Matti Can't Drive 55

Hello all,

Sorry the posts are slowing down.  That's a good thing though as there isn't a lot to update as Mattigan is progressing nice and steady.  Of course I say that but I'll write a ton in our update.

Tomorrow Mattigan will be 33 weeks adjusted (this means her gestational age) or 40 days old (from her date of birth).  It gets weird telling people how old Mattigan is.  Preemie speak is confusing sometimes.  Some of her goals are set by how old she is from when she was born and some from how old she is counting from conception.

Anyways, she's now weighing in at.....weight for it....ha, get it? 'weight' for it....3lb 13.9oz.  Yowza!

Eating 30 cc's over a half hour.  Hoping to start introducing Matti to a bottle the end of this week/start of next week.  That's optimistic though and we may have to wait til end of next week to start trying.  She won't really feed from it yet, it's just teaching her the basics.  Feeding requires a preemie to spend a lot of calories and that burns off her weight gain, so it's a balance. And remember, for a preemie to feed is like trying to learn to drive a car. We've been doing it so long we just drive.  But that first time you get behind the wheel you have to adjust the seat and mirrors, watch the road, use the gas and brake and clutch, shift gears, WATCH THE ROAD!, don't forget to signal, stupid windshield wipers, WATCH THE ROADDDDDD!!!!!  So yeah, it's like that. :)

In other good news, Matti's first eye exam came back with good results.  Very exciting news.  We didn't expect anything bad, but it's stressful each time they test her for anything.  Also, that exam stresses out the baby.  The staff dilates her eyes about 3 hours ahead of time, then they do numbing drops right before the procedure.  The doctor holds her eyes open then uses a little paddle to rotate her eyes side to side and up and down.  (Obviously you can't just ask her to look left, look right nor which ways do the 'E's point.) All this causes the baby to usually require more oxygen and attention as they are understandably upset.  Mattigan did great.  We didn't even know they'd done the test until the nurse told us later on because Matti wasn't behaving any different.  So like usual, what we expected was not what Matti did. :)

Mattigan met her Aunt Sam, Uncle Patrick, and cousin Dominic last week via the computer.  Check out the new photo of Dominic!  He's getting so big.  He's a happy boy. :)

Today, Aunt Kimmy got to meet Matti via computer as well.  Matti interrupted Aunt Kimmy's study break.  But Aunt Kimmy said that Mattigan is way more interesting.  Or at least that's how Matti interpreted it.

This weekend Mama and Daddy got the house and yard 92% picked up, cleaned, and ready for guests. Still things to do but if we can get Mattigan's room decorated then we can call it quits.

Also this weekend, we were lucky enough to celebrate Oma's 50th birthday!  Fantastic time outside the Wild Horse Pass Casino at Bike Fest 2014.  Lots of neat motorcycles, interesting people, and music. We met a nice Canadian couple. Eh? Tried out a new BBQ place. Then watched Sammy Hagar perform. Then capped off the night with a couple tries at the slot machines. We didn't lose much but didn't win either.  Only game we really won at was called ATM.  You put in your card and get money.  Though even when you win at ATM, you lose.  :)

Back to the grind tomorrow.  On the road again...