Update for Wednesday, April 27

HOMECOMING QUEEN ANNOUNCED! After 72 days in the hospital, we're proud to tell you that Miss Katherine Grace McDermott has finally come home! As we last mentioned, we expected her to be discharged sometime yesterday or today, but mid-afternoon on Monday we got an unexpected phone call: "come get Katie, she's ready to go home!" We were a little bit surprised, but we raced off to the hospital, and after a 30-minute discharge summary and some bittersweet goodbyes to the friends we've made, we were on our way home. Here's a photo of Katie waving goodbye to her friends at Swedish Hospital from her car bed.



It's been 48 hours now at home, and so far we're all doing very well. Katie had her first visit with her new pediatrician who reported that she gained 3 ounces during the first 24-hours after leaving the hospital. This puts her weight at 6 pounds, 8 ounces. Since she's been home, she's maintained the same schedule that she had while at the hospital - after a 3-hour nap, Miss Katie wakes up and talks a little bit, then when she starts to talk a little louder, we give her a clean diaper and some food. She's not the most vigerous eater, but she gets it done in her own time.

We're still getting used to the idea of being parents. Even though she's almost 3 months old, finally having her home is a change that we're adjusting to. The long hours commuting back and forth to Seattle are much better spent now cuddling and getting to know our baby girl. Luna and Mocha, our dogs, are at ease with the new addition to our family. Both dogs seem very careful around the baby, and they both know her smell already from the clothes that we brought home from the hospital. They aren't startled by her sounds, rather, they actually seem a bit curious if not even a little bored with it already. Katie, surprisingly isn't at all bothered by them sniffing her, and even when they bark, she doesn't seem to notice.

We're going to sign off now, and get back to bonding with our baby. We'd like to send out a special note of gratitude to all of our friends and family, words are not enough to say how much your kindness and prayers have meant to us during these past months. It's been amazing to have so many people in our lives truly care about and support us. Thank you - our hearts truly overflow.

As we go, here is a special photo of Katherine and her favorite nurse, Jay, who loved and cared for Katie when we could not be there. He is a friend to all of us now.

Update for Monday, April 25

Well, the going home countdown has begun! Miss Katie has been without her feeding tube since Friday, and has been on demand feeding since then. She now sleeps and wakes according to her own body schedule, and she's been eating as much (or as little) as she wants. The test, therefore has been for Katie to eat enough food to gain weight, and with a 4 gram weight gain on Friday night, 7 gram weight gain on Saturday night, and 71 gram weight gain last night, her results have met the doctor's criteria for going home. Katherine's breathing has also been good enough to be discharged. It seems like once every two days or so, Katherine kinda forgets to breathe while she's taking her bottle, but she always picks it up again on her own. Since these are feeding time breathing events, the doctors don't count them against her. We've fed Katie at the hospital a few times when she's forgotten to breathe, so we're familiar with the signs that she displays when she's zoning out. I'm sure it's going to be scary when it happens at home, but the older she gets, the less these events will occur.

So, the bottom line: Katie will be coming home either tomorrow or Wednesday!

Additionally, Katie weighs now 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and has begun to outgrow her smallest preemie clothes.

We couldn't sign-off without sharing a wonderful photo with you. About a week ago, Katie's Grandpa came down from the frozen Alaskan tundra to see her. Apparantly, she tried to make herself Grandpa's favorite girl, but her Mommy cut their visit short before Grandpa figured it out.

Update for Tuesday, April 19

Hello friends. Miss Katherine Grace is doing very well these days. She weighs 5 pounds, 12 ounces and just received her 4th (and hopefully final) blood transfusion yesterday. Katie is still learning how to eat from a bottle, and is managing about 1/2 of her total food intake that way. Apparently, she thinks she's ready to be done with her feeding tube because she keeps pulling it out of her nose. Here is a photo of Katie from this weekend. She had pulled out her feeding tube, and just finished having a bath from Paul and Grandma Teresa.



We still think Katie has about a week left to go in the hospital. We've got a car seat test in the next day or so, and then once she's feeding well by herself then we're heading home. Here is one more picture we have to share with you - Miss Katie Grace has apparantly learned how to say Grace before her meal!

We'll update again soon.

Update for Wednesday, April 13

Our beautiful baby girl is 2 months old today! Katie continues to grow, and with a weight of 5 pounds, 7 ounces, she's beginning to look and feel more like a full-term newborn. She had another eye exam this morning that continues to show no indication of Retinopathy Of Prematurity (ROP). The eye doctor did say that she's going to have blue eyes though! Katherine is doing well these days with taking her feedings out of a bottle - for about half of her feedings she can finish her meal without falling asleep. The breathing events have really slowed down too - only one every other day or so. Katie has now done two of the four things that she needs to go home: she can maintain her own body temperature in an open crib, and she is off the oxygen. Now the only things left are to take all of her food through a bottle while continuing to gain weight, and have no breathing events for 5 days in a row. Since Katie is progressing so well, the nurses are getting Paul and I ready to go home too. It's hard to imagine taking care of Katherine without the monitors and nurse supervision after so long. We're tenatively guessing that ALL of the McDermotts will be home in Monroe in about two weeks!

Update for Thursday, April 7

Hi everyone, we just wanted to give you a quick little update on Katherine's progress. Today she is 53 days old, and she's 34 weeks adjusted age (6 weeks until her original due date). Three days ago Katie was taken off of her daily caffeine supplement that was helping her to be stimulated enough to remember to breathe. (It's funny, without my daily caffeine I forget to breathe sometimes too!) So, as she continues to work on her bottle feedings, she's having a few more breathing desaturations. Today also she's passed another weight milestone - she's now 5 pounds, 0 ounces! Katie has been receiving a supplement in her food to increase the calories to 26 per ounce, and since she's been gaining weight so well, this supplement was turned down so her food is now 24 calories per ounce. That's all for now, we'll update again soon.

Update for Monday, April 4

Paul and I spent the weekend with Katherine, and our baby girl continues to amaze us. On Saturday, she came off of her oxygen - and has stayed off - without any breathing problems. With the removal of the nasal canules also comes the removal of the big stickers on her cheeks that were holding the oxygen tube in place. It's nice to be able to see and kiss her face now.

Here's a picture of her without the oxygen. In this photo she's telling us that she's getting overwhelmed. In fact, by the time she's had a diaper change and new clothes, she's often got her little hands up in front of her face like this and it's her way of saying she's had enough stimulation.



Katie continues to gain weight - she's at 4 pounds, 12 ounces today - and she's still working hard on trying to eat out of a bottle. Today our girl reached another small baby milestone - she hurled. She was taking her bottle feeding from the nurse when she had her first projectile spit-up. I would have never imagined it, but we're proud of puke! As we sign-off here's a photo of Katie and her Daddy from yesterday.

Update for Friday, April 1

Just a short update for you guys. Katherine had an eye exam this week looking for a condition called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) that she is at high risk of having. ROP is a potentially blinding disease that is thought to be associated with low birthweight babies who need to use oxygen. The good news is that Katherine shows no signs of ROP at this time. She'll have a follow-up eye appointment in two weeks. Our girl is still working on feeding from a bottle - about once or twice a day she will take a little bit from a bottle before falling asleep and getting the rest dropped down through her feeding tube. Katherine also had her third blood transfusion this week to bring up her red blood cell count - the red blood cells help her body capture and use the oxygen that she breathes. Most likely there will be one more transfusion before she's discharged from the hospital. Katherine now weighs 4 pounds, 5 ounces. That's about it for now - we'll try to get some new photos this weekend.