The Woolley Family

Monday, January 28, 2008

1 Week Old

Hannah is a week old already. She is doing quite well and has gained back the 5oz that she lost in the days after she was born. She's over 1600 grams now (about 3lb, 9oz).

Sleepy girl.

She's in "sleep and grow" mode at the NICU.

But that doesn't stop her from kicking and squirming!

She likes to sleep like her Daddy, with her hands/arms over her face!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Hannah had her first bath tonight.

Originally the day shift nurse told me she thought it would be around 11pm, so I should call to confirm when I should drive back down to "help"....but when I called the night nurse told me that she'd given her the bath at 8pm since she wasn't sure if I was coming back....ARGH. The only thing I was "unsure" of was whether Jon would drive me back down at 11pm since he is trying to make sure I get my rest (but he'd even agreed since he knew I really wanted to be there). An earlier bath wouldn't have been a problem at all -- how I wish she'd called to check! How frustrating. But, the nurse knew that I wanted to be there so she took pictures for me and has printed them out. As soon as we get back from the hospital on Monday evening and figure out how to scan them into our computer, I'll add them to this post.

Feeding Update

Hannah is doing quite well. She had her IV removed this morning and is no longer getting nutrition from any source other than me (well, we're supplementing what I can produce with donor breast milk until I can cover all of her feedings).

She is now "eating" 24mL at each feeding. It seems like each time I turn around the number goes up. We started at about 5, then have quickly increased to 8, 16, 20, and now 24. It's exciting to see the improvements.

I'm working pretty hard to supply all of her nutritional needs. I'm drinking about 120 oz of water every day (I fill up this giant jug the hospital gave me about 4 times!) and eating like crazy. I'm pumping every 2-3 hours, which is not easy but I know how important it is, so it that makes it easier to continue. Tomorrow morning I'll be switching to a different brand of hospital-grade rental pump, since I've recently learned that I have a bad pump for a "preemie mom" and they actually make a special pump for NICU moms who have to do all of their pumping with no baby at home to "help out." Thank goodness for my friend Kim, who is a lactation consultant, gave me all sorts of advice/information on this stuff (and drove to my house immediately when I called and told her I was having a problem with production on Saturday morning)! The consultant who saw me in the hospital never mentioned the NICU brand (Symphony) to me, and neither did the woman at the rental center at the hospital. Oh well -- at least now I know.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Baby Shower

A few months ago my family and friends started to plan various baby showers for me....Originally I was going to have 2 -- one in WV and one in OH -- then I was going to have 3 (WV, OH & PA)....and then they all got cancelled when I went into the hospital. We finally decided that I'd have one shower (sooner rather than later in case something happened to cause an early delivery) in the hospital on the high risk OB floor where I was intending to spend the rest of my pregnancy. We set the date for January 26th, and my only responsibility was to "stay healthy" and to get an order from my doctor that I was allowed to attend.

Well, leave it to little Hannah to make sure that she reminds me that I am not in control....the week of the shower she decided to make her appearance. So, her early delivery had a number of people questioning whether the shower on the high risk OB floor would still happen. Ultimately we decided that yes, since I'd want to be at the hospital NICU anyways, it made sense -- plus, my friends/family would have an awful time trying to let everyone know that it was cancelled on a few days notice.

Here are some pictures from the shower: