So many people have commented on how much they've missed the blog since we've been home. And I admit, I kinda dropped the ball... suddenly, my time to myself is limited, imagine that! :) But it's time to bring the blog back to life for a while. Posts will be less often than they were when we were in Denver, but I'd like to think I'll be able to post at least once a week if things are happening worth sharing (but at this point, everything is brag worthy right?!) And I've realized that blogging was a nice activity for me... it allowed me to get my head around what we were dealing with and provided a way to review the events. It has also become a nice timeline of events to reference. So here it is... Kaylee's continuing saga!
It is SO nice to be home and finding out what our new life together as a family will look like!
It's looking like a lot of sleeping, nursing, sleeping, a little fussing, sleeping, dirty diapers, and did I mention sleeping? Kaylee is quite the sleeping beauty. And luckily for us, she is pretty good about sleeping at night... the worst our nights have been so far she's woken up to be fed, and a little fussy due to gas, three times throughout the night. And as long as Mama can sleep in with her or take a nap, everyone's been getting plenty of sleep.
She spends most of her time sleeping but when she wakes up, she is HUNGRY! We have "mastered" breastfeeding! After our first week home (we were mostly bottle feeding but introducing her to breast 1-2 times a week... it is much more work than allowing the milk to drain out of the bottle and into her mouth, so it was very exhausting for her), she didn't gain the weight the doctor wanted to see. So week two we mostly breast fed and offered her a bottle after feedings. She'd typically take one big bottle a day. And this last week we have been exclusively breastfeeding and Kaylee continues to pack on the pounds (or ounces rather!). At her last weigh in on Tuesday the 25th, she was 9 lbs 11 oz. Crazy to think how much she has grown! Her little newborn outfits she used to "swim in" in the NICU are just barely still fitting her now! And she feels heavy. :) I know we have a long way to go, but it amazes me that I can feel a difference by lifting her. She feels more solid and less fragile. By looking at her now, you'd never guess our struggles to get her to eat enough!
Scooda dog LOVES Kaylee. She's not quite sure what to do with her yet... but she gets upset when Kaylee cries, she keeps us company during diaper changes, she has become much more protective of the house (she REALLY hates the UPS man... even more than she did before Kaylee was here... luckily Kaylee sleeps through the barking!), and I'm pretty sure Scooda's favorite part about Kaylee is she can cover her in kisses and Kaylee doesn't make her stop like us boring adults do! Scooda can't walk by Kaylee without kissing her on the cheek, or the back of the head, or the arm, or the hands, or her little chunky legs, or those so stinkin' cute little bare feet, or all of the above! And it's never just one kiss... it's until Kaylee is wet from Scooda kisses and we make her stop so we can clean the little girl up! They are going to be quite the team in a few years... Scooda will REALLY love her after Kaylee starts feeding all her graham crackers and goldfish crackers to her.
As for Mom and Dad, I'm pretty confident neither of us could have imagined that we could possibly have this much love for such a little, needy human being... nor that we could ever possibly love her more than the massive amount of love we already had for her when we brought her home. However, apparently it is possible! Each day we grow to love her more; when she smiles her toothless, full of tongue smile; when she makes her goofy little stretching face after waking up from a nap or being pulled from her carseat; when she acts like a piranha when she's coming in to eat; or when that piranha finally starts to eat and begins sighing with every swallow. It's pretty amazing... she is quite the little miracle. And I think our struggles to make sure she was eating properly gave us a bit of perspective. We got a little insight to how much work the seemingly little and inherent tasks really are! So now we recognize how much work our daily activities are for Kaylee. And as her adventures continue she continues to amaze us... She is quite the trooper... our little hero!
It is SO nice to be home and finding out what our new life together as a family will look like!
It's looking like a lot of sleeping, nursing, sleeping, a little fussing, sleeping, dirty diapers, and did I mention sleeping? Kaylee is quite the sleeping beauty. And luckily for us, she is pretty good about sleeping at night... the worst our nights have been so far she's woken up to be fed, and a little fussy due to gas, three times throughout the night. And as long as Mama can sleep in with her or take a nap, everyone's been getting plenty of sleep.
She spends most of her time sleeping but when she wakes up, she is HUNGRY! We have "mastered" breastfeeding! After our first week home (we were mostly bottle feeding but introducing her to breast 1-2 times a week... it is much more work than allowing the milk to drain out of the bottle and into her mouth, so it was very exhausting for her), she didn't gain the weight the doctor wanted to see. So week two we mostly breast fed and offered her a bottle after feedings. She'd typically take one big bottle a day. And this last week we have been exclusively breastfeeding and Kaylee continues to pack on the pounds (or ounces rather!). At her last weigh in on Tuesday the 25th, she was 9 lbs 11 oz. Crazy to think how much she has grown! Her little newborn outfits she used to "swim in" in the NICU are just barely still fitting her now! And she feels heavy. :) I know we have a long way to go, but it amazes me that I can feel a difference by lifting her. She feels more solid and less fragile. By looking at her now, you'd never guess our struggles to get her to eat enough!
Scooda dog LOVES Kaylee. She's not quite sure what to do with her yet... but she gets upset when Kaylee cries, she keeps us company during diaper changes, she has become much more protective of the house (she REALLY hates the UPS man... even more than she did before Kaylee was here... luckily Kaylee sleeps through the barking!), and I'm pretty sure Scooda's favorite part about Kaylee is she can cover her in kisses and Kaylee doesn't make her stop like us boring adults do! Scooda can't walk by Kaylee without kissing her on the cheek, or the back of the head, or the arm, or the hands, or her little chunky legs, or those so stinkin' cute little bare feet, or all of the above! And it's never just one kiss... it's until Kaylee is wet from Scooda kisses and we make her stop so we can clean the little girl up! They are going to be quite the team in a few years... Scooda will REALLY love her after Kaylee starts feeding all her graham crackers and goldfish crackers to her.
As for Mom and Dad, I'm pretty confident neither of us could have imagined that we could possibly have this much love for such a little, needy human being... nor that we could ever possibly love her more than the massive amount of love we already had for her when we brought her home. However, apparently it is possible! Each day we grow to love her more; when she smiles her toothless, full of tongue smile; when she makes her goofy little stretching face after waking up from a nap or being pulled from her carseat; when she acts like a piranha when she's coming in to eat; or when that piranha finally starts to eat and begins sighing with every swallow. It's pretty amazing... she is quite the little miracle. And I think our struggles to make sure she was eating properly gave us a bit of perspective. We got a little insight to how much work the seemingly little and inherent tasks really are! So now we recognize how much work our daily activities are for Kaylee. And as her adventures continue she continues to amaze us... She is quite the trooper... our little hero!