Plumping up for winter

Today the tiny bird is 8 days old if you use her corrected age from her due date.  She is officially  (drumroll please) FIVE pounds. Given that she is still less than 16 inches long, you can imagine that she is getting some little rolls on her legs and nice round cheeks.  The last week and a half has seen us all busy and a bit exhausted.  Everyone except Greg had a cold or cough including Sadie.  That meant more night time wake-ups that usual, but we've all come out the other side OK.  I had to use the nasal aspirator  before every feeding on Sadie, but she's had so much stuff done to her poor nose in her short life that she didn't seem to mind too much.  She was a trooper.

The weather has been nice and mild lately so we have managed to be out and about a fair bit.  We bundle Sadie up and stuff her in a baby carrier with blankies tucked around her and she is happy to come anywhere with us.

We took her to the zoo for the first time last week and she slept almost the whole time while we chased Sophie and Ollie around.

She likes the bath,  and there are always lots of little helpers to help with the washing.

I am likening this stage in my life to a marathon I ran many (many) years ago.  It's really, really challenging and intense,  and there is no time to stop for a pee break!  It's completely exhausting and at times I don't know how I will get through another night with little sleep.  On the other hand,  it's extremely rewarding each time I look into a pair of big blue eyes, each time I see Sophie or Ollie pause to give Sadie a butterfly kiss on their way by, each time I tuck three little jammy clad bodies into their beds.   Greg is an excellent help as well, especially on weekends when he has been taking Sadie for long stretches so that I can try to catch up on some sleep.  I find sometimes that Sadie is so wide awake in the middle of the night that I can't turn the lights back off and go to sleep.  So we look at each other, and I take pictures of her, and we try on all of her funny little hats and sing songs.  She is getting so cute, and seems to have a nice little personality.

            She is very tiny in her new crib. We have been putting her in her basket in the crib to make her a little less vulnerable to sibling maulings and to take up some of the space so she doesn't feel so lonely.

These last two pictures were last night around 3am. There was no sleeping in the plan for that little green bean.  She wanted to play.  I'm pretty sure she gave me a real smile too.  See:  challenging, yet rewarding.  The marathon continues!

Our gaggle in costume! 3's a Party!

Well, I suspect the number of followers is tapering off now that we are home and everyone is doing well, but I wanted to write a quick post, so that everyone knows that I still exist.  Yes, it is Greg here!  I've been pretty busy looking after my other 50 kids, now that I am back at work.  I have really enjoyed being back at school, as it has meant a certain level of normalcy.  It also doesn't hurt that I have the best kids this year.  They are so enthusiastic and a ton of fun to teach.  They make me laugh constantly and have the most amazing questions!  Today, I was presented with a gift from the families of my students.  Without me knowing, they got together and raised over $1100.  They used the money to buy Sadie a new crib (we didn't have one), which is being delivered next week, a bunch of prepared meals from a local company and enough money to have groceries delivered to the house for a while!  I included Christy, Sophie, Oliver and Sadie in the presentation today by way of a video conference.  I put the video link up on the SmartBoard, so that my students could meet Sadie without Christy having to bring her into the school.  The students were excited to see Sadie and were also delighted to have Sophie and Oliver steal the show!  I can't believe how generous these parents are and how fortunate we are to have so many incredible people in our lives.  I got into teaching for a lot of reasons, but it really hit home today how much of an impact we have on the lives of children and their families.  We are so thankful and appreciative and hope to pay this forward through our own contribution to the wonderful people at the NICU's where Sadie received such incredible care!

Have a good night everyone!
Greg

playing dress-up

Halloween was lots of fun around here. We had a doctor, a monkey and a baby ballerina.  For some reason I can't get the picture of all 3 kids to upload,  so I'm giving up and I'll try again later.

Sophie and Ollie got so much candy it's ridiculous.  Those little tiny chocolate bars call to me all day from the pantry and although one at a time I'm sure they are fine, I always end up eating about six and then feeling sick.  We didn't get as many kids at the door as we expected, so there are lots of leftovers too. Raised by a frugal packrat, I have difficulty throwing usable, edible things out.  I think they will have to go to school with Greg.  He can be the staff room candy fairy for a while.  We'll save a few "ollypops" and chocolate bars for the kids, they're still little enough that they forget how many there were already.

Sophie and I picked up a Sadie's costume at Michael's in the teddy bear aisle.  We even made her a silver sparkly pipe-cleaner tiara.  It won out over the little elf hat and the pea costume.

I was fond of the pea myself!  We were trying to scheme a tiny bird costume, maybe next year she can be a baby robin.

Sadie is about 4 1/2 lbs now (she'll be weighed at her appt. tomorrow) and is getting some good baby chub on her body.  We figure if things had gone according to plan, she likely would have been born yesterday by c-section like our other little breech babies.  She is a tiny newborn size still, but seems a bit more awake then your average baby born yesterday.  She looks....savvy somehow.

We are having a bit of a breastfeeding boot-camp because I'm going to lose my mind if the pumping continues for too much longer.  It's so much time and effort every day, and though I know it is the best thing for her to have my milk, she's going to have to start getting it for herself soon!  She is doing alright, and seems to be willing to latch on, but she falls asleep fairly quickly while nursing and is tough to wake from her little milky coma.  So we keep trying.  I also have to give her fortified feeds still, so there's no cold-turkey option on the bottles right now.  I don't love bottles.

She's worth all the effort for sure, and is getting cuter by the day.  She is very happy being carried, and has slept through a few outdoor walks bundled in the front pack, so hopefully the warm-ish weather continues.  Fresh air is good to ward off the insanity that sometimes comes with sleepless nights and new babies.  On that note...time to sleep.  Or try.  But hopefully sleep.