Carrie's (carrie_geiger) baby is here!

[hez]

I heard from Carrie (carrie_geiger) that her new baby, Claire Elizabeth is here! She was born on Saturday (5/27), at 33 weeks. 4lbs, 12oz, 19 1/4".

Carrie was on bedrest the last few weeks, trying to let Claire mature as much as possible, and spending time getting the rest of her research on new gear done. Claire was a little too impatient for Carrie's plans!

Carrie's been released from the hospital now, but Claire is in the NICU letting her lungs develop just a little more.

Welcome, Baby Claire!!!

[annasmom]

Congratulations! And welcome Baby Claire! Wow, that is one long preemie baby! Hopefully Claire will be home really soon.

[denna]

Congrats Carrie!!! Welcome to the world baby Claire! I'm glad things went well and all are healthy and happy. Please send Carrie our Congrats and best wishes. Definitely feel us in when you know more later..

Thanks for the update

Denna

[jennifer_r]

Congratulations and welcome to the world baby Claire. Hope Claire comes home soon.

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

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[octmom]

Congrats Carrie and welcome Claire! I hope that she is home with her mama very soon. Sounds like she may grow up to be a tall girl!

Jerilyn
DS, Sean 10/03
DD, Katie 3/06

"Baby makes days shorter, nights longer, home happier, and love stronger."

[buddyleebaby]

Welcome Claire, and hugs to your mama!

Claire Elizabeth is a beautiful name.

[bcky2]

welcome baby Claire!! i hope that you are home with your family soon.

[starrynight]

Congrats!!

[tina-t]

Congratulations! Hope Claire does well and gets to go home soon.

[wendmatt]

Welcome Baby Claire. Congrats Carrie.

[carrie_geiger]

Thank you for your messages of congratulations on the arrival of little Claire! I didn't anticipate just how heart-warming these messages can be from an online community, so I really appreciate them. (I've always been obsessed with this great BBB, and now I appreciate it that much more!)

Claire is doing well. She *is* a long preemie at 19.25". I even asked the nurse to double check her length while I watched b/c I was so surprised. Maybe she'll be tall and skinny compared to her short and stocky big brother. :-)

We still have lots of progress to make, but luckily we've been on a slow-but-steady path. After one week, Claire's lungs are strengthening: she's off the CPAP and we're working to wean her off of extra Oxygen flow. That's the slow part, and some days can be two steps forward, one step back.

We're also working on feeding. I'm passionate about bf'ing and am happy that my milk supply has been cooperating - she's had only breastmilk so far, fed by feeding tube. She's not quite strong enough to latch on for more than a few sucks, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that her stamina increases dramatically over this next week. They started "fortifying" the breastmilk to increase her calorie intake, which threw me for a loop b/c I don't know anything about the pros/cons of that. This is one area where I'm taking a leap of faith that this is best for her. (I hate being unsure about these kinds of things... I'm the research-everything-to-death type of person.)

The Doctors are also recommending we try bottle-feeding her breastmilk in the meantime, which I'd rather not do if possible. But, they feel as though the respiratory issues will be resolved this week (I hope so! But I'm afraid to be too confident...), and I don't want to hold her up from being discharged b/c I refused to try bottle feeding. I feel like I will make the compromise b/c we would get to bring her home and then be able to work extra-hard at weaning her from bottle to the breast once we're home.

The NICU roller-coaster ride is overwhelming, and she's in relatively good shape, especially compared to many of the NICU babies. Her NICU neighbor was discharged yesterday, and while I was very excited for his family, it really hit me hard that we're still here and all I want is for her to come home. The emotions definitely swell up at any moment.

Anyway, I mainly wanted to thank everyone (and thanks to Heather for posting) and to give an update!

Regards,
Carrie
DS Oct 2004 - 6 weeks early; undetermined cause; 18 hours in the NICU
DD May 2006 - 7 weeks early; undetermined cause; 9 days and counting in the NICU

[denna]

Carrie, I am so glad that Claire is doing so beautifully. It must be so hard to not be able to take your DD home. But hopefully that will change very soon.
It is so great that you are so determined to breast feed. About the bottle my DS took a bottle at about 2 1/2 weeks and still b'f like a champ. Im not sure if there is a big difference since he did have the breast before the bottle. Is there a lactation specialist you can call to voice your concerns too?!?
I wish you and your family the best! And I pray that Claire will be home soon, breastfeeding like a champ!!!

Congrats! And Take Care.

Denna

[juliasmom05]

Congratulations Carrie and welcome Claire Elizabeth. I'm so glad you made it to the hospital on time and hope Claire comes home soon.

Marci

Mom to Julia 4/05

[almostamom]

Welcome Claire and congratulations Carrie! May your sweet daughter be home with you soon.

~Linda~
http://lilypie.com/pic/060427/fDdc.jpg http://b2.lilypie.com/qW3mm7.png

[AmyZ]

Sending lots of "going home soon" vibes your way! Congrats!

Amy Z

"Ma!" to Eliana 2/04 - She's 2!
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