Loads o' pics

We suck so hard on our pacifier, we have to clench our fists!









D and Bea's favorite past time.








Oliver makes a break for it! (He's still terrified of the Little One)

Weekend Fun

We think she looks like a miniature Ian -- what do you think?







Our first trip to the farmers market. We slept through it. Veggies aren't very exciting yet.

Quick Update

Hi, All,

Just wanted to post a quick message about how we're doing. We're doing well. End transmission.

In all seriousness, Team Beatrice doesn't have a lot to report. This is a good thing, as there hasn't been much opportunity to blog in recent weeks on account of the fact that our Little One insists on being held 24/7. Poor M, who is forced to spend the whole day with 7-pound sack o' 'taters on her shoulder.

The big news is that we've been off oxygen for eight days now with no major events. M&D still keep Bea plugged into the O2 monitor, but mostly because they've grown used to lugging it around.

That's all for now. Keep checking in with us. Please.

Team Beatrice (Ian)

Tuesday Spa Night Part 4 (and more)

We smell like roses now!









D weight-lifting with the Little One.






















Beatrice and Wendy, happy as clams.











Wow, these swings are amazingly hard to assemble! Bea isn't sure about the swing yet. Sometimes we sleep, sometimes we scream. The jury is out.

M&D's Night Out

Hi, All,

Hope you enjoy the new pics (see below).

M&D are back from a night on the town, just the two of them. Well... not really "on the town." M&D were at the wedding of a two great friends: a wonderful, happy event with great food and even better company. Not even torrential rains could dim the ebullient mood. (Is "ebullient" a word?)

As they mingled, M&D were amazed to learn how many people have been reading our little blog. We (writing in the 3rd person has grown tiring) are so humbled and flattered by all of the attention. Of course, there's no need to be modest on behalf of our Princess: we've all known for months now that she deserves nothing less. Thanks so much to everyone who's been keeping current. Thanks, especially, to Nana and P for taking care of Ms. Bea this evening.

Despite the happy mood, we (M&D) found ourselves longing for the company of our smelly 7-pound snuggle monkey, and I (D) am happy to report that I am writing this post on the couch with the Little One passed out on my chest. It's quite a scene, indeed.

Anyhoo... we hope to keep blogging on a more regular basis, so keep checking in.

All the best,

Team Beatrice (Ian)

Wide Awake!

Look Ma, no cannula!

Evening all,

Bea has been without o2 now for 36 hours! We took off her nasal cannula and can finally see her pretty face. M&D hope hope hope this is it for o2 support. Moving around the house without the big tank is a huge relief. M could even get a drink of water while holding Beatrice today! The little things...
Thanks for your unending love and support. You all keep us going.
-Team Bea (Carol)

















Bea gets a manicure from Daddy.

Ups and Downs

Hi Team Beatrice fans,

Team Bea has been on a bit of a roller coaster since we last wrote. The Little One seemed to be making progress (she likes her wedge!) and on Saturday, M&D had a glorious afternoon taking Bea to their favorite picnic spot overlooking Lake Washington. We also enjoyed a visit from M's oldest friend and her family, all the while off our o's!

Come Saturday night, though, Beatrice was having more and more trouble with feeds and needed her o2 turned back on. After talking with a nurse on Sunday morning, we took the munchkin to Children's Hospital a for a look-see. While M&D bit their nails during their first visit to the ER, Bea was more than happy to be back in the care of experts and performed so well they declared her fine to go home. We spoke with her pediatrician (on a Sunday!) and, while he isn't entirely sure what is causing the difficulty feeding and breathing, he prescribed her medicine for reflux. His guess is that Bea's reflux problem is inhibiting her feeding and potentially causing her to work harder to breathe. So far, she's been off 02 almost all day, but is still struggling with feeding. Bea either puts up her dukes and fights or takes a snooze. She's a feisty one, for sure! We meet with the doc tomorrow -- cross you fingers we find a way to soothe the Little One's tummy.
In the meantime, here are some pics from our Saturday excursion.





The Little One practices her baby-chi moves.







D with Bea in the Arboretum.








M with Bea at Fox Point, overlooking Lake Washington. We watched the boats gather for the UW-OU game...it looked like there were more OU fans out there (if you saw the game, you'd know why!).

Team Beatrice gets, and goes, along

Hi, All,

Many apologies for the lack of updates recently. Team Beatrice has lately been occupied with late night feeding and early morning diaper changing; occasionally, vice versa. Our nights begin early, and our mornings end late, which doesn't leave time for much during the day.

Luckily, aside from the rigor of daily life, Team Beatrice has little to write about at the moment, except to express our thanks to family, friends, and even those whom we barely know that have helped us out recently. Direct, individual, thanks have been slow in coming.

In Beatrice news, we've begun the oxygen-weaning process. Today we went about seven hours today without any o2 support at all! But, unfortunately, we seemed to need a little help in the evening, so we plugged back in.

Like life in the NICU, the weaning process has proven to be yet another roller coaster ride for M&D, if not for Little Bea, too. Oxymeter alarms at 3am and heavy o2 tanks are taking a toll, although we are hopeful to be rid of both soon. Wish us all luck. How sweet it would be to have an untethered, unchained, Bea.

Sigh.

The oxygen issue has been an education in the politics of hospitalization: another week of close monitoring in the ISCU and Little Bea probably would have come home without any o2 support at all. In fact, we've recently learned from other (non-hospital) medicos how rare it is to send little ones home with oxygen support, for the specific reason that it generally drive parents insane: sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly. Wish us luck.

OK, so we actually have quite a bit to write about.

Team Beatrice would also like to thank friends and family for being patient with our idiosyncratic and overly protective behavior when they (friends and family) visit our beloved Little One. With a little luck and perseverance, we'll soon find a way to loosen up. But, in the meantime, the Little One must be fed, burped, cuddled, and changed "just so", if for no other reason than to preserve M&D's fragile mental state.

And speaking of fragile mental states: D is going to attempt to go back to work for a full day on Monday after two weeks of sporadic attendance. This leaves M at home, alone, for the first time with a Little One who can't go on field trips. Any and all help is appreciated, although you shouldn't feel bad for D: he may be the only attorney in town that actually loves his job. (Don't tell anyone: upon admission to the bar, new attorneys are sworn to loathe their own existence.)

In happier news, the original members of Team Beatrice (M, D, and B) went on a lovely walk through the aboretum this afternoon. Many fantastic pictures were taken; some of which will soon be posted to this blog. Stay tuned!

All the best,

Team Beatrice (Ian)

Due Date

Hi all,
We're no longer a "minus" as today is our original due date: September 10! M can't imagine still having Bea inside since she's such a big baby now weighing in at 6 lbs 3 oz. Big news: we visited the pediatrician today and got the orders to turn off the o2 this coming week. He is confident all will be fine, but M&D will keep the monitor on just to be double, triple, quadruple sure.
The Little One had a fantastic visit with Mimi and Aunt Julie. We went on walks, had a picnic in the park, enjoyed a fabulous spa experience and, of course, lots and lots of snuggles. Enjoy the pics.
-Team Beatrice (Carol)

Bea and Flatbear share secrets (picture above).




Mimi and Bea enjoy serious snuggles.








M kisses her orange burrito baby.










All the girls together.









Bea and Aunt Julie (sporting her Team Beatrice visor!).








Spa time courtesy of Mimi and Aunt Julie.











Bea loves her shampoos!








Eating Aunt Julie's shoulder.

Family Time

Mimi, M, & Aunt Julie soak up the September sun with little Bea.










Hmm...we're not quite ready for our crib.

Hittin' the Town

Morning all,

Beatrice has made the rounds in the 'hood not once, but twice now. M, D, and Mimi have mastered the art of traveling with baby, o2 tank and monitor (which is actually useless outside since it doesn't read in sunlight). On our walk on Thursday, Bea went into her very first commercial establishment...a jewelry store! She has a bright future of shopping ahead. M is ecstatic, D sighs.

The Little One has a very important question for the Team: What's my best color, pink or
orange?










M&D feel like REAL parents, out for a walk with a REAL baby in a REAL stroller!

End of the week

Hi, All,

Just wanted to post a quick comment thanking everyone for their continued support, comments, and emails. Great to hear from you.

The Adams household (nee Team Beatrice) is rapidly approaching normalcy. Yes, M&D aren't sleeping much, but that's not particularly surprising. Additionally, due to the suddenness of Bea's departure from the hospital, D had to attend to several important items that he scheduled well before he knew the Little One would be coming home on Sunday. Some uninterrupted Daddy-Daugher time may be needed soon.

But, again, these are normal concerns. In fact, life is incredibly "normal" all around. On Wednesday, Bea's pediatrician had nothing but "normal" things to say about a, more or less, "normal" baby who happened to be born about 10 weeks premature. We'll be watching the Little One's development, but there's no immediate reason to expect anything other than a "normal" progression towards "normalcy." With a little luck, Bea probably won't even need extra oxygen in a few weeks time.

We've become so boring. After such an ordeal, all we are left with is the most extraordinary and beautiful child we've ever met. I guess that's something...

Anyway, we'll attempt to write more soon. Bea's grandma ("Mimi") is in town for a few days, and Aunt Julie will be arriving tomorrow.

All the best,

First Days at Home

Greetings Team Beatrice fans,

We're totally fried. Enjoy a few pictures from our first days at home. Bea is busy enjoying getting to know her east coast grandma, Mimi, and teaching her parents how to feed her, bathe her and swaddle her. The consensus is that it takes at least three grownups to take care of a baby.



Beatrice and Mimi. Love at first sight.









Passing of the baton: Beatrice visits her pediatrician for the first time. She behaved herself and already has rave reviews.







Our first outing...back to the hospital to have our picture professionally taken. At least we knew were in a good place should something go awry.









Grandpa and Bea.

Update from the Adams household

Good morning, All,

As reported yesterday, we're finally home! Ms. Beatrice is sleeping peacefully, for the moment, and M&D will soon be meeting to debrief the previous evening's events. Several action items are on the agenda: 1) Who gets up, and when; 2) where should feeding take place (living room or nursery?); and 3) how are we going to survive this?

Before we tackle those questions, we may take a moment to reflect upon our journey, so far. But only a moment: there just isn't time to reflect for too long, yet. All we know right now is that two months ago we were talking about how to memorialize a person we would never know. At that time, nobody could have imagined that we would be sitting on the couch, staring at a healthy, tiny, screaming bundle of joy/poop.

However, the journey isn't over; not even close. Over the long term, we have all of the normal milestones to meet: talking, walking, school, etc. Short term, the challenges are primarily logistical: the Little One will need o2 support for at least the next month, which makes moving her very difficult and means that M&D (or at least one of them) will be house-bound during that time. Because of how the Little One started out, visitors will be infrequent and daycare is verbotten for at least a year, which means no work and no school for M this fall (D attempts to calm himself by taking a deep breath). We'll get more information after our first visit to the pediatrician on Wednesday afternoon.

Just too much to write about this morning. We'll pick back up again soon.

Team Beatrice (Ian)