The Studebaker Scoop

1 week

2011-07-23T05:33:00.000-07:00

I will be 36 weeks tomorrow, which means that Aug 1 is one week away. It's been an interesting past couple of weeks. At 32 weeks I started Non-stress tests (NST) and I have them twice a week. NSTs are where they hook me to monitors and monitor the baby's heart beat. They want to make sure the heart rate increases and decreases like it is suppose to . If it doesn't, the doctors send you to ultrasound to make sure that the baby has enough fluid around it and that the baby is moving. At 33 weeks, they sent me to ultrasound and everything went was fine, the baby was not active enough for the monitors. Then at 34 weeks, they hooked me to monitors and as soon as they did the heart rate dropped to 107. Her normal heart rate is 140s or higher. So the doctors sent me to the hospital to monitor me. The doctors at the hospital keep me over night for monitoring. Her heart rate never dropped that low again, so they think that she rolled over on her umbilical cord and stopped her blood flow. So they released me the next day and told me that everything looks great. Praise the Lord!!!! So it's been a crazy couple of weeks. We are now down to 1 week. I have my last 2 NSTs on Tuesday and Friday, my last OB on Tuesday, my last ultrasound on Friday and my pre-opp for my c-section on Friday. Then the baby will be here Aug 1. YAY! I am still in disbelief that I am actually 35 almost 36 weeks, after everything with Christianna. God has been so gracious, through this pregnancy to allow me to carry this baby this far.

33 Weeks!

2011-07-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well, if you are friends with me on Facebook know that I am 33 weeks. YAY!!!! Kevin and I are so excited. We are in uncharted area for me. I have never been this pregnant before. For those who do not know our daughter Christianna was born at 28 weeks, because I had preeclampsia. So being 33 weeks is exciting. I had to have a c-section with Christianna too, we have our delivery date! August 1, which is 4 weeks away from today! We can't believe we only have 4 weeks until our little girl is here.

We took Christianna to my last OB appointment. She got to hear the heartbeat and has done but talk about the heartbeat. I love to hear her say baby's heartbeat.

28 Weeks and THREE days!!!!

2011-06-01T15:29:00.001-07:00

Well, as most of you know that Christianna was born at 28 weeks and 2 days (to be exact), but I have made it longer. Today is 28 weeks and 3 days. We are very thankful!!!! We went my 28 week appointment and everything looks great. My doctor said that my blood pressure looked great!!!! I got back in 2 weeks to see the doctor and then a week later got for another ultrasound to watch the growth of the baby. But so far so good. Praise the Lord!!!!

Christianna's Baby SISTER

2011-03-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I went to the doctors on Monday and we found out that we are expecting a little girl. Now the search is on for another little girl name. We have asked all of our parents and grandparents to get us a list of girl names from our family. We are naming all of our children after relatives in our heritage. Christianna is a name from Kevin's family and Marie is my middle name. When we went into the office on Monday, Kevin said that we were going to have a girl and I said that it was a boy. Kevin was right! He was gloating all day Monday.

Well, this little girl means that Kevin is the only man in the house. When we were dating and first got married when we would talk about children, I figured I would be the only female in the house, because his family had mostly boys. So was little surprised that we have all girls. Kevin doesn't seem to mind that he is the only guy.

Christianna's Baby Sister!!! The ultrasound tech almost didn't get the baby's profile, because all she wanted to show was her legs, feet and that was all she wanted to show. Baby's foot

Baby's leg

New Baby on the Way

2011-03-01T10:54:00.001-08:00

I guess we need to change our blog name because this will be about our family now that we are about to add another little one in August. Kevin is very excited, because this little on is due on his birthday, August 21. Everything has been going pretty good. I have been placed on high blood pressure meds. It as up on the first couple of visit, but at the last visit was normal. They have placed me with a high risk doctor because the blood pressure. The doctor said that if it says normal for the next few visits be may take me off the meds.

We have taught Christianna to say baby when we ask her "what is in mommy's belly"? She doesn't realize how much her little life will change when the baby comes. We will find out what we are having at the end of March.

Some more updates, Christianna is 2 years old now. Kevin and I can't believe that our little 2 lb baby is now 2 years old. Where did those 2 years go?! I love being able to be at home with her to see all her little milestones. She is talking so much and learning new words almost everyday. She is doing great on all of her milestones. The doctors is not worried about her catching up.

I think that brings everyone up to date on things that are happening in the Studebaker Household.

Feb, Mar, April, May, June, and July Has it really been that LONG?!

2010-06-03T04:59:00.000-07:00

*****The above date is not the right date for this blog. Something got messed up! August 15, 2010 is the right date.******

It has been a while since I blogged. At the end of Feb, Christianna started crawling and has been going ever since.

March went by with nothing really notable.

April we went to the zoo and Christianna really liked the Puffins. The Puffins were the only ones that were really active. We are planning another trip to the zoo this month (June) when Kevin's friend Andy comes for a visit. hopefully Christianna will be able to see more animals active this time. We also went to Baltimore house in the month of April. Kevin and I planted our veggie garden and front flower beds. Christianna tried hard to help. She saw us pull the weeds so she thought that she would help, but she was pulling everything green even flowers. There was one flower that I thought wouldn't survive because she kept messing with it, but I looked the other day and it has little flowers on it.

May was kinda of a interesting months. Close to the end of the month Christianna thought that she was monkey and climbed out of her crib. I checked her over and she seemed to be fine. She actually went back to playing like nothing happened. Then the next day, I stood her up to walk her to her room, she was holding on to my fingers and wouldn't put any pressure on her left leg. So Kevin and took her to ER. They did x-rays. The ER doctors couldn't see anything on the x-ray, but the doctor actually saw her walk and said that she more than likely had a toddler fracture, just by the way she was acting. The fracture could be so small that the doctors couldn't see it. The next day, I had to make an appointment with the orthopedic doctor. The appointment was set up for Friday, before Memorial day. The orthopedic doctor said that she could see the fracture right away. She said that she would put Christianna in a cast, but found out we were going out of town for the weekend. The dr said that the cast wouldn't help Christianna heal fastest, so she said that she wouldn't up Christianna in a cast. The cast would be just be for pain.

Another month has come and gone!

June Kevin's friend Andy came in to visit with us. On Saturday of his visit Andy, Kevin's family, and our family went to the Discovery Place in Charlotte and had lots of fun. Christianna really liked playing in the water that they had there for the kids to play. At the end of the month we traveled to my home town for a family reunion. My family came to pick up Christianna and I to spend the week and then Kevin came up on Friday for the reunion. This is the first one since Christanna was born. Last year, she was just too small to take. We had lots of fun at the reunion. We really enjoyed the time to talk to family and catch on a couple of years of events.

July The weekend after the family reunion was 4th of July. My parents, grandparents and brother came down to spend America's birthday with us. That weekend was a PACKED weekend. Saturday we went to Finch Park for fireworks. Christianna did not mind them. She really liked the colors. Then on Sunday we went to a baseball game (the High-Toms). We watched more fireworks. The weekend after 4th of July my aunt Gwen came down to see her son race and Christianna and I got to spend lots of time with her and her family. Kevin went to Boy Scouts that same weekend. My brother was able to go with Kevin. While at camp Kevin was able to take the BSA Lifeguard training and passed it. Which made Kevin very excited. I went to camp last year but I was not going to go this year because it was so HOT! Christianna got her first hair cut. She looks really cute. We also went camping in Asheville for a weekend. Whole in Asheville, we went to a near by fish hatchery. Christianna really enjoy feeding the fish.

August has started!

Christianna's First Birthday!

2010-02-16T10:54:00.000-08:00

Christianna's Birthday was so much fun. Thanks to everyone who was able to come to celebrate with us. It means a lot to us.

Christianna and Reagon the preemie that is only 11 months older than Christianna.

Christmas gifts

2010-02-16T10:03:00.001-08:00

Sitting my gift.

Christmas in TN. My first gift of the season. I wasn't sure what to do.

The Snow in the Mountains of NC on the way to TN

2010-02-16T08:42:00.001-08:00

My family was meeting us in TN for the weekend. Since, I-40 is shut down because of a rock slide we had to take some back roads. We kept in communication with my family and they said the interstates where just as bad. When we first started we didn't think we were going to make it, but we got in a line of cars and made it. The farther west we went, the less snow we saw. The moutains of North Carolina got a lot of snow and then once we got to Pigeon Forge there was
NOTHING. We were hoping there would be a little so Christianna could play in it. In Newport, TN we got on I-40, it was really bad and then once we got farther west on I-40 closer to our exit for Pigeon Forge it turned into rain and the snow was no more.

Sitting on the road trying to get down the mountain. There was a tracker trailer was trying to come up the snowy road.

Christmas Tree

2010-02-16T08:09:00.000-08:00

I was not very happy to have my piture taken. I wanted to play with the tree.

I didn't mind wearing mommy's Christmas hat.

Daddy and me when we picked out our Christmas Tree.

I really like the lights!

The feeling of the tree felt weird in my hand

I couldn't keep my hand off the tree.

I really liked the lights. You get me close enough to the tree I would grap it.

The past few months.

2010-02-16T07:30:00.001-08:00

Yes, Yes!! I know it has been a very long time since I posted something. The last time I posted things was Halloween. Lost of things have happened since I posted. We celebrated our first Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's day as a family. We spent Thanksgiving in VA, with my family. It was a lot of fun. My Aunt Gwen was able to spent Thanksgiving Day at my mom and dad's along with my Grandparents. Then Christmas was spent in NC. Christianna loved the tree and the lights. We bought a real tree. Kevin and I love real trees. Christianna loved looking at the lights. (Pictures will come later.) We had a wonderful Christmas day except Chrisitanna got sick. She started to run a temp. during the night. We started giving her meds. We couldn't get the temp. down so we took her to the ER. They said that she had a viral infection and just to keep doing the things that we where doing. Well, that Sunday I had to take Kevin to the ER because he got what Christianna had, but worse. He had to be given 2 things of liquid. Kevin finally got better by Jan 1 for New years, but it took Christianna a little longer. I am very thankful that God allowed me to stay well through this.

That brings me to 2010. We has been great! We celebrated Christianna's First Birthday well friends and family. We were suppose to have the party on Jan 31, but NC finally got snow! We postponed it to Feb 7. We lots of friends and family there to join in the fun. She was not very big into her cake. 2010 is going to be a very interesting year, if the beginning is any evident to what the year will hold.

Halloween!

2009-11-02T16:29:00.001-08:00

Christianna's first Halloween. She really didn't mind dressing up and mommy enjoyed dressing her little lady in a bug costume. We went trick or treating. There were a couple of them that were not home, but Bruce and Alma, and Debbie were home and they enjoyed seeing Little Christianna in her costume. We ended the night at Uncle Lanny and Aunt Esther's house. Grammy and Grandpa were there to help past out candy. It was a lot of fun.

I not sure what to think about all of this.

The ladybug was trying to fly away.

I'm smiling cause buck is full of goodies.

Is that really all mine?!

Christianna with "Aunt Debbie"

8 monthes old toay!

2009-10-03T18:50:00.001-07:00

I know that we have not updated our blog lately, but with an 8 month old it's hard to do keep up with this. Well, a lot had happened since I last blogged. Christianna is over 16 lbs. She was 16.4 one month ago today. She was 24 1/2 inches long. She now has caught up in weight with the two little boys in our church that was born after her. She is not as tall as she is suppose to be, but she is still growing. In Aug, We took Christianna swimming for the first time. She loved the water and all she wanted to do was splash around. Sept. Kevin and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary, we went back to Myrtle Beach. Christianna stayed with Kevin's parents and they met us at Myrtle Beach on Thursday. We took her to the beach for the first time. She didn't like the beach water, but loved the pool. Kevin and I are so glad she is not scared of water, but that can be a bad thing, too. Next year when we go back I bet it will be really hard to get her out of the water. She as started eating baby food. She really likes the sweeter things, like her mommy and daddy! She is starting to sit up by herself. She loves to play and look at bright colorful things. I has been so much fun to watch Christianna learn and grow these past 8 months.

Taken on Christianna's first 4th of July.

In July, Christianna was the miniature bride in Kevin's cousin's wedding. As you can see, she was a cutie!

This is a silly face I caught Christianna making. She looks like she is laughing and pointing at something.

She is sitting in my rocking chair that I had when I was little.

This is her little have a smile! Isn't she big.

Big Size Difference

2009-10-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

Taken 8/09

Taken 4/09

April 26 - The day Christianna was due

2009-05-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

Family

2009-05-10T10:48:00.001-07:00

Sorry Mom Smith and Mom Studebaker we don't have pictures of you guys holding Christianna but as soon as we get pictures of you we will put them on this sight.

Uncle Matthew

Paw Smith

Great Mawmaw Walton

Great Pawpaw Walton

Grandpa Studebaker

Newest Updates

2009-05-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since Kevin and I have updated the blog. Lots things have happened since we last blog. The last thing that we posted was for Christianna's 2 month check up which took place on April 16. Well, 10 days later was the day that she was suppose to be born, April 26.

Later that week (April 30), we went to our Special Infant Care Clinic. The doctors that we saw were neonatologists (preemie doctors). The doctors checked her over and said that she was going great. They said that she was going great. They allowed us to let her sleep 6 at night, which is exciting for us. Some nights she will sleep 6 hours but other nights it's 4 to 5 hours. The doctors weighed her and she weighed 6.6 lbs.

May 6 Christianna gave me a little scare. Kevin was on his way back home from Washington, DC. I fed Christianna and when I laid her down she throw up a lot of her food. I called the doctor and they asked me a lot of questions to see if they thought that she was sick, but after asking all of those questions they thought that she had reflux and they wanted us to come in to make sure. After she was checked out they decided that it was reflux. They put her on medication. Last but not less, Christianna was weighed and she weighs SEVEN POUNDS!!!

2 Month Check up

2009-04-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I took Christianna for her two month check up. She now ways 5 pounds and 3.8 oz. We are so excited about it. We can't believe that she has gained 3 pounds since she was born. She has gained almost 11 oz in 10 days. She had to get 3 shots and did not like them one bit, of course, who would like to have them. The doctor said that she looks really good.

Eye Doctor's Appointment

2009-04-09T05:48:00.000-07:00

Christianna and I went to the eye doctor's yesterday. The doctor said that she won't have to back until preschool. I am so excited. We also went to her doctor's office on Monday for her check up after being sick. The doctor said that she was doing well. We go back next week for her 2 month check up. Which means shots time. The doctor weighed her and she was 4 lbs 9 oz.

Good News

2009-03-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

If everything goes well, Christianna will be going home Friday evening after her last dose of antibiotic. We hope and pray that she will stay home this time and not give us another scare. It's amazing just how much prayer works. God has answered our prayers once again. Thanks for all of the prayers.

FOUR POUNDS

2009-03-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

Christianna has reached the 4 lb mark. She's actually 4lbs 1.4 oz. They were alittle surpirsed that she gain so much weight in a 24 hour period, so she may not gain any more today. She is down to 50ml on her nasal cannula, really close to coming off. God has really taken care of our little girl. She gave us a scare and now she is almost back to her little old self which makes Kevin and I really excited. Thank you again for all of the prayers.

News from Baptist!

2009-03-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

Christianna is doing really good. The doctors are allowing her to eat as much as she wants and at 11am she ate 48ml of food. She is back to eating as much as she was before she got sick. They are moving her out of the NICU and into the intermediate nursery. They are taking her off the other fluids since she is taking that much food. So the only thing going into her IV is her antibiotic. She will be only hooked to the IV line every 8 hours to get her antibiotic. She is on day 4 of 10 of antibiotic. God has done great things in the life of our daughter. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Update

2009-03-26T06:32:00.000-07:00

As most of you know little Christianna was put in the hospital because she was not holding her temperature and was not eating well. She was not very active when we brought her to the hospital. She is in the Baptist hospital. She has some kind of infection and they have her on antibiotics. They took some blood so they could do cultures on it. The results of the cultures have identified her infection as Group B strep. She is now on just one antibiotic, and is responding well. She will have to be on the antibiotics for 10 days. She is a lot more active now that she is starting to feel better. They started her feeding yesterday and now she is taking her feeding by bottle which I am glad to see. They also have her off of the heater and in clothes. Hopefully she will be able to stay off of the heater. Her temperature was something she always struggled with even at Forsyth. Over all she is getting back to her old little self.

Thanks for all of the prayers. Please keep praying, Christianna still as a ways to go.

Home! God is so GOOD!!!!!

2009-03-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

Christianna is home!!!!!!!! It has been an exciting day for all us.

This time 7 weeks ago, I was in the hospital, laying in bed in total disbelief that my baby girl was going to be born 12 weeks early. I was a little shocked that it was really going to happen. I keep asking myself "why was I the only one in my family to have a preemie? I don't know how to take care of her once she does come home. How big will she be? Is she going to make it?" All of those things kept running through my head. It was really overwhelming. If it wasn't for family, friends, a very loving husband, and a Savoir who cares about those little preemies and thier parents I would not been able to leave the hospital knowing my baby was there and I could do nothing for her. Not knowing what the next day would bring. Not knowing if they would have to call us in the middle of the night for something. When I left that hospital on the Saturday after she was born, I was scared. It wasn't suppose to happen this way. I was suppose to be leaving with my baby not leaving her laying in the NICU at only 2 lbs hooked to a breathing machine, tubes and wires.

Now she is here, home with Kevin and I. Weighing 3 bls 12oz. I just can't believe how well she has doing. NONE of my fears happened, because God is GREAT. God has shown mercy to all three of us. Christianna did not have to go through some of the things that some preemies have to go through. God has allowed Kevin and I draw closer to Him and to each other. Now a new set of fears are here, but I know that God will calm those fears just like He calmed the last, because God is that calmer of storms. This whole thing has been by the Grace of God. I may never know why God has allowed this to happen to us, but I know that God is in control and He knows what is best for us.

Thank you all for your prayers during her hospital stay. She still has much to learn and do. So please keep praying for her. She has a doctor appt. tomorrow afternoon, pray that goes well and she will not have any setbacks. We will try to keep making posts when we find time between all the feeding and diaper changing (daddy finally got a nasty one!!!) : )

See how tiny I am?!

More news

2009-03-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Kevin and I got to be at the hospital for the rounds. Actually Kevin was outside the room answering a phone call for work when the doctor told us that if everything goes well this weekend Christianna could go home on Sunday or Monday. I told the doctor that Kevin would be out of town with the boy scouts until Sunday evening. When Kevin, came back in I told him what they said. Kevin stopped dead in his tracks and had very surprised look on his face. So they said her discharge day is Monday as long she does well with her feeding and her breathing. It has been one surprise after another. We are so excited, but so scared all at the same time. It's hard to believe that Christianna will be at home with us after all of this time of leaving her at the hospital.

Today, I went up to the hospital and got to be there for rounds. The doctor said she is still on track for coming home on Monday. She passed her 7 day count down. She also passed her car seat test!! That is so exciting. Now the only thing is getting the house ready to have her home. We need lots of prayers for the next few days while we get thing ready and bring her home. Christianna needs prayer to keep up the good work and to be able to settle in well at home with Kevin and I.

News from the intermediate

2009-03-20T04:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Kevin got to the hospital before I did and he was talking to the nurse about Christianna. The nurse said that she was on day 6 of her 7 day count down. Kevin said are you sure? So the nurse went and looked at the chart to make sure she was right, and low and behold she was! We missed that memo somewhere down the line. Today will be her day 7. Providing everything goes well today and next week, Christianna will be home by next weekend. She is also off her wedge. They took her off of it yesterday. As of last night, they have upped Christianna's feeds to 29 ml and she is taking all of her feeds by bottle and whats better is she is DOING REALLY GOOD. The last time they changed her feeds a few ml, was when they put her on her mountain (wedge).

Next she has a carseat test. The carseat test is when a baby sits in her/his seat for 90 minutes and keep her/his oxygen levels above 84. If for some reason, she doesn't she will go home in a carbed. It's a carseat that lays down.

This whole thing was such a shock to us. We had no clue that she was even on a count down, none the least on day 6 (almost done). This is happy, exciting time, but also scary. We needs lots of prayers as Christianna finishes her last few stages of hosptial stay and as we prepare for her home coming!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of me.

Aren't mommy and me cute?!

Well, the news on me this morning, I started screaming way before time to feed me and I pulled out my feeding tube in my anger. I took 24 of 35 ml. They gave me a little extra to see if I would take it. I am still on 27 ml. I weighed in at a whopping 3 lbs 5oz. I am still on my "mountain" (the wedge), but it is doing the trick. I don't reflux as bad. The nurse put my feeding tube back in at my 11:30 feeding. Mommy feed me at 2:30 and I took 28 of 30 ml. I am getting this eating thing slowly. As soon as I get this feeding down and keep my temperature at 98 degrees or above I can go home, so please keep praying for me, my mommy and my daddy. Also I am 6 weeks old today!!!

A three pounder!

2009-03-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since we have updated the blog and we are very sorry for that. Little Miss Christianna is doing great. She is now three pounds. The doctors upped her feeds to 25ml an hour, but she is having trouble with reflux. In premature babies the muscle that closes off the top of their stomach is weak. This allows some of the milk to escape and come back up the esophagus causing the reflux problems that she is having to deal with. The solution is to put her on a wedge. A wedge is exactlly that a wedge shaped cushion that keeps her at about a 45 degree angle. This angle uses gravity to help keep the milk in her belly where it will do the most good.

She is also doing really well with her temperature she is only a half a degree away from the goal setting on the incubator! We hope she will get there and stay so she can move up to a crib.

Please continue to pray that our little girl will continue to grow bigger and stronger.

Moving up

2009-03-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

Christianna is up to 1220 grams (2 lbs 11 oz). The doctors took her off her caffeine on Thursday. They use caffeine for the same reason why people drink coffee, stimulation (to stay alert). As of 6 pm tonight, Christianna has been off her nasal cannula for 24 hours. Last night, the nurses moved her to the intermediate nursery. We got to feed Christianna, her bottle tonight and she took all 20 ml on her own.

Christianna is an answer to prayers. Lots of people have been praying that she would gain weight and she is growing like a bad weed, well in this case a good weed :) We also have been praying that she would start breathing without assistance and for 24 hours she has been doing just that. Our prayer is now that Christianna well keep all of that up and that she would start controlling her temperature better.

Hey mom what's up?!

One month old! (3-3-09)

2009-03-04T14:08:00.000-08:00

Kevin and I can't believe that it was a month ago that Christianna was born. She has gained 270 grams in that month. The doctors decided to start nippling her today. She took 8 ml of 20. Her feeds (20 ml) are also given to her in 30 minutes increments. She refluxed some while on the bottle, but the nurse said that was normal because she is a preemie.

My first ever bottle. Mommy was scared to give it to me.

Daddy went a little crazy with the pictures :)

Cannula Ups and Downs

2009-03-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

The past couple of days have been up and down for Christianna's Nasal Cannula (breathing apparatus). She came off it the first time on Friday night for about two and a half hours. She then went back on it and did really well so they tried again on Sunday morning at 3:00 am it was more successful, lasting all the way till Lunch time on Sunday. She is doing really well on the Cannula with very low flow, but that little tiny bit of flow is making all the difference for her. She is on what they call room air (21% oxygen the same concentration that we breath normally) and it is forcing 200 ml an hour into her nose to help her out. We pray that she will continue getting better and hopefully the next attempt at taking her off will be for good.

She has continued gaining weight very well the last few days. Yesterday she gained 40 grams (a little more than an ounce) her weight is now 1100 grams (2lb 7oz)!!! Her birth weight was 900 grams (2lb) we are very excited about her growth and now that she has started putting on the pounds (or ounces rather, LOL) we hope she will do better at keeping her temperature up. Lately, her temperature has been a little low so they have had to turn her bed up a little bit. It is at 30*C. When the bed gets to 28*C and stays there for a while and she keeps her body temperature where it belongs then they will take her out of the incubator and put her into a crib. Please continue to pray for our little baby girl that she will keep her temperature up and continue to do better with her breathing.

I am 1000 grams today!

2009-02-26T07:04:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Do I look like a 1000 grams?

Mommy caught me right before I could pull out my cannula. Later in the day when Mommy wasn't looking I pulled it out and when Daddy came in he found it in my mouth. During the time I had it out I did good on breathing!

Oh......aren't I cute!

On Wednesday, Christianna was 1000 grams (2 lbs 2 oz) and today (Thursday) she was 1030 (2 lbs 2.4 oz). We are so excited about her weight gain. The doctors came in yesterday and were saying that all we can do is decrease the flow in her nasal cannula and wait for her to gain some more weight. God has really been gracious to us. He has showered us with blessings left and right and we are so thankful. We are also so thankful for friends and family support and prayers.

3 weeks old photo

2009-02-26T06:58:00.001-08:00

Christianna was three weeks old on Tuesday the 24 and she weighed 970 grams. The doctors changed her calories from 24 to 27 to try to get her to put on some weight. They decreased her nasal cannula everyday which is exciting. Hopefully she will not have that at all.

First Bath

2009-02-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

Debbie worked last night and she wanted to help me give Christianna her first bath. It was fun and I was little nervous to give her a bath. But mommy and Christianna got through it with very little tears :)
Debbie getting her ready for the bath.

I am not sure what's going on but I hope it's fun.

Wrapping Christianna up to keep her warm.

Laying her in the water for the first time.

Mommy's getting ready to wash Christianna's head.

Lay me back in the water please! That was the only time Christianna cried. I figured she would cry more.

Gaining weight!

2009-02-22T14:01:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Christianna weighed 2 lbs 1.9 oz and today she weighed 2 lbs 2 oz.

Outfit Change

2009-02-20T09:42:00.000-08:00

Christianna weight was the same as yesterday (930 grams). We are very glad she did not lose weight while she was learning to control her temp. The little outfit she has on today was bought becasue her daddy loves football. It says "My dad is my hero". Sorry the her face can't really be seen, but she was not as mad today as she was yesterday after the nurse put her clothes on her.

I wouldn't put my legs in wear they go.

I am wearing clothes and not liking it!

2009-02-19T12:08:00.000-08:00

Christianna is now weighing 930 grams!!! Almost 2 lbs 1 oz. It is so exciting that the past four days she is has gained. She is having to keep her own temperature, so they put clothes on her. She was not liking it at first as you can see from the pictures. She finally adjusted to them. The bed is still helping her to keep her temperature, but now it is not the only way she will stay warm. The clothes and blankets help. It was kinda exciting to see the nurse put clothes on her. Her clothes are still too big and they were the smallest preemie clothes that we could find.

The nurse is dressing me.

I am not liking the whole clothes thing.

The pants are too big.

Now that they have me on my belly I am OK with the clothes.

The ways I sleep

2009-02-18T12:20:00.000-08:00

Oh My!

I am not listening.

I am comfy I promise.

Answered Prayer

2009-02-18T07:17:00.000-08:00

Christianna is up to 6ml per hour. She has to gain weight to get more ml of food so right now she is at her limit for her weight. Sunday is the day she lost weight, well, every day since then, she has put on the weight. She is now 910 grams, which is just over 2 lbs. Her humidity is off in her bed. Christianna still has the temperature in her bed, because she still can't keep her temp up.

Starting tomorrow Thursday Feb 19 only the two people that are wearing the bracelets will be aloud to see Christianna. This is due to the raised flu cases. So just Kevin and I are aloud to see her. We are very sorry about this, but this is for Chrisitianna and the other babies in the NICU's well being.

Please pray that Kevin and I stay well to we can be able to see Christiann and that we are able to keep our strength as we go back and forth to the hospital. Thank you for all of the prayers.

Pray for Weight Gain and Digesting food

2009-02-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

The nurses bumped her food to 5.5 ml, which is great but the last two times they have checked to see how much food she has left in her stomach it has been more than an hours worth of food left. It does not look like she is quite ready for this much food. Please pray that she will digest her food better so that they can get her to gain weight.

Thanks for all of the prayers

2009-02-15T17:22:00.000-08:00

Kevin and I would like to Thank You all for the wonderful prayers on behalf of our now larger family. It means so much. Little Christianna is doing great they increased her feeds to 5ml today. They added a type of protein to her food to try to get her to gain weight. She was at her birth weight yesterday and then she lost 50 grams today, the doctors are trying to put some weight on her. Besides the gaining weight, we can't believe how well she is doing. God has really blessed us with Christianna's progress.

Valentine's Day Photos

2009-02-15T07:39:00.000-08:00

Sharing Valentine's Day with our little girl.

Looking at my Mommy.

Hi Mommy!

Daddy giving me my Valentine's Day kiss.

We are all comfy and ready for a nap.

Making Progress

2009-02-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

On Thursday Feb 12, they took Christianna off the Bubble Cpap and put her on Nasal Cannula. They also upped her feeds to 3.5 ml. If Christianna can tolerate 4 ml, the nurses are going to remove the line from her belly button that gives her extra fluids. She will get all the fluids from her food after that. : )

Here is Christianna with her Nasal Cannula.

Daddy is all smiles!

2009-02-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

Daddy got to hold his little Christianna around 4 or 5 yesterday evening. When the 3 o'clock nurse came in and found out that Mommy got to hold Christianna, said that Daddy needed to hold Christianna. So proud Daddy, full of smiles, held his baby girl.

I was tickling Daddy. He He!! This made Mommy laugh!

Another family photo

All Smiles

Daddy's hands cover my whole body!

Daddy is holding tight.

Christianna was doing to well on her stats

Is Daddy sleeping?!

I love my Daddy!

Daddy's little girl!

Kangaroo Care!!! Fun Times:)

2009-02-11T11:02:00.000-08:00

This morning Mommy had her 1 week check up. They took my blood pressure and it was 116 over 62 which is back down in my normal levels. Yesterday around noon, Christianna had her 7 day brain scan and when we got to the hospital this afternoon, Nurse Lee told us that the doctors said her scan was normal. Another blessing God has given to us!! The nurse also told us that Mommy could hold Christianna if she wanted to and of course I jumped at the chance to hold my Bundle of Joy. She really did well while I was holding her. It was just an awesome feeling to have MY little one laying on my chest, to hear her breathe, and feel her little hand open and close on my chest. I absolutely loved the feeling of holding her so close to me. The only thing that I wished for is that Daddy would have been able to hold his little girl.

Mommy talking to Christianna

Daddy talking to Christianna

Getting Christianna ready to be held by Mommy

Mommy doing Kangaroo Care. It tickled when Christianna opened and closed her hand. It was just a light little movement

First family photo

Daddy and Mommy looking with love.

Mommy beaming from ear to ear because she holding her little girl.

Mommy rejoicing that her little Chris is doing so well that she gets to hold her.

Mommy giving Christianna a loving kiss.

Great Grandparents

2009-02-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

Mommy and Daddy are very blessed to have Grandparents living to enjoy in the birth of their first little one.

Great Grandpa Studebaker
Great Pawpaw Walton

Great Mawmaw Walton

Great Grandma Montel with Grammy Studebaker

Special Time With Our Little One

2009-02-10T08:59:00.001-08:00

Last night, Daddy changed Christianna's diaper. Her nurse, Christina, raised the top of her bed so we could reach her better. Mommy and Daddy got to kiss her hand. It was a really special time with her. It really made our whole day to spend that time with her. Here are some pictures from that time.

Mommy kissing her hand.

Daddy holing Mommy's hand and Mommy holding Christianna's hands.

Daddy and Mommy holding Christianna's hand

Daddy kissing Christianna's little hand while Mommy holds the other.

Mommy is home

2009-02-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

I got to come home on Saturday after a week and a day in the hospital. The doctors were finally able to get my blood pressure under control. It was really hard leaving Christianna behind. Being at the hospital we were able to go down to the NICU at anytime. In fact, Kevin would wake up in the middle of the night and go down to spend time with her.

On Sunday, we came to check on her and she was doing well. While at the hospital we got a call to let us know that a room at the Ronald McDonald House was open. This house is for parents of critical children. We checked in there at 7:00 last night. Now we are about 5-10 minutes from the hospital, which is much better then 30 minutes.

Today, I got to change Christianna's diaper for the first time. Kevin asked when they would change her again and he said he would change it! I can't wait to video tape that. I felt like I was going hurt her. Her little legs are so light compared to other babies I changed.

She is back on her food. She is back up to 1.5 ml per hour and actually they are going to try her on 2ml. Pray that she will keep digesting her food. Thanks for all of the prayers for our family.

First bump in the road

2009-02-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Last night, Amy was Christianna's nurse. Amy was checking to see how much food Christianna digested. (They actually pull the stomach contents out with a syringe and check to see what is left! YUCK!!). There was more food in her belly than they usually like to see, so the doctors and nurses took her off the food for a while. During rounds this morning, the doctor said they would try putting her back on her food. When they started feeding her she started out at .5ml and they moved her to 1ml. Then yesterday they changed it to 1.5 ml. Now when they start her back on it will me moved back down to 1 ml.

Changing her bed covering

2009-02-06T06:52:00.000-08:00

Chris is doing really good. They changed her feeding from .5ml to 1ml and she is doing well with those. Last night I went down to see my little girl. While I was down there, the respiratory therapist was having to clean out her nose and she was not liking that at all. She started to cry and that torn my heart out knowing that I couldn't do anything for her. I know that she is in good hands here and she is in hands that care about her so much more then I or Kevin and imagine, Our Heavenly Father. Then late last night Kevin decided to go down and see Chris and while down there the nurse was changing her bed coverings. So Kevin got to hold Chris up so the nurse could change the coverings. He said he was a little nervous about holding her up. Just a quick prayer request I am having trouble with my blood pressure. They have had to change my meds just this morning to try to get it down. So just pray that that this med will do the trick. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers it means a lot.

First 2 days of life

2009-02-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

Holding hands with Daddy.

Four generations

Holding "hands" with Mommy Day 2

Holding me up to see Mommy and Daddy Day 2

Few hours after birth

2009-02-05T11:07:00.000-08:00

Just a few hours after she was born.

The Beginning

2009-02-04T08:19:00.000-08:00

I know there are so many of you out there that want to know all of the updates on our little lady, well I thought a blog would help everyone to know. First of all I wanted to say thank you for all of the prayers for Kevin, me and little Christianna.

I wanted to start by telling a little of how this thing came about. This really started Sunday, Jan 25 with a headache, which I thought was just a head cold since Kevin had one of those earlier. Well, that headache came and went all week. On Wednesday night, I started to run a low-grade fever and thought I was coming down with the flu. I didn't go to work on Thursday, because I thought I had the flu. I got a headache that day and it stayed all day long. I called the doctor to get appointment and was able to get on on Friday morning Jan 30. Kevin took me to the doctor office. Once I got to the office, they took my blood pressure and it was 160 over 100 which is really high. The nurse had me to lie down on my left side to see if my blood pressure would go down. The nurse took it again and it was still up. The doctor came in and talked to us about what the high pressure means. The doctor also talked to us about protein in my urine. The doctor was real concerned about both. By now the whole cold/flu thing is out the window. The doctor told us she was sending us to labor and delivery. The doctor sent me to Forsyth by ambulance.

Once we got to Forsyth, the doctors were trying to get my blood pressure down enough so we could wait until I was 32 weeks. So we set around for Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, the doctor was saying they were going to move me out of the labor and delivery room to a room that was more for long stays. Kevin deciced to go to work for a few hours. The doctors took to me to do a sonogram to see if the baby was in distress or not. The doctor said that she was in some distress because she was not getting all of the food she needed to grow, so they decided to induce me. I called Kevin to come to the hospital. They started the process so I could get ready to be induced on Tuesday. On Monday night, my blood pressure sky rocketed and on Tuesday morning they decided to do a C-section because they didn't think it would be wise to try to do a normal birth. They didn't want to put me or the baby through so much stress. So at about 9:30, they got Kevin and I ready to have a baby.

At 11:20 am, Christianna Marie was born. She weighed 2 pounds and was 14 1/4 inches long.