Wow, it's been a little crazy. Last week's early-morning volunteering at the marathon I had no clue what was ahead. And it's funny looking at my neglected blog admin page seeing an unpublished draft about how our daughter was breech. We'll just go ahead and delete that. lol
So, little Leda was born last Monday on 10/10/11. What a great birth date. Six weeks early, but we're guessing she's just going to be the difficult one all her life. Heh.
We were sitting in Giordano's eating some pizza when Kelly ever-so-casually mentioned that her water may have broken. Should we call the doctor? Umm, yeah. But we didn't have any of this experience with my son. He was induced and it was a leisurely trip to Starbucks the morning before we started his (much more difficult) labor and delivery.
But now we have a new tradition for her birthday. Pizza the day before every year!
I have so much to say...about the unorganized volunteer setup for the Chicago Marathon last week. About the woman who ran while pregnant and having contractions before giving birth. I have so much to say about how awful Loyola Medical Center is...or more like how average it is but how we really hate the way things are run in your average OB department. I have so much to say about neonatal intensive care and about how there are good nurses and bad nurses. About how thankful I am for all the help my daughter has received. About how lucky we are and those who are not as lucky. About how I've always imagined how having a baby in the NICU must feel, but how the experience has brought unique emotions I never expected.
So much to say about Cole. His poor innocent state of not knowing what is going on. The grandmas coming and going, his manic energy on display as parents come and go, schedules change, and he gets away with murder when the routine is off.
So much to say about the strange way Kelly and I have gotten tons of time to talk. Not about kids, not around kids, just about boring stuff that isn't in any way related to anything. This whole thing has been fun.
And not fun. We're tired of hospitals with rules and constant checkins and that smell in the elevator like skunk. The smell of medical soap. The sound of heart and breathing monitors.
We're ready to just have some alone time. At home. Just us with the kids. We're trying to prepare for an endless string of preemie doctor visits. It's the new normal. But so far we're owning it. Every day I'm less afraid I'll break her. We each have our favorite sink to scrub at in the anteroom. We're getting better at holding cords and wires while we hold and feed Leda. But also looking forward to the day when she has no cords and wires and she's just Leda--not the 34 week old with reflux and desats in Bed 26.
Tomorrow she'll be a week old. Happy one week, Squirmy Wormy!
So, little Leda was born last Monday on 10/10/11. What a great birth date. Six weeks early, but we're guessing she's just going to be the difficult one all her life. Heh.
We were sitting in Giordano's eating some pizza when Kelly ever-so-casually mentioned that her water may have broken. Should we call the doctor? Umm, yeah. But we didn't have any of this experience with my son. He was induced and it was a leisurely trip to Starbucks the morning before we started his (much more difficult) labor and delivery.
But now we have a new tradition for her birthday. Pizza the day before every year!
I have so much to say...about the unorganized volunteer setup for the Chicago Marathon last week. About the woman who ran while pregnant and having contractions before giving birth. I have so much to say about how awful Loyola Medical Center is...or more like how average it is but how we really hate the way things are run in your average OB department. I have so much to say about neonatal intensive care and about how there are good nurses and bad nurses. About how thankful I am for all the help my daughter has received. About how lucky we are and those who are not as lucky. About how I've always imagined how having a baby in the NICU must feel, but how the experience has brought unique emotions I never expected.
So much to say about Cole. His poor innocent state of not knowing what is going on. The grandmas coming and going, his manic energy on display as parents come and go, schedules change, and he gets away with murder when the routine is off.
So much to say about the strange way Kelly and I have gotten tons of time to talk. Not about kids, not around kids, just about boring stuff that isn't in any way related to anything. This whole thing has been fun.
And not fun. We're tired of hospitals with rules and constant checkins and that smell in the elevator like skunk. The smell of medical soap. The sound of heart and breathing monitors.
We're ready to just have some alone time. At home. Just us with the kids. We're trying to prepare for an endless string of preemie doctor visits. It's the new normal. But so far we're owning it. Every day I'm less afraid I'll break her. We each have our favorite sink to scrub at in the anteroom. We're getting better at holding cords and wires while we hold and feed Leda. But also looking forward to the day when she has no cords and wires and she's just Leda--not the 34 week old with reflux and desats in Bed 26.
Tomorrow she'll be a week old. Happy one week, Squirmy Wormy!