Morgan Kate

December 3rd, 2008- According to our calculations and our 12 week ultrasound today was my due date. It's hard to believe that instead of Morgan Kate being only a few hours old she is 101 days old. Wow! I am so thankful to God and to the advances in technology for getting Morgan Kate to this point. I have been told time and time again that ten years ago things would have been very different. Several times today as I was walking through the newborn nursery I have thought and wondered what it would have been like had she arrived today. Hopefully she wouldn't require all these cords and tubes, she wouldn't need the oxygen and she would probably be taking a bottle without any hesitation. However, Travis reminds me that we wouldn't have been able to spend the past 101 days with her. In that time we have watched her amazing growth (I have literally watched her eyelashes grow), we have been able to touch her and love on her, and we have really gotten to know our baby girl. God has been so good to us and has taken such great care of Morgan Kate. It's absolutely amazing!

Morgan Kate's due date doesn't mean much in the NICU world, but it does mean something developmentally. All of Morgan Kate's developmental milestones will be based on this date. She has a birthdate (August 24th) and a developmental birthdate (December 3rd). She is 101 days old, but has a "corrected" age of just a few hours. Her development and size will all be based on this date. Therefore in March when she is 6 months old she will be wearing clothes that a 3 month old would be wearing. She will be 6 months old, but 3 months corrected. Hope this makes sense. I'm still trying to figure it all out.

I had my second OG training today and it went well. It's hard forcing a tube down her throat, but I just have to separate myself. I can't look at her and think "Oh, my sweet baby girl". I have to look at her and think "Oh, this is my daughter and she needs food". Travis will get his training at the end of this week or the beginning of next.

Tonight Morgan Kate weighed in at seven pounds. Travis and I could hardly believe it. We weighed her four different times just to be sure. I was able to feed her a bottle at 9pm and she did a great job. She finished almost all of the bottle in about thirty minutes. She is working so hard and Travis and I are so proud!