Kangarooing with Daddy

Yesterday (Sunday) we did not get in to visit Natalie until late, around 1 pm. I had left my car there the night before and drove with Jimmy, so I did not have my car and Jimmy has resumed his CCD teaching duties and had class from 10:30 - 12. I felt bad for being so late and then reminded myself that she has no clue whatsoever. It was actually nice to have a relaxing morning where I let myself sleep a little extra. Jimmy teaches CCD to 6th graders at Resurrection Parish and the CCD staff has been (unsurprisingly) very supportive the past few weeks. 

We headed out to the hospital and when we got there they said it was a good time to do Kangaroo Care if we wanted to. They like to do it during the 2-hour period that her food is going through her feeding tube, so they do not disrupt her otherwise. Jimmy has held her normally twice before, but not for awhile and never in the Kangaroo fashion. I offered for him to do it this time and he was all like, "oh no it's fine...blah blah blah". But after being together over a decade, I could tell he really wanted to. When I called him out on it, he said of course he did, but he did not want to take away my time with her. I put him at ease that I have the whole work week to hang out with her, and this really is his only time on the weekends. He happily jumped at the chance. 

She spent the first couple of minutes fussing, she is used to laying on me, so I am sure she was like "what is this hairy, flat chest?" But eventually she calmed down and spent a good 2 hours on Jimmy. I was in the waiting room since some of my family came to visit and there can only be 3 at a time in her room (including me and Jimmy). Apparently, she was super showing off for Daddy though. They give her a tiny pacifier to help keep her mouth shut (her breathing mask works better if she isn't letting all the air out her mouth). She immediately knocks the pacifier out of her mouth, so she really only uses it when we are holding her and we hold it in place. Well, for the first time ever, she started sucking on it. Hey, when your born 16 weeks early, every new development is exciting, even sucking. 

Then, since that was not enough showing off for Daddy, when they put her back in her isolette (I was still out of the room), she really opened her eyes. She only does it for a few seconds at a time like once a day, but this time she actually looked round and kept opening them for a couple of minutes before she went back to sleep. Jimmy took a video of it, so once I get that off his phone, I will post it here. 

So, Natalie and Daddy had some great quality time. I was happy to see how excited Jimmy was over everything because I know it has been hard for him going back to work and not able to be here for very long everyday. 

Otherwise, her progress is the same, going slow and steady like it should be. They raised her feedings, and she seems to be struggling a little adjusting and her numbers drop a little more often during them, but nothing to be concerned about. At this point we are getting to the long haul where there won't be major (or even sometimes minor) changes daily and we just have to sit back and wait as she continues growing and developing. 

The nurses have warned me that after around a month a lot of moms start slacking with pumping milk and I can understand why. It is hard work, no matter what you are doing or where you are you have to stop every 2-3 hours (and be near a pump, a hospital grade one at that) and all your body really wants is your baby there, not a machine. In the beginning, I was happy to keep Natalie here and go home knowing she was being taken cared of every night. But now, every night gets harder to leave her and I cannot wait to bring her home. So I guess the first couple of weeks was the sprint, where everything happened fast and changed constantly. We are settling into the marathon portion now and it is going to take a lot of patience (my worst attribute, but I am working on it) and support to get through the next couple of months without going bonkers (technical term, obviously).

But enough complaining from me. I know how lucky I am that I gave birth to such a strong girl. Every week the doctors rotate here, so every Monday a new doctor looks over her file and says a variation of the same thing, "so young and no incubation, only ever been on CPAP, you couldn't ask for better". We couldn't ask for better and we know it, and thank God for it every day.

And, of course, your favorite part, your daily dose of Natalie Rose:

My 2 favorite people in the whole world - Kangaroo time with Daddy!

She has gotten so big, but she is still so tiny

Hello World! Miss Natalie Rose opening her eyes for the camera!
(She hasn't opened them since, they say it is too bright for them)