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CAITLIN'S LIFE

[Neely1206]

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Neely1206

March 2010
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1ST BIRTHDAY!

Dec 06, 2009 11:46pm (EST)

I can't believe it, but today my little miracle turned 1. She's still a little behind her adjusted age, but they are going to start doing therapy twice a month. She doesn't like to put weight on her arms, hopefully we can help her.

My heart is just singing tonight. Eventhough the memories are hard, it's great to see how far she has come! I feel like I've relived that whole day all over again.

I'm also so thankful to the share community. There were days and I'm sure more to come that I didn't know if I could go on. But I always knew that I had a place the others understood what I was going through. Thanks!!!


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Posted by Neely1206 | Comments: (2) | Permalink
THIS IS THE START OF 1 YEAR AGO.

Nov 10, 2009 07:37pm (EST)

1 year ago today was when I went into the hospital with reputured membraines. This was one of the scariest days of my whole life. Only second to the day that Caitlin was actually born.
Last year I spent the whole day in Labor and delivery on the most uncomfortable bed ever while waiting for a room to become available on the Ward. Sometimes it seems like it was all just yesterday and then others it seems like it was forever ago.

It's great to see that Caitlin has so far exceeded the expectations of most doctors. She is an amazing healthy and happy little girl. I couldn't be happier!
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MY LITTLE FIGHTER

Oct 20, 2009 10:51pm (EST)

So Caitlin had what I thought was her first cold. But on saturday I noticed that she was wheezing and then she began to retract really badly. I called her doctors office that night which has Docs on call and they told me to bring her in imediately. The doctor that examined her was not a pedatrician but she thought she might have RSV. So they checked her O2 Stats and then gave her a nebulizer treatment, and then rechecked her O2 stats. The She didn't seem to have a very good saturation and they were preparing to send us to the Peds unit at the hospital, when the doctor noticed that the pulse ox just wasn't reading properly. So they went and got a new one and her O2 stats had improved with the treatment. So they sent us home with a Nebulizer and a perscription for Albuterol. They told us that she was probably going to get worse before she got better, and that if she did we needed to come back in the next day, if she did ok we needed to call her Peds office monday morning and make a follow up for that day. We went home with the worrie that she was going to end up in the hospital. Well sunday was kind of rough, but we made it through it. Took her to see her doctor monday morning and she comfirmed that she thought it was also RSV (she is thinking about having us get Caitlin tested.) But the Doc said that Caitlin seemed to be handling it very will with just Neb treatments. She said it was very rare for babies like Caitlin to do so well with any sickness let a lone RSV. She is my little fighter!! She amazes me more and more everyday.
So scary to think that she could have ended up back in the hospital. She seems to be doing much better now. And if it wasn't for the cough and mild wheezing you would never know she was so sick...
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FIRST ILLNESS

Oct 15, 2009 02:16pm (EST)

Caitlin got her first illness. She eneded up having Roseola. She ran a fever all weekend and I just thought it was from teething. But then we got up monday morning and she was covered in a rash. I took her into the doctors office and they said it was one of the worst cases of Roseola they had seen in a while. But that it would run its course. That night her sister acted like she was coming down with something and sure enough the next morning she was stuffed up. Well now Caitlin has her first cold. But she seems to be managing it fairly well.
I hope that she gets over this without any problems. I feel like it's my fault. I can't justify locking Hannah away, she really needs to socalize. But is it fair to Caitlin to posbibly expose her to something? I have never felt so torn before...
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Posted by Neely1206 | Comments: (2) | Permalink
FIRST TOOTH!

Sep 30, 2009 12:07pm (EST)

Caitlin is doing amazing. She eats fruits and veggies like a champ, not a fan of baby meat products but can you really blame her? Her first tooth finally broke through her gums today. Very exciting, but at the same time it really shows that she is growing up... On Friday she has an EIP evaluation, which I'm a little nervous for. She can push up on her arms, but she usually chooses not to. Now that she can roll keeping her on her tummy doesn't happen. I worried that they are going to what her in physical therapy..

She amazes me everyday!!! I can't believe that we are only a few months away for the day that she was born. What a long way she has come in the last few months.

In the picture she is eating her first bitter bisket. She loves them now!


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Posted by Neely1206 | Comments: (3) | Permalink
APPOINTMENTS...

Aug 20, 2009 10:01pm (EST)

Since the last time I wrote Caitlin has had an Eye Exam. Which went very well. Her Eye Doctor said that her eyes looked normal and that any signs of ROP are all gone!
She also had a Doctors appointment on Tuesday 8/18/09. Which also went very well. Her doctor is very impressed, she feels that she is pretty close to where she should be developmentally for a five month old. The only thing that is behind is her size. She is still such a peanut. But everyone tells me that she looks like my Grandma and well she wasn't a big woman so maybe she does take after her.
She weighs 12lbs 8oz
her legnth was 24 inches
I felt an amazing amount of relief after this last appointment.
As far as her lungs go everything seems to be doing fine. We took her on a road trip that took us well above 10,000 feet and it didn't seem to phase her at all.
I'm just so happy over how things have turned out. After so much worry it's nice to feel normal.


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EIP EVALUATION

Jul 06, 2009 04:12pm (EST)

Caitlin had her second EIP evaluation today. Oops I forgot about it until the case worker and the therapist showed up at my door (I was still in my PJs, at least I had already started cleaning up the house.) It's nice for them to come to our house but at the same time it's a little nerve racking...
Any way so far Caitlin is doing pretty good. She still doesn't have very good muscle tone in her arms and chest and her neck is still a little stiff, but other than that they were impressed with her (this EIP team had never seen her before, becasue they just switched us over.)
Our goals for this next 3 month period is to get her to start barring weight on her arms/ holding her head off from the floor, Grasping toys at midline (which she is already starting to do, but only when she want's to...)Rolling from side to side, and trying to get her neck to losen up.
If anyone has any tips on helping her get her body pushed up off the floor when on her tummy. They suggested that I use a rolled up towel to help support her until she gets the muscle tone to do it on her own.
A major problem is getting time to give her floor time. I have a 2 year old that thinks she needs to be right in the middle of Caitlin if she's on the floor. I try to put her on the floor while her big sis is napping, but she's not a very good napper and so that doesn't leave very much time. I know that part of why she's behind on pushing up and tummy stuff. But I'm at whits end as what to do.
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WHOOPS.... WHY DO GRANDMAS ALWAYS KNOW??

Jun 30, 2009 01:26pm (EST)

Caitlin is really starting to shine. She is getting more active every day. About a week ago my mom told me that I had better quit laying Caitlin on the couch because she was going to roll off. I told her no not yet, she isn't showing any signs of rolling. Well 2 days ago I laid her on the couch and ran to grab a diaper and her clothes for the day. Before I could get back I heard her crying her head off, and sure enough she had rolled off from the couch. Luckly she was ok just a little scared. She's also really starting to play with toys and even her big sister. It's all so cute.
We stopped by the NICU yesterday and seen one of her doctors a couple of NNPs and a couple of her nurses, they are all so impressed by her. They can't even believe that she is the same baby. I fell so blessed to see my baby blossoming.
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GREAT DOCTORS APPOINTMENT

Jun 10, 2009 12:14pm (EST)

Today Caitlin had her 6 month/3 month adjusted age checkup and it went very well. They had me fill out the evaluation for a 4 month old and she scored very well. Her peditrician was impressed considering she is only adjusted at 3 months. She's also growing beautifully, she weighs 10lbs 8oz, her legnth is 21 inches and her head is 15 inches. She's in about the 25th percential for preemies her age, very exciting!! We've also been given the ok to travel across the moutains and go up in elevation (living in Colorado you can't go any where with out going over a moutain pass.) This is very exciting!!! I can't believe how well she is doing...

The first picture is of her at exactlly 6 months.
The second picture is of her first trip to the park.


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NERVE RACKING

Jun 01, 2009 08:14am (EST)

This weekend was the first time that I have taken Caitlin to the grocery store with me, I actually jumped in head first and took both girls with me. It made me really nervous to have Caitlin in such a public place and people coming up to see her. And shopping baskets are some of the germiest things ever. I always use anitbacterial wipes and hand sanatizer, but it just didn't feel like enough.
Caitlin doesn't like the snugglie carrier, I don't know if she's uncomfortable or that she can't see out. But using that is the only way I feel comfortable taking her to the store. So she was upset the whole time we were in the store. By the time I got finished I was feeling like I was crazy......
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