Harper and Her Many Hats

And now modeling our Fall 2010 collection, Miss Harper Elizabeth Meabon. Harper is featuring hats from her extensive cranial wardrobe. Our young fashionista has become the envy of all the babies in the Methodist NICU, drawing oohs and aahs from nurses near and far. She struts her stuff while sleeping, during feedings and even during diaper changes.













When a girl can’t wear clothes, she’s got to make do with what she can. In Harper’s case, she is now in complete hat, sock and mitten overload! But boy is it fun to dress that little girl up. I have to laugh because the night nurses have caught on to the fun and we come in each morning to find Harper in coordinating outfits, sometimes even matching her blankets! As you can see, her Honey went a little overboard with hair bows (note the lack of hair) and they are now being attached to her hats. She’s still a little too small to fit into the majority of her wardrobe but don’t worry, we’re getting there so more pictures will follow.

Moving on from fashion to headlines, Harper has graduated to a big girl bed! She was previously in a Giraffe Bed that was heat controlled and hooded when she slept. We were able to move her to an actual crib this week since she regulates her body temperature so well on her own. We’ve added a mobile and a few other crib accessories to keep her occupied. The noise of the NICU doesn’t seem to bother her at all, which will work in our favor with Rooney’s barking once she gets home.





We are also excited that Harper is gaining weight, a huge part of her road to recovery. As mentioned before, I’m able to breastfeed her two to three times a day on wrapped days but otherwise, the kid is hitting the bottle…and hard. She is taking her feedings every 3 – 4 hours and taking about 50 – 65 cc’s per feeding. We’ve added a calorie supplement to each bottle and a vitamin supplement every 12 hours. Harper has two weights, one with her omphalocele wrapped and one when it is unwrapped. Since her wrapped weight is a little unpredictable, we are taking her unwrapped weight as closer to her real weight. Her birth weight was 6 lbs. 11 oz. She’d gotten down to 6 lbs. 6 oz. but as of last night’s weigh in, she was back to 6 lbs. 11 oz. (unwrapped)! Steve’s taken to calling her “Little Piglet” since she clearly has inherited her mother’s appetite. Guess we’ll need to get our girl running alongside her momma before too long! Well, let’s make sure that liver’s tucked back inside first.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support for Harper, Jared and me. I continue to be overwhelmed by the messages we receive and love that surrounds us. We are truly blessed and please keep the prayers going!






Harper - Two Weeks Old