Well, Willow was born 12 weeks ago today. This would be the last day of my maternity leave if I had not gone back to work for those weeks in between. The leave I still have is counting down and it's really stressing me out. I have about 7 weeks left now. I just want to have enough leave left when Willow comes home to be able to get to know her out of the hospital and get into some sort of routine with feeding, sleeping, etc. Moms of term babies: don't ever take for granted those 3 months you get to spend home from work with your baby (despite how much better women in other countries have it)!
Anyway, enough complaining. I have a healthy daughter against the odds and that is what's important. We had a good day too. My mom came down this morning. The grandparent ban was lifted a couple days ago, so she got to see Willow for the first time in almost a month. Dr. Grandy officially gave the word to nipple Willow whenever she's awake during a feeding time! He also increased her feeding amount to 52 mLs. I nursed her at 10 AM and she took 45 mLs; they gavaged the remaining 7. At 4PM she took another 45 and they didn't bother with the rest. I went back at 6:30 and gave her her Thursday bath and tried feeding again. She had some bad hiccups. Willow's nurse suggested giving her 10 mLs in a bottle to help the hiccups go away. She sucked those 10 mLs down in about 2 seconds flat, and then I tried to put her to breast, and she wouldn't take any more and fell asleep. So frustrating! And it made me again question my decision not to bottle-feed. But, she is making progress with the breastfeeding, it's just slower. I've been using a nipple shield too. It's this silicone thing you put over your nipple to make it more bottle-like. Weird, I know. But Willow likes it. I see it as a compromise. But I swear if she's still here next Thursday I may crack and just go with the bottle every time. Actually, next Thursday would be a great day for her to get discharged, because next Wednesday, me, Josh and my parents are taking an infant CPR class down here in Marquette. I'm not sure what we'd do with Willow during the class if she got discharged before that!
My mom and I had a good day both in and out of the NICU. She dragged me to Target even though I didn't need anything and forced me to let her buy Willow a bouncy-chair thing. One of those you put the baby in and it has the toys dangling above for them to bat at. I didn't really think I needed that, but I finally conceded that I may need it to put Willow in when I shower. No, seriously. It is cute and I think Willow will like it. We also went out to eat...twice. That's about all the news for today. Josh is coming down tomorrow and Willow and I can't wait.
Willow's outfit in these photos is so mismatched, it looks like she dressed herself. :)
5 comments:
That shirt is sweet, so is that hat!
Of all the baby equipment we have, Jim and I both agree that the bouncy seats are priceless! Good pick!
Keep your spirits up! You can do it :)
You'll definitely come to love the bouncy seat. I know that most of the (affordable) baby gear out there is huge and plastic and tacky, but believe me, pretty soon anything that keeps her occupied for more than 30 seconds is going to be your best friend. We went in on a Jumperoo/Exersaucer thing with Ingrid (Riley used it first, now Milo has it) and as ugly as it is, I LOVE it because Milo does and will happily sit in it for up to a half hour or so.
don't you love constant advice from other parents? especially super smug sounding stuff from someone who gets everything she knows from Ingrid. :P
I've got my fingers crossed that Willow will be discharged soon - she looks so great!!
+1 on the newborn lounger. Milo slept in his (or, erm, Riley's) until he was too big for it.
Argh, Linds, I'm sorry you're stressed out about your leave running out. I'm still hoping your work will give you a break and extend your time - unpaid or whatever! Your time so far has had enough stress involved - I hope you get some completely peaceful time with Willow at home before you need to think about work. Hang in there - you guys are doing so awesome dealing with all of this and we're thinking about you! Yay for generous grandparents and also for the hospital discharge coming up!
Love ya - Amy
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