for 15 min, I enjoyed every min, She quit when the dog barked. Lets hope and pray she will do this again.


Her farmor gave her a beautiful udder down, it is aounnd the size of a crib matress, She ordered this from Denmark and friends that live there sent it, We are loving sunggling with this blanket, as it is so soft , We also had another friend send us a elephant. it is not a toy but a aromathy, heat/ ice pack. It is realy cool, We have been using this if Alexandrea tummy seems to be upset, or she has cold hands . You put it in the microwave for about 30 sec and place iton her tummy and wala. Please see the pic below with the blanket and elephant. Even alexandera is giving them a thumbs up! Thank you again Farmor!









All snuggled up and ready for a stroller ride! It has been rather chily here, but we did go out for a short walk last weekend, We wrapped her up in her new blanket and went for a short walk, This was also the first time she rode in the stroller without her car seat. She loved it!! Buy the time we got home She was sound asleep.



We have also put alexandrea in a bumbo that was given to us, She loves to sit in this and just look around, I know I know, the pics were taken while she was on the bed but we were right there and we really wanted to get the pics. they are too cute .






i love the experssion on this next one, it is almost like What is that and get it away from me



Also i ended up on wednesday sending off ice chest # 4 and 5 full of breast milk. I now have sent about 200lbs (or 3200 oz) abd i still problyhave another 1500 oz in my freezer. I was very blessed when it came to me having enough, now if I could just get Alexandrea to gulp down lots of bm it would even be better. So please pray for eating more breatmilk and gaining weight appropriatly. We go back next week and will let you know all how she has done.
will chat with you all later.

i am a proud pumping mom

i did borrow part of this post form another nicu mama but it is oh so true.

I am a pumping mom. I have been given the guilt trip by so many already that I'm not breastfeeding my child. If they only knew how much it hurt every single time someone said that to me. I was so very looking forward to breastfeeding my baby girl. I was hoping it would be the one thing that worked in the chaos of her birth and post-birth life. Sadly, it did not. We did before and after weight checks with her and she just does not gain any weight after breastfeeding. When she used to nurse and latch on but the transfer of milk is not happening at all. I have a great supply since the beginning of my breastfeeding/pumping experience. I tried, I did all they told me to do, it just wasn't happening for this mommy. I have cried, and cried, about this topic to no end! In fact, I'm crying right now just thinking about it!! You see, when you have a baby in the NICU, there are so very few things you can do for them. The one thing you are able to do is pump. You are encouraged by the neonatologist to pump b/c of the health benefits that your preemie baby needs, for her immune system that is basically non-existent. So, every 3 hours, I would pump. I as a pumping mom get milk in excess, filling freezers full, and pump around 50-70 oz a day. And so, for now, I am doing what I can to keep up with what my little girl needs. It isn't always easy, with the chaos of work and a husband needing me to do so much for them still. I hate after feeding Alexandrea having to put her down to pump, instead of just holding her, looking and adoring my sweet baby girl. But, I know it is best to pump then, after having that bonding time. It is our routine for now.


I read this article the other day. It is about a mom and her pumping. It is about the benefit of pumping and breast milk. It really brought tears to my eyes and made me want to love on Alexandrea even more than I already do. If you have time, check it out.
http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200903_omag_milk_bank/1

I know formula is not a bad thing. I don't have a problem feeding Alexandrea formula at all, . It has nothing to do with the fact of giving formula or not. It has more to do with giving of myself, my milk, that I love. I love that I can give to Alexandrea what I am able to give. I feel bad that I couldn't give her a safe environment until 40 weeks gestation. I feel bad that she got short-changed on her safe growing place. So, for now, I will continue to pump. I can't tell you how long it will last, but it does provide my daughter with nutrition and helping her immune system. It's the least I can do.

Now for one week I have continued to pump and give Alexandrea formula only too see if this has mad a difference in her taking her bottle, Some bottles she takes right down. Others feeds are horrible, like fingernails on a chalk board, so We will reintroduce breastmilk and hope she will gain weight appropriately. since nothing in has changed in how she takes her bottle She still screams

We also will be going to a feeding clinic to see if there if anythng they have to offer and give us ideas on what maybe going on with her

My freezer again is beginning to overflow with breastmilk. Come Monday or Tuesday, I will again pack an ice chest and send another load off to a milk bank. So somewhere out there, a baby will benefit from my breastmilk.




this is only a small part of my freezer stash, theres is twice as much in another freezer.

Another day

it has been crazy busy over the last few days.
We ended up at the pedi office on sunday with Alexandrea. She has never been a super eater from day one. there always seems that there is something with her wether it be her gut issue in the begining, to time constraints (only allowed so long to eat while in nicu) before she was tube fed, to reflux , to now formula changes.

She has pretty much always been on neosure, a special formula for preemie babies added to my breastmilk. Well on sunday, i had enough feeds where it just seemed like the more i fed her the more she would scream and just want her paci instead. After some discussion, we decided it would be best for Alexandrea to try a new formula, We also stopped the breast milk for a few days to see it ths makes any difference

So please pray we can get this little one eating better and to suck down her botttles and feeding time becomes more enjoyable instead of such a hard time. Please also pray for weight gain as in the last 3 weeks , she has only gained 3 oz. (they are wandting 1 oz a day but would be happy with 1/2) she now weighs in at 7lbs 3 oz.

aslo guess what Alexandrea found ?

St Patricks Day

hello all

This has been a hard week as I had to start back full time at work. The week was long. I did take a longer lunch so I could come home and see Alexandrea, She was full of smiles when I got home, which really made my day. She is staying home with her daddy ans sometimes goes to grandma's and papa's.

Tuesday night after eating dinner, I started not feeling so well and had caught the nasty stomach bug from somewhere. I ended up missing 2 days of work due to this. I was hoping and praying little Lexi would not get sick, but come wednesday afternoon when she was being fed, she started in, Who knew how much a baby could throw up, wow, what a mess. Lars did his best to console her but to no avail , she wanted her mama. She was up half the night on wed night and screamed if i put her down or passed her to lars . We ended up snuggling in bed almost all day on thursday, She loved this, We are both now feeling better and on the mend.

I do have to share a picture with everyone, On tuesday, when i did come home from work, I found Alexandrea in this. This shirt was given to us by a great friend Robyn and Fred Thanks guys, It is perfect!!! it said Kiss me I'm irish.

Highchair

Just a quick post
I was moving some things around and this was our in our garage, Lars polished it up
I had this as little girl for my dolls. I could not resist but to put her in and take a pic.
enjoy!!

Got Milk?

hello

Alexandrea is doing well, Although tiny she is just a good baby overall.
She pretty much refuses to nurse now and is completely on the bottle, So I am exclusivly pumping. I have been very fortunate to be bless with a great supply and have so much that I have even donated milk to the breast bank I have now donated 129.5 lbs , I have donated more in pounds now than I weigh.
Coworkers are amazed, I am now also thiner, than I was before I got pregnant, So with all this pumping I am melting away, not really but hey I just had to say it.

I don't think I really have talked about her sleeping, She is a great sleeper , she is pretty much sleeping though the night. Our biggest struggle though is her weight, she is just very slow to gain, so this also affects her sleep, We do have to feed her as we need her to gain weight so she really goes to bed aound 830 pm, but we do have to get her up around 10-11 pm for her last bottle, she then will sleep til 630-730 am. She only yet eats 2 to 2 1/2 oz every 2 1/2 -3 hours, we try and give her more but she tires and then spits more back up.

So please pray for Alexandrea to eat well and to be able to start taking more oz per feeding to help with the weight gain.
love to all

becky and lars

sleeping beauty

My little Alexandrea is now 4 months old (2 months adj), Wow where has the time gone? It seems like yesturday , we were spending our days in the NICU. Yesturday Alexandrea had to get her 4th RSV shot, she cried a little bit after but did realy well. After her shot we went by the NICU and saw some of her nurses and one of the dr's that took care of her. it was bitter sweet to be there. They wer all amazed how big she was, Oh Alexandrea is now 7lbs 1 oz.

We are starting to see more and more smiles to , it is rather cute , she still has no hair and we are debating what color her hair will be.

Here is a pic of our little sleeping beauty
almost got a full smile on camera, but my camera is just not fast enough