Milk

Grace and I went to the lactation consultant again today.  (Big thanks to Mom and Jeff, who helped out with Jonathan.  His cold isn't going away as quickly as we had hoped, so he was pretty miserable today.  We get really spoiled with how seldom he gets sick.  I hate seeing him feel this way and hope tomorrow is better.)  Grace had weighed 8 lbs, 13 oz. six days ago by their scale, and today she weighed 9 lbs, 11 oz.  That was an amazing gain, and we were all thrilled.  Apparently they like to see a gain of a half ounce to an ounce per day, and she gained about two and a half ounces per day.  Wow!  Thanks to everyone for praying!  In general, babies are supposed to be back up to their birth weight at two weeks.  We didn't make that milestone, but we'll be there soon.

We have a new plan for the upcoming week which is not quite as aggressive but still includes pumping and syringe feeding.  I'm supposed to weigh her here at home each day to make sure our new plan is still helping her gain a little each day.  I'm thankful that Grace grew by leaps and bounds and that I don't have to work quite as hard trying to make her eat as I have, although the changes we're going to make are small and gradual.  I hope that soon she'll be a good nurser and just be able to nurse without extra help.

Visitors

Grace was two weeks old yesterday! Time to share some pictures of her earliest visitors.  I have not been able to catch up on calls and emails yet...but I do have time to tell the blog to upload pictures and then walk away while it does the work!  Hope you enjoy these.  Thanks for being patient during this special newborn period!

Dad

Dad, Jonathan, and Todd

Todd

Dad, Todd, and Jonathan

Amanda

Amanda and Mom

Corinne and Grandma

Corinne and Todd

Linnea, Leanne, and Doreen

Mom

Leslie

Jen

Me with Jen

Dad

Happy Daddy

Troy

Joel

The new pediatrician

Grandma

Jordan, Sarah, and Aunt Kathy

Uncle Garth

Jonathan with Amanda

Amanda

Spoiled

We enjoyed a good weekend as a family and have been totally spoiled by all the attention from friends and family.  I've been so thankful for everyone's help, as caring for Grace is really time-consuming right now.  I have a long list of thank-yous to write, which is a great problem to have!!  We are slowly getting the hang of being a family of four, and she's slowly getting the hang of gaining weight.  I have an appointment with the lactation consultant again tomorrow.

Some faraway friends came to visit this weekend!  Lucas, Cherissa, Max, and Maggie had been on spring break and were on their way back home when they made time to come and see us.  We're thankful that they visited even though it meant prolonging their road trip with toddlers and losing sleep last night.  Lucas had to go back to work today, too.  We loved seeing all of them!  Here's the only picture I have of their visit, but it's a good one:

(Cherissa took some pictures too, and she has talent and a nice camera!)  The older kids had a lot of fun together.  Max and Jonathan are both really into Legos, and Maggie did her best to keep up.  We grownups even managed to get a little chatting in.  Big thanks to everyone for making this a special time!

Today's Pictures

So much for tummy time.  This is how it generally turns out.  By the time we finish feeding, she's worn out and ready for a nap.

He's got a little cold today.  It's been a really long time since the last one, and they usually don't last long!

Relaxed baby!

Snorkel Frog

We recieved a fun package from Anna and Brian yesterday that included a treat for each of us.  Jonathan's treat was this pull-string snorkel frog.  Here he is trying it out in the sink with some of his other animals from his great grandma.  The frog was a hit!  Thanks, Brian and Anna!

And here he is separating out the "land animals."

And here's a "baby fix"for those of you who need one...Gracie doing her favorite thing.

Jonathan shared with Jeff last night that he's feeling frustrated because he's not getting enough attention from me, especially not enough time playing Legos.  (Yes, he's just four...we were really happy he could express it!)  He was doing OK when we were just nursing, but the new long feeding sessions are especially hard on him.  (We are pretty certain we have a kid on our hands whose primary love language is quality time!)  We're working on giving him as much individual attention as we can...but there's never quite enough to go around, is there?  He's outside planting flowers with Jeff right now, which certainly qualifies as quality time.  Each day is a learning experience!

Milk Progress

Gracie gained five ounces!

I was supposed to come in to the lactation office and weigh her today, but Linnea graciously brought over her electronic baby scale for us to borrow for now.  I was able to weigh Grace at home!  (She weighs 9 lbs., 2 oz. today.)  What a great gift, not only of peace of mind, but of not having to drive into town for each weigh-in.  Gracie is eating about every three hours, which is great, but since every feeding session takes up to an hour and a half, that leaves a very short window of time to get J and G buckled in, driven to our destination, etc., and back home before it's feeding time again.  It was really nice not to have to use one of those short windows of time to drive somewhere today.

And I'm so, so thankful that Gracie's weight is moving in a positive direction!  Even with the weight she's lost, she's still fitting into her 0-3 mos. clothes nicely.  Jonathan says, "She looks beautiful when she wears her pink clothes."  I really hope she keeps packing on those ounces and that we can resolve her feeding challenges.

Snuggly

It may seem funny to see this Christmas blanket in so many pictures.  It's Jonathan's favorite one to give to Gracie.

Milk and Pictures

First, the pictures!

Bedtime bonding

It's never too early to start appreciating a bedtime story, is it?

Now, the milk:  Gracie and I went to the follow-up appointment with the lactation consultant today, and she has lost two ounces despite our hard work.  She's 8 lbs, 13 oz. now.  We have a more aggressive plan in place and will weigh her Friday and have another appointment on Tuesday.  Please forgive me for being behind on calls and emails...feeding her is pretty time-consuming right now.  We appreciate any prayers for her to eat and gain weight!

All Crumbled Up

Yesterday turned out to be pretty full with a few visitors at our house. I'll post pictures later...

Grace slept well last night, and so did we. It's probably the first night ever that she's gotten enough to eat.  We have also learned, thanks to Jonathan, that she loves to be warm and snuggly (although not necessarily swaddled.)  When she is in her bouncy seat, he loves to cover her with a blanket and get her "all crumbled up."  He loves to help, although it's sometimes tricky to channel his help in the right direction.  Overall, he's doing great.

"All crumbled up"

Today was our first trip back to MOPS.  It's early to go back, but we felt ready, and I wanted Jonathan to have some time with his buddies.  It was fun to share Grace with everyone!  We also visited Dad and got checked (below.)  I was the only one who needed an adjustment.  Going two places in one morning was a little bit over my limit at this point.  We were all tired by the time we got home.  My plan is to go no more than one place each day, and not necessarily every day, either.  Days at home are really nice!

Milk

Grace is having the same milk issues Jonathan had.  I won't go into all the details, but she needs to be eating a lot more.  We went to the lactation consultant today (provided by our hospital-yay!) and she weighed only 8 lbs., 15 oz.  (She weighed 9 lbs., 3 oz. when we left the hospital.)  I really expected her to weigh less than she did today, so I think she probably was a lower weight and has started to gain some back, thank goodness.  Hopefully this will help some of her sleeping challenges as well.

Anyway, the lactation consultant gave us a plan that we're following (which is very similar to what we did for Jonathan, but we caught the problem earlier this time) and we'll go back Wednesday to follow up.

My mom is here for a few hours to help out on Jeff's first day back to work.  What a treat, and what great timing.  She is even in my kitchen making cookies while J and G are asleep.  The only time we have cookies is when someone else makes them.  Yum, and thanks, Mom!

Just for fun, here are more pictures from yesterday.

Jonathan wanted to set up a cozy spot in her cradle for her.

First (sponge) bath

Ahh, the joys of having hair.  She didn't enjoy the rinse or the bath.  When her hair is clean, it's lighter, like Jonathan's.  But, the clean only lasts for a few hours at a time.

Getting warmed up afterwards

Reading Jonathan's new magazine, Lego Club Jr.  Thanks, Cherissa!  Gotta get Gracie ready to play Legos as soon as possible.

Pink

We got Gracie all dolled up for church today.  We made it there on time, but it took a lot of energy!  She slept through the entire service.  We were touched by how excited everyone was to meet her.  I guess we didn't realize what a family our church community has become to us.  Of course, just when a lot of the church ladies wanted to meet her after the service, she got hungry and I went to feed her.  We'll try to give them their baby fix next week.

Saturday

Very Sweet

Jonathan was watching a little Lightning McQueen today, and Gracie was crying loudly, too.  He said that it was too loud.  I asked him if he meant Grace's cries, but he didn't.  He was afraid the movie was too loud for her and turned it down so she'd be okay.

For the Little Buddies

Our blog has been short on posts of interest to the little buddies lately.  This movie is just for you!

Jonathan and Jeff went to the zoo yesterday for some "guy time" using passes my mom won on the radio a long time ago.  They had a fantastic time!  Here, Jonathan rides his first roller coaster.  We'll post some more pictures of animals and adventures soon.

Friday

Enough said.

Life at Home

It's midafternoon and both kiddos are down for naps.  (And I'm adjusting to phrases like "both kiddos" and learning to use words like "sister, daughter, dress, and pink...")  We've spent a great family day at home in our pajamas adjusting to what our new life looks like.

Big thanks to Jeff for "hacking" the blog (although I did give him the password!) and sharing pictures and news.  We are just basking in the crazy blessings of our lives right now.  I think everyone is doing well.  I'm recovering well, Jonathan is adjusting and is very sweet with his sister, whom he calls "our baby" most of the time.  Jeff has been a champ and has helped me so much both during the day and at night.  Grace has been eating really often, especially at night, so we're very tired.  But, she hasn't been hard to console, and we want her to eat often so that I can learn to keep up with all ten pounds of her and have a successful experience with nursing.

We have been so grateful to everyone for your kind words, visits to the hospital, and more.  I'll do my best to show my gratitude by keeping new pictures posted here..

The booties are perfect, Dorothy!  Just the right size for Gracie's feet.  (Poor thing, she got the big foot gene like my siblings and me.)

Jonathan says, "I'm just keeping her warm."

She spent quite a bit of time awake today.  Both my parents had spent some good awake moments with her in the hospital, but Jeff hadn't gotten his chance-until now.

Gracie is waking up, so I'll post more...hopefully tomorrow.