Katelynn Rose: We "Gotcha"

This post is all about leaving the past behind and starting new! This is about the days before I came home and then finally being where I belong. This is the 2nd of 3 emotional graduations from the NICU! This is when we were "ALMOST" a family in 1 city!

Growing Concerns

On August 18th my Mommy and Daddy arrived early in the NICU because the nurse wanted to make sure they were comfortable with feeding me and making my special diet. I am different from Ethan.  He likes to eat on a schedule of every few hours, but I like to be a bit more demanding, so the nurse wanted to make sure Mommy and Daddy were watching my cues carefully and feeding me when I was ready.  You see, I have to make a minimum of 150cc per kilo per day which means I have to eat a certain amount in conjunction with how much I weigh in order to gain weight.  I am a petite girl and the nutritionist doesn't want to see me fall too far away from the growth charts. I'm making small gains, but I have to make bigger gains so I need to eat! I don't really like my bottles much, but I'll do what I have to so Mommy and Daddy can take me home!

8/18/11-Daddy holding me after feeding!

 So anyway, here were Mommy and Daddy getting up very early to get to the NICU to be with me all day.  I liked that! I ate well all day for them and the nurse was very pleased! I was less fussy than I had been the past few days and didn't require holding as much.  I am growing and getting stronger! Doctors and nurses and the nutritionist came by today to talk to Mommy and Daddy about my feeding.  I would be on a different diet from my brother and the NICU team wanted to make sure Mommy and Daddy would be ok with making our diet differently.  They agreed that would be acceptable since that would help me grow!  The nurse asked Mommy and Daddy to make a doctors appt for me for Monday. Usually it is within 24 hours but they were considering sending me home on a Friday! There wouldn't be a doctor for me to see until Monday! The nurse gave me my angle tolerance test in my carseat today! I did so well! I didn't desat or anything! The doctors have already eliminated some of my monitors because they are breaking down my skin, so all I have now is the pulse oximeter!  I overheard the doctor give orders to discontinue the "pulse ox" in a few hours! "That's the last monitor", I thought! This is it, they will send me home!  All I have to do now is get my minimum feeds in by bottle without the feeding tube now! They will let me go home if they don't have to use the tube! I can do this. With everything I ate during the day all I had to do was take 3 full night feeds and anything else beyond that would be a bonus! No problem! The nurse was confident I'd go home so she recommended we get anyone up here to see me that wanted to before I got discharged. Mommy called my Great Aunt and she came to visit. She got to hold me for the first time.  That was fun.  She came to visit me sometimes at night and say my night night prayers with me when Mommy couldn't be there. 

Ready to leave the hospital 8/19/11

The next morning I woke up really early, early enough even to say goodbye to one of my favorite night nurses! She is excited that I get to go home soon! Shortly after I woke up I saw Mommy and Daddy. They don't usually get to the NICU that early! My day nurse suggested they get to me very early in the morning, so doctors couldn't change their mind about sending me home! Remember, they are concerned still about my size and sometimes I wear out eating my bottles and don't want to do it anymore. Mommy and Daddy aren't worried, they believe in me and say I can do it! I think I can do it too! I've got preemie power and I'm a fighter! I'll be just fine! So anyway, Mommy and Daddy also had to get up to get me early because Grammy is watching Ethan at home! She has to work in the afternoon, so Mommy and Daddy have to hurry back! When Mommy and Daddy got up to the NICU the nurse already had the doctors signing paperwork to get me out of there and all that was left was for me to get dressed, signed out and carseated up! I'm on my way!

Outside the NICU at UW Medical Center
with Daddy! I'm outta here! 8/19/11

When I got home, I got to see Grammy for a few minutes and then I got to hang out with Ethan and Daddy for a while so Mommy could get our bottles ready! I love being home and I'm a happy girl.  I eat my bottles like a big girl and I'm growing little by little!

 Let's jump ahead now...

What a difference a year makes!

 It has been a year now since I left the NICU and while I started out strong eating like a big girl, I don't really care for bottles that much, so sometimes it is hard. I sometimes have a hard time growing, but I am tall and skinny and that's ok.  My pediatrician isn't concerned yet.  She has raised my calories and I'm still steadily growing. Now that I'm older I can also eat solid food and I like that! I am independent! I like to do things myself!

 I want to tell you about a special celebration we call "Gotcha Day".  Ethan wrote about his last month! This time it's my turn! It's finally here!  Traditionally speaking a "Gotcha Day" is when an adopted child goes home with the adoptive parents. The day they "got" their child.  Well because the trio spent many months in the hospital and came home on separate days we are celebrating "Gotcha Day" also. It's just a different kind of celebration since the trio is already biologically Mommy and Daddy's!  These are the days that we GOT to come home.

August 19th 2012 was a special day.  Mommy and Daddy brought me home a year ago today! Mommy and Daddy went to Mass today and said a prayer for me.  The trio stayed home. We are tired from our weekend adventures.  Because we had some things to do this weekend Mommy and Daddy took me out to celebrate my "Gotcha Day" a day early.

Makin' a splash 8/18/12

Over the weekend we attended a birthday party for one of Mommy and Daddy's friends in Portland so my Gotcha Day celebration was in Portland on August 18th, 2012.  For awhile Mommy and Daddy didn't know what they were going to do to help me celebrate, but they came up with a great plan since I like to get wet! They got me all dressed up in my pretty dress to go out on the town and drove to downtown Portland.  When we left it was a little cloudy and it was misty. Mommy and Daddy were trying to figure out what to do since the weather wasn't so good! They had a sunny day plan.  Well by the time we got to downtown the sun was out and their plan was back on! They took me out of my carseat and Mommy held me while Daddy pushed us both! That was fun! I like riding on Mommy's lap! He took us to a place called "Saturday Market".  While we were there my Mommy and Daddy gave me a present! I got a new swimsuit! I like it! It's got colorful hearts all over it! They put me in it and I got to walk around and splash in a fountain! It was really fun! I like to splash!

Eatin' Pita

Eatin' Pepperoni

After that, Mommy and Daddy were hungry, so we got some yummy food. I got to try pepperoni, chicken, pita and pizza crust! YUM! After we ate, Daddy took me to his favorite store! The Duck Shop! He's an Oregon Duck Fan :)

 When we were done looking around there, it was time to head home! We had another party to go to! I got to go see my Great Aunt and Great Uncle from Portland! I also saw some other family too! My brother and sister came along for the party too! It was fun!

On my real Gotcha Day 8/19/12, Mommy and Daddy got me a cool balloon like Ethan got on his day and gave me a cute teddy bear from Build-a-Bear named "Rosebud" kinda like my middle name! This is the bear Mommy and Daddy made together the day they got engaged! They gave it to me because I'm pretty special!

I've grown in a lot of ways this year.  Some of my milestones include:
Smiling
Rolling over
Crawling
Walking assisted
Waving Bye Bye
Eating a variety of solid foods
Saying Uh-Oh
Clapping my hands
Blowing Kisses
Signing "More"