Shout Outs

Keeping Linden healthy these past few months has been our top priority. And since we've both had to return to work, we've relied a lot on help from people around us. Though it may embarrass them all, I'm going to publicly thank them all here (in chronological order).

Aunt Alison: Though she lives a 4 hour flight away, my sister Alison was able to watch Linden for a few days in December and January when she was home during her Winter Break from Berkeley. She took the lion's share of a week with Linden when we were still trying to figure out what a "schedule" looked like for a baby. She must have had some magical power because whenever she was in the room, Linden wouldn't take her eyes off of her Aunt Alison.

Grandma Miller: An elementary school art teacher who works 60 hour weeks can only find time to slow down for one thing -- her granddaughter. Even then, she doesn't slow down as much as she just slides into neutral. Linden loves her Grandma Miller because she understands that when she (Linden) is upset, she likely wants to either look at an arched doorway, pictures on the wall, or go up and down. Grandma Miller makes sure to come and visit on weekends and when she has a day off of school (like when she braved a snowstorm and a 2.5 hour drive down to Bloomington).

Miss Erika: A 2012 graduate from the Illinois Wesleyan School of Nursing and ICU Nurse at Methodist Hospital in Peoria, Miss Erika is perhaps the most over-qualified friend Linden has who hangs out with her regularly. She watched Linden one day per week for the early part of 2014 and was often greeted with spit-up and the occasional dirty diaper.

Miss Jen: Before Linden even came home from the NICU, our neighbor Jen came by the house to let us know that she would love to watch Linden for us, if ever there were a need. It was such a heartfelt offer and we were happy to take her up on it. Linden and Jen spent most Thursdays together in January and February. Linden loved reading stories with Miss Jen and I'm sure she'll be glad to know that, once she gets outside, she can visit her friend who lives just down the street.


Miss Laura (not pictured): A senior in Illinois Wesleyan's School of Nursing, Miss Laura stepped in at just the right time. She already had an interest in neonatology when she heard Linden's story and expressed an interest in watching her if ever there was a need. In February, there was a need and we were excited to introduce her to Linden. Laura happened to have completed an internship in a NICU in Indianapolis over the summer and is currently interning at the NICU in Peoria. Though Linden was off of her monitor, caffeine, and weighed nearly 13 pounds when she met her, Laura still seemed excited to watch a baby who had a NICU stay on her resume.

Grandma Twanow: We certainly couldn't have kept Linden at home as long as we did without help from Laine's mom and Linden's Grandma. Grandma Twanow spent approximately two days per week snuggling her granddaughter and Linden spent the same amount of time catching up on sleep while wearing a specific shade of pink (said shade of pink draped on Linden in photo). We appreciated catching up on sleep as well, since Grandma Twanow often stayed up with Linden for the last bottle of the night.

Laine and I appreciate all of your help. Linden was so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people her first few months at home.

Out and About

It has been nearly a month since my last post, so there's a lot to catch up on!
Linden's last weigh-in was over two weeks ago and she was 12.4 lbs at that time. Our best guess is that she's now about a pound heavier.

Even more important, we are now in mid-February, which is when we'd initially been told by our neonatologists in the NICU was the time when we could begin taking Linden into public. Old habits die hard and as we approached mid-February, we began to wonder if we could really begin to let down our guard.

We had a chance to check in with our favorite neonatologist and he assured us that, though Linden would likely get sick soon after meeting groups of people and littles, she was healthy and strong enough to handle it. In other words, our daughter could finally be removed from our home quarantine and treated like a full-term baby.

This was good timing because my cousin Liz was going to be in town from Portland for her wedding shower, so we were eager for Linden to meet some more Millers.

Aunt Liz and Aunt Kristin with Linden & Laine

Lucky for us, Linden loves people, so she had a great time meeting and talking to her aunts.

Even though we'd been given the green light, we decided to use the last two weeks of February to slowly introduce Linden to the world we'd been keeping at sanatized-arms length.

So, instead of sending her straight to daycare at the first chance we had (and by daycare, I mean the house across the street with a few other kids), we made arrangements to keep her at home.

The first couple days we had an Illinois Wesleyan senior nursing major (Laura) come watch her. We are lucky to live next door to a phenomenal nursing program and were glad to be able to have Laura watch Linden because she has an interest in neonatology and currently has an internship with the Peoria NICU. What a great fit for both Laura and Linden. Laura has followed this blog and knew Linden had spent time in the NICU, so I felt like we were pulling a bait and switch on her when she showed up to see such a happy, healthy, chunky, non-monitor-wearing baby. Laura didn't seem to mind and Linden loves Miss Laura.

On Thursday (2/20/14), Laine stayed home with Linden and took her to work in the afternoon. Linden then visited my office on Friday and she made a nice first-impression at both places of employment, though she fell asleep halfway through her visit at Illinois Wesleyan. But it was Friday, so I think everyone understood the need.

Part of the reason she may have been so tired was that she also spent an hour on Friday visiting her daycare. There were a few kids who were really excited to meet her. As soon as Laine walked in the door, a two-year-old girl tottled over saying "baby, baby...so cute...out...out" pleading for Laine to take her out of the carrier.

That afternoon, we hosted our first play date with my coworkers Nancy and Jason and their 9-month-old Arianna. The girls were intrigued by one another and soon found a common interest in primary colors and soft toys.

After a heavy Friday night sleep, we kept the social tour moving on Saturday with our first visit with Linden's cousins, Chapin and Gibson. The boys had just returned from an "awesome" trip to Disneyland. Though they had met through video chat, this was their first in-person meeting. But they acted like old friends.

Chapin immediately invited Linden to join him in playing a game on the iPad. After assessing her abilities, he encouraged her to maybe just watch him play instead.

Gibson was taking a nap when we arrived but he was very excited to meet "Baby Linden."  At one point, Gibson stood over Linden who was laying on a blanket on the floor and invited her to follow him over to the racetrack he'd made out of painter's tape to play cars. He was only slightly disappointed when he was told that she could not yet walk.

They'll love to playing with Linden when she's ready and she'll love watching them play in the meantime.