Willow's first walk

Hi everyone, Willow is 16 weeks old today. Things are still going fine here. We're settling into somewhat of a routine, and we've figured out a schedule to get us both about 5-6 hours of sleep. Definitely do-able! We've got Willow in an Arms Reach co-sleeper attached to our bed. We've sort of re-created the sleeping arrangements of the NICU with a little nest: I know it's a big no-no to have blankies and things in a baby's bed. However, we feel safe doing it because she's on the apnea monitor. We'll gradually take these things away as she gets more used to her new world. At least we've been able to get her away from sleeping on her stomach, which they do sometimes in the NICU. We've pretty much only had her on the monitor at night when we're sleeping. She hasn't had any events either, except for one brady the first night which we think was a false alarm anyway. Yay! I'll have to take a picture of her with her leads on soon. She has a soft belt that goes around her chest, and under her clothes it makes her chest bulky-she looks like a bodybuilder. Ha! Another element of the NICU we haven't been able to let go of yet-charting intake and output: I'm sure that soon we'll feel comfortable enough to stop this nonsense, but for now it provides peace of mind that she's eating enough. I can't blame us, really; she only just learned to eat again a little over a week ago! The breastfeeding hasn't been going so well. Willow is thoroughly nipple-confused. She much prefers the bottle nipple, with which she hardly has to suck and the milk pours into her mouth. Who wants to put in the effort with a real nipple!? We're going to keep practicing though, and hopefully we'll figure it out eventually. There's just something a little strange about pumping your breasts while at the same time feeding your baby a bottle.

It's been so damn cold here since Willow got home, we've pretty much been confined to the house. Yesterday it finally hit 60, so we ventured out for a walk. Scout was so happy! We used another baby carrier we got-it's made an appearance in the blog before, but with a pillow in it instead of Willow. Willow really liked it and slept so soundly that we kept stopping to make sure she was still breathing! It was so great to get outside and get some exercise and fresh air. The last few months I've been outside very, very little. It was really starting to get to me. The exercise, too. I've been getting none. Although I'm super-skinny from all the pumping, I'm also in the worst shape of my life. I'm one of those skinny-fat people. One good thing I've noticed about baby-wearing is it really works your thighs. When there's a baby strapped to you and you need to pick something up off the floor, or get clothes in and out of the washer, or get dishes in and out of the dishwasher, you can't really bend at the waist too much or he baby will sort of fall away from your body. So instead you end up doing lots of squats. My thighs are burning! If I ever get out biking this summer, hopefully this will help. Here's some more pics of our little girl enjoying her new home: