Sunday June 27

Another week come and gone for us and it's hard to believe it's almost July. It was a week of anxiety and worry with regard to Delaney's eating issues. We feel like we're a little behind the curve, but at least now we have a game plan in place. For those of you we haven't talked to, Delaney has recently started to get extremely upset at feeding time. It's so sad to see her cry and fight us when we know she's hungry. She's also had a really hard time keeping her food down, and was spitting up large amounts several times a day. There are other things going on as well, but all signs point to reflux.

The good news is that we've started her on some medicine to help control the pain associated with reflux. It's a little early to tell if it's working, but they say we need to give it a week or so before we start seeing results. The bad news is that we have confirmed that she does have some issues, and that it's significant enough to warrant a trip to Denver to see a GI specialist. We made a trip to Grand Junction on Friday to see one of the great occupational therapists that worked with Delaney in the NICU. She seemed to know exactly what we were dealing with and has set the wheels in motion for the Denver consultation. Hopefully we can get an appointment soon so that we can get to the bottom of things. Reflux has a variety of different origins and we'd like help Delaney out as soon as possible. The last thing you want is for an infant to associate feeding with pain.

Despite our busy week, we did get out and about this weekend. Meredith got to go to her first wedding on Saturday, and today we went to Crested Butte to have a short reunion visit with one of Delaney's neonatologists from Grand Junction. It's always nice to show Delaney off to folks that knew her from the beginning. We also got to feel rain for the first time in forever, which was an added bonus of our CB trip.

We'll keep you posted...

First Day of Summer 2010

What do all these pictures of Ms. Delaney have in common? Today is a big milestone for her, in that she finally got the green light from her doctor to quit her oxygen! We are quite certain that everyone can live a happier life now, and hope that Delaney won't miss a beat without the supplement. She can finally sleep without a plastic tube stuck on her cheek and the cannula jammed in her nostrils. It's hard to believe but she has been on oxygen for the entire two months that we've been home (not to mention her entire stint at the NICU).

We were pleased that she's gained more weight-8 lbs 12 oz, but she continues to have some feeding challenges. We hope to get with an occupational therapist this week to start working on it and hope we can nip it in the bud before it becomes a bigger issue.

Last Wednesday, Meredith went to her first day of school and had a great time playing with all her friends. It's a nice time of year to play outside, and Meredith definitely needs to blow off some steam with her buddies from time to time.

We'll see what sort of adventures we can have this week...

Sunday June 20

We wanted to post at least one picture and let you know that we will report again tomorrow. Jennifer will be taking Delaney to a doctors appointment first thing in the morning so we'll have more to tell you tomorrow night.... Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there!

Sunday June 13

In addition to our family pictures, this week we also included a picture of sweet baby girl Sephira, who was born this week in Virginia. She was born with a rare condition that required emergency surgery and will spend the next several weeks recovering in a NICU. She is the newest niece of Jennifer's sister-in-law in Pennsylvania. We wish Sephira and her family the best and think of them everyday. Be brave Sephira.

Delaney remains our little punkin' and weighed in at 8 lbs, 4 oz on Friday. Statistically, she is just a touch below the average growth curve for an eight week old baby. We forgot to mention last week that she's 20 inches long, which means she's grown 2 inches since we got back to Gunnison.

Her new issue is that she is having some feeding frustrations when it comes to the bottle. It's a bad new habit that we're concerned about and are working on schedulling a meeting with a local occupation therapist to see if we can get it worked out. From what we understand, you don't want to mess around with feeding issues with preemies because it can lead to problems later in life. Otherwise, things are pretty much the same as last week which is just fine with us.

Sunday June 6

We've had another busy week around here. Don't let the pictures deceive you, there's not much time for sleep...

Last week Meredith went to Crested Butte for her graduation ceremony. She's about to embark on her final year at Stepping Stones and will be in the Coyote class starting in the fall. It's a bummer that she missed the greater portion of her Marmot year, but at least she got to visit with her friends and teachers at graduation.

Friday night we all participated in the Relay for Life in Gunnison. Most of our team were walking in the memory of our good friend Sandy Hayes who was a wonderful person that cancer took at a young age. It's a powerful experience which we hope to be involved with for many years to come. Jennifer has walked in the relay for several years in honor of her late Uncle Willard, and her Aunt Barbara who survived breast cancer- Take care of yourselves.

More work to do on Saturday, with Brandon helping out at the kid's fishing clinic in Gunnison. It's a lot of fun visiting with all the kids and their families, and helping to run the laser shot virtual hunting booth. Jennifer has a different method of transportation now that the weather is nice and with help from Meredith it appears that Delaney has the best ride in town. The wind won't seem to go away so far this summer, but man has it been hot lately!

Delaney is doing well but has been a little off lately. She's had a sour belly and we're hoping she'll work it out soon. We weaned her down to 1/32 of a liter on her oxygen, but she seemed lethargic so we turned it back up. It sure would be nice to be rid of the oxygen and all the equipment but she's going to have to let us know when she's ready.

Sunday May 30

Oops! We forgot to post our weekly pics. Actually, we spent yesterday out in one of our favorite high country haunts doing some spring exploration. Other than the wind it was a beautiful day and we had a good time. It became a little bit of an ordeal (a story for a different time) with the truck getting stuck and a tire that exploded a little while later...but we survived. It was sure nice to get out of the house as a family unit.

Last week Delaney had her second doctor's appointment since we've been back in Gunnison. She weighed 7 lbs 10.5 oz and we weaned her oxygen down to 1/16 of a liter. She continues to do a really good job, but our main issue continues to be her blood pressure. Brandon had a long talk with the cardiologist in Grand Junction who seemed to think that we should keep an eye on it and focus on the trend over time. If her pressure starts increasing we should look deeper into it, but otherwise try not to get too worried. Apparently blood pressure medications for babies have some significant down sides and they are not prescribed unless absolutely necessary.

We recently learned that family of family is having some issues with their pregnancy that likely will entail a stay in a NICU and emergency surgery. We would like to send them our good thoughts, and can say with some experience that modern day medicine is quite miraculous. It's easy for others to say, but try and hang in there.

Saturday May 22

So what have the Diamond's been up to? Well, Meredith and Brandon finally had a chance to get out and look for moose tracks. Had a nice day and actually saw some moose; it was sure nice to be out in one of our favorite places.

Last week Meredith spent a few days with her Grandparents and went to the theater to see the Wizard of Oz. She had a lot of fun and enjoyed some one on one attention. It was oddly quiet around the house while she was away.

We were very happy that Delaney had gained some weight at last week's nurse visit. She weighed 7 lbs 4.5 oz. We hope that we have our routine figured out now and that Delaney will continue to grow. We have a doctor's appointment on Monday and will likely be discussing Delaney's high blood pressure. She had another high one on Thursday. We need to talk it over, but wonder if we'll have some follow-ups with her cardiologist in Grand Junction.

Over the last several days we've battled water in our crawlspace, went on a picnic by the Gunnison river and Jennifer went to work for the first time. We seem to be in a groove and have our sights on more outdoor activities (our fingers are crossed for good weather this week).

Saturday May 15

On Monday Delaney will be a month old (based on her discharge date from the NICU). We continue to monitor her weight closely, and are doing everything we can to keep her growing in the right direction. There is a lot of trial and error, but the three main things we've done are 1. make sure she stays plenty warm, 2. change the nipple on her bottle so she gets more bang for her buck, and 3. increase the amount of milk we give her whenever it seems prudent. Last week our home health nurse weighed her in at 6lbs 15 oz. The following day Jennifer met with our local lactation specialist who weighed Delaney in at 7 lbs. The visit to the lactation consultant was to try and determine how much milk Delaney drinks when she breast feeds. We need to make sure that she is getting more calories than she burns during her feedings.

Meredith had an opportunity to see her Crested Butte friends last week when her class from Stepping Stones came to visit the Gunnison recycling center. Jennifer also had a nice visit with some of her friends last week at her first Bunco game since we've been back. The weather continues to be schizophrenic around here so we haven't been spending as much time outside as we would like. Oh well, things are pretty close to normal these days.

Saturday May 8

Well today was Delaney's anticipated due date-that makes her 40 weeks old (gestationally).

We're starting to get into a routine around here but it is a whole different world compared to when Meredith was born. We've talked about it before, but bottle feeding adds a layer of complexity to our day that is like a full time job. We are a little tired lately but Delaney is worth it.

Last week we made the trip to Grand Junction to see the eye doctor again. The good news on that front is that Delaney's eyes are now classed as "mature", meaning that she now has very little chance of developing ROP. Our next appointment with the eye doctor is in three months.

The two issues of concern for us are Delaney's weight gain and her high blood pressure. She essentially hasn't gained any weight since we've been home and we have been trying to increase her feeding volume in response to her demands. The blood pressure is something we have been watching for some time and will rely on our medical professionals to keep us headed in the right direction.

That's all for now, we'll keep you posted. Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there!

Saturday, May 1

Hard to believe we've been home for over a week now. We are so happy to be home and are finally starting to settle in. Delaney has been doing good and actually gained a little weight based on our last check up (she was 6 lb 12 oz). We are still having some issues with Delaney's blood pressure being high, and can't help but worry about it. Our home health nurse has not been able to round up the equipment to check Delaney at home, so we now plan to go to the Gunnison hospital one or two times a week to have her checked. This week we also have an eye exam scheduled in Grand Junction so we may try to get an appointment with the cardiologist while we're there.

Brandon plans to go back to work on Monday so you know where to find him. It likely will take him some time to get organized, but it's probably time to get back in the groove. We'd like to send special thoughts to our friends the Zadras, who have been dealt a tough hand recently. Someone once said to me, "good will prevail."