The Nursery

We finally finished Lucy's nursery!  We were in the middle of getting it ready when I was admitted to the hospital and we still had some finishing touches to do when she came home.  What was once an ugly storage room has turned into our favorite room in the house.  The theme is Island Paradise, which is close to our hearts since Erik and I met (10 years ago!) on Catalina Island.  We went with primary colors which I think will transition nicely into a toddler room.  The "wow factor" is an island mural that we painted on the wall with lots of help from Grandma Jaye, Auntie Kate, and Uncle Lee.  I hate to toot my own horn, but we put a LOT of work into this room and are pretty stoked with how it turned out!  It's such a colorful and happy space, which is exactly what Lucy deserves.

Panoramic view.

Crib and rocking chair (complete with sleeping kitty).  This is the rocking chair my parents used with my sister.  The boat in the mural is a replica of the boat Erik lived on when we met.  

Changing table.  Lucy loves to look at the mobile hanging from the leaf while she's getting changed.  The letters were decoupaged using scrapbooking paper.

Dresser and wall shelves.

I added these dolphin knobs to the dresser and changing table.

Lucy was named after BB King's guitar, Lucille.

This is a puzzle of Catalina Island, where Erik and I met. Thanks to Auntie Maud and Grandma Vivian for helping us put it together! 

This is an antique chair I used to have as a kid. I reupholstered it with an island-themed canvas fabric. 

This is the sign that we made for Lucy's isolette in the NICU.   It's now on the outside of her bedroom door.

Meeting the Fam Damily

This week we took Lucy on her first roadtrip to meet my family in Bakersfield!  I'm starting to learn that things take twice as long when you throw an infant into the mix.  What used to be a 4-hour drive turned into a 7-hour drive because we had to stop several times to feed and change her.  And despite the 106-degree weather, Lucy was a real sport.  It was a beautiful thing to see her in the arms of her relatives who love her so much.  They have all been so incredibly supportive throughout my pregnancy and Lucy's hospital stay, and it felt SO good to finally show them our perfectly healthy, happy little girl!  The last baby in our family is now in high school, so this was a pretty monumental meeting.  And true to form, Lucy was a real sweetheart for everyone. 

In other news, Lucy is 7.5 lbs now.  Her closure is down to a tiny scab.  She isn't sleeping through the night yet, but we're hanging in there.  She's eating a LOT - she can down over 100 mls now and she eats about every 2-3 hours.  All is good in Lucyland!

New dance move: Disco Fever.

Lucy and Grandma Jaye (I still can't believe my mom is a grandma!)

Lucy fit perfectly in Grandpa Charlie's arms.



Talk to me, C-Mac.

Lucy and Nana (her great grandmother)

I felt the same way about this woman when I was a baby.

Four generations.  I've been waiting a long time to take this picture!

Nana, Papa, and Grandma Jaye

Lucy and Aunt Mary (my great Aunt... does that make her Lucy's great-great Aunt?)

Lucy and Aunt Gina.

Lucy and Uncle Dave.

Lucy and Uncle David.

Weight Gain Progress Report

Great news!  Lucy gained 6.5 oz in 7 days!  Babies her age should gain about 0.5-1 oz per day, so this is stellar progress.  It looks like our new feeding regimen is working.  Our itsy bitsy girlie is still in the 2^nd percentile for her age, but the pediatrician and pediatric surgeon assured us that this is normal for gastro babies, who can have trouble packing on the pounds in the beginning.  As long as she’s gaining weight at a good pace and not losing weight everything is A-okay.  She should hit 7 lbs in the next day or two.  

The hole in her belly is smaller than a dime now, and we no longer have to do the surgical dressings at home!  This is GREAT because the tegaderm, which is the clear sticker that goes over the dressing, is very sticky and it tears her skin up every time we have to take it off and redo it.  Now all we have to do is cover the hole with a square of gauze and a strip of surgical tape which is much easier and gentler on her skin.  At the rate it’s been going, the hole should completely close in the next week or two.

In non-medical news, Lucy turned 6 weeks old yesterday!  She’s hitting that point where she’s starting to interact with us which is really fun.  :)  She recently discovered the use of her voice (for things other than crying) and when she gets excited she’ll build up all this energy and then let out a big yelp.  The first night she figured it out she made herself hoarse with all her yelling.  She’s still only sleeping for 3-hour stretches (max).  Man, I can’t WAIT for that to change.  But I’ll take waking up to her crying over going to bed with her in the hospital any day. 

Here are some random pics from this past week. 

1st dance move: The Robot.

2nd dance move: Thriller.

Snuggling at sunrise. 

Grump.

Yelping.

Lucy's best Dramatic Chipmunk. 

Waving to the masses on her way to the pediatrician. 

Gastroschisis Awareness Day

I saw on the Babycenter forum that today is Gastroschisis Awareness Day so I thought I would take this opportunity to send a virtual hug to all the other families out there who have been affected by this rare birth defect, the cause of which is still unknown.  If you would like to know more about gastroschisis or support gastroschisis research, visit http://www.averysangels.org/.  There is a special place in my heart for all gastro babies, who are the strongest, most amazing little people.  Among them are Baby Sarie, Baby Ava, and Baby Anthony, all of whom are in the NICU now and getting one step closer each day to coming home.  I think about you guys every day and my heart yearns for you all to be home with your families very, very soon! 

I was 12 weeks pregnant when we found out about Lucy's gastroschisis at my NT scan.  We were given the option to terminate the pregnancy, try again for a "normal" baby, and avoid all the stress, uncertainty, and heartache that was in store for us.  While I respect every person's decision to do what is right for them, this was never an option for us.  Not for one second.  When I look at Lucy today, it gives me goosebumps to think that this beautiful, perfect little human being could have never been.  What else can I say?  Life is beautiful, we are truly blessed, and if we could go back and do it all over again we wouldn't change a thing, because this was our path and this is how we got our Lucy. 

Here is a video I took tonight.  Nothing special, just a moment in time to celebrate the life of our little miracle baby. We love you, Lucille.

The Many Faces of Lucille

Lucy has been busy practicing a full range of facial expressions.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Concerned.

Okay, no longer concerned.

Silly.

Stink face.

Contemplating her existence.

Al Pacino face.

Awwwwwww :)

Things have been going well at home.  Lucy is a pretty sweet and easygoing baby.  She'll cry when she encounters something she doesn't like, but she'll stop as soon as the problem is fixed.  She's yet to have an inconsolable meltdown.  She really loves to cuddle and will usually stop crying as soon as we pick her up.  Here are a few things she doesn't like:

1. Gas.  She gets a lot of gas.  I'm pretty sure this is a normal baby thing and not necessarily a gastro thing, although I wonder if the gastro makes it a little worse (I've heard this from other gastro moms).  We've learned to recognize when she has bad gas because she'll sit there and grunt and moan like an inhuman monster while squirming and fussing around.  One of the NICU nurses taught us a trick where you pull the baby's legs up over the belly to help release some of the gas.  That usually makes her fart a few times and helps a lot (warning: it can also cause explosive pooping).
2. Diaper changes.  She pretty much hates having her diaper changed and cries through the whole thing.  I guess she doesn't like her nakie bum exposed to the outside world.  Can you blame her?
3. Baths.  Again, not a big fan of being nakie.  See Exhibit A:

Baths, a great time to scream bloody murder.

Other than that, she is a pretty happy baby. :)

Our biggest struggle right now is gaining weight.  At her first pediatrician visit, which was two days after discharge from the NICU, she had gained 5 oz.  Not too shabby.  But when we went back a week later she had only gained 1 oz, for a total weight of 6 lbs, 6 oz.  We had been feeding her whenever she acted hungry, but now at the advice of her pediatrician we are feeding her every 3 hours on the dot (even if we have to wake her up).  We're also offering a bottle of pumped milk after each feeding to make sure she got enough.  Breastfeeding has been a bit of a struggle and I suspect that might be one of the reasons why she isn't gaining as much weight as she should.  She will latch on, but not every time.  It's most likely because she got so used to eating from bottles in the NICU.  We've been seeing a lactation consultant and are now using a nipple shield which she will latch on to every time, but it also makes her work harder to get the milk.  We're trying to wean her off of it but it has been a slow process.  To make things more difficult, I've apparently channeled my inner dairy cow and am making an overabundance of milk.  When Lucy was in the NICU they stressed the importance of pumping every 3 hours since that was the only thing keeping up my milk supply.  Apparently I was a little too overzealous about following orders because according to the lactation consultant, I'm making enough milk for twins.  While this sounds like a good problem to have, it's not.  First, it can be overwhelming for a little baby like Lucy and it causes her to pull away a lot to avoid choking.  Also, she doesn't feed for very long periods of time so she ends up getting too much of the light foremilk that comes at the beginning and not enough of the fatty hindmilk that comes at the end.  Over the past few days we've been giving her more bottles so that I don't breastfeed as often, which sends my body a signal that she's not eating as much and causes me to make less milk.  I think it's helped a lot.  We're really hoping that these new tricks give us better results at next week's pediatrician appointment!

Happy Birthdays

Do I even need to tell you how wonderful it has been having Lucy home?  I still can't believe we're finally all together as a family.  We spent the past few days getting to know each other and trying to establish as much of a routine as possible.  I think the most exciting part has been watching Lucy figure out what life as a baby should really be like.  Instead of being poked and prodded she's being held and soothed.  Instead of being fed tiny amounts of food on a controlled schedule, she's eating as much as she wants whenever she wants it.  When she cries someone picks her up.  When she sleeps it's nice and calm around her instead of noisy, bright, and busy.  Now don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining about the NICU.  The first month of her life had to be the way it was.  There was no choice.  And they certainly made every effort to make it as comfortable as possible for her.  But she has been through SO much and it melts my heart to finally see her living the comfortable life she deserves.  And she has definitely started to figure it out.  She LOVES to be held and is starting to cry when we put her down.  After everything she's been through I feel like she deserves the sun and the stars, so we pretty much hold her all day except for when she's asleep.  I have a feeling we're creating a spoiled monster who is not going to be happy when she has to start sleeping in her own room, but I don't care!  We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  For now we're here to soothe and calm her whenever she feels afraid, and most importantly, to show her how it feels to be loved.

Yesterday was my 31st birthday and Lucy's 1-month birthday.  Needless to say, I got the best birthday present I could ever want the day Lucy came home.  Can you believe how much has changed in just 4 weeks?

Then...

And now.

We decided to get out of the house and go on a birthday adventure.  Other than two doctor appointments (both of which she aced) we haven't been outside much in the last week.  Our first stop was brunch, followed by an afternoon at the park.  It was in the upper 70s which doesn't happen all that often in San Francisco, especially during the foggy summers. When it's that warm it's kind of your duty as a San Franciscan to spend the day outside enjoying the weather.  Lucy slept through most of it but did wake up for a while at the park.  She had a few fussy moments but for the most part she tolerated the adventure quite well.

First time in the Baby Bjorn. 

Crepes

Park day!

Her belly is also healing well.  Her cord finally fell off today which should make the dressing changes much easier.  The hole is down to the size of a quarter.  It used to be about the size of a beer bottle bottom because they had to stretch it open to fit the bottom of the silo under her skin. I thought some of the other gastro moms might want to see some photos (sorry if they make you a little squeamish!)  We're told that this sutureless closure method usually results in a better cosmetic result than a surgically created belly button.  I think her "belly button" will end up being wherever the hole closes in on itself, but I'm not sure.  It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.   

The hole is the size of the white foam dressing which is held on by a tegaderm film.  The red skin around it is all new skin which gives you an idea of how big the hole used to be.  We change the dressing 1-2 times a day and each time I cut a smaller circle because the hole has gotten a little smaller.

The skin under the dressing looks kind of like ground beef.  We are waiting for real skin to grow over that "pre-skin."  The redness around is new skin, the black thing is the cord (now off), and the yellow stuff is normal discharge.

And finally, by popular request, some kitty pictures.  Goose has been keeping a comfortable distance from Lucy so I don't have any of him at the moment, but as you can see, Maverick has accepted her into our clan...  sort of.