November 2, 2009: What a wonderful day!! On this day, we went to the Erie County Court House, testified under oath and was granted full parental rights of Maria by Judge Bozza (photo right shows us being questioned by our lawyer).
Grandpa Wittgens came to Erie for the occasion, representing Mima (thanks for the amazing books you sent, Mima!). Of course, Busha and Dzia-Dzia were there in spirit (or picture frame)!
We were joined at the court house by lovely friends. Maria's Godparents, Angie and Bryan Amburn and their four lovely children Brandon, Veronica, Alanna and Rebekah. Melissa Violante (known to Maria as "Aunt Dr. Mooo") represented Nick. Greg Schlueter represented for all 8 Schlueters. And Sister Josephine represented the Spiritual Family, The Work (a new religious order from Germany).
November 2nd is quite significant to us. Four years ago, we lost a little boy, Eugene Michael, to miscarriage. Overwhelmed by grief, the Lord spoke clearly to me: "I love you. I love your marriage. I have a plan for your family." Little Gene's due date was Nov. 2. How great is our God!
I am so overwhelmed by everyone who has been following Maria through her first three months with us! From Canada to Brazil, so many people have been following her story and praying for her. Family, friends, our co-workers, friends of friends, and friends of family have been supporting her, and for all of those kind thoughts and prayers, we are eternally grateful.
But lest my sister-in-law Christina Wittgens call me out for being a hypocrite in utilizing the internet to share my life (something to which I'm not usually drawn), I have decided that this blog has served it's purpose.
I started this blog so that family members could receive daily updates on Maria's hospital condition without Joe and I needing to make 10 repetitive phone calls a day. And so, here's one final update:
Maria is doing extraordinarily well! At her last Dr appointment a week ago, she weighed 8 lbs 12 oz. At her usual rate of growth, today she'd be just over 9 lbs! She's long out-grown her preemie clothes, and now her newborn clothes are getting tight. I cannot believe she's into 0-3 month sizes! I remember her little first diaper that she wore when she was only 2 lbs, and now she's grown into size 1. As I left the store the other day, where I went to buy size 1 diapers, I got choked up thinking about how quickly she is growing and how fast all of "this" is moving. I zoomed home and just rocked her while she was still little enough to do so. (I have no idea where the sudden burst of emotions came from, but they certainly overwhelmed me).
Maria saw Dr. Sala recently who was happy to report that her retinopothy has begun to regress!
Dr. Webster said that her reflux is still an issue, but we're having success adding cereal to her formula. The thicker formula I guess is "heavier" and weighs down in her stomach, therefore in theory, it'll stay in her belly. She still spits up, but less often than before the cereal.
Maria sleeps fairly well. On a good night, she'll give me a 3-4 hour block of sleep at night, which is nice.
She is still very sensitive to her environments and gets easily over-stimulated (which results in anywhere from 15 mins to 4 hours of crying to settle her down). So if you see us, and we're hesitant to pass her around, please don't take offence, we're just trying to avoid dealing with an inconsolable baby!
We spent Mother's Day together, just mommy and Maria. Joe was working all weekend in Meadville. Drs. Nick and Melissa had us over for dinner - lots of grilled steak and wine - yummy! We were so grateful for their invitation.
In summary, Maria is healthy, happy (especially when being held), loves to travel in her car seat (thank GOD...here we come MI and Hilton Head!), loves her daddy (and pulling on his chest hairs) and we are so grateful for the gift of her.
And so, to all of Maria's Super Fans...
Thanks for following this beautiful little life. Please continue to pray for her (and us!), and we hope that we can introduce her to everyone soon! Farewell!
PS - Maria hasn't just read "The Hobbit" and "The Fellowship of the Ring". Amy will be so happy to hear that I've begun reading to her "Confessions of a Shopaholic"!
After a long hiatus, here's some photos of Maria's first encounter with Dzia-Dzia! How appropriate that he came to Erie on his way home from Hilton Head, and is sporting a tee-shirt from the Old Oyster Factory, the family's favorite HH restaurant.
We cannot WAIT to bring Maria to Hilton Head. Or rather, maybe we just can't wait to get back to Hilton Head, I don't know which!
Of course Busha was happy to see Maria again - this time out of the hospital! She was very "Busha-like" and was so patient when Maria fussed (and fussed, and fussed and fussed...)
We are pleased to announce that Maria traveled very well to Michigan last weekend! She only required one stop on the six hour trip into Grand Rapids (which was a valuable learning experience for everyone...for example, we learned NOT to bring the binky into the restroom with us).
In Grand Rapids she met many loving aunts, uncles and cousins. Despite her mid-night freak session at her Uncle Pete and Aunt Sara's house, I'm fairly confident that they will remain open to having children at some point...(whew!). Her cousins are eager to show her many things, and among them, I believe Katie wants to teach Maria how to give slobbery kisses with a ketchup and mustard smeared face...Katie is being so patient in waiting to demonstrate.
A very special moment in GR was when Maria got to meet Grandpa Wittgens for the first time in person! I love the way she's eyeing him, "are you sure you're German, Grandpa? I was hoping for a German family..." You have no idea what you've entered into, kid!
On the way back to Erie we stopped in Farmington Hills to introduce Maria to Great-Grandma DeWitt and Uncle Tom! 
I was so glad that Maria could participate in having tea with Great-Grandma...it's a bit of a mommy-grandma thing, and I love Maria getting to be apart of it (even though she spent most of the time be bounced by dad so that she wouldn't get fussy).
She slept the whole 4 hours back into Erie. Thank God! Although I think the weekend was quite taxing, because she spent the next three days at home being a fussy-butt, and let me tell you...tequila shots have never sounded so good...can I get an "Amen" anyone???
(And before anyone starts to worry, know that the bottle never came out of the cabinet).
...
Mommy gets to sneak away to work for a while.
When I came home, here's how I found my little family:
We spent the afternoon together, and after dinner Maria got to hear more about Frodo and Sam's adventures in "The Fellowship of the Ring".
Today I took Maria to see Dr. Webster again. She now weighs 7 lbs 4oz! She's 20inches long. She really is like an average newborn baby! The nurse even told me that Maria is now officially on the growth chart!! She's in the 1st percentile for 3 month old babies! The nurse did not know where Maria stands on her corrected age growth chart, though. Still, the nurse was amazed that Maria even made it onto the growth chart this soon!
Maria also went into work with me this afternoon. She got to meet Mary, Colette, Fr Hahn and Fr. Steve!
As I look at her now, I am floored at how chubby her cheeks are (and before you ask, Dzia-Dzia - I mean her facial cheeks)! So sweet, my little girl is.
We are looking forward to introducing her to the GREAT state of Michigan this weekend!!! Just a few more months away until we can climb the dunes at Hoffmaster with her!
Aunt Lisa and Gramma came to visit last week. Thanks to their help, Maria's clothes have moved from being spread all over the guest bed, to hanging neatly and organized in the closet...whew!
Maria visited the mall for the first time while they were here, too! So sorry, babydoll, that it had to be the Millcreek mall...I would've preferred Twelve Oaks to start...
Maria spent a quiet Easter with mom and dad, but mostly with mom. We drove down to Meadville where Joe is working. We attended (most of) mass together. We arrived late and not-so-quietly. First, we were late leaving the house because I'm still getting used to the extra time it takes to get an infant out of the house (and she's not even spending time primping...what takes so long? I still haven't figured it out). Then we had to drive 45 min to Meadville, and since I'm a new mom, I've given up my "driving like a bat out of hell" habit. And since we no longer live in Michigan, we have to drive speed limits that are set at a snails pace...
We arrived to the Meadville Medical Center to collect Joe, hoping that we would only arrive to mass maybe 5 minutes late... Just as we pulled up, Joe got called to the E.R. "Just gotta check an X-ray, hon...wait for me." Our 5 minute delay turned into more of a ... well... let's just say we were at the church doors by the middle of the 2nd Reading. Just as we were about to enter the joyous Easter celebration inside the Church, Joe got paged at the door... quick call back to the hospital...now we can join the celebration! Except of course there are no seats, and so we had to climb over and under what seemed like everyone in the Church to find a place for the dumb car seat! After mass, we feasted on our Easter Dinner, I mean, our Easter omlette, at Perkins. Washed it all down with a bad cup of coffee and mommy and Maria headed back to Erie so Joe could finish more work. I'm so grateful that I found the whole day hilarious! Oh, how nice it would've been to be in Rome with grandpa...
Easter Afternoon at home...
Maria just loves her swing now that I bothered to buy (and install) batteries!
