Day 45--May 24, 2009

Beth and I are exceptionally pleased to relay to you that Katie is increasing her milk intake daily. Most of her feeds today consisted of 70ccs or more. This morning at 5:00 am she took 90ccs! That is 3 ounces! Keep in mind that exactly one week ago today we were begging her to eat 30-45ccs over a thirty to forty-five minute period. It has also been exactly one week today that her naso-gastric tube was removed, and we had to prove that we could get her to eat before the doctors would entertain the idea of us bringing her home. It only took Katie about 20 minutes this morning to devour that 90ccs! Boy would those doctors and nurses be proud!

We thank the Lord everyday for the ever increasing speed at which she improves. She is also a relatively good sleeper. Each night since she has been home, she has only gotten up once to be fed. Last night she slept for a five hour stretch. That may be the longest uninterrupted amount of sleep that Beth has gotten since Katie was born!

Our boy, Michael began at nine weeks sleeping all the way through the night. I wonder how long it will take Katie. We do not mind the middle of the night feedings simply because we are the ones feeding her and we are in our own home! We have learned though that Katie is going to be the messy child. Michael hardly ever spit up or wet out of his diaper. Katie requires several clothes changings a day. We attribute this to her tiny size.

While Katie did not grow in weight over her six weeks at Duke she did gain about one and a half inches in length. This makes her a little bean pole. She has the tiniest little hips with little butter bean butt cheeks. Premi diapers fit her waist just right but are not long enough, and new born size diapers are long enough but swallow her whole. Both sizes fit her so poorly that neither do a good job of containing very much.

This is still a small price to pay, in order to have her home.

Beth and I were able to return to Church this morning, and were very pleased to do so. It felt good to “warm” my old pew again. I normally teach the “20 something” class there. I think the official title is “Young Adults,” but I have been a bit preoccupied and out of place for the past few weeks.

This whole event has given me a completely different outlook on life and faith in general. I believe that knowledge is power (I may have said that before….oh well), and I have been fortunate to gain a much greater appreciation for the little things in life. I have learned so much about God’s love and the power of prayer in this trial. I learned how much Beth and I were loved by all of you. My eyes have seen a lot in the past 6+ weeks, and I will never forget it.

Please keep in mind that all updates for “Katie’s Story” will be put on her blog site after Wednesday. If you sign up to be a follower you will receive an e-mail from her website every time that there is an update. For those of you in the Harnett county School system, I was able to appeal the block by sonic-wall, and “Katie’s Story” is now categorized as Health and therefore kid friendly. In short, “Katie’s Story” is no longer blocked by sonic-wall.

Hopefully our days will continue to be as uneventful, save those events of normal parenthood

God bless you and keep you all!

Andy and Beth