The House of Urp

The good news is that Molly's trial by formula is over -- the bad news is that it really didn't agree with her. She was only on formula for about a day and a half, but she turned into the Queen of Urp and was spitting up a lot after every feed. Unfortunately, she didn't have much luck with the other end either -- she started blowing out diapers like crazy and now has a nice red rash on her hiney! We managed to amass an entire (large) load of Molly laundry in an amazingly short period of time. For the record, OxyClean Baby really does a bang-up job of removing baby stains (even old, set-in stains that have been sent through the dryer). I just throw all the stained items in a bucket full of hot water and OxyClean Baby, let it soak for a couple of hours, and then launder as usual (I usually wash baby clothes in Dreft).

Needless to say, I was very happy to start her back on mama's milk after she had her blood draw yesterday. She seems pretty pleased about it herself -- the spit up returned to its regular volume and consistency, her diaper output returned to normal, and poor red bottom is already getting better. To celebrate, Miss Molly deigned to latch on nicely tonight and set a new nursing record -- she nursed 118 mls this evening (a couple of mls shy of a full four ounces).

The blood draw itself wasn't much fun. Since they needed to run more tests this time, they put a needle in Molly's arm instead of poking her heel (poor baby!). It looked worse, but she actually minded it less. However, Mom's really sick of seeing her baby's get poked, so hopefully that's the last needle she'll have to see until her 2-month vaccinations.

The even better news is that the doctor called this morning with the lab results. Molly's bilirubin levels did go down quite a bit (from 12.5 to 9), so the doctor is pretty confident that she does have breastmilk jaundice and that it isn't anything to worry about. The day and a half of formula should disrupt the whole thing and her jaundice should start to diminish and should be gone entirely within the next few weeks. If she starts looking more yellow again, we'll have to bring her back to get checked out, but otherwise she's all set. They checked her iron levels as well (they ran a full workup on her) and her levels are actually pretty good for being preemie -- they're a little low, but nothing to worry about.

Molly is definitely threatening to take the weigh-gain title from her big brother -- she's packing on the ounces and weighed in at 7 lbs, 15.5 oz before tonight's bath. She has officially outgrown all her preemie clothes and is wearing newborn-sized items. I'm sure she'll be moving into the 0-3 clothes soon! Unfortunately, Molly seems to be following in Max's footsteps in another way as well -- she's losing her hair up on top! Gee, do they make baby Rogaine? ;) Molly definitely has an entirely different personality than Max -- she lets you know that she means business. If her food isn't ready when she wants it (and she goes from being sound asleep to starving hungry in about 60 seconds), she SCREAMS until she gets fed. Max never did that, so I keep thinking she's hurt or in pain.

I hope everyone has a nice holiday weekend -- we're just going to sit tight, cook some food, and feed some babies!

Captain Underwear and the Amazing Yellowgirl!

I'm happy to report that Max's mystery virus has resolved and his extreme case of the crabbies has vanished -- he's back to his regular (mischevious) fun-loving self. He loves to "help" Mom with the laundry and has discovered the joys of wearing underwear on one's head. He's recently started shaking his head for "no," which is very cute, especially since he usually does it while he's doing something naughty (like throwing the unwanted portions of his dinner over the side of the high chair for the dog to eat). He loves to pat (gently) his baby sister, give her kisses (licks) on her head, and lay his head up against her. He also tries to steal her bottle whenever given even a smidgen of opportunity, run off with her burp cloths, and push her swing (with or without her in it) while yelling, "Whee!" You have to love big brothers. ;)

Max had his well-baby checkup today. He is current weighing in at 25 pounds and is 32 1/2 inches tall. Big boy! He appears to be doing some catch-up growing -- he went from being in the 10-15th percentiles for height and weight to approximately 33% for both height and weight (I forget the exact percentiles -- they were both in the low 30s). He's doing everything he should be doing for his actual age, so he's just about caught up to his peers. I'm guessing that after his next developmental appointment in November, he'll be discharged from the developmental follow-up program. Happily, he didn't need any more shots -- he's all set for his vaccinations until he's four (barring flu shots, if we decide to get them).

Molly is four weeks old today and eating and growing like crazy -- she weighed in at 7 lbs, 4 oz on Saturday. Unfortunately, her jaundice does not seem to be fading like we would expect and we actually thought it was a little worse over the weekend, so Molly had to go back and visit the doctor. They checked her bilirubin levels again (another heel poke *sniff*) and the levels are still higher than they would expect at this point. Based on the lab results and the fact that she's otherwise acting fine, the doctor thinks she has breastmilk jaundice. It's a type of jaundice that is basically harmless, but caused by breastmilk and would explain why she's still jaundiced at this late date. So, to try to rule out any other more serious reasons for the jaundice, the doctor asked us to put Molly on formula for a day and recheck her levels tomorrow. If the levels go down significantly, then we know the cause of the jaundice and can stop worrying about it. If not, she'll have to have some more tests and probably go see a GI specialist.

Of course, feeding the baby formula is the LAST thing that Mom wants to do, but if it'll save Molly more heel pokes and more invasive tests, then we'll do what we have to do. No offense to any formula feeders out there (and I know breastfeeding isn't an option for everyone, especially preemie folks), but formula is NASTY! It looks gross, tastes gross, stains everything, is ghastly expensive, and smells like the puppy milk replacer that we used to feed orphaned baby animals when we were involved with the Wildlife Rescue. Molly's definitely more spitty on the formula -- thank goodness we only have to use it for a day! Of course, that means that the stash of extra milk we have in the freezer is growing even faster than normal and threatening to overrun all the "real" food.

We've recently migrated to Blogger Beta, which shouldn't really have an impact for our faithful readers. ;) Beta does have some additional privacy features which we aren't going to activate at this time, but might consider doing so in the future. We've recently been made aware of a fairly disturbing experience that someone had with their baby blog, making us rethink our public blog position. At this point, I'd like to leave it open to the public, but if we have any trouble at any point then we'll have to lock it up and people would only be able to access the site if their email was on an "approved" list. The URL to the Flickr site will be changing -- I'll post the updated link as soon as I've finished mucking around with it.

An Open Letter of Apology to Our Neighbors, Family, and Friends

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow
For babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep!"

- Anonymous

Dear Neighbors, Friends, and Relations,

We apologize for the current state of our house and yard. We realize that our flower beds are sporting weeds this season and that thistles are overrunning our bushes. We grew a baby this year instead of petunias. We would like to point out that our grass is mowed on an (almost) respectable basis, but we are aware of your concern that rusting, inoperable vehicles and moldering couches might soon appear on our front lawn. We won't even mention the state of the back yard. As a point of reassurance, we do not own any coon hounds, just an aged, prissy shepherd/collie mix who doesn't like to get her paws wet.

Our refrigerator has not been cleaned in ages and it is very possible that brave new worlds are forming near the back. It does, however, contain an adequate supply of breastmilk, that was painstakingly pumped and is responsible for the baby's pleasantly plump state. Our floors need mopping and the dust rags are dusty from disuse. Spring came and went this year without the traditional cleaning. I would apologize for the soap scum that I suspect is on the shower walls, except that I experience the luxury of a shower so rarely these days.

I will admit to having a few too many "grilled cheese" suppers lately, although the kids never seem to complain about the lack of more refined menus (vegetable terrines and pan-seared scallops not being big favorites). There have been times when our toddler remained in his PJs ALL DAY. I confess that sometimes Baby Einstein has been used to soothe the savage toddler (and that occasionally, when the going gets tough, I click the "Repeat" option instead of the "Play Once"). I admit that out of the 2,303 times the big kids asked me to play the "Pirates of the Caribbean Life" game with them, I only actually agreed to play twice.

We realize that we have entirely failed in our attempts to be superheroes and fess up to being only human. Sadly, we do not possess the power to bend space and time and must make do with the standard 24-hour days. As noted above, certain things have fallen by the wayside right now ... and we let them fall. There's a baby that needs rocking, because I know that if I look away for a second, she'll grow up and her babyhood will be gone forever. Besides, she's prettier than any silly old petunias anyway. ;)

The Crabbiest Toddler Ever

Max seems to be recovering from his bug, although he still isn't back to his normal sweet self. His high fever hasn't returned (thank goodness), but we did discover that he's cutting at least two of his eyeteeth (in addition to the four molars that are still working their way through). We don't know if it is the virus or the teething or a combination of the two, but Max has been SO crabby the last couple of days. If he doesn't get exactly what he wants, exactly when he wants it, he dissolves into fits of rage and tears. We're hoping this new development has more to do with the fact that he isn't feeling well and isn't merely an early taste of the Terrible Twos. He was pretty much in nonstop whine mode from morning until night yesterday.

Molly, of course, also is not pleased when her needs aren't immediately answered ("food now, food NOW, FOOD NOW NOW NOW!"). ;) As it turns out, she's a total little "piggum." Last night she weighed in at 6 lbs, 14 oz! Since her cord fell off, she got to have her first real bath last night. She seemed to like it slightly better than the sponge baths, but so far she doesn't love baths as much as her big brother does. Molly and Mom and have been applying the nystatin, which seems to be helping. Molly is back to doing some nursing, although sometimes she still refuses to nurse. I almost think she forgets what to do and kind of sits around and waits for the milk to magically appear like it does with the bottle. Apparently, both my kids are lazy little piggums! :P

Dad had to go back to work this week, so Mom got to fly solo and look after all the kids. It's a little crazy juggling it on my own, especially since I'm still pumping (ugh), but I'm figuring it out. I managed to bake a batch of cookies and a cheesecake, do all the laundry, and vacuum the downstairs while keeping everyone clean and fed and mainly intact, so I'll chalk that up as a success. Of course, sleep kind of fell by the wayside, so I won't be too sorry to have Dad home for the next week so we can tag team again.

On This Day ...

Even aside from being Molly's 3-week birthday, today is a special day. Today marks the day my husband was born and I want to wish him a very happy birthday. He is a wonderful father and husband and I'm truly blessed to have him in my life. We've weathered a lot of difficult times together and he's always been a source of strength and comfort to me. He's my rock and the love of my life and the day that he came into the world is a day worth celebrating. Happy birthday!

Virus and Thrush and Yeast (Oh My!)

Max was a pretty sorry little fellow last night -- he ran his 102 degree temp all night, although the Tylenol gave him a little respite. Thankfully, by morning his temperature was normal, although he still wasn't his normal, cheery self. I made a doctor's appointment for him first thing in the morning. Everything checked out fine except that his throat was a little red, so the doctor thinks he just has a virus. He just needs lots of fluids and rest, but if he still has a temp in three days he has to go back for a recheck. Max was NOT happy to be at the doctor's office and there was much uncharacteristic howling and shedding of tears (he's usually a total flirt). His fever came back this evening (but not as bad), so he was shipped off to bed early and seems to be sleeping more comfortably than last night.

While we were at the pediatrician's office, I asked the doctor about Molly suddenly refusing to nurse and the fact that I did see one small white patch on the roof of her mouth and was experiencing some soreness myself. The doctor thinks she does have thrush, so Mom and Molly have a prescription for nystatin. We've battled the demon yeast before -- hopefully it'll be a much briefer struggle this time. With Max, I couldn't convince the doctor that I had a yeast infection, in spite of the fact that every lactation consultant that I saw swore up and down that I did. Either the medicine works fast or it was just a coincidence, but I tried nursing Molly tonight in an attempt to relieve some of my pain and discomfort and she actually did latch on and nurse a good bit (not the best latch, but we're still working on that).

It's been a busy, exhausting day, so I'm off to get some sleep while I have a chance! I just re-swaddled Molly, who had kicked her way out of the previous wrap and was flailing her little hands and feet around and expressing her great displeasure. Hopefully she'll sleep a good stretch before waking up and demanding her midnight snack.

Sick

Ugh, Max appears to have come down with a mystery illness. He's been crabby and not sleeping well the past couple of nights, but we figured his teeth were just bugging him (his eyeteeth appear to be on their way in as well). He felt kind of warm this morning and when he got up from his nap he felt really warm. We could tell he didn't feel well, because he was content to just lie on Dad's chest for a while (this coming from the boy who usually won't sit still for more than 15 seconds at a time).

We took his temperature and he has a 102 degree temp according to the under-the-arm method, so his actual temp is probably a little higher. We gave him some Tylenol and he's a little happier now. He has no other symptoms, so we'll probably be putting in a call to his pediatrician tomorrow morning and see if we can get him checked out. Hopefully, whatever it is isn't contagious and won't be a threat to Molly (her temperature is perfectly normal). Max hasn't been anywhere or been around anyone who is sick, so we have no idea where he could have caught something. So, we've ramped up the Purell usage even more and hope that Molly won't get sick.

Miss Molly is doing well and gaining weight like a champ. She weighed in at 6 lbs, 6 oz last night, so she isn't having any problem with her weight gain. Her little cheeks are even getting chubbier. She's getting much better at holding her head up and moving it around, especially when you're trying to burp her. Her umbilical cord fell off today, so she can finally have her first real tub bath. Hopefully she will like those better than sponge baths (which she hates). Of course, I apparently jinxed myself in the previous post. After a couple days of great nursing progress, Molly suddenly decided that she no longer wanted to latch on and nurse properly AT ALL. She nursed a full feed one morning and by the afternoon she wanted nothing more to do with nursing. I have no idea what caused the sudden change of heart, but we'll keep plugging away and hope she changes her mind back soon. If we don't start making progress again soon, we'll probably have to call in our lactation consultant and see if she can help us solve the problem. So, right now, the pump is having the last laugh. :P

Earlier this week, Grandma was nice enough to babysit for us (again!) so that Dad and I could go out for dinner and a movie. It had been almost FOUR months since we'd both been out anywhere together (aside from the occasional doctor's appointment) and a good deal longer than that since we'd seen a movie together. It was nice to get out of the house together. We saw Superman Returns, which was fun (but Superman just isn't Superman without Christopher Reeve). Every time we go to see a movie, though, we decide that we really enjoy the movie-watching experience more in our own little home theater (the snacks are better, the floor isn't sticky, and we can pause for bathroom breaks ;). After the movie we went for pizza and fried mushrooms at one of our favorite little restaurant/bars.

So, I'm off to take care of my big baby and my little baby. I need to switch lenses on my camera and have a little Molly photo shoot. I wanted to do it this weekend, but the weather was mostly crummy and the light was too poor (and I wanted to buy some fabric for some nicer backdrops -- the "room full of baby toys and gear" backdrop that I've been using is getting a little old :P).

We Interrupt This Blog for a Special Announcement ...

Molly just nursed a whole feed! While this may not seem particularly earthshattering or exciting, rest assured that this is a Very Big Deal at our house. I'll have to be sure to tell the pump that the closet really misses it. :P

We will now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Good Golly, Miss Molly!

(You knew it was only a matter of time before that post title appeared!) Molly is two weeks old! She had her doctor's appointment yesterday to check her weight and her jaundice. Molly now weighs six pounds and has officially regained her birth weight (and then some). The doctor decided that the weight they got last Thursday must have been off, unless Molly somehow managed to gain a half a pound in four days. That being the case, she was probably gaining fine all along and we were worried for nothing. Her jaundice is much better and should totally resolve in the next few weeks. Unless something changes, they won't bother testing her bilirubin levels again. No more heel pokes -- hooray! Molly doesn't have to go back until her regular two-month checkup.

I did talk to the doctor about how cautious we have to be about keeping Molly "in lockdown" to minimize the chance of her getting sick. Since Max was so early and small and had more serious respiratory issues, he didn't go anywhere except doctor's appointments for three months after he came home. The doctor said we should probably keep Molly out of the limelight for about a month past her original due date. The doctor thinks she'll qualify for the monthly synagis shots this year (which surprised me), so we're debating whether or not she should have them. It isn't easy to qualify for the shots, but they will minimize the severity of an RSV infection. Max had RSV shots his first winter (right before he came home from the NICU). His qualifications were borderline last year and his pediatrician thought he was big enough to weather the virus, so we didn't get them for him last year. As it turns out, he did catch it (or something just like it) and did develop bronchiolitis, but he was able to handle the virus without any serious problems. Molly will still be very young and small when RSV season starts and since she has siblings who are in school, it might be a good idea.

Max is in full toddler mode and is keeping us on our toes with all the new ways he devises to get himself in trouble. ;) I'm sure most of his recent bout of naughtiness is related to the arrival of his new sister, whether he knows it or not. He's growing and changing and learning new things every day -- it's like his brain suddenly hit a growth spurt. He's started to say please and thank you, which is very cute (especially because "please" is always a whispered "peees") -- he figured out very quickly that please makes it more likely that he'll get what he wants. ;) I let him play with my purse the other day and eventually put it up when Max started getting mad because I wouldn't open it for him (enabling him to get at my cell phone and car keys). After I put it up, he kept signing for "more" and I kept signing and saying "all done." He then took both my hands and started pushing them together, making me do the sign for "more." Clever though it was, he still didn't get the purse. ;)

Max has discovered that it is fun to try to put on Mom's shoes, even though he can't quite figure out how to do it. He was trying to put his own socks on the other day and was entirely confused as to how to get the socks ON his feet. He kept laying them on top of his feet and seemed to expect them to magically adhere to his body. "This Little Piggy" is one of Max's current favorite games (as mentioned previously, he calls it "Piggums"). If you ask him where his piggums are, he'll wiggle his own toes. When I was feeding Molly yesterday, he walked over to her, gently grabbed her little toes, and started wiggling them and saying, "piggums, piggums, piggums." It's a good thing he's cute or else we might be tempted to sell him to the gypsies. ;)

Tagged!

Max was tagged by Sarah's mom Maggie!

Here is Max's response:

Three Nicknames:
Juggernaut (Jugg), Little Fat (sometimes shortened to just Little), Trouble

Three People That Make Me Laugh:
Dada, Mama, and big brother and sister (ok, technically that's four)

Three Things That I Love:
Remote controls, keys, phones

Three Things That I Hate:
Getting my face washed, getting dressed, not being able to play with any of the three things listed above

Three Things That I Don't Understand:
Why I can't touch the computer, Why I can't have my baby sister's bottle, Why Mama couldn't pick me up while she was on bedrest

Three Things on My Floor:
All of my toys (in spite of the fact that I mostly refuse to play with them lately), the remote control to the fan, Cider the dog

Three Things I Am Doing Right Now:
Sleeping, sucking on my paci, drooling on my sheets

Three Things I Can Do:
Baby sign language, say please and thank you (sometimes), operate most of our large appliances (to Mom and Dad's dismay!)

Three Ways to Describe My Personality:
Determined, busy, sweet

Three Things I Cannot Do:
Leave the computer alone, master my shape sorters, use utensils

Three Favorite Foods:
Pancakes, grilled cheese sandwiches, any kind of fruit

Three Foods I Do Not Like:
Mashed potatoes, pierogies, most kinds of meat (most of the time)

Three Beverages I Drink Regularly:
Milk, water, and diluted juice once in a great while

Three Shows I Watch:
Baby Einstein DVDs, Dad's WoW videos on the computer, the Wiggles (once in a while)

Boys I Tag:
Toby
Jonah

Girls I Tag:
Ellie

Grow Baby!

As of the last blood test, it looks like Molly's bilirubin levels are finally coming down. She had her doctor's appointment yesterday and the doctor didn't see the need to subject her to another heel poke yet. Yay! Molly was weighed again and hadn't really gained much from the weigh in two days before, so we're watching her food intake a little more closely and she'll go back to be re-weighed on Monday. She should be eating enough to start gaining, since she's chugging down between 2-3 ounces every feeding and eats every 2 1/2 - 4 hours. She is also peeing through her clothes and blankets on a regular basis, so she definitely is drinking enough! Still no great progress on the nursing front. I've decided that the nipple shields really don't work well for me -- Max never had any luck with them and Molly doesn't seem to be faring much better. We tried nursing without it yesterday and she latched right on all by herself. I didn't expect her to do so well, so I didn't weigh her beforehand and have no idea how much she actually took. But, since it took Max MONTHS before he'd even latch on at all, Molly is ahead of the game.

Molly had her first sponge bath at home -- her cord hasn't fallen off yet, so she doesn't have full bathing privileges yet. We warmed up the bathroom with a space heater and set up a nice, comfy bathing spot, but she wasn't overly impressed with the experience. Max always loved his baths, so we'll have to see whether or not Molly grows to like them.

Other than that, no exciting news here -- we're just doing the baby thing and enjoying having everyone home! It appears that Max has discovered the package of preemie diapers that we have stashed by the Pack and Play and has proceeded to remove every single diaper from the package and spread them across the floor, so I suppose I had better go clean them up. ;)

One Week Old!

As of yesterday, Molly is officially one week old (I meant to post this yesterday, but was too tired!). She's settling in to life at home nicely and doing all those regular newborn things (i.e. sleeping and eating and dirtying diapers). She had her first visit to the pediatrician's yesterday. Her weight was up from her last weigh-in at the hospital, but since it's a different scale it is hard to know if she's really gaining yet or not. She had her bilirubin levels checked again (just when I was hoping that her heel pricking days were over) and they're still borderline. The doctor wants her to come back Thursday or Friday for a weigh in and to recheck her bilirubin. They should start coming down soon, especially if she keeps doing lots of eating and pooping.

Unfortunately, when the doctor's office called yesterday with the bilirubin test results, we also found out that the newborn screening blood test that they did at the hospital didn't turn out right, so Molly and I had to go back to the lab today and get ANOTHER blood draw. Since they had to poke her anyway, they're going to do another bilirubin check.

Aside from the visits to the doctor's office, Molly has just been hanging out at home and concentrating on growing. I did rent a Baby Weigh scale again, so I can tell how much she's nursing and keep tabs on her weight gain. Hopefully we won't have to use it for long, but I decided that it would make me feel much better if I knew how much she was nursing and could make sure she was gaining weight. She's eating pretty well, usually 2-3 ounces a feeding, although sometimes she gets tired out before she finishes her bottle and goes to sleep. It seems she has inherited at least one of her brother's traits -- like Max before her, Molly has become the Incredible Pee Baby. I'm starting to think the problem lies more with the preemie-size diapers than the baby -- we keep going to change her only to discover that she's soaker her clothes and her blankets. You wouldn't think such a small baby could generate so much dirty laundry, but Molly has already run through her complete wardrobe at least once! Hmmm, of course, that might give Mom an excuse to buy her some more little girl clothes. ;)

Max is intrigued by his baby sister. If you ask him where the baby is, he'll go point at her in the Pack and Play. If you're holding her, he likes to come look at her and touch her (we have to help him touch her -- he's still working on the whole "gentle" concept). He does think her toys are pretty fun though -- he likes to play with the little stuffed bears that dangle from her Pack and Play and turn on the music for her. We got a new swing for Molly and he thought that was a lot of fun to push and play with. Max still gets awfully peeved when we give Molly a bottle, though. We bought her new bottles and they're a totally different kind than Max uses, but he isn't fooled. ;)

Molly Is Home!!!

Molly got her walking papers today and is home safe and sound! It's hard to believe that she was born less than a week ago -- it seems like she's been in the NICU for MUCH longer than that. It's scary to think that Max's stay was almost ten times as long -- at least we managed to shave nine weeks off the NICU visit this time around.

The doctors told us yesterday that Molly would probably be able to come home today, as long as her bilirubin levels were ok and as long as she continued to take all her feeds. She was an eating superstar last night and easily surpassed the minimum amount of milk that the doctors wanted her to eat. They tested her bilirubin levels this morning -- they were up a bit from yesterday, but not so much that they wanted to extend her stay. Molly has an appointment with her pediatrician tomorrow and they'll retest the levels then -- as long as they're the same or lower, she's all set. If they're higher than she might need to do some additional phototherapy (probably in the form of a bilirubin blanket that she could use at home). She passed her car seat test and her hearing test, so the doctors declared that she was ready to go home.

We worked with the lactation consultants before we left. Molly did a great job at nursing and the consultant thinks that she should be able to exclusively breastfeed within a month. Wouldn't that be great! We'll just keep working at it. She's decided that she likes to eat every four hours. Max ate every three hours for ages, so this will be a nice little break if she keeps it up.

Molly is fast asleep in her Pack and Play and Max keeps peering over the edge and saying "Baby!" He did get a little upset when I got her bottle ready -- HE wanted the bottle and was pretty annoyed when I wouldn't give it to him. I didn't foresee that problem -- I suppose we should have worked a little harder to get him off of his bottles before the baby came. Big brother and sister are thrilled to have Molly home as well -- we have to remind them that she's not quite up to as much attention and stimulation as Max can handle.

It is wonderful to be at home with all my babies. From now on, the blog content will return to boring baby anecdotes by a doting mom (although I'm sure you'll all miss the weekly updates on my cervix :P). Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to all the wonderful doctors, nurses, and staff at the NICU. It was great to see so many familiar faces and it gave us peace of mind to know that our baby would receive the absolute best care. Thanks again to everyone for all the encouragement and the support -- I'm so glad my pregnancy saga had a very happy ending after all.

Making Progress

Molly had a busy day today! When I went to visit her this morning, she was off the overhead bili light and was just using the blanket. Her bilirubin levels were much improved, the doctors went ahead and discontinued the light therapy all together. Since Molly was taking all her feeds by bottle and eating more than the minimum requirement that the doctors had set, she also got her feeding tube out today! So, except for the required nodes that monitor her heartrate, breathing rate, and oxygen levels, Molly is now entirely free of tubes, wires, and needles. Hooray!

She also got her clothing and swaddling privileges back and seemed quite content to be all bundled up. She did get a little chilly today and had to be wrapped up well. We tried nursing again today with much more success -- Molly actually nursed for about 10 minutes. It was bath day again today and Mom gave her a nice sponge bath (Molly might disagree about the "nice" part). To mark her displeasure, she did demonstrate that even little girls can make a mess of things if they decide to pee at inopportune times. Her weight was still down a bit from the previous weigh in -- she's still within the "normal" weight loss range for new babies, although she shouldn't be losing any more weight going forward (and the fact that she had pooped and peed twice right before we weighed her probably didn't help the results :P).

The doctors will check her bilirubin levels again tomorrow. If her jaundice is under control and she can continue to eat well, she should be able to come home soon. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades

Molly is still doing well. She's been doing a good job taking her bottles and maintaining her temperature nicely. Her jaundice has gotten a little worse, so the doctors decided to do a little phototherapy to bring her bilirubin levels back in line. Unfortunately, this means that she loses her clothing and swaddling privileges and is back to being semi-naked diaper baby. She was too happy about that and was pretty fidgety today. She also kept yanking her sunglasses off -- apparently a day at the NICU spa wasn't too her liking. ;)

Molly did get her IV out today, which makes her look so much more comfortable (but maybe that's just because Mom HATES IVs herself). She gets to keep the feeding tube for a little while until she can demonstrate that she can consistently eat as much as the doctors have ordered. We have a little stash of clothes waiting for her, whenever she's off the bili lights.

Max went up to the hospital to visit his little sister today. Since she was in an open bed and he could see move around and hear her fuss, he was a little more interested in her than he was the other day. He did say "Hi baby" and spent a good few minutes studying her. After that all he wanted to do was find some wires to pull on or some buttons to press. The nurses and doctors are all happy to see that he's doing so well -- everyone remembers Max! One of Max's NICU buddies came to visit Molly today, so it was a regular NICU reunion (or, it would have been, if Max hadn't gotten crabby and had to go home with Dad to take a nap).

An Up Day

Molly did well overnight -- she tolerated her feeds without any problem and apparently didn't think 10 ccs was enough for her! She was digesting all her food and wasn't having any more blood come up. The doctors decided that the blood we had been seeing was just blood that she swallowed during delivery. In light of that decision (and because she's been doing so well otherwise), the doctors decided to treat her like a normal baby and let her show us what she can do.

When I came back this afternoon the top on her isolette was open and Molly was maintaining her own temperature. She was dressed in a little gown (Mom had forgotten to bring in the clothes that I've had ready and waiting for over a month), swaddled in a blanket, and looking very comfortable. The doctors had written orders to let her eat as much as she wanted by bottle at each feeding -- she had already guzzled a 2-ounce bottle for two feeds in a row! They took her off the TPN and she has finished her course of antibiotics, so hopefully her IV will come out soon. We can hold her whenever we like now, so Mom enjoyed holding her little girl for a nice, long while. Today was also bath night, so Mom was able to give her a sponge bath for the first time. I discovered that this is a much less dangerous endeavor with a little girl than it is with a little boy -- Max was very good at taking advantage of any window of nakedness provided to him and peeing all over. :P Molly, on the other hand, was a perfect little lady. She didn't enjoy her bath as much as Max used to -- she seemed rather annoyed to be naked and wet.

We tried nursing after the bath, but Molly was too tired and wasn't very interested (she didn't want much of her bottle either). She was content to just sit with Mom and snooze. I spoke with the lactation consultants today -- we're going to try nursing her with a nipple shield and see how that goes. The consultants aren't there over the weekend, but I'll schedule some time with them on Monday so we can work on getting Molly to nurse. She's having no problem with the bottle, so hopefully she'll take easily to nursing. We're hoping she continues to do well so she can be home with us soon!

All this unaccustomed activity is taking its toll on me -- I'm so sore!!! My feet are killing me and my ankles are so swollen. I had forgotten how draining it can be to run back and forth to the hospital (not to mention the pumping regime). Hopefully we won't have to keep it up much longer!

Everyone Rides the Coaster

Everyone always likens the NICU experience to a roller coaster ride -- the only thing you can count on in the NICU is that there will be ups and downs and you never quite know when they're going to hit. The good news is that Molly is entirely off oxygen and breathing all on her own! They started her feeds at noon and she was gavage fed the first feed and took 10 ccs by bottle the second feed.

The bad news is that yesterday afternoon blood started coming back up her og tube and when they checked her aspirates there was some "coffee ground" blood present. Her abdomen was a little distended. The doctors had no idea where the blood was coming from -- they didn't know if maybe one of the tubes just scratched or irritated something or if there was some irregularity with her anatomy or if (God forbid) it's the beginning of a NEC issue. She's already on antibiotics and they ran some bloodwork -- happily, her x-ray and all her tests came back normal. While we were there last night, she did do her first (big) poop, so the doctors were happy to see that.

The doctors held her feeds until today so that they could get a better idea what was going on -- she was a good girl all night and all her vitals have remained stable. Since no new blood was coming up today and everything checked out fine, the doctors decided to restart her feeds today. So far, she is tolerating them with no problem and the doctors are fairly confident that the blood was either blood that she swallowed during delivery or was from some minor scratch or irritation from one of the tubes. We're praying that she continues to do well overnight and can return to the business of feeding and growing so that she can come home.

Mom did get to change Molly's diaper tonight and hold her for a while. The nurse let her try taking her dinner through a bottle nipple, rather than her feeding tube. She sucked it right down with only a little sputter at the end. After that, she was happy to fall fast asleep in Mom's arms. Since she was cleaned up a bit last night, we can now see that her hair appears to be the same color that Max's was -- a funny brownish/blondish/reddish color. She has the standard dark blue baby eyes right now, although she hasn't opened her eyes a whole lot yet. We had the nurse look up her Apgars and were happy to find out that she was 9 and 9! Max's were 5 and 8, which were pretty good for a 27 weeker.

I'm quickly discovering that after 13 weeks of bedrest, my body is not too happy about suddenly being thrown back into action. Between having a baby and all of the unaccustomed activity, I think every muscle in my body is sore. :P My feet barely were swollen at all while I was pregnant, but after a couple of days of walking around I've developed some serious cankles. It is awfully nice to be able to be up and about again. I stopped by Walgreens today to pick up some things and realized that that was the first shopping I'd done since I was put on bedrest. You would think I'd pick somewhere more exciting than Walgreens for my first shopping excursion, but I'm afraid necessity triumphed over entertainment. Hopefully soon I'll be doing some fun shopping for a coming home outfit. :)

Introducing ...

... the newest member of our family. Molly Margaret was born on August 1, 2006 at 9:25 a.m. She weighed in at 5 lbs, 13 oz and was 18 1/4 inches long. She came out crying and wiggling and looking very big and fat compared to Max! She's currently in the NICU and we're not sure yet how long it will be before she can come home. She was doing a little grunting and chest retracting after she was born, indicating that maybe her lungs were still a little immature. To give her a little extra help, they put her on a CPAP a few hours after she was born. She was more comfortable that way and did so well with her O2 needs that she's already off all oxygen and breathing on her own.

What follows are the nitty-gritty details of her birth, so the faint of heart may want to stop reading here. ;)

As per doctor's orders, I was up and about a bit more this weekend/Monday -- I went up and down the stairs a couple more times than usual, poured my own cereal, etc. (nothing major). Monday morning I switched from taking nifedipine four times a day to taking it three times a day. I was feeling a little more sore and having a few more contractions, but nothing out of the ordinary and I think it was probably just from the extra activity. I was tired Monday night, so I waited until 10:30 p.m. to take my nifedipine, then dozed off in bed. At 11:00 p.m. I woke up because I felt a little gush "down there." My first thought was "uh oh," so I headed to the bathroom to check it out. By the time I got out of bed and walked the ten steps to the bathroom, a few more gushes had soaked my shorts. I sat on the toilet and a lot more fluid came out (thankfully, nice and clear). Obviously, my water had broken. I called L&D to tell them we were coming and that, no, I didn't want to wait for the nurse to call back -- I knew my water had broken and I didn't want to waste any time. :P After Grandma arrived to watch the kids, we threw the last couple things in my hospital bag and set off for the hospital. I was sitting on a towel with another one stuffed down my pants, leaking fluid all the way. I was having a few more contractions, but no show stoppers.

We got to the hospital and checked in and they put me right in a triage room to get checked out. I hadn't felt the baby move much since my water broke, so I was really relieved when they got a nice, strong heartbeat on the monitor. I was having contractions about 6 minutes apart. They checked me and I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. They admitted me to a room, hooked me up to the monitors, and we sat around to see how things would progress. Since I was GBS negative at my last hospital stay, they didn't have to put me on preventative antibiotics, so I was temporarily able to avoid an IV. After a couple hours of monitoring, my contractions weren't getting stronger or closer together -- I wasn't in active labor and the doctors wanted to start me on pitocin. I was planning on trying for an unmedicated birth and I did NOT want pitocin, since it tends to make contractions abnormally intense and painful. We talked with the doctors and they explained that when you have PROM (premature rupture of the membranes) before term, they worry that there is an underlying reason and they want to get the baby out fairly quickly. I asked them if we could try walking around before taking any other steps and they agreed. So, we walked around for a couple of hours -- I had to check back in every 20 minutes to check the baby's heart rate. After 13 weeks of bedrest, it was totally FUN to be able to walk around. Unfortunately, when they checked me around 5 a.m. I hadn't budged -- still three 3 cm and 70% effaced. I wanted what was best for the baby, so I let them start the pitocin.

As I feared, pitocin contractions and normal labor contractions are two entirely different animals. My contractions during Max's birth were hard, but manageable -- the pitocin contractions this time were different and much harder to handle (and I honestly believe that the size of the baby didn't really make a difference in my labors). They started me out on a low dose and kept upping it every half hour. I did pretty well until about 8 a.m. (right about the time my mom arrived -- so she didn't get much of a greeting from me). At that point, the contractions started getting pretty difficult. I had them check me then and I was 6 cm and 80% effaced. The doctor was pleased and seemed to think things would go quickly from there. I was less pleased, because I thought I was further along than that. However, the doctor was right -- by 9 a.m. I was having a really hard time with the contractions. I was shaking and I was starting to feel nauseous with each contraction -- I was in transition, although I didn't know it. Since it took me a few hours to get from 3cm to 6 cm, I feared I had a couple more hours of that level of contractions and was starting to worry that I couldn't handle it. A little after 9 a.m. I started to feel the urge to push (which I never felt with Max). My body started pushing by itself and I must have freaked the nurses out, because they were scrambling to find the doctor and get me to the OR (I was somewhat out of it at that point -- my body was running the show). I have to say that I would make a bad Scientologist -- I was hollering with the best of them. ;) They wheeled me down to the OR -- the doctor checked me and I was ready to go. I pushed for maybe 10 minutes and Molly came right out -- she was head down, face to the back, so she was a good girl for mom. ;) She came out crying and squirming. They held her up so I could see her and let me touch her before they handed her over to the NICU team. She looked so big and fat and healthy to me!

I had a small tear and I sent Dad back with the baby while they sewed me up and delivered the placenta (ugh, to me that part feels worse than the birth itself!). As they did with Max, they'll send the placenta off to be tested (although the tests on Max's placenta were normal and didn't reveal anything). They sent me back to my room to recover and Dad joined us shortly thereafter to let us know that Molly looked great and was doing well. As I mentioned before, she was doing a little grunting and retracting, so they thought she might have had a little fluid in her lungs. They felt a little "softness" in her upper abdomen and she might have a hernia, but nothing serious and it is too soon to tell yet. I had to stay in my room for about an hour before I could see the baby. They did a chest x-ray which revealed just a little immaturity, so she went on the CPAP for a little extra help. They put her on 36 hours of antibiotics to rule out sepsis (since she was a PROM baby). They didn't have any of her labs back this morning, but she looks great. They're watching her bilirubin levels -- she may need a little light therapy, since she's right on the edge right now. She was on nasal cannula when we left the hospital this afternoon (and had already pulled the prongs out of her nose and was chewing on them :P). They were starting her feeds when we left -- if she tolerates them they were going to try to give her a bottle at 3 and if all goes well I can try to nurse her at 6.

I'm recovering well, just tired and sore! I didn't tear at all with Max, so I'm much sorer this time with the stitches and all. I would have liked to hold out a little longer, but I know we did the best we could. Also, after having a 27 weeker and already being so familiar with the NICU and the doctors and the way things work, having a 34 weeker is an entirely different experience. It is weird to sit by her bedside for hours and not have a single alarm go off. I haven't been able to hold her yet. Dad and I are happy to wait until she is ready -- she's been resting so comfortably.

I find it totally funny that after all the threatened pre-term labor all these months that I ended up with PROM. :P Apparently my body doesn't like to be pregnant any way you slice it! Going back to the NICU is like a big reunion -- everyone remembers us (and Max), so every time I step into the NICU I have lots of people to catch up with! Max has been up twice to see his little sister (he's unimpressed) and everyone is thrilled to see him.

Anyway, Molly is beautiful and perfect and I can't wait to bring her home! She has a ton of dark hair -- especially in the back. It's nice to hear her cry -- Max almost never cried until a few weeks after he came home from the NICU. Miss Molly is much more vocal. ;) She looks so different than Max -- I'm not sure if it's because she is less preemie or just because she's a different baby.

This closes one chapter in our lives and opens up an exciting new one -- we're looking forward to bringing out daughter home and getting to know her. Thanks to everyone for all the support and encouragement and prayers over these last few months -- it really meant a lot to us.