10 Days Later

10 days down, 100 to go? Eh..we're not going to count!

First and foremost, we came home last night and look what we got in the mail:

We got really excited. She's official now. Birth certificates take a couple of weeks, so this was the first real document with her name.

We had a relaxing night. I had some problems pumping and got super frustrated (which apparently doesn't help the situation). So we called and made an appointment with the lactation specialist in the NICU. I will keep the details of that meeting to myself because I would like my friends to have children in the future and don't need to scare them off.  : )

This morning we had another good report. Not all of her food stayed down so they are not going to up her food again for another day. All her brain scans, heart scans, and blood work from the past week came out good. The doctor said that basically right now, they are going to try to leave her alone as much as possible and let her gestate.

We did not do Kangaroo Care today because of the problems yesterday and her food not staying down, they did not want to overstimulate her. But we will be back at it again tomorrow.

She has created quite a reputation for herself with the nurses. She seems to have charmed them with a mixture of cuteness and trouble. She actively tries to hold their hands away from her when they are adjusting her tubes and wires, and screams like a banshee. Today she has also started trying to pull her mask off her face, so we will see who wins these battles.

So, yes, check off another good day for Miss Natalie Rose. Jimmy and myself are doing well. We have found a rhythm and it seems to be working. Though I woke up today tired, cranky and weepy. I may or may not have started crying when Jimmy did not pull into the Dunkin Donuts parking lot (I really wanted coffee and going to the next one on Rt 10 was not acceptable). It was naive of me to think these days were behind me because I have had a really good week. It has only been 10 days, and this is exhausting even if we are really positive about it. I am just so unaccustomed to not having control over how I react to everything! We can all laugh at me when it is day 85 and we look back to day 10 where I was surprised that exhausted and weepy days were still ahead.

Until tomorrow, here is your daily dose of Natalie, lounging with her ankles crossed like she is on a beach chair: