Camilla Magdalena Mangan

Welcome Camilla!

Camilla surprised us with her arrival at 2:06 a.m., Tuesday, May 26. As we type this, she is well. She joins us as a sheer colossus in comparison to Eva at a staggering 2 lbs 14 oz. Wow! Though she is also about 5 days older in comparison to when Eva was born..

Camilla's arrival was being watched for considering Eva, and found Christi on modified bedrest for the previous month as a preventative measure. This may have prevented her from giving birth sooner, though we're speculating at best. She arrived with speed. With Eva we were able to contain her for 48 hours allowing shots of betamethazone(a steroid that helps the lungs produce serfactant which is a lubricant that allows the lungs to open and close). Camilla received 1 shot and showed up about 5 hours later. She was placed on and continues to be assisted(though very little as of today) by a CPAP machine. CPAP is NOT intubation, and simply helps breathing by adding a little more pressure as needed as well as the saturation of her air. We breathe 21 % oxygen and she has been receiving anywhere form 21 - 35 % saturation.(This could be an incorrect description)

Upon seeing her I was amazed at her size in relation to Eva, as she is a full inch and 12 oz. larger. This is significant as she is strong and very much a fighter. (Christi knows this from her relentless kicking in the womb) She has some hurdles of course as anyone born at this time should, though she is progressing rapidly.

Thank you Dr. Fleming, Dr. Weiner, Dr. Kennedy, Dr. Judge and all the nurses and respiratory therapists(too many to remember all the names of at the moment) and everyone on staff at St. Joseph Mercy hospital who have eased our stay and provided remarkable care for Camilla. As well as to everyone else for continued support through prayers and all the intangibles and ways people have made this intense week easier and joyful.

Babbo

Halloween then and now

Here was Eva's first halloween--look closely to see her in the incubator.



And here was our halloween this year! What a difference a year makes...

Eva turns one

Eva and the apple

Eva encountering her first apple, picked during her first trip to an orchard. Watch her progress as she goes from thoughtfully considering to eating.

(the title was was too good to resist :)

Eva then and now

Happy birthday Eva!

After a several month long hiatus from blogging, we are back to celebrate Eva's first birthday: friday, October 24. Thanks to anyone who is still checking in with us at this point, and thanks to all of you who have been watching Eva's progress this year and cheering for her along with us.

It's been a wild couple of months: we left Florence at the end of June and moved back home to Ann Arbor. In the whirl of being back in our families and introducing Eva to everyone, packing and unpacking, looking for jobs and starting to work, not to mention trying to keep up with Eva as she grows by leaps and bounds, we've been pretty well occupied. We want to keep the blog going, especially for all of our family and friends who are watching Eva grow from afar, so please do keep checking in.

The GREAT news is that one year down the road from Eva's sudden and dramatic appearance in the world, she is flourishing! She couldn't be doing better. All of the numbers are good (verified by the doctor today), she is on the growth charts for her chronological age, and the doctors couldn't be more pleased with where she is today:

length today: 27 3/4" (3rd percentile for 12 mo.)
birth length: 14"

weight today: 17 lb. 5 oz (5th percentile for 12 mo.)
birth weight: 2 lb. 3 oz

In addition, she is developing right on target for where she should be--she's saying and doing the things a 9 month old should be saying and doing (which is her adjusted age), so they're also very pleased with that. And let me tell you that WE are also very pleased with that! Eva grows daily more delightful. She is smiling, babbling, exploring all day long. She is both very laid back and a girl of very strong opinions. If she doesn't want to do something (for example, eat from a spoon), she will NOT. She doesn't usually make a fuss about it, but she just won't do it.

She is still very easily comforted and occupied. She is interested in EVERYTHING. She spends the whole day exploring with her hands--she taps with her fingers and pats with her hand everything that she sees. The combination of her contentedness and her interest in patting and tapping everything, no matter how small, mean that she's not very interested in crawling. She can wiggle around, but usually she's not enticed enough by something far away to try to crawl and get it. Instead, she finds something nearer at hand to be interested in. So she's not so into crawling, but she LOVES to walk. She can balance herself well when she's standing up and has some support behind her, and she'll walk all day long if someone will hold her hands and help her cruise around.

I could go on and on....but I'll let this be for now. I'm trying to upload more pictures, but blogger seems to be having some difficulties....stay tuned for the latest photos.

Happy birthday, Eva!

Grandpa's birthday

We celebrated Christi's dad's birthday just after we returned home--the bib says it all.