Binkies, bottles, and monkeys galore

Here are some random pictures of Brooklyn from the past few days. First up we have Brooklyn and her favorite new monkey blankie. I recently designed the cd artwork for an awesome folk musician, Sierra, and she was sweet enough to get B this great blanket. It's already a favorite.


Some may call this baby torture, but we prefer to call it "fun with hand socks"!

Here's Brooklyn's weight (left) and length (other left) percentile charts I promised to post before. As you can see, in week 35 there is a HUGE jump. Somebody had a busy week of growing.

Brooklyn started trying to feed from a bottle the other day. Here's me giving the little lady 5cc's of the good stuff. Thankfully this picture is in B&W because about 30 seconds later, Brooklyn decided to stop breathing and turned a not-so-flattering shade of blue! She's new to this whole suck-swallow-breathe thing, but she's a quick learner.

Here Brooklyn dons a Lisa Addleman original hat complete with this spring's latest binky fashion.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDPA RICK!!

Today is Rick's birthday!! (it's also my friend erica's birthday - happy birthday, love)

Some of my all time favorite memories have been days spent with my father. Although he THOUGHT he wanted a boy, Rick was blessed with me - a girly girl!! And though he tried his hardest to turn me into a tom boy, sports fan by taking me to way too many Red Sox and Celtics games, and forcing me to play baseball, football and basketball ALMOST EVERY DAY, he was finally forced to give in when I became a cheerleader in high school! What is more girly than that?! Ugh.

When I was pregnant he mentioned how excited he would be if I had a boy because he could then take him to Red Sox and Celtics games! I reminded him of my childhood, and he quickly changed his tune and realized that he could do the same things with a granddaughter!

I am so excited for my little girl to grow up with such an incredible grandfather to share in the experiences I had with him. I am confident the two of them will have so much fun together, and she will have memories as good - if not better - than mine.

Happy birthday, dad. May this year bring you much joy in knowing your little Brooklyn is MORE than healthy, and excited to hang out with you!!

Here are a couple of pictures of the first time Rick got to hold Brooklyn (yes his hand is about the size of her!):

Day 75 - Climbing the Charts

Sorry for the tardy posting but I accidentally spilled tea on my laptop and fried the logic board! That means no laptop for a few days. Those of you who know me are probably aware of the withdrawal I am currently experiencing. Ha.

Anyway, I don't have access to some fun new pictures of Brooklyn, but I'll upload those as soon as I get my other baby (Lappy the Laptop) back. Little Miss B is performing splendidly as a recent addition to the "feeder and grower" NICU crew. A group of visiting nurses were being shown the NICU today and we overheard someone call B "the miracle baby." She truly, truly is. Brooklyn is now over 4-1/2 pounds and growing like a weed (a cute weed, mind you). In fact, the nurses had to put Brooklyn on a diet, by way of calorie reduction, because she's getting big so fast! This past week B had her biggest jump in weight, length, and head circumference yet. I have some pictures of her weekly growth charts that better illustrate how much she's grown, which I plan to post soon.

In other news, Brooklyn has been breastfeeding like a champ with mom for almost a week now and is doing that whole suck-swallow-breathe thing like a pro. Her next big test is bottle feeding, which begins today. Also, B's Occupational Therapist stopped by yesterday to check on her progress; her motor, alertness, and attentional skills seem to be ahead of schedule. The OT gave Brooklyn some practice playtime exercises which involve 1) sitting up and 2) picking her own head up during tummy time. B is ready, willing and able to get her play on.

Brooklyn has been on the nasal cannula for a week now and is doing well. She's only had a few minor spells where she decides to hold her breath and turn a not-so-lovely shade of blue, but overall she's doing great. She only receives 25cc's of air (we get 21cc's from just normal breathing) from the cannula which is about the equivalent of someone lightly blowing on you from a few feet away...only less annoying.

So this is where we are after 75 days in the NICU with Brooklyn entering her 35th week of gestation. The big question is: when will she get to come home?? Kelly's original due date was April 28th and the nurses all seem to think that B coming home by then is a definite possibility. Kelly thinks she'll be coming home in 4 weeks - a week early. Let the betting begin!

Brooklyn Lays On Things

So I have a midterm tomorrow...which I have yet to study for. Our nurse, Melissa, was provoking my procrastination by saying, "You should put that picture of Brooklyn on the moon!" I had no choice. Naturally, Brooklyn needed to be placed on other round objects as well. If you make suggestions, I may or may not add them!

Happy St. FATTY'S Day!

Our little girl has tipped the scale at a whopping 4 lbs. 1 oz.!!!! She is growing so fast that the nurses are beginning to talk about putting her on a diet!! We keep telling her to enjoy it while she can, because before she knows it she will be forced to eat celery sticks and water.

Day 65 - See ya CPAP!

Today was A GREAT day for Brooklyn because she was taken OFF CPAP and put on a low flow canula!!! Poor little thing HATED CPAP and couldn't wait to be off of it, and well, as per usual Brooklyn got her way ;) Here are some pictures from our day together:

Daddy and B. before the switch...

Day 64 - Cruisin'

Wow. The past few weeks have been a blur. It seems as if every day now there is a noticeable change in how Brooklyn looks or interacts with us. She is currently 1695 grams (just shy of 3lb. 12oz.) and is quickly catching up on "normal" percentiles for length and weight. Brooklyn's head circumference still isn't at the 10th percentile mark yet, but that's probably because she's had her head smushed by a CPAP for 3 weeks!

The little wiggle worm was moved into a crib last week ('cuz Brooklyn got mom's always-warm internal temperature), and it has completely changed the dynamic between us and baby B. It's amazing -- both a physical and psychological barrier has been dropped. Kelly and I are more excited with each day to see Brooklyn up close and without a wall of plastic between us.

Brooklyn also had her second ROP exam yesterday...STILL with no levels of ROP. Girl is a rock star. Her eyes are immature so ROP can still develop, but thus far little B is showing those retinal veins who's boss.

Next up - CPAP. Brooklyn is wrapping up her crushing defeat of CPAP in a 3-week battle royale. Her 1st place prizes include: 1) getting rid of CPAP in exchange for a sleek high-flow nasal cannula, 2) a stylish silver crib reserved only for big girls, 3) having a go at feeding time with mom, and last but not least -- 4) an upgrade to the "feeder and grower" group!

So that's the news. It's an exciting time to be a Brooklyn Naim Lorenz.

Standing With Mom

Sorry the posts are getting a little sparse these days. It's been a bit busy around here! First things first, Brooklyn is in a big girl crib now!!! No more incubators. She's also able to handle longer times with her CPAP off. Here's a video of Kelly getting to hold B for a while sans CPAP. I will post a more thorough update tomorrow.


Standing With Mom from Sean Lorenz on Vimeo.

Baby Clothing Explosion

A baby clothing bomb has exploded in Brooklyn's nursery. Yesterday was B's baby shower and she received enough cute baby outfits to keep around 50 shower attendees "awwwww"ing for hours! Here's the proof:


Kelly and I want to thank everyone for all the wonderful gifts - you have been SO generous! Also, we'd like to give a shout out to my (sean's...and now kelly's too) family who came from Cleveland to clean, cook and prepare for the shower all weekend. I have the best family ever...seriously!!! Also, thanks to Nancy for hosting the shower and housing 6 crazy midwestern ladies. You are all the bee's knees.

awkward...

What would you title this??

Day 56 - PIKSHURS!!!

Our little girl is growing up! Brooklyn is now being swaddled and dressed!! Those of you who know me (kelly) know that this little one will be stylin'. She already has her own collection of NICU wear. :)



NO more pictures, mom!


The new pizza delivery girl...


Dad's first time holding the little chica.


Mom's first time holding B.

Day 53 - THREE POUNDS!!!

Our little peanut turned three pounds today! Brooklyn is almost 3 times her birth weight now and is quickly outgrowing her isolette. Also, B has gone six uneventful days on CPAP. She is currently on setting 7, but will probably be weened down to a 6 in the next few days. The goal is a 5 on the ole CPAP before Brooklyn graduates to the nasal cannula, which will probably take another few weeks. Brooklyn looks forward to this day because she is not a big fan of the beer helmet constantly smushing her head.

Yesterday, Brooklyn's primary day nurse, Nancy, took off ye ole beer helmet to massage Brooklyn's tiny brain so that we could see her entire face. Despite the not-so-fashionable tape over her nose, she looked so adorable. After a minute it dawned on me...she's breathing on her own! No CPAP. No breathing tubes. All Brooklyn. As an added bonus, little B was the liveliest little thing and seemed happy to play with mom and dad sans CPAP. It was one of the coolest moments yet.

Here's the video of a solo-breathing Brooklyn.


No CPAP. Just Brooklyn. from Sean Lorenz on Vimeo.