Almost Dec. 1st.. 11:41pm

Hey there.. we are home..and finally done with billing (with just 8 minutes to spare)...

We are soo tired.. I was at the hospital at 7 a.m. this morning, and we had a good day with Gracie girl.  Poor baby has a hard time pooping.. any suggestions out there? Some of the nurses swear by prune juice, doesn't seem to work that well.. they do give her suppository's too.. geesh, she does not need my G.I. issues already!! (i know, TMI!)

Look at that cute face!!

We stopped by to see my niece and nephew on the way home.. my niece was expecting Daddy, so she was less than thrilled to see me.. broke my heart a little.. but then as soon as her brother got home & was hugging on me.. she couldn't stop giving me love.  So, I understand she was expecting someone else.. and we 'surprised' her.. maybe like her mom & doesn't like surprises.  LOL

We got home around 7:30pm..and honestly, there is SOOO much stuff to do at the house.. I can't believe it.  I have some good friends that have agreed to come by & help, as well as my mom will come by tomorrow & we'll go thru all the clothes, that people have dropped off.  And I have a very important lunch date tomorrow with Gracie's madrinha :) .. definitely looking forward to Not Your Average Joe's!!!!

We called in tonight to check on Grace & she's doing great.  The pulmonary specialist was in today around 4pm, and looked her off..they are leaving her oxygen at between 50-75cc's of air flow at 100%.. it's like getting an extra 'whiff'.. that's what she'll be going home at.  Just get her thru while she continues to grow & feel full with her feeds.

We found out our 'specialized' formula is going to cost $199.00/mo.. is that alot?? It sounds alot..but what do I know..

So, hopefully we'll be able to see a G.I. Specialist around here & get her on some more home formula in the next couple of months.  We already have our appointment set with our pediatrician for next week.  It's all coming together.

I had a nice chat with Dr. Morrow tonight.. she wished us well & gave us blessings for a great life with Gracie.. I will surely miss these people..I think I'm going to have a hard time with this 'good-bye' thing.. I am truly  myself when I'm up there..they have brought the best out in me!

Okay.. my head is nearly weighing me down.. I'm so tired.

G'night friends!

Love,

pattie & gary, Gracie & max

Pretty Girl Wednesday. 1:00pm

This is the 1st time I'm getting around to give you all an update.. guess it might even get slightly busier when we are home on MONDAY, right?? lol

This was Gracie at 7:00 a.m. today!

Grace is 120 days old!  3lbs. 3oz.

Grace is having a great day.  Sleeping restfully.  Gary & I will be leaving soon to head back to Fairhaven.  I started this at 1 & of course, someone came in to visit..Kathy Collins came to visit..she was my friend & chatterbox with me.. so I will surely miss her.

On my way in today, it was my last walk in.. 120 days! Wow.. I took my time, actually looked at the sights along the way.. looked at the big building in front of me,

Maine Medical Center & then said, "ba-bye".. :)

Here's Sweet Pea with Daddy.. soo cute!!

Here's my snowflakes of "Thanks" for the staff I made this morning!!
I'm sure I missed a couple of names.. soo I say in advance, "Thank you!"

My NICU family.. Thank you!!

Gotta go clean & move.. and organize, and bill.. :) arghh on the last one!!

Love,

pattie & gary, gracie & max

Tuesday with much to do! 12:37pm

Hey everyone.. soo thinks are moving along.  I have my lists up on the window, for all to see what needs to be done.  Wish some of these 'referrals' could've been made last week, as they knew we would be going home sometime.. and would most likely go home on O2.  Anyway, we are waiting for a pulmonary specialist to come & "assess" Grace's oxygen needs..so a prescription can get written & a monitor & O2 set up be delivered for us here.. to train on it.

Gracie is 6lbs. 3oz today!! 119 Days old.

She is growing like a weed.. here she is.. she is as long as she looks!! :)

So, the plan is that we may have to stay til Tuesday.. in the big scheme of things, what's another day, really??

We've got the 2 min training on the g-tube feeding.. really no big deal, I think a well trained monkey can do it!! Really, people..we can work every monitor, pump, thingy in the room.. I think we can handle the ones we have to take home.

Anyway, the plan is to leave tomorrow.. hopefully pulmonary will be in sometime today or tomorrow.. we'll leave accordingly & get back very early Sunday a.m.

I've done alot to ensure we have f/u appointments back home, but I do need to spend some time on "set-up" back home.. even if just a clean up..and unfort, being 2.5 hours from home isn't very convienent.  But we'll work it out!!

the car seat is in the room.. they need to do a 3 hour car seat angle test too!!

Okie dokie.. going back to RmcD house to eat lunch.  Last night was Olive Garden..yummy! So there should be some leftovers.. (i hope!)

Hope there's a good dinner tonight..

Love you guys,

pattie & gary, gracie & max

Good Meeting!! 8:20pm

Hi, everyone!! Our 4 o'clock meeting went GREAT!!  I presented, and did a 122 slideshow of pictures of Gracie & Max.. from August 3rd to now.. they loved it.  And we were out of the meeting by 4:45.. Everyone was very positive, and impressed how well run the meeting went, and efficiently.  We got all our questions answered, and some people (including us) have some work to do before Monday.. but Monday, should be no problem that we are going home!! :)   OMG.. we are coming home!!!! YEA!!

Gracie will go home on oxygen, but you know what..even if she has to have it thru the winter.. that's okay..at least she will be home!  I'm kinda nervous!! Scared too.. but I'm with her 12-15 hours a day up here..and have her routine down.. soo I'll be fine!

This is Dr. Peter Marro, Gracie's attending Neo natalogist..and he's such a 'cutie'.. he's been so nice to us & to Gracie & Max.

He's a special man for us & for Gracie!! Thanks, Dr. Marro!!

So, Gracie will get her 'mic' button from the surgeon on Friday..and we'll be training on the g-tube feeding pump tomorrow; the oxygen on Monday..

The plan is we'll go home Wednesday.. Gary needs to go back to work Thursday & Friday; my shower is Saturday evening..then we will be back Sunday a.m.

A whole new chapter will begin..

HOME!

Thanks for the support .. couldn't do it without YOU guys..

Love,

pattie & gary, gracie & max

SIX Pounds Monday. 10:22a.m.

Good morning, followers!!!   Gracie is 6 lbs. 0oz. today!! Yea!!

She is 118 days old, 4 weeks, 1 day corrected! :)

(new terminology)

Such an exciting time for us.. that she's 6lbs & that we are getting ready to take her home!  We feel blessed.  She is our little angel. Precious!

Last night, was "you're on your own" for dinner.  Which, I gotta tell you, "stinks!"

We got subway, so we could 1/2 last night & 1/2 today for lunch.. but even for us spending that extra few bucks this week.. is a hardship.  I'm not sure what people who aren't working, or have a family at the house do.  I think they should have petty cash available to get a few pizza's..or even sandwich meat.  There is a waiting list to cook at the RmCd house, they really need to plan the meals, even on weekends a little better.

  Rounds are coming in..gotta go.. chck in later.

love,

pattie, gary & gracie & max

Sunday Eve Follow up! 8:43pm

Hey, everyone. Happy Sunday evening!  We just got all our information typed up for tomorrow's meeting.. & I'm pretty excited!!  I forward the info to the doc who's on rounds tomorrow.. you know me, I'm ready!!

This is Ann, (Neo Nurse Practioner above) reading the ins/outs at rounds this morning.  Ann has been with Gracie since the beginning, and her & Gracie have a bonded relationship.. Grace is always sticking her tongue out when Ann is around... :).

And on left is Dr. Morrow, Kathy (a charge nurse) on right.. who helped us when Max was passing. 
All of the people up here..the staff, nurses, neo nnp's, doctors..have been sooo good to us.  Truly, they are doing their job, but they have become our Maine family as well.  And we Thank them!!

On Saturday, we did a one-on-one with Erica on the infant CPR doll..

There's Erica on the left, & Kristina (Gracie's nurse) & Gary doing his 30 chest compressions on the doll.. here's a close up of the infant doll:

LOL....

So, Gracie had a good day..15ml's with me this morning by bottle.. we try a bottle at every feeding if she's awake & seems interested or hungry.  She took 7ml's at 11, slept thru the 2 o'clock feeding & then another 8ml's at 5.. so we'll see how she does tonight at the 8 o'clock feeding...  She's getting soo big!! She's very alert now.

By the way, 30 ml's = 1oz.  So she takes 45ml's over 1 hour at feeds, 2 hours off & from 11pm-6am, she's at 25 ml's... doing great!!

I'll post tomorrow a.m. with pictures & weights & such..then again tomorrow night.. with big news I hope!! :)

Love you guys,

pattie & gary, gracie & max

Sunday Morning... 9:36a.m.

Good morning! I got up at 7, to be here for 7:30.. made it a little later, but was here for 1st feeding.  Gracie did great with the bottle last night, she took ALL 43cc's at the 8 o'clock feeding.. this morning, she took 15 with me.. she's doing great with the bottle feeds; especially if you think about it who would've guessed she would even take a bottle so quickly..she is 44 weeks gestationally today.  (Some term babies aren't even ready for a bottle when they're full term).  We truly have a miracle baby! Thank you, God!! :) Truly.

This is Gracie after her feeding.. she is pooped!! lol

Gracie is 117 days old; 44 weeks old gestationally

5lbs. 15oz!!!!! (one more oz to 6lbs)

We are so happy with her progress.. I think everyone here is just as impressed.

Tomorrow's the big meeting, I've been preparing for .. we got some answers from our health insurance rep yesterday.. soo it's just about getting the paperwork done &

talking about our little girl.. Please keep us in mind at 4:00pm tomorrow!

I'm sure it will go well!!  There are quite a few nurses & nnp's, and md's that are not actually working, but coming in for the meeting..and that makes me very happy.

Gracie has surely warmed alot of hearts here!!

These people WILL be missed!

But we are excited to be leaving!!!!!

Here's our sweet pea.. I love that hat!!

Okay.. rounds is almost in.. (i'll take a pic)

Love you guys,

pattie & gary, gracie & maxwell