Weight Weight

We visited with a new pediatrician last night, and Delaney was weighed at 8lbs 14oz.
Moving right along.

3 Months!

Delaney hit her 3-month birthday yesterday. I've said it before, but it's hard to believe it's been that long (or that short).
She's a regular cutie.

Here's her 1-month picture. Feel free to compare and contrast.

More pictures are in the album. Enjoy!

Hangin' with Delaney

I took the week off to stay home with Delaney, since Jessica started her new job on Monday. Everything's been going pretty well, and neither the house or the baby have exploded (but I don't want to jinx it).

She's started smiling more and more. Last night she was grinning after spewing all over Jessica; I told her that wasn't very polite.

Smiley girl

New pics in the slideshow, check 'em out.

Last weekend Delaney got to meet her cousins Ian & Erin. I wasn't there, but I understand a fine time was had by all.

Delaney's been engaging in some sporadic demonstrations of her smiling abilities, which is just so dang cute; unfortunately it's not always easy to grab a picture of said smile.

She's also been stretching out her nighttime sleeping, which we heartily applaud.

Here's the video of Delaney's sequestration removal.

Pretty cool, and amazing that they can do so much in such a tiny space.

Segment 1: The diaphragm, the sequestration (we'll call it "Ted"), the lower lobe of the lung, and the upper lobe.



Seg. 2: Ted has caused some scar tissue that's a bit sticky.




Seg. 3: Ted's scar tissue will now be removed. Do you smell smoke?




Seg. 4: Ted's blood supply is provided through this here artery.




Seg. 5: Clips placed on the artery.



Seg. 6: Ted is cut loose.



Seg. 7: Bag is inserted and Ted is placed in bag. Hefty, Hefty, Hefty.
Bag is pulled through the larger incision. So long, Ted. Smell ya later.




Seg. 8: Suction.



Seg. 9: Chest tube inserted.

Miss Delaney goes to Omaha

We went to Omaha Children's Hospital today for a follow-up appointment with Dr. Abdessalam, Delaney's surgeon. He says she has recovered really well. He also showed us video of the procedure, which was very cool;he's going to send it to us, and I'll try and post it here.

Delaney's starting to show us some real smiles, which is pretty cool, even if the biggest one came right after a big fat spit-up.

2 Months!

Yesterday was Delaney's 2-month birthday. Hard to believe it's been that long. Heck, it's hard to believe it's been that short.

Denied!

We picked up Delaney from the hospital this morning, where we found out that Dr. Neyazi would like to keep her on the oxygen for another six weeks. She's not having any more apneas, but her oxygen saturation average needs to come up a couple of points. Sort of a bummer, but it's better in the long run.

After that we went to her two-month appointment, where she received 3 vaccination shots. That was fun. I think we officially reached her last nerve and trampled all over it. Since then she's been alternating between deep sleep and hair-trigger meltdowns. So yeah, fun times.

Slug bug!

At Vanessa's request, here's the Civic's predecessor, circa 1987. This is just after Dad and Stephanie drove it from Colorado (having purchased it from the Dukes) to South Carolina. It was showing off a little more rust and primer by the time Vanessa saw it (1990?).
It's probably in a junk heap somewhere, but it was a good first car (mostly), full of (mostly) good memories.

edit: The more I think about this, the more I think the picture is actually from 1988, right before my high school graduation, mostly because the picture was taken with a camera I didn't have in 1987.

Expensive babysitter!

Delaney's at the hospital tonight, getting her pneumogram done. We'll pick her up tomorrow morning, and hopefully find out that we can take her off the oxygen (fingers crossed).
Awfully quiet around here...

Zounds, Seven Pounds!

Delaney hit seven pounds yesterday; I'm not sure if seven pounds hit back.

She's doing really well, and has apparently decided that, for the most part, if she's going to spit up or provide any other kind of bodily fluid, she's going to do it on Jessica. I in no way condone this shameful behavior.

More pictures are in the web album, add some captions if you like.

DelaneyJeanette

6 of one, 13 of the other

Delaney had a doctor's appointment yesterday, just a check-up. She's at 6#13oz., which is pretty good progress.
In two weeks she'll go back for another appointment, get some shots, and then spend the night at the hospital, where they'll do another pneumogram. That will help to determine if she still needs oxygen. Keep your fingers crossed.

When we came out of the doctor's office, this car was parked next to Jessica's car.



Upon examination of certain identifying characteristics (USAA Roadside Assistance sticker, non-standard tailpipe, non-standard wheel covers, Honda Cars of Bellevue sticker, rust spots on the edges of the rear wheel wells, leftover velcro tabs from the auto bra,) I realized it was my old Civic that I bought in 1990 and sold in 2002. Cool, huh? It's kind of like an old friend stopping by for a visit.
Everybody say hello!

Due Date!!

Well, we made it to Delaney's due date. She's doing really well, sleeping, eating, gaining weight, and filling her drawers. She's still got her oxygen and monitor, and I won't be sorry to see the end of those. Once in a while we put her on the portable oxygen and take her on a field trip to the living room, which she seems to enjoy.

One Week Later

Delaney's been home for one week now, and we're still getting used to each others' schedules.
Eat, sleep, eat, sleep, but we're also finding time to get some chores done or just do some general relaxing.

1 Month Old (and one day)

Delaney is now one month old, even though we just brought her home. Weird.
She had her first regular doctor's appointment yesterday, which went really well. She's growing and gaining weight just like she should be.
We're starting to get into the rhythm of taking care of her through the course of the day; that'll change a little next week when I go back to work, and it'll change a little more when Jess eventually goes back to work, but we ought to be able to handle it.

Merry Christmas!

Home is where the baby is

We're home! Delaney took her first ride in her car seat today, slept in her incredibly huge (for her) crib, and is currently thinking about waking up to grab another bottle. We're really happy that she's home, and somewhat nervous that we don't have the nurses around anymore.

Not today

Just spoke with St. Elizabeth (the hospital, not the actual saint), and Delaney will be coming home with the monitor and a spare bit of oxygen, but she won't be doing it today. They want to give her another pneumogram tonight, so it'll be tomorrow before she can check out.
In the mean time, we'll be taking a monitor class so we know what the heck we're doing. I'm sure it's just like a video game.

A pneumogram, by the way, is an overnight recording of breathing effort, heart rate, oxygen level, and air flow to the lungs during sleep.

1 week later

1 week after the surgery, and Delaney's doing really well. She's feeding fairly consistently and breathing pretty well too. Her oxygen saturation level is dipping a little bit (after which she rebounds really quickly) so they're doing some close observation on her tonight. It's possible that we'll have to take a monitor (and maybe some oxygen) home with us. Other than that, Dr. Hawk says she's running out of excuses to keep Delaney at the hospital.

Almost there...

Another good day for Delaney. She started by pulling out another feeding tube (second day in a row) and did so well at bottle feeding that she still doesn't have a tube in. I think she's ready to be done with the hospital. She also doesn't have an oxygen supply any more, and she's doing just fine without it. All she has left are the monitor wires.
The docs are optimistic about her progress and are thinking that Saturday sounds like a good day to fly free. Once Delaney arrives home, she's basically quarantined; no supermarkets, malls, etc until about April.