Day of Life: 50
Today was a bit of a whirlwind, but in a good way. A lot happens during a whirlwind, and in my case, a lot was "accomplished." It started this morning when I took Lydia to Physical Therapy. I got to sleep a few extra minutes, so I was better prepared for the day ahead. After dropping her off, I drove to the hospital to spend a little of the morning with Tera. Our nurse today knows how much I love to hold Tera, and she let me get her out as soon as I arrived.
Can you see that her round cheeks are filling out? She's going to be a chipmunk, just like her big brother was/is! Sometimes it's hard to tell from pictures what Tera looks like, acts like, etc. This morning I had one of those moments when I felt like the pictures I was taking just didn't show her like I wanted to. Maybe this video will do a better job.
I was happy to hear that Tera took her full bottle last night from the nurse, especially after she only took a couple of milliliters for me yesterday morning. She gained 37 grams last night which is almost exactly an ounce. She is now 4 pounds 4 ounces, and her bed oxygen is still lingering around 24%.
Just after Tera was born, our family was enundated with stories of other families we knew, but never knew had been through the same experience. One such family is Beth and Carolyn, two of my Chi-O college friends. They emailed me soon after Tera was born, and we have been writing almost daily ever since. It's been interesting to see how so many of our experiences exactly match up with theirs. Beth and Carolyn live in Charlotte, but they are in Alabama this week to visit family. They wanted to meet Tera, and I was so excited for them to come. I haven't seen Beth since we graduated eight years ago, and it's been even longer since I've seen Carolyn. They were only able to stay a short time before we all had to be other places, but we were able to share even more stories about our little princesses. I also got to meet their little girl, Charlie Bea, a healthy 19-month old who has absolutely no health problems and is developmentally on track with all of her friends.
That's right, Tera. Sleep now. You're going to have lots of catching up to do in the months to come.
I left the hospital with Beth, Carolyn, and Charlie Bea and headed back to pick up Lydia, who was exhausted from her rehab. We went back to her house for some lunch (and a nap for Lydia). I returned to the hospital in the mid-afternoon and was able to hold Tera again. This time, Kangaroo style.
The nurse had given her a bottle while I was gone. She had been wanting to give her one for days now, but I was always getting in the way! I was happy that she finally got her chance, and Tera did great for her. Tera took 20cc before the nurse handed her off to the Speech Therapists so they could evaluate her progress. Tera took the hand-off as an opportunity to rest, so I don't think she did very much for the Speech Therapists.
I had previously downloaded a sample of the book "Like Water for Elephants" on my Nook, so I read that to Tera today while I held her. After finishing the 20-page sample, I downloaded the whole book. It sounds like it could be interesting. It's a strange thing, to read a novel aloud. Children's books are pretty easy to do, especially if there is a small child sitting next to you enjoying the tone of your voice and the expressions on your face. Long novels are quite a different story, however, especially when there is a premature infant in your shirt. There were a few cuss words, and I found myself skipping over them when I read aloud. I initially skipped over them because I didn't want Tera's innocent ears to be exposed to such language so early in life. I soon realized though that I part of my reason for skipping was to prevent anyone from hearing my quiet squeaky voice as they walked by the room. I'm already the Crazy Mom for enough reasons. No need to add Tourettes to the list.
After putting her back in her bed, a childhood friend of my big brother also came to visit. John grew up with us in Greenville, and he is now a Pediatrician at Children's Hospital here in Birmingham. He worked in the RNICU and CCN when they were in the "old" building a couple of years ago, so many of the nurses knew him and wondered why he was back. Our nurse bragged that he was here to see her . . . and Tera, of course! John met Barry when he was visiting a pediatric practice in Dothan last week, and when they made his connection with me, Barry told him about Tera. He, like everyone, said that she looks really good, even though she de-satted pretty severely during his visit.
John left just in time for me to make it to my Discharge Class. No, we don't have a tentative date for going home yet (I still haven't even asked), but they encourage parents to attend the class early so that we're not pressed to get it done when the doctors do actually give us the go ahead to leave. The Discharge Class is not specific to preemies, or even to at-risk full term babies. It gives very general information about taking care of any baby. We watched a movie about the importance of having a car seat, the reasons not to shake a baby, and the risk of babies contracting RSV. We talked about how to use a "sucker" (that thing you suck boogers, mucous, etc. out of baby's nose and mouth) and how to check the expiration of Tylenol. Basically, anything you might possibly need to know when you bring home a baby, we talked about it.
We also learned how to do infant CPR and what to do if an infant is choking. I was even given a blow-up mannequin that I can use to teach you how to do it, too. For any of you interested in being with Tera alone, you will need to take my crash course and practice on the blow-up doll before I will leave your side. You think I'm kidding . . .
I know how important this class is for so many of the parents who have babies and have no idea what to do, and I'm not saying that I didn't learn anything new (I promise I did, I'm just lost for specific details right now), but I was extremely eager to get out of there. Toward the end of the class, I began receiving texts from Poppa that he and Canon were at the hospital and were going up to visit Tera. Poppa's original plan had just been to either drive around the hospital or let Canon run around in the lobby until I got out of the class. He reports that as soon as they got on University Blvd, Canon started asking for "B B Tera." Upon arriving at the hospital, Canon walked past the fountain that he normally obsesses over, through the doors of the WIC, and straight to the elevators. They were both with Tera when my class ended, so I bolted for her room as soon as we were dismissed.
The nurse was feeding Tera her night-time bottle in her bed. I always wondered how they did that:
We stayed with Tera for a few extra minutes, then went to trade all of Canon's things from one car to another. Poppa still had a long drive home and, at 9:15, I was pooped. I still can't believe how much he grows from one week to the next. I think it's faster now than it was when he was Tera's age.
And the whirlwind was over. Today, I have (very indirectly)contributed to the rehabilitation of Lydia's knee, entertained friends I haven't seen in about a decade, convinced hospital staff and patients that I have a speech/mental disorder, brushed up on Basic Baby Knowledge, relearned infant CPR, and gotten both of my children to fall asleep at least once during the day. Good night!
What About Barry
I've got to be completely honest. Sitting here now, writing about everything that is going on with my day, I realize how absolutely and completely self-absorbed I am. I cannot remember what Barry's day was like today. We texted a few times as we usually do, and I know we did FaceTime on our phones right before Canon went to bed. Oh, now I remember. He went to our neighbor, Jinson's house to eat dinner with Jinson and his girlfriend, Maggie. Maggie is a dancer for "Lord of the Dance." We went to see her dance in Birmingham the weekend before Tera was born. After the show, Barry and some of our friends went out with the cast. They were amazed at how muscular the girls' calf muscles were. I'm not exactly sure why I included this tidbit, but I'm sure we'll be happy to have a record of it later.
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