New Photos also added to Web Albums!

I finally got around to organizing all the Photos we have in Picasa, and discovered... I only uploaded about 1/4 of what we have. So... yea... I decided it MIGHT be a nice idea to upload the rest, and relink the albums. The dates are approximate, but the files 'Created On' date, under properties should be fairly accurate.

Linky

Well that went smoother than expected. Mazie's Photos are now at their new home:

http://picasaweb.google.com/azaezel/Mazie02?feat=directlink

We're going to be moving our Photos from Photobucket, to Picasa Web Albums today for two reasons:

1) I can get a Picasa app on my phone, so management of the photos doesn't have to be done at my home computer, or from a crappy mobile web page.

2) Google is a big proponent of open source software, and I'm trying to do my best to support them any way I can.

The changeover will happen over the course of today. Not too sure what I'll get as far as eye candy for this site, but we'll find out later.

Mazie giving Kristen her version of a kiss!

We're fairly certain Mazie has a tooth that's about to erupt. She's got a weird blood blister looking thing on her gum, and the parents we've talked to, as well as WebMD have all but confirmed that is pretty common when a tooth is about to appear. We'll keep an eye on it obviously, but in the next couple days, be prepared for a massive glut of "Mazie's first tooth" photos from any angle we can get them in. Obviously, she will be anything but cooperative!

New videos, and photos...

Mazie had a doctor appointment today. Wasn't a major one, or anything, they were just a little concerned about her weight. WIC almost tried to make us feel as if we weren't feeding her enough, so Sally brought us in for a visit, just to see what her weight gain was like after a couple weeks. She gained almost 11 ounces, and is over 12 pounds now. She's on the low end of the growth chart, but being that she was 2 months early, she's fairly on track. The doctor doesn't sound worried at all, and told us to pretty much ignore WIC's 'worries'.

It just makes you feel like a really crappy parent, when you're feeding your kid constantly, and some lady says "You should let her eat any time she wants to eat..." It's kinda like... "No sh*t sherlock, you think we're eating the formula you're giving us?". Then it was "You should let her sleep whenever she wants to sleep?". Makes you wanna say "Really? You mean she shouldn't be staying out with her friends until 2 AM?!?"

Oh well, she's doing well, and is happy... that's all that really matters!

Good Morning Mazie!




More crawling attempts

Mazie is crawling... sorta. She only goes backwards, but she goes. This means Mom no longer has time for... well... uh... anything!

Mazie starts eating real food today! Unrelated video here... I'll try to get another one when she's eating later this morning.

New Vids, and Photos!

Vacation photos coming soon!

So, today Mazie had another doctor appointment. She is now 9lbs 4oz and 22 inches long! she will be 4 months old this saturday, and the doctor has given us the go ahead on people food next month. she also got her 4 month shots today, which was probably harder on me than it was Mazie. Jake was there for support and as always is the best dad ever!

We put a video up and some pictures of our trip to santa rosa. Mazie did awesome in the car, sleeping almost the entire way. As long as the car is moving she's happy. She did get sun burned pretty bad when we went to Bodega Bay. We had her covered, hat, jacket, pants and shoes. The reflection off the sand did her in. Blistered face and everything. but she never made one peep! she's so tough! Of course we felt horrible, but her doctor said she did the exact same thing to her kid, and being a doctor she should have known better so she said not to worry.

Sally (mazie's doctor) is so so pleased with Mazies progress. she says the ONLY way you can tell she is a preemie is her size. everything else is either right on target or WAY ahead of the game. She said that by the time she is a year old, she should be right on track with her weight and height. Of course, we think she's perfect. lol

Mazie and I are going to go back to Bellingham for a few weeks, driving up with dad, and driving back down with Jake. will post many pictures when we get back!

Have some Pics from Santa Rosa!

Mazie had a good time at all the BBQ's this past weekend. Jason on Saturday, and Family on Sunday. Got a bunch of pictures up on Photobucket.

Wayne turned on the mister, which she didn't seem to be a big fan of, but her reaction was funny to say the least.

Ian held her for a bit, as did tons of other people. She slept pretty good the past couple nights, so I'm bettin' y'all tuckered her out a bit.

New pictures added to Photobucket. No news to speak of... Mazie's still doing her best to get that noggin of hers held up by herself, as well as crawling, and standing with some assistance from Mom, and Dad...

Mazie laughed for the first time last night... Cutest... sound... EVER.

Not quite sure how I'm going to do it, but I'll get a video of it sometime here.

She's doing very well with the turning over thing, as well as the head holding and attempts to stand up. She's still wobbly obviously, but I think once she's able to hold her head up, crawling is going to happen quickly, walking pretty quickly also.

Last Wednesday she had another round of shots... 4 of them. She did I cry we've never heard before... one that made you want to reach over, grab the nurse by the neck, and throttle her... although you know it's for the best, so obviously you don't...

Chris, and Janay were here with Chris's son Josh over the weekend. I think they had a good time meeting our little monkey.

I've uploaded a few more pics... sorry for the delay on these. We've just been incredibly busy lately.

I've got a bunch of new pictures on tap, Michelle and I have been trying to just enjoy the weekend though, so I haven't uploaded them. I'll try to get them up on Photobucket tomorrow if work is slow.

Mazie's doing really well. She's on full formula feeds, and is waking up like clockwork. There's a portion of the night where she stays down for 4-5 hours, and we're trying to get that rotated to around midnight or so.

Not much else to report... She's just poopin', peein', eatin', and sleepin, just as she should!

Check this out!



Mazie rolled over, tummy to back for the first time this evening. Pretty big step!!

We had a great visit with Mazie's Grandpa, and Great Grandma, as everyone can probably see with all the pictures that got taken. I think they had a good time meeting their new family member.

Mazie's headed to her first birthday party with Mom today. Carly's daughter Danielle is having a party, which should be fun.

Michelle and I have fallen into a routine, where I take care of Mazie during the night while Michelle sleeps, feeding, changing and such, since I'll likely be awake during those hours, and she takes care of Mazie during the day while I'm sleeping. So far it's worked out well... although it seems like Mazie likes to sleep during the day, and be awake with Dad all night. It's OK though, we just watch some TV, have some food, and chill while Mom gets some rest.

Mazie, and Family are on YouTube! Click the link to the right to check out the videos!

Mazieanne.blogspot.com is now Email enabled! To send an email to Mazie, click the link to the right that says "Email Mazie!"

Taken this morning by Michelle... Just hanging out. We stared at each other for about 20 minutes before she passed out, then I did. Our little monkey is pretty awesome...

Mazie's home today!

We had a great time giving her another bath. She's eating well, but right now, at 12 midnight, when Ma, and Dad are starting to get sleepy after such a long day, she's decided she's not tired at all, and is quite fussy.

Oh well, we knew it was going to be like this... and even though it's rather rough, and she's setting our schedule right now, we're gonna get through it together. It's just awesome having her home.

Earlier today, she fell asleep sitting on my chest as I was burping her. It's weird having something that feels so comfortable around you that it just passes out in your hands. Weird, but pretty awesome.

Mazie's coming home tomorrow...

Not much else I can say! Can't wait!

Mazie is now on Ad-lib feeds, which means she eats when she 'asks' for it. She's got the tube out of her nose finally too. Nurses are saying that as long as everything continues this way she'll be home with us within a week.

She's doing awesome!

Mazie is kickin' ass, and takin' names. She's nippling most of her feeds the whole way now. The nurses are beginning to talk about 'ad lib' feeding, which means rather than force her to eat every 3 hours, they feed her when she's acting hungry, just as we would at home. It's just about the final step before what the call 'rooming in', which is basically spending the night in a room at the hospital with her. The nurse we spoke with today puts it at max two weeks. That particular nurse has worked in the NICU for 25+ years... so we're putting some stock in what she's saying.

Mazie's also over 5 pounds now. She's a little piggy!

Another good day for our little monkey!

She's up to 46 Ml of food now, still at 22 Calories. She's still having trouble doing the full feeds, but she's nippling 2 out of every 3 feeds, and every time she's nippled, she's acting like she wants to eat.

We got a pediatrician, and bought the rest of our baby stuff today. Now it's just up to Mazie. She needs to be nippling every feed, and eating all or most of it just about every time.

Well, no posts lately, because there's been no real news to speak of. Mazie's been kinda stagnant until today, and yesterday.

However, today and yesterday, she started nippling very, very well, taking most of her food every other feeding via a bottle, and during other feedings acting like she wanted a bottle, rather than what I've been calling her "Nostril feedings". The nurse I spoke with today said that as long as she continues to show improvement in that arena, and can nipple all her feedings without falling asleep early on, she could be home in a week or so.

She's up to 45 ml of food every feeding, and she's keeping it all down with no problems, no spit ups, or anything.

Michelle is doing OK now, after getting something called Mastitis, which is basically an infection of the breast tissue, often experienced by breastfeeding mothers who are using a pump rather than directly feeding the baby. She got some antibiotics for it, and her fever appears to have broken last night. She's going a bit stir crazy not being able to visit her kid though... She'll be back at 100% soon, and visiting Mazie ASAP.

No news is good news at this point. Mazie is doing OK still. Just growing up, and trying to stretch that tummy of hers out.

I added some new photos. Other than that, not really anything new to report. We just want her home...

Mazie's in a regular crib!! Yay!!

She's able to keep her temperature constant for over 24 hours now, and is doing really well. We're really happy about it.

Unfortunately, I'm an idiot, and I forgot to charge the camera, so... no pictures tonight, but I'll get some up tomorrow.

She's still having trouble with the one stumbling block we've been having trouble with for a while. Nurses still say it's not a big deal. We're not too worried about it... we're just going to be patient, and work with her on it. No big deal, just a matter of time!

Mazie's doing pretty good again today. We're just at that same stumbling block we've been at before. She keeps getting incredibly tired during her feedings. She eats a bunch, and then stops, or eats a bunch, and 'Bradys' which basically means she stops eating, and breathing at the same time. Her breathing slows dramatically, and alarms, bells, and whistles go off. You basically just move her and it snaps her back into reality, and breathing again, but she just gets so sleepy.

She's got some growing up to do it seems. It's just incredibly frustrating to see... she's been doing so well up to this point, and now it's not even that she's doing badly... she's just stagnant. I wonder if this was what it was like for my parents to see me in school, knowing all the things I know, but stagnating, and not moving forward. I really hope that I don't have to experience that with Mazie, because this part is just ridiculously frustrating, and disheartening, because it makes me feel so helpless. I like to fix things, and this is something only Mazie can fix.

It'll happen... I just hope it's soon, and I wish there was something I could do.

Today was a good day for our little monkey. She ate pretty well, and is maintaining her temperature so far. We're really hoping she'll be in a regular crib soon. She's completely off the lights at this point. Her bilirubin levels went up slightly, but not enough to be worried about according to the doctor.

She was awake for almost our whole visit at 3 AM today after I got off work. She's incredibly cute when she's watching Michelle, and I through her little portholes... especially when she's starting to nod off a little, but fighting it... and fighting it hard.

I added some pictures to the photobucket.

Unfortunately Mazie's Bilirubin levels went up a bit, so she's not out of the isollete quite yet. They're going to take away the phototherapy again today. Her levels are borderline at this point.

Our biggest concern right now is those bilirubin levels, as that's what seems to be holding her back the most. She gets so tired from doing everything, and trying to filter out all the junk, that she falls asleep during her feedings, and can't take them all by nipple.

At this point... it appears that's the only obstacle that we have to overcome!

Good news today! Mazie will likely be out of the Isolette, and in the room in a little crib thingee tomorrow.

She's still having a bit of trouble with her Bilirubin, but we're not sure if she's going to need the light or not. She's still getting really tired during her feedings, and Michelle, and I learning to not stimulate her quite so much while she's eating. She's just so interested in everything that goes on, and she makes herself tired, particularly when Mom, and Dad are around.

According to the nurses, she's doing much better with the nipple, and actually grabbing for it when she wants to eat.

I haven't been able to see her for a day or so... I'm not sure if I'm coming down with something or not, and thought it better to stay away at this point, just to make sure. I think it could just be allergies, but I'm still not quite sure. I'm going to see what's going on at 3 AM when I get off work to decided.

She's up to 36 Ml of food, which apparently for her weight is the full feeding. They weighed her today at 4 Lbs 3 Oz, which is a huge gain from yesterday, and is possibly a mistake. I'm not quite sure how that works... but it will get figured out.

Mazie is doing great today, as is her Mom.

She drank most of her 1200 noon nipple feedings, and she's up to 22 Ml of food, and at this point is actualy stretching her little tummy out a bit, so not eating the whole thing won't be terribly uncommon at this point.

She's still getting pretty darn tuckered out by her feedings, but she's doing better.

Michelle's doing really well. She's taking it pretty easy and she's healing up quite well.

We're gonna go feed her again at 9 tonight... for now we're watching Get Smart, and hangin' out, takin' it easy.

Mazie 4/2/09

So today was a bit of a long day for Mazie. I don't want to say a setback day, because it's really not. She's just very tired, and having a little trouble.

She's got the feeding tube in her nose. She keeps forgetting to breathe while she's eating. She's falling asleep when she goes to eat, and she'll start to eat, but very soon after her breathing will slow dramatically. We pat her on the back, wake her up a litle, and she starts breathing again with no problems... It scared the crap out of us when it happened, but she was fine, and the Nurses told us we did exactly what they did, so we'd done good.

According to Mazie's nurse this really isn't uncommon at all. She's just learning to coordinate all her actions, and when she's tired from the Bilirubin (the stuff that's causing her jaundice) it's just very, very hard for her to do. She's holding it down just fine, we're just having to give it to her through a tube instead of a nipple. When she is awake, and alert, she has no problem whatsoever with breathing, sucking, and swallowing.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better... one day at a time. Today wasn't as good as past days, but this is only one day in her life. There's plenty more where this one came from.

Just got back from the hospital.

Mazie had a tube in your nose for feeding, which bothered Michelle a lot. The nurse assured her it was fairly common. She just gets so tired that she starts to fall asleep when we're feeding her. As long as she stays awake though... she sucks that food down like they're starving her.

We're worried about her obviously... but apparently it's completely normal, and not something they're worried about at this point.

She gained another 11 grams overnight. She's rapidly closing in on the 4 pound mark.

Reposted from my personal blog. I've gotten a bit of 'fan mail' on this one...

You know, it's weird how everyone tells you when they have kids... "Until you experience it... you'll never really understand", and "Until I saw my kid being born, I didn't really know what love was. It's weird... because it's absolutely, and unequivocally true.

Mazie Anne Rully was born on March 28th, 2009 at 12:42 PM. She weighs 3 lbs, 8 Oz, and is 17 1/2 inches long. She's a little one... and she's strong. Currently in the Newborn ICU at Renown in Reno.

I could not have asked for a better birthday present. She is perhaps the most amazing thing I've ever seen, and my Wife runs a close second for pushing her little body out, nourishing her for these months, and giving her life.

I don't even know what to say... They both truly render me speechless. I am absolutely humbled by the power that this child already has over me.

New Photos 3/31/09

Mazie's doing really well again today. Up to eating 12 ml of Mom's milk from 9 ml yesterday.

Michelle came home today, she's not terribly happy about it, and understandably so... but is doing well herself. She just needs to take it easy for a while until she's fully recuperated. I'm doing my best to remind her of her limitations, but she doesn't seem to believe she has any, which is one reason I love her.

Mazie is still undergoing phototherapy, as she's got a bit of yellowing to her skin which is caused by her body making more waste than her liver, and kidneys can keep up with at this point. She used to be able to depend on Mom's system to help out, but now that she's out, not so much. Apparently the 'sunlight' helps a great deal. I'll try to get a pic of her with her 'sunglasses' on soon. We think she's dreaming about being in Barbados...

Doctors just keep telling us she's doing great... she's just small.

I mis-posted Mazie's birth weight. She was actually very close to 4 lbs, at 3 lbs, 15 Oz. She's actually lost a very small amount of that weight, and is down to 3 lbs 14 Oz, but apparently this is also very common. In the next week or so, they will be looking for her to start gaining some weight. She's a little piggy though... I don't think it will be long at all.

Mazie's eating out of a bottle now. She's still got her central line available for feeding if need be, but she was drinking 3 ml yesterday, and is up to 9 ml today... pretty good for someone who's stomach is supposed to be the size of a thimble.

She's figuring out the 'suck swallow' thing. She's got it down, but sometimes when she gets the bottle into her mouth she just kinda gums it a little.

I got to hold her, and feed her today. Michelle did late last night.

Feeding a newborn is a hell of a weird experience. It's only then you start to realize how helpless this little pink package is, and how much they're going to depend on you. Gotta hold the head right, gotta hold the bottle right, gotta keep the covers on, gotta make sure the spit rag is nearby, gotta remember not to squeeze her too tight, gotta read her face, and realize when she wants the thing to go away so she can digest a little. It's an incredibly complex set of variables to juggle.

Good thing I play lots of video games, eh? WHO SAYS THEY'RE NOT GOOD FOR ANYTHING!! Juggling complex variables in a video game I think can be a great thing for learning how to cope with real life situations where you must juggle like that. Granted... the consequences for failure aren't nearly as bad, but I think everyone gets what I'm saying... or maybe I'm just making up dumb excuses for being a geeky 32 year old who still plays video games.

Changing her for the first time was a strange experience as well. She's so small, and you're almost afraid that you're going to break her. You start to wonder how the nurses manage to hold her without hurting her the way they do. It looks rather rough at times, but you realize that their touch is very tender... they've just been doing this for so long, and seen so many babies... that they're really good at juggling those complex variables, that already elude me a bit.

Mazie's Photobucket

Mazie Anne Rully

Born March 28th 2009,at 12:42 PM

17 inches long, 3 Lbs 8 Oz.

Currently in the Newborn ICU, but doing well. She's small, but seems quite healthy. The ICU doctor gave her the once over, 10 fingers, 10 toes, normal reflexes, straight spine, legs the same length, arms same length, etc.

The funniest part was when the docs were cleaning her nose out with the bulb thingee... she actually tried to push it away, "Get that damn thing outta here!"

Michelle's quote after the baby was born: "That sucked..."

5+ centimeters now, contractions are about 2 minutes apart, and they're startin' to hurt unfortunately.

We're currently working on getting a bag full of fluid into Michelle via IV, so the can perform the epidural.

Won't be long now!

4 Centimeters, contractions are about 10 minutes apart, and the other important thing is at 71%... Mazie's makin' her way here!

I just did laundry for Mazie.

It's pretty weird looking at all her clothes, and I keep wondering "Is she really going to be this small?!"

Tommorow is probably the day! They plan to induce labor tomorrow morning. I hope we're able to bring her home by Sunday! I know Michelle's tired of lying in that stupid bed!