Happy St. Patrick's Day! As you can imagine, all the nurses were gushing over Finn today because of his name. When I got there, he had on his "Babies 1st St. Patty's Day" onsie and "Kiss me I'm Irish" sleeper (pictures to follow tomorrow!). AND his nurse had changed out all of his bedding and blankets so they were all green (plus a green hat)! It was really cute.
Today was our first day of feeding on demand. That means whenever Finn is hungry, I feed him. It was interesting and quite the juggling act between feeding him, pumping and figuring out when he'd be hungry next. It will be much easier when I don't have to pump between feedings, but we did really well today. I fed him three times and although he took his time getting started, he ate well all three times. I hate waiting until he is crying to feed him, though, but that is what the nurses tell me to do. Hmmmm, we'll see...
And the doctor decided to start bottle feeding Finn today. I was very hesitant about this and we discussed it in length. The bottom line is that preterm babies who both bottle and breast feed come H-O-M-E earlier. By bottle feeding instead of tube feeding for the feedings I can't be there helps to teach these little guys how to suck and to suck strongly (there's nothing like sucking well...ha, ha!). Plus, the nurses are experts on feeding babies and know all the tricks to get them to do it right. I left my camera there so they could take pictures of Finn's first bottle feeding (hence no pictures of St. Patty's day). I hope he did well. Jim will be able to feed him when he returns from New York.
I feel like things are progressing very quickly at this point. I'm having more emotions about Finn starting bottle feeding that I did when I started breast feeding him. I don't know, maybe because it wasn't ME doing it. I guess there are just a lot of milestones he is undertaking. At the same time, both Jim and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel (we are closer to the end than the beginning) and are getting a little nervous. I mean, right now, he is hooked up to monitors and is being cared for by professionals 24 hours a day. Can we manage once he comes home without the help of all of that? My head knows they won't send him home until he is very ready and they are certain he will be fine, but my heart just doesn't want anything to go wrong or Finn to have to suffer through anything else. I'm sure it will be fine, but just a little glimpse of how we're feeling. Plus, I really can't believe that our little guy is 10 weeks old today. Man, times flies by.
Also, I went with Kristine tonight to try on bridesmaid dresses for her wedding in Aruba in September and she decided on a dress (and color!) and ordered them. Yeah. Everybody always says they pick a bridesmaid dress so the girls can wear them again...but everybody knows they never will. Well, these are actually really cute sun-dress type dresses and we actually CAN wear again (we'll just have to call ahead to make sure we don't wear them at the same time!). Now she has to start thinking about HER dress!
I hope you all had a green beer for me tonight!
2 comments:
Dearest Stacy and Jim,Having a little one come home is scary for all new parents - and I can only begin to imagine how much more so for you two with Finn! However, I have watched you (and Jim to a smaller degree) and I have seen how very good you are with Finn! You are in tune with him - you know him and his usual versus there's something not right here! Also, you are nervous - that's good! I'd be more worried if you both felt totally confident and had no worries whatsoever!!! You'll both do great! I look forward to watching the two of you parent this new little life! Love you both so much! Mom T XOXO
I can't even believe there's home talk. I'm so excited for you two. I remember when I finally got out of post-op and got to see Quinn. They were like, she can be in here with you as long as you want, we'll take her at midnight every night for her bath and weight.
I was terrified as it was JUST ME as Mike wasn't staying overnight with me and he was helping entertain my family and study for his exam. Crazy times, but I JUST DID IT.
Waiting until he cries...at least he's crying and telling you he needs something! In no time at all you'll be able to tell hungry from bored from wet from tired cries! It is hard to wait until they're crying, but when you're at home, you'll barely notice 3-5 hours has flown by and he'll "need" to cry to alert you he's still there and needs you!
I didn't like the idea of Q getting bottles either. And in fact, rarely pumped because it was SOOOO time consuming to feed and pump...there was barely an hour in the day for me to eat (I often ate and nursed at the same time...while blogging!! ha ha).
You'll do great. Heck, you've given him a fabulous start. Did you show him the pictures of his room at home? He'll be a super happy kiddo there. I can't wait to decorate a room for Quinn...that's not yellow!!
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