Up to three pounds!

Claire keeps gaining little by little....now 10 days old and weighs three pounds. She now has a feeding tube in and they hope to try and feed her again in the next day or two. The optometrist checked her eyes yesterday and they were normal.

Claire upgraded

While Claire remains in the NICU, she has been moved (or her status upgraded) to "Precautionary Care" - which is a small room off to the side of the NICU unit. Claire gained 3 ounces (one-quarter of a can of beer) since her last weighing.

The nurses will attempt to feed her in the next couple of days, hopefully that will help her gain some weight even faster. The rest of the family is hanging in.....

New Images

From today...no change with Claire's status...though they've removed the tube that was draining her stomach (from her nose).

Claire "Popeye" Dwyer. Jessica was able to hold Claire at her visit yesterday.

Smilin' Claire - or is she catching flies? No real change in her status...which is good.

Mommy and Claire on June 23rd

Thursday, June 22nd

Jessica is home! She was discharged from the hospital this afternoon and is resting (or trying to) at home. She is tired and sore, but happy to be home. She is looking forward to daily visits to Claire who is doing ok. The doctors are concerned about her digestion (not uncommon to premies) and it appears that her intestines aren't developed enough to process milk, etc. so she is getting her nourishment intravenously. The tube out of her nose in the picture is draining her stomach and will be in for a week or so before the re-introduce "food". Her stomach x-rays today were better than yesterday and the doctor stopped to see us while we were there and he said that he was "encouraged" by what he saw today. He also said that hopefully she will be "boring" for the next week to ten days...in this case boring is very good (we'll take boring for the next two months!). We were told to expect ups and downs and that is where we are........

Wednesday, June 21st

Jessica is tentatively scheduled to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow. Daddy & kids are just heading out to visit Mommy and the girls will meet their sister for the first time........

Proud parents!

Presenting: Claire Elizabeth Dwyer and her proud parents!

Comments welcome, please sign your name!

Still learning this blog stuff...
If you leave a comment, please sign your name; otherwise Matt and Jessica don't know who you are! Thanks.
Bonnie

BABY ARRIVES!

Claire Elizabeth Dwyer was born @ 12:44pm today, June 19th. She is tiny (2 lbs, 12 oz - but one ounce more than her old man almost 35 years ago - and 14.75"). She seems to be doing fine, but they are keeping close watch on her. Jessica is coming down from the anesthesia and is in the recovery room now - 2 hours post delivery.

Comments can now be submitted

For those of you who may have wished to contribute comments, that feature is now enabled. As a newbie blogger I had it turned off by mistake. I'm sure Matt and Jessica would welcome your good wishes!
Bonnie

BABY ON MONDAY!??!?!

Jessica is (tentatively) scheduled for a c-section at noon tomorrow. The ultrasound on Saturday wasn't as good as the previous ones had been...today's was more like the earlier ones, but the doctor decided that it is time to take her out - provided that there is a bed for her in NICU (there were three empty when I left today - early afternoon).

Hopefully I will be able to report good news tomorrow and reveal her name.

Thanks again for everyone's help and support during this stage of the pregnancy. I'll report back tomorrow afternoon.

Visiting Mommy

When we visit with Mommy we love to sit in her hospital bed and watch TV....of course we love seeing mommy the most.
Mommy's doing good and it's posible that our new little sister will be here very soon. Daddy will fill you in later.

Love,

Madelyn & Gracie

Friday, June 16

Jessica had no changes at her ultrasound on Friday...so we continue in the same holding pattern. The doctor says that she will not let Jessica go beyond 34 weeks (two more weeks) and it's possible that she will have an amnio the end of next week - which could induce labor.

Dad & girls had a good visit with Mommy and Jessica seems to be in good spirits and resigned to the fact that she's where she needs to be right now.

The other day I posted how you can contact Jessica by telephone...you can also send e-mails to her through the Maine Medical Center website (http://www.mmc.org/mmc_body.cfm?id=1174) and cards can be sent to MMC, 22 Bramhall Street, Portland, ME 04102, she's in room 236C.

32 Weeks!

We have made it (today) to 32 weeks! Nothing new to report - which is good. Jessica was in good spirits when I spoke to her early this afternoon. She had some visitors this afternoon and was expecting her parents for dinner.

On the homefront, Madelyn went to Buid-A-Bear with her friend Colby today and came home with a new monkey-friend. Grace spent the morning with her Grampie (as she has done Tuesdays and Thursdays during the school year). Dad is now home (all day) for two weeks - and maybe longer...we'll see.

That's all for now. Jessica said not to hesitate to call her if you'd like to talk. The number is 877 339-3107 and she's in room #236 (pre natal care).

Thanks again for your support........

Status Quo

No change in Mom or Baby's condition...hanging in there. Dad and girls visited Jessica yesterday afternoon and had supper in her room. Jessica looked as well as she has since she has been in the hospital. She's still having daily ultrasounds (Baby's "scores" have been, and continue to be, 8 out of 8) and consults with the doctor...who says every day that she's able to stay in is that much better. Delivery date is a moving target and depends on ultrasounds and heart monitoring, but will probably be within two weeks.

Jessica again wants to pass along her thanks for the flowers, cards, calls, thoughts and prayers.

I would like to wish my fellow KSB Trekers good luck today as they head up to Bethel to volunteer (today) and then ride (starting tomorrow) in the Trek Across Maine. I'm sorry that I won't be able to join them.

Madelyn and Grace are doing very well. Madelyn finished up her nursery school career yesterday and is looking forward to going to Manchester Elementary after summer vacation. She also has a few birthday parties in the next week to kick off her summer social schedule (Grace will probably be close behind).

Thanks for all of your help while we go through this..............

Wednesday night, June 14

Hello all,

I was in Portland this afternoon and dropped in on Jessica briefly. She looks great and seems to be coping with her forced bed rest, which I know is not easy for her! Things seem to be about the same; daily ultrasounds will tell the story. Everything is very much day-to-day.

Matt and the girls arrived just as I was leaving, so perhaps he will have another report.

Bonnie

Tuesday, June 13th

Jessica thanks everyone for their support...still no change. Waiting....doctor thinks that it will be less than a week now....

At home Madelyn's last day of school is tomorrow...Daddy has been working mornings this week and Great nana, Tom and Kate are staying with Grace. I'm disappointed to be missing the Trek this weekend (but my butt isn't) but I did raise over $1,500 this year.

We're going to visit Jessica tomorrow and will post an update Wednesday night.

Thanks again to all!

I spoke with Jessica this afternoon (Monday) and she was scrapbooking away. She and baby are doing fine...doctor is now talking again about it being days, and not weeks until they take the baby....more updates to follow.

Thank you to everyone for their thought, prayers, meals and offers to watch the kids. We really appreciate this and I feel overwhelmed by everyone's generosity.

Thanks again.Matt

Monday, June 12

I just talked with Jessica and she is doing fine. Scrapbooking is keeping her occupied at the moment.

Today's sonogram showed no change; they are taking one day at a time. She had a tour of the neo-natal clinic Saturday night and she said that was very reassuring. They currently have 24 babies in residence and are full!

Phone number at MMC in Portland is 871-0111, if you care to call. That is the general number, so you will need to ask for her by name.

As soon as we figure out how, Matt will be posting messages here, too.

Bonnie

Sunday, June 11

I just spoke with Matt. He said the doctors want to "keep the baby inside" longer. Jessica is at 31 1/2 weeks right now and they hope to make it to 34 weeks before delivering her.

Daily sonograms will determine the course of action. More information will be posted here, as it becomes available.

Update on Baby Dwyer

Saturday, June 10, 2006

As you probably know, Matt and Jessica are expecting their third daughter in August. Because the baby's growth has slowed down, the doctor admitted Jessica to the Maine Medical Center yesterday, June 9. She is in Birthing Room #3 and is being watched carefully.
To quote Matt, "The baby is on her way, but it could be 2 days or 2 weeks." As of this morning the baby was breech, so a C-section is a possibility.

I'll post info here as it becomes available.

Bonnie