Go Ginny Go

We have raised an amazing $700 so far for the March for Babies! We are so thankful and continue to be amazed by all of the support we have received.

Heath and I will be donating $5 for every donation that is received before April 21st. Additionally Heath's employer will be matching 100% of our donation. So far we have received 11 donations which is an additional $110 for Team Go Ginny Go. This means every donation really makes a difference. If you donate $1 it has an $11 donation impact. Click here if you would like to donate.

Virginia continues to be the light of our lives. This week marks the first week that we have no doctor appointments, therapy appointments or visiting nurses. This is truly amazing to me! We do have 2 or 3 appointments next week, but we are really enjoying our quiet week this week.

By my rough estimations today, Virginia is close to 9 pounds and is 21.5" long! She has been consistently sleeping from 11:30 pm to 5:30 or 6am , which means I am sleeping through the night for the first time since I entered the hospital last September :)

confessions part 2

I appreciate that Virginia sleeps 6 or 6.5 hours straight at night but I do not appreciate being up early enough to watch shows on MSNBC like "Way too Early with Willy Geist"

One person can also watch too much TLC. I knew it was time to abandon TV all together when I found myself wanting to put "My strange obsession" and "Mamma's boys from the Bronx" on the dvr based on all the promo commercials.

I'm now a certified germophobe, I ordered a 24 case of purell and am considering adding it to my Amazon "subscribe and save"

Ginny and I have conversations about what outfit she should wear each morning, luckily she doesn't talk back yet and I get to put her in what I want.

It took alot of restraint not to call Heath every hour when he was home alone with Virginia all day a few weekends ago. He did great though, and even had dinner ready when I got home.

There have been times when I wished it was safe to strap the pacifier to Virginia's mouth. I do alot of pacifier replacing.

Im lacking a baby friendly wardrobe. Dry Clean only and baby spit up don't mix.

I'm probably overly excited to be on maternity leave during March Madness.

I bought a Jillian Micheals DVD on a Tuesday, I received it in the mail on a Thursday, I put it in the DVD player the following Monday and exactly a week later I still have not done the workout.

and this girl makes me insanely happy...

5 Months Old!

5 Months! Can you believe it? We cant!

Some facts about Virginia at 5 months:

Her adjusted age is 6.5 weeks (This is her chronological age had she been born on her due date and is also the age we will use for now in tracking her developmental milestones)

She weighs 8lbs 9oz

She sleeps 6-7 hours straight at night

She has lost all of her dark hair and is slowly getting some new blondish hair

She eats every 4 hours during the day but wants a bottle every 1-2 hours staring at 7pm.

She is being seen by her pediatrician, an opthamologist to track her retinopathy of prematurity, a nephrologist to keep an eye on her kidney stones, a cardiologist for a small fistula in her heart, and will start bi-monthly physical therapy next month. This averages to an appointment each week. She also has a small hemangioma (strawberry birthmark) above her ear that we are hoping stays small and that we won't need to add another specialist to our list.

Virginia loves to be held, rocked, and read to. She seems to like car rides, and walks in the carrier or stroller.

a spring story

While Virginia took a nap last weekend, I spent some time trimming back my rose bushes before they budded even further. As I was cutting them back, careful not to scrape up my arms, I was brought right back to last spring. It seems like a lifetime ago and in a sense it was a different life, but a life that was budding into our new life.

The roses always start blooming around Memorial day. While the roses are in bloom I go out almost daily to prune and clean them up. We have over 20 rose bushes, so daily maintenance is much easier than trying to tame them after a few weeks. In the middle of last May we had a few of the first buds and I noticed that there was a bird's nest in our largest rose bush. It was well perched and had 3 beautiful blue eggs in it. For the next few weeks I was careful not to disturb the nest and we checked each day to see if the birds had hatched. Right along with the rose buds, those 3 eggs hatched and tiny fuzzy birds emerged on Memorial Day weekend. I said to Heath that I thought it was a good sign, that maybe that month we would be pregnant. Just a few days later we found out that we were in fact expecting. It seemed like such a neat coincidence, a good sign.

The first bloom in our yard is extraordinary but is also short lived. The same held true for for our first residents of the nest. After only a week the little birds, who seemed much to small to be away from the nest, disappeared. I was a disheartened, as I felt like those little birds were a little symbol of our family. Never did I imagine that their early departure from the nest was in a way forecasting our months ahead.

I didn't really think much about those birds until I was back out in the rose garden last weekend. It brought me right back to the excitement, the hope, and then the worry all in the span of such a short time. I don't really believe in "signs," but I do believe in life lessons. Those little birds were teaching us an important lesson; that life is unpredictable, life is fragile, and that there will always be a new spring.

Spring is here again and our little early bird is home! As I prepped the rose bushes this year I tried not to cut the large one back too much, perhaps another bird will perch her nest in another sturdy spot.

Please consider sponsoring our team GO GINNY GO in the March of Dimes walk in a few weeks. http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?seid=1844632

Speaking of spring, Virginia and I have been enjoying getting out of the house for walks. We cant do much else outside of the house until the end of cold and flu season, so we are very thankful for this beautiful weather. Below is a picture of Ginny's first time in her stroller.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The luck of the irish was on our side and we are enjoying Virginia's first "holiday" at home :) Our little leprechaun now weighs 8lbs 4oz and is 20.5in!!!

March For Babies

1 in 8 babies are born prematurely in the United States. Our little Virginia fits into a small percentage of these premature babies that are born at the edge of viability. The March of Dimes has helped lead the way in research and outreach to prevent and treat premature birth, as well as to support those affected by premature birth. As a way of expressing our gratitude for their support during our stay at Yale New Haven Hospital and the life saving measures that their organization's funding helped develop, we have decided to walk in our local March for Babies event this coming May.

If you are local to us in Connecticut, please consider joining our team Go Ginny Go in the walk which will be held on May 5th at 9am at Fairfield Beach.

If you cannot join our team please consider making a small donation to this cause.

For more information please see our team page at:

http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1844632

Look Alikes

Most people, myself included, think Virginia looks like Heath. Below are pictures of Heath and I as babies as well as photos of all of our nieces and nephews as infants. Who do YOU think she looks like?

Mom

Dad

Cousin Clare

Cousin Shane

Cousin Greyson

Cousin McKenna

Cousin Kyle

Everyone Has a Story

Back in late January, after those super scary days were mostly behind us and we were not so patiently waiting for Virginia to learn how to coordinate eating and breathing, I spent many late nights rocking Virginia next to another mother whose son was exactly a month older than Virginia. After the evening feedings and 7pm nurse shift change things would get quiet in the unit and the two of us would chat as we rocked our babies to sleep.

On one particular night we talked about the wild ride that we were all on and the amazing stories that our tiny babies would have to tell. This mother said to me "you know, this has all taught me that everyone has a story to tell." Those words really resounded with me, because it is so true. This experience was our story, but everyone has a story. Everyone has an experience that has changed them, changed the way they think about the world, changed the way they think about life. Everyone has a story.

I remember walking through the grocery store a few weeks after Virginia was born and realizing that no one knew what I was going through. I was just another anonymous person going through their daily routine, when in reality my world was upside down. I no longer had a pregnant belly, no longer could people recognize that my world was changing but I was living one crazy story. Heath, Virginia and I have a story. We are all forever changed. I like to think we are more grateful, more understanding, and have a little more compassion because now we really know that everyone has a story.

By a series of coincidences I became connected with a family friend that also is living their story. A little girl was born very early like Virginia and coincidentally on Virginia's due date, February 4th. They are in the thick of their story. If you have any extra good thoughts or prayers please send them to their amazing family.

We continue to be amazed by Virginia every day. We couldn't be happier to have her home and really are enjoying our new life together. She is quickly approaching 8 pounds, is sleeping 5 and a half to 6 hours at night and loves to be held and rocked.

Confessions of a New Mom (Post NICU)

Confessions of a New Mom (Post NICU)

-One person CAN watch too much HGTV

-I'm mad that our dog seems mad at us

-I've already started skipping pages in certain books that I read to Virginia

-I pulled off the highway to make sure Virginia was still breathing the first time I drove with her alone... she was breathing and was quite content.

-(TMI) Ive become very good at multi-tasking while pumping... conference calls, driving, bottle making, pacifier replacing... the list goes on.

-I get excited when the mail arrives each day.

-The song the bouncy seat plays is really annoying.

- I no longer wonder (judge?) what the heck moms do ALL day at home.

-I used to worry that the baby stuff would clash with my furnishings ... haha.

-I miss the NICU... well really I just miss the people; I don't miss the crazy schedule, the scary stuff, the bad food or really anything else.

-I will always need MY mom (thankfully she came for a long weekend)

Lots of firsts at home

Virginia has now been home for almost 2 weeks. We have settled into a routine just in time for it to probably change again. Virginia is still on her hospital schedule during the day (eating every 3 hours) but will sleep for a 4-5 hour stretch at night. Her feedings have been going well and she now weighing over 7lbs.

There have been alot of "firsts" since Virginia has been home:

Her first time meeting our dog, Pippi

Her first night in her crib. We realized after the first few nights that she would much rather be in her crib than her sleeper, bouncy seat or swing.

Her first bath at home rather than in a plastic basin in the hospital.

Her first trip to the Pediatrician for a well baby appointment.

Her first time video chatting on skype with her cousins.

We feel so fortunate to have her home and doing all of these normal "firsts."