You know you are a parent of a preemie when.....

(I found this on another site and thought I would share it because we can relate to so many of these.)

1.) You use strange initals (C-PAP, CCs, NICU, NG, etc.) when discussing your child's history.
--We experienced this when Daniel swallowed the dime. We were going over Daniel's medical history with the ER doctor and he stopped and said I can tell when I am dealing with a parent of a preemie because of the terms they use.
2.) You actually remember how many CCs make up an ounce.
--30 ccs equals one ounce
3.) You count his/her weight in grams.
--We don't do this but we can tell you that Daniel weighed 907 grams (2 pounds) when he was born.
4.) The skin on your hands is peeling from washing so often.
--We use really good soap and lotion so we do not have this problem.
5.) You hesitate when someone asks his/her age, but you know how much he/she weighs.
--We do hesitate at times but not because we don't know but because we know what kind of questions will follow.
6.) The answer to "How old is your baby?" is 30 minutes long.
--This is very true, once you tell the age you have to go thru all the other questions that follows.
7.) When someone asks his birthday, you reply "which one"?
--I don't know that this has ever happened to us but we have wondered it.
8.) You start to understand some of the things thay say on ER.
--We don't watch ER.
9.) You turn into Kung-Fu Mom when someone tries to touch your baby.
--It depends on who the someone is.
10.) You attempt to measure just how much spit-up he/she just had before you clean it up.
--We use to do this but Daniel doesn't spit up any more.
11.) You know how much he/she weighs before putting him/her on the scale at the doctor's office.
--We have our guesses.
12.) You cry at "Maternity Ward" and get mad at "Baby Story".
--I wouldn't say I get mad but a little jealous.
13.) You see a term newborn and say "Wow! She's so BIG!"
14.) Your baby is months old before he can go to the mall.
--I remember the first time we took Daniel to the mall. He was 5 months old and we kept the canopy on the car seat and the canopy on the stroller up the whole time.
15.) You have ever explained why your baby is on an apnea monitor.
16.) When someone says how tiny your baby is, you argue that he is humge and to demonstrate you whip out pictures of him from the NICU.
17.) You do a health check on people when they come to your house to visit.
--We don't do a health check but we do let people know that if they are sick they won't be allowed in and we won't be visiting until they are well.
18.) You make people wash their hands before going near your child.
--We don't enforce strict hand washing anymore.
19.) You want to scream when someone says that she just wants to have this baby now - at week 29, 32, or 34.
--This makes me mad. I would love to know what it is like to be 34 weeks pregnant.
20.) You are so amazed when someone actually tells you that your baby is big for his age.
--This has never happened to us. Daniel is 14 months old and the size of a 6 month old.
21.) You tried to find a place to buy newborn size diapers in bulk.
22.) You called half your relatives when your baby grew out of their first pair of pajamas.
--I do think we called half our relatives when Daniel outgrew 0-3 month clothes.
23.) You never take your child for granted.
--This is a lesson I learned after loosing Noah.
24.) You worry about RSV season and it is still weeks away.
--Daniel is on the list for Synagis shots.
25.) You know what "RSV" stands for.
--respiratory syncytial virus
26.) You donate his/her tiny clothes to the NICU and marvel that they seem so small, when they were to large at one point in time.
27.) Your son/daughter gets a simple cold and his/her doctor sees her within the hour.
28.) People say "He can't be ___ old..he's too little!".
--This happens to us all the time.
29.) It has taken them 5 months to grow into newborn clothes.
--It took Daniel about 6 months to grow into newborn clothes, he is now 14 months old and wears 3-6 months clothes.
30.) You pick up 2 pounds of ground beef and think that your baby was born at the same weight.
--I have thought this before.
31.) You buy Purell in bulk.
--We are never without hand sanitizer.
32.) You can stare at your baby for hours when he sleeps.
--I think all parents can do this.

Opthamologist Visit - Update

--Daniel has perfect eyesight. The opthamologist feels that Daniel's facial structure is causing his eye to appear to be turned in at times and that Daniel does not have Strabismus (wondering eye). He said that are concerns are validated because when you look at Daniel's eyes without a light it does appear to turn in. He said that if we continue to see problems to bring him back in.

Opthamologist Visit

--Daniel has an appointment with the opthamologist today at 2 p.m. to check for Strabismus (wondering eye). Daniel's right eye has been turning in. We have seen it, his EI therapist has seen it and his peditrician has seen so now it is time for the opthamologist to see it. We will update you later on Daniel's visit.

Mystery Object Revealed

--The mystery object that appeared on Daniel's x-ray yesterday was a dime.
-- Daniel was taken into surgery around 1:15 p.m. Dr. Morrow (the surgeon) came into the waiting room around 1:40 p.m. and told us that everything went great and gave us the dime in a cup. He said he was surprised to see that it was a dime because most kids choose to swallow pennies. He also said that kids usually don't swallow coins until they reach the ach of 2. (Daniel's advanced in coin swallowing.)
--We were taken to recovery around 3 p.m. Daniel was so sweet laying there sucking his thumb and rubbing his blankie. The nurses said he was wonderful that he had not cried once.
--Daniel was discharged from recovery and we went up and packed up our belongings and headed home.
--We arrived home around 5 p.m. Daniel drank some milk and was ready to sleep.
--Daniel's recovery period should be brief and without complications. He is on a liquid only diet the rest of the day. He can eat soft foods tomorrow and we add more solids as he tolerates.
We are to take him back to the ER if he can't eat, we see any sign of bleeding, he starts running a fever of 101 or higher or the wheezing (caused from being intebated) does not go away or gets worse.
--Thank you for all your prayers.

Non-Ediable

--Daniel is mobile (crawling) and has been for about a month. He loves being mobile and being free to roam. He also likes to stop and pick up items off the floor and taste them. We are constantly jumping up and saying, "No, don't eat that.". We feel that we are quick with our response time and are very aware of what he is attempting to eat. We have "child proofed" the house as much as possible and we vacuum twice a day (morning and night) to prevent non-ediable food items from entering our child's mouth. It became apparent last night that we are not as quick and acurate as we think...
--The story actually began on Tuesday night (we think). We were all in the kitchen, Mommy and Daddy working on getting supper on the table and Daniel exploring. Mommy picked Daniel up to put him in his high chair and he coughed, gagged and spit up slimmy junk with what looked like a piece of lettuce. We discussed what had just happened and cleaned up the slimy mess off the floor. Our conclusion was that he had eaten a piece of lettuce that had fallen on the floor and it did not go down "easily". We fed him (attempted to feed him) supper. He would take a few bites and then spit the bites back ok with slimy junk. We decided that maybe his throat was irritated from the previous "incident" and we did not force him to eat. He had no other "issues" the rest of the night. He woke up Wednesday and we went about our day - diaper change, play, snack, nap, lunch, nap, snack, supper - and then our routine stopped. Daniel had spit up slimy stuff and uneaten food at every meal, supper being the worse and spots of blood was in the slimy stuff at supper. Mommy and Daddy guessed that what had happened Tuesday night (lettuce eating) had scratched Daniel's throat or maybe/possibly there was something stuck in his throat. We decided to head to the ER. Before going any farther we must fill you in on where we live and what our choices of medical treatment is...we live in a small town...we have a small ER (more like an emergency walk-in clinic)...we are 45 minutes from Nashville that is home to a lot of good ERs, especially Vanderbilt Children's...we are about 20 minutes from 2 fairly decent ERs in Clarksville (Gateway) and Springfield (Northcrest)...where to go? We haven't had too many ER visits with Daniel (considering his medical history) and the few we have had we have gone to Vanderbilt. We talked about it and decided to go to our small town ER. We had great hope that we were being overly paranoid parents and the doctor was going to look in Daniel's throat, do an x-ray and tell us he had a sore throat. Well, the doctor looked in Daniel's throat, did and x-ray and we were not being overly-paranoid parents. Since we were at a small ER we got to see the x-rays before the doctor and on the film we see a round spot that is the shape of a coin in our child's esphogas (sp?). We knew then it was going to be a LONG night. The ER we were in was not equipped to take care of this type of emergency. Daniel was transported to Vanderbilt via ambulance where we were greeted by a team of doctors that included GIs and surgeons. A repeat (better) x-ray was done and the doctors have guessed what is being seen on flim is a quarter that is stuck behind Daniel's esphogas. The treatment for this is to put the patient to sleep and do a scope to retrive the foreign object. Daniel was admitted to the hospital and the foreign object will be removed later today.
--If you made it through this long story, please keep Daniel in your prayers. This is a minor procedure but as with al procedures there is a risk of complications.

Standing Up

--Daniel woke up from his nap crying, he usually wakes up happy and "talking". When we went in to check on him he was standing up in his crib.

Early Intervention Evaluation - Final Summary

--We recieved the summary from Daniel's early intervention evaluation. The "results" are not what we were really hoping for but we have accepted them and will overcome all the "challenges".

--Vision- 12 - 24 month (he has advanced eye sight)
Things to work on - encourage Daniel to point at a picture and offer opportunties to use his eye-hand coordination to refin his pincer grasp - continue to observe eye movement for any eye turn, return to the opthamologist as needed (Daniel has an appointment on 8/20)

--Hearing - 10 - 15 months
Things to work on - continue to monitor Daniel's hearing, encouraging any communication attempts and the imitation of enviromental and animal sounds

--Gross Motor - 9 months
Things to work on - encourage Daniel to extend hands behind him, cruise furniture in a side step, bend knees to bounce in a stand, and make stepping motions while holding on to furniture or with both hands being held

--Fine Motor - 10 months
Things to work on - encourage Daniel to poke and point with his index finger

--Communication - 9 months
Things to work on - encourage Daniel to increase the number of sounds he makes and strings together, increase his number of gestures and begin use of single words to indicate wants or needs

--Cognitive- 9 months
Things to work on - encourage Daniel to look at named picture for 60 seconds, finding hidden objects, rolling a car on the floor, throwing a ball and turning a toy to find it's functional side

--Social/Emotional - 9 months
Things to work on - show increase fear or insecurity with previously accepted situations and strangers, begin testing parents at meal time or bed time (I think this has begun.), extend arm to show toy or share food when asked

--Self Help - 12 months
Things to work on - increase success with scooping food with spoon, putting on hat, indicate discomfort over soiled diaper

1 year, 1 month, 21 days

Daniel

Noah

--Today is a bittersweet day.

--On August 22, 2000 I lost my first son, Noah. Noah was 1 year, 1 month and 21 days old when he passed away.

--Daniel is 1 year, 1 month and 21 days old today.

Professional Pictures

--Daniel had his one year pictures made yesterday. We tried so hard to get him to smile but we were not real successful, however he made a lot of faces that shows his true personality. Daniel is not a "smiler" but a very happy, outgoing baby boy.
--You can check out his pictures by going to http://www.mericrisp.com/, choosing order online and in the drop down menu choosing Daniel Lloyd. Enjoy!

Early Intervention Evaluation

--Ms. Ginger re-evaluated Daniel for Early Intervention today. The following is a "summary checklist" of milestones. Daniel's average is in the 9 - 12 month range which where he should be based on his "adjusted age". There are a few concerns with gross motor skills (pulling up, walking with assistance) and language development. We will be working on these during the following months.
--Daniel is also being recommended for PT due to his "stiff legs". When he stands he locks his knees and keeps his legs straight and tight. There are many different things that could be causing this. It could be something as simple as it being Daniel's way of feeling secure to some sort of muscle disorder. We will be finding out more in the next couple of weeks as he is evaluated.


1-2 Months
Turns head in direction that cheek is touched X
Able to suck and/or swallow easily X
Startles easily in response to loud noise X
Gaining in length and weight X
Pays attention to someone's face in direct line of sight X

3-4 Months
Makes sounds other than crying X
Holds a rattle and smiles X
Rolls from stomach to back X
Turns head toward a bright light and color X
Shows gains in height and weight X

4-6 Months
Reaches for and grasps objects X
Moves toys from hand to hand X
Smiles in response to others X
Rolls from stomach to back and back to stomach X
Shows gains in height and weight X

6-9 Months
Creeps or crawls forward on tummy by moving arms and legs X
Babbles and laughs out loud, plays pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo X
Sits independently X
Turns head to locate sounds X
Shows gains in height and weight X

9-12 Months
Pulls to stand
Picks up small objects X
Crawls on hands and knees X
Walks with both hands held
Imitates simple sounds X
Waves "bye-bye"
Able to sit on own X

12-15 Months
Says words besides "mama" and "dada"
Walks without help
Drinks from a cup or glass
Takes turns rolling a ball

15-18 Months
Looks at picture books, turns pages
Feeds self with a spoon
Likes to push, pull, and dump things X
Walks without support
Tries to talk and repeats words
Indicates needs by pointing and/or grunting X

Welcome To Holland

--I was searching the web for a some preemie related information and I ran across the following story. It is a good description of how your life changes when your son or daughter is born prematurely.

Welcome To Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes on and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

It's Hot!

--There hasn't been much going on in our life lately and we are not complaining.
--We are complaning about the weather.....IT IS HOT! We have been under a heat advisory for the past 3 days. We are staying inside as much as we can and staying cool.
--Daniel has an Early Intervention re-evaluation today at 11. We are anxious to see where he "rates". We will let all of you know how he does later tonight or tomorrow.

Savannah Trip

--We (Daniel and Mommy) just returned home after a weekend in Savannah.
--Pop-Pop had had to have a scope on Friday at Vanderbilt. We left on Thursday and spent the night with Granny 2 so we could pick up Mary from camp Friday morning. Pop-Pop's test went well and the doctor said that every thing looked good. Pop-Pop, Nanny and Emma came home Friday afternoon. We all met "uncle" Jim, "aunt" Lisa and Jeremy at Shelly's for supper. (Shelly's is a restaurant that is out in the "sticks" that serves a very nice (for Savannah) seafood buffet.) It was nice to visit everyone.
--We spent Saturday relaxing at Pop-Pop and Nanny and Daniel enjoyed getting to play with Mary and Emma. We went out to eat at Worley Bird's (Mommy's favorite place to eat in Savannah) for supper and then all the girls (and Daniel) went to Wal Mart to do a little shopping. --We enjoyed being able to attend church with Pop-Pop and Nanny on Sunday. We enjoyed seeing a lot of friends that we do not get to see often. Everyone was excited to see Daniel and was amazed at how much he had grown. Great-Great Mother and Lallie came to church in Savannah on Sunday night and all of us plus uncle Herb and aunt Tanya went to Wendy's after services. It was nice spending time with everyone. Great-Great Mother fed Daniel and Daniel kept everyone entertained.
--While we were at Wendy's we got to meet Matthew. Matthew is a preemie. He was born July 2 (2 weeks after Daniel). Matthew's Mommy and I went to school together. We were able to "reconnect" after our "early arrivals". It was nice to finally meet Matthew and see Miranda.
--Nanny had to have a scope down Monday morning so Mommy took care of the girls (and Daniel). The doctor found a polyup and removed it and sent it off for a biopsy. Nanny should get the results Thursday.
--We got up this morning and got our stuff packed and headed home. We enjoyed our visit with everyone but we are so happy to be back home with Daddy.

Pop-Pop is 61

Pop-Pop, we love you!

Good Oral Hygine

time to brush (i have 6 teeth)

brush, brush, brush

almost finished

i'm finished brushing. what now?

Happy Birthday Granny 2!

We hope you have a wonderful birthday. We hope to see you soon. We love you!

13 Months

Going to the Chapel

Cool Slideshows!

--We attended Elizabeth and Michael's wedding last night. (Elizabeth is Mommy's cousin). The wedding took place at West End Church of Christ in Nashville and the reception was at a local country club. The ceremony and reception were beautiful.
--Congratulations Elizabeth and Michael!

Play Time

cutie

innocent

hi mom

toy basket

Preemie Picnic and Easter Egg Hunt

--We met Pop-Pop, Nanny, Mary and Emma at Cool Springs Galleria and then headed to Granny White park to attend the March of Dimes Preemie Picnic. We enjoyed meeting other preemies and their parents, finding eggs and face painting. Mary helped Daniel hunt for eggs and found a prize egg, the prize was a March of Dimes bear and Mary gave it to Daniel. She is a wonderful big cousin. (We love you Mary!)

--After the picnic we all headed to Texas Roadhouse for supper.

--Just a note: The picture was taken by a photographer for The Tennessean so be on the look out for a cute little boy to appear in the paper.