MOTHER AND CHILD

Mother and child

BABY GAP OUTFIT

Mother and daughter... the outfit from Baby Gap. The beanie was the cap they gave me at the hospital. She is a little too small for the newborn clothes, but the hats are too small. So some of the newborn beanies do not fit.

Baby Gap is my new favorite clothing store. I found organic onesies. This was the first outfit I bought specifically for her. This was going to be her first outfit worn, but living in the NICU for so many days she had a different first couple of days than planned.

FRUIT BASKET

My friends are the best EVER! I got home from the hospital, exhausted and having to return every 2 hours left little time for cleanliness and food. I arrived to a huge FRUIT bouquet. I was so excited and starving I ate half of it in one sitting. I was in heaven. It was the best idea ever, and VERY APPRECIATED!


The basket was huge! I loved the chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered pineapple. It was the perfect meal after many days of pretend vegetarian hospital food.

SLEEPING BABY

They say mother should sleep when baby sleeps... I have never been one to take naps, but this every 2 hours thing is really beginning to take it's toll. I think I have developed a sleeping disorder, or I am becoming a victim of insomnia.

I finally rest longer than 2 hours because my sister said she would feed baby. Thank goodness for little sisters!
Madison sleeps during the day. Morghan bought us the adorable outfit. It is a little big, but most of the newborn clothes are. Thank goodness for I thought she was going to be a chunky monkey and not be able to fit even the newborn diapers. The diapers they gave me at the hospital are actually too big. I discovered this the hard way when they slid down causing a leak on one of her adorable outfits. I am not sure why, but that is great because the friends knew plenty and bought newborn diapers for shower gifts. I have not had to buy diapers yet, so we will see how many she really goes through.
She sleep even through the night. I have to wake her to eat, which I hope lasts because a cranky baby is not fun. I am working on more time between feedings while eating more food so we can rest too.

OUR FIRST DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT

Baby's first doctor visit. She was 20 inches long and weighed 8lbs 4oz. She did not like to be touched at all, but the doctor was extremely nice.

Sitting in the doctor's office brought back memories of how much I HATED going to the doctor's office and waiting in the uncomfortable boring room. Why do they make everything white and bland. Shouldn't they be bright with primary clothes and visually stimulating images so that it provides a sense of relief and comfort to their patients.

Filling out the paperwork I felt OLD or as if I am clueless as to what I am doing. I am clearly responsible for this tiny little person, yet I hardly know how to fill out paperwork for myself the way they word things these days.

Madison in her car seat waiting in the waiting room to see the new doctor.

MADISON LOVES HER AUNTIE JUJU

Auntie JuJu (my little sister) loves the baby! She bought the cute outfit she is wearing. Her first trip out in public we had to dress her up. Sister is going to be really sad when she leaves back to AZ. We keep trying to convince her to move back. Maybe Madison will have better luck with that than I have had.

MADISON WITH NANA

Nana G loves the new baby...

(She doesn't want to be called GRANDMA... don't tell her but I think Nana sounds older than Grandma. It sounds like GREAT GRANDMA, but we will call GREAT GRANDMA 'GG' instead.)

LEAVING THE HOSPITAL

Madison gets to leave the hosptial!

TINY BABY FEET

Since Madison was in NICU she was being monitored. They kept her feet covered with wires and band aides. They had to prick her heels a number of times to draw blood. Amazing how calm she remained and never once screamed as they expected.

MADISON IN NICU

Madison's 4th day in the NICU (Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit) at Spring Valley Hospital. She liked the baby boy in the crib next to her, they had some sort of baby talk or communication going on.

She finally got the tubes removed from her tummy and the IV's had been removed, so as long as she kept her food down she was able to go home with us.

She was admitted into NICU the first day of life. She had a bowel movement while in the womb. The meconium got into the placenta and the baby digested it. Once she was born respiratory was there right away to check to make sure she did not inhale any of it. She was vacuumed to make sure it was clear. Unfortunately they did not realize it was a bigger problem. She began throwing up brown goo. They took her NICU to have her chest, lungs, and intestines to be x-rayed. Her lungs were coated with mucus along with her tummy. She had to have her tummy pumped and was placed on an IV and NO FOOD BY MOUTH for the first couple of days. In NICU she lost 25oz from birth.

I went into the NICU to see her and I started crying. The tiniest little tube was taped to her mouth and was pulling garbage out of her tummy. She had IV's and was being monitored to make sure she was okay.

We were told she would be able to eat Saturday night. I went to begin breast pumping. I was determined to make sure she would not receive any junk formula. Then on I was on a 2 hour schedule where I pumped every 2 hours and had to return to the hospital for feedings. I was not able to actually breast feed because they needed to measure how many ml she was drinking. We began with 15ml and went up from there. If she kept her food down she would be allowed to have the tubes removed, and once she got to 60ml they said they would stop the antibiotics and IV. Finally on Sunday they removed the tubes.