Update on Addyson and March for Babies

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Addyson is doing so well and we've been blessed with nice spring weather. We've been able to get out of the house more and she seems to love blowing bubbles in the yard.

Although I have to report that the oral feeding is not really improving, we have noticed a significant decrease in the vomiting since we've switched to a blenderized food diet.

With Dr. Escobar's encouragement, we've been giving Addyson 12 oz of blenderized food through syringes during the day and she receives 8 oz of formula overnight. It's been over a week since she's vomited and we couldn't be happier with this outcome. While she hasn't been losing any weight, she hasn't been gaining either, so we are going to be making some slight adjustments to the blenderized diet. (Basically, we put a day's worth of fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy into a blender and liquefy it)

Addy seems to really be developing well in terms of speech. We've only seen the speech therapist for four weeks, but Addy's made such an improvement. Before long, I'm sure she'll be asking to use the phone to call all of you herself. Currently, she's doing a lot of imitating, but we are working on spontaneous use of words as requests for needs and wants. A new favorite? 'No' Thank you to whomever taught this to her.

And now, a reminder. The March of Dimes March for Babies is past approaching. As many of you know, the March of Dimes is an awesome group that fights for the rights of parents as well as supports research in hopes to prevent babies being born too soon or with birth defects. The March of Dimes was a great support to us while we were struggling throughout the early days of the NICU and beyond. Please visit http://www.marchforbabies.org/teams/Addyson to support our team by making a donation or signing up to walk on our team! The more the merrier. Last year, we were able to raise a great amount of money and hope to continue the trend. I know times are tough right now for many of us, but even a few dollars can help save so many lives. So, again, please visit http://www.marchforbabies.org/teams/Addyson to find out more.

Friends and team members can purchase team gear, including team t-shirts, at www.cafepress.com/Addyson. Of course, these aren't mandatory, but for those of you wanting to wear a t-shirt claiming your support for Team Addyson, you are able to get one very easily. Economy shipping is $5.25 for the first item and $0.50 for the second item, so some of you may want to combine orders to save on shipping. Don't wait too long, the economy shipping states 7-9 business days. I must note that the t-shirts are priced at COST, meaning we do not make money for ourselves or for the March of Dimes through the purchase of the items at Cafe Press. Thanks to Nicole Green for helping me with the t-shirt design this year!