Sunday, August 31, 2008

Avery Ann hits the bottle...


Honestly, most father's aren't too excited to hear news like this... but then again, we're not talking about that kind of liquid diet folks!! I called up to get our daily update on Saturday...and out of nowhere, our nurse informed me that our little squirt "PO'ed" a bottle that morning. Not wanting to sound uncool by asking what "po"ing a bottle entailed, I joined the nurse in celebrating this next big step; I mean, it sounded like some karate move... so either way, my daughter is a samurai in training or she's a bottle feeder, both of which makes her dad very proud! "don't make me come up there and PO you mom!"


All joking and martial arts aside, apparently the nurse was feeding Zack, who has been on the bottle for a bit and looked over at Avery going to town on her little binky. She figured, why not give it a try... and Avery just pounded her 20ccs of milk like it was nothing! By the time we showed up, she was sawing logs... apparently bottle-feeding takes it out of you! So, she'll probably start having one of her feedings a day from a bottle. It puts it in perspective when you imagine drinking down a bottle that's nearly the same length as you are! (by the way, PO stands for per os, or "by mouth" in latin...you'll usually hear about patients being NPO, in which case they are given everything through an IV) Her fancy new isolet doesn't have a scale built in to it, which I like better, because they take her out to be weighed... I'll post a video of her being weighed...she weighed 2 lbs 10 oz at that time, but I just called and she packed on another ounce, taking her up to 2 lbs. 11 ozs!! Stephanie swears she can see a double chin developing ;) She is also going on and off of room air again...and when she does have to get on her oxygen, it's only between 10-20 ccs.



The best news for us, is that they have upped our holding times to every other day!! So, we are getting more and more time with the little bug. We make sure to have Steph hold her skin-to-skin every couple times at least... Avery seems to just love it. She just nuzzles up to Steph's chest and falls right to sleep. I love every second that I get to hold her too... I can't begin to describe how amazing it is when you look down at her sweet little face, and she's looking back up at you! We're really blessed that she's doing so well...it's not always the case, and we count every blessing. That's the Avery update... I try to balance between the humorous posts and the mushy gooshy ones, which are more for my emotional sanity...and the real Avery news :) Feel free to ask questions or anything...I've been getting some good emails asking for specifics... Thank you all again for all your great love and support.

14 comments:

Jim & Jess said...

This picture is absolutely adorable!!

Jim & Jess said...

This picture is absolutely adorable!!! Ry, I'm Steph's Step sister, by-the-way (Jacki's 2nd marriage). Will you tell Steph I love her and think about her all the time! I'm glad to get updates through your guys' blog!

Your little Avery is just beautiful!

~Jessica

Maggie said...

Look how great she looks! I'm so glad to see the progress she is making. You are doing such a nice job with the journaling too. Your family will be so happy to have such a great record of this time.

Lindsey Harman said...

I was going to call last week. I've been out of the blog world for a while. I just read all your updates. Glad to hear everything is going well!! I'll call soon!

Jen said...

She is SO cute! what a big girl drinking out of a bottle already! her progress is amazing!!! its incredible how much she looks like both of you. i think i see a little more ryan in that last picture of her. can't wait to see her in November! (and you guys of course :) )

Anonymous said...

Congrats on progress. I am also a preemie mom but my preemie is now 15 months old. His name is Samuel and we have a carepage which is caringbridge.org/visit/samueljames. He weighted 1 pound 15 ounces and was born at 31 weeks 6 days due to pre-eclampsia and thrombophylia (body makes way too many platelets thus resulting in blood clots).
Holly

Shandi Brown said...

She is beautiful!! I love the video, her little eyes and looks that you capture with your camera are soo cute!! She looks like both of her parents! It is fun to see your updates and I am so happy to see her getting bigger. Steph looks amazing!!

Unknown said...

hi steph and ryan! rach told me about your blog and i love seeing the cute pics and video! great job ryan on keeping us all up to date with the goings on. avery is the cutest little bug ever! do i detect a hint of red in her hair? anyway, love you guys and hope you're doing well.
-linds (latteierrrrrrr)

The Wheelers said...

that last picture is so darling! and her hair! glad to hear the great news about the bottle! keep it up miss avery!

Katie said...

This is VERY exciting news you guys! Quite amazing to be drinking from a bottle so soon. That's awesome!! :)

Garrett-Ashley & our Peanuts said...

Well done miss Avery you are giving the other little ones a run for their money (gaining weight contest) Keep up the hard work we are so proud of you. You are gorgeous!!!!! You are lucky to have such wonderful parents.

Leandra said...

Hey! I found your blog from Brady and Taryns and I love it. I'm going to be a regular from now on i'm sure! It sounds like Avery is doing so good and the story is amazing. The pictures are so cute and it will be fun to watch her grow on the blog! Good luck with everything!

The Bonham Family said...

What an accomplishment! Job well done! That is a huge step and im so happy things are getting better every day! We keep you in our prayers all the time! She is too adorable. That skin to skin time is so precious!

Elder Caplin said...

OH, we can't wait to see little Avery again! She looks great, and we're so glad to hear how well she is doing. Love to all!