Bruiser

Campbell now has his first black eye. The kid is running through more injuries and ER visits than his sisters combined, and he's only two.

I have no idea how this one happened. I was in the living room nursing Elizabeth, and Campbell was in his room playing. The next thing I knew, I heard a huge crash and Campbell started screaming. When I got in there, he was on the floor, halfway under the guest bed, with the donk on his forehead and scratches on his nose and under his eye.

Between his face and Ella's snaggle teeth, people are going to wonder about us.

Pictures

I am far too sleep deprived and frazzled to write anything close to coherent today. In addition to a newborn, I'm dealing with two sick kids home from school. I'm learning that with four kids, there's always something going wrong.

If there's anything sweeter than a sleeping baby, I don't know what it is. B insists on swaddling Elizabeth with both of her hands tucked in the blanket. She always manages to get one free, though.

I love when babies sleep with their arms over their heads like this. Elizabeth is wearing the Elizabeth Zimmerman Surprise Jacket my mom knit for her. I'm working on knitting a matching hat out of the leftover wool. Not surprisingly, I'm having a hard time finding opportunities to knit.

Elizabeth rarely cries - usually it's because I've done something mean like changed her diaper or given her a bath. Here she was crying because I had changed her diaper and then tortured her by taking pictures. I wanted to get a picture of how she still curls up her legs against her chest, but she was kicking and flailing instead.

NICU Nurses

Having Elizabeth in NICU for seven days was stressful and hearbreaking all at the same time. During my first visit to NICU (I'm not counting the one right after I had her because I was still hopped up on morphine), I sat next to Elizabeth's warming bed in my wheelchair and held her teeny hand and sobbed uncontrollably while trying to ask questions. The nurse couldn't have been more kind and patient and understanding. She patted my shoulder and held my other hand and waited patiently for me to stop crying long enough to sputter out my questions, all of which she answered calmly and thoroughly.

It turns out she wasn't the exception. Every nurse we dealt with was amazing - each one was calm and compasionate. They made the whole situation remotely bearable. When I left Elizabeth to go back to my room or back to the house, I did so with full confidence that she was being well taken care of.

Our favorite night nurse, Sally, stuck a bow on Elizabeth's head as soon as her cpap was removed. "I want her to look like a girl," she said. Sally also made a beautiful name tag for Elizabeth's bed. And when Elizabeth no longer needed the warming bed, Sally found this adorable quilt, made by Threads of Love, for Elizabeth's bassinette.

When we were struggling to get Elizabeth to eat enough either from a bottle or by nursing, another favorite nurse, Stacy, did everything she could to get Elizabeth to eat enough that she wouldn't have to be tube fed. Stacy knew that Elizabeth had nursed enough to not be hungry, but at that time the doctor still wanted Elizabeth to eat a certain amount from a bottle. If she didn't take it by mouth, we had to feed her by tube, which no one wanted to do. Stacy's efforts weren't successful, but I appreciated that she took the time to try.

One other nurse, Heidi, told B that she had been working in NICU for 15 years. Even though she had been working with babies for so long, you could tell that she still really loved the job just by the way she talked to the babies - even the teeniest ones.

Throughout Elizabeth's seven days there, NICU became a sort of refuge for me. It was always so calm and peaceful, despite the beeping monitors, and the nurses were a large part of it.

I need to call the hospital and get the name of the NICU director so that I can write a letter commending Sally and Stacy and Heidi and Mary Lou and Alida for their kindness and compassion. They all made a difficult situation bearable for us.

Happy Love Thursday.

Hug her and squeeze her and call her George

Lily just loves, loves, loves Elizabeth, and we have to stop her from smothering the baby with affection many times a day. She asks to hold Elizabeth at least 10 times before breakfast, and if I say no because Elizabeth is sleeping or eating or having her diaper changed, then Lily has to smother her with kisses and hugs. If I'm holding Elizabeth, Lily will pull on my arms to be able to reach the baby. I've almost dropped Elizabeth because of Lily.

B and I are walking a fine line; we want Lily to love her sister and not feel any more resentful or jealous than necesary, but we can't let her flatten the poor thing with attention. It's a tricky balancing act.

On the other hand, Lily isn't mother-henning Campbell quite as much, and now he actually seeks her out to play with instead of running away when he sees her coming. We've been praising Lily to the skies for playing so well with Campbell, and I think our positive reinforcement is having some effect.

It's always something.

And . . . Elizabeth went for a check-up yesterday, and she's gained five ounces since Friday. Our doctor was hoping for half an ounce a day, so she doubled his goal. She now weighs five pounds, 2.5 ounces. Yay Teeny Bit!

In praise of B

These past few weeks have been incredibly stressful ones around here, understandably so. And each day I remind myself how lucky I am to have B as a husband. Honestly, there's no one else I'd rather be going through all of this with than him.

He's done an amazing job of holding down the fort, especially during the five days I was in the hospital. One of the bad things about owning your own business, particularly in real estate, is that it is incredibly hard to just drop everything and take a week off on no notice. There are clients who still need to be taken care of, closings that still need to be attended, new agents who need their hands held, and inspections that still need to happen.

So in addition to taking care of three kids during that week, he managed to also keep working to get business wrapped up so that he could take some time off. Granted, he had help with the house and kids from his mother, but he still did a tremendous amount of work, both at the office and at home. I know it wasn't easy for him. I'm able to arrange my work around nap/school hours, but it's harder for B to do that - when a client calls, the client must be dealt with. He managed to take care of everything here and still spend time at the hospital with me and Elizabeth.

Once I got out of the hospital, things didn't get any easier for B. Not only did he have a helpless wife needing to be waited on, he had to drive me back and forth to the hospital twice a day for an hour each time. And when we were home, he still had to take care of the kids, especially Campbell, who didn't understand why mama couldn't pick him up like she always does.

Things are slowly getting easier, especially since I'm more mobile, but B is still having to do a lot. He hasn't been to the office in days, instead working from the house so he can be here to lift Campbell in and out of his crib and tote him back in the house when he refuses to come inside.

So even though these 2 1/2 weeks have been scary and stresful, I'm very grateful I've had B by my side and on my side. I wouldn't have made it otherwise.

Odds and ends

My mom, knittergran, knit this adorable jacket for Elizabeth. Check out her blog for more details on the knitting of it - it's called the Elizabeth Zimmerman Surprise Jacket, and the surprise is that it is knit in all one piece. I took a picture of it next to a book so you could get an idea of how small it is.
As small as the jacket is, it's still much bigger than Elizabeth. But at the rate she's eating, I'm sure she'll grow into it in no time. And after watching my mom knit the jacket, I'm tempted to make one, too.
The poor guys - they are so outnumbered. B knows he is; Campbell hasn't figured it out yet.
Ella's top three teeth have been loose for ages. The tooth to the left of her front teeth fell out last Sunday, and she looked really goofy. But it got worse last night when her right front tooth fell out while she was at a slumber party. One friend's father said it looked like Ella had been in a fight. Ella was mostly just excited that the Tooth Fairy found her at the slumber party and left her a dollar. I'm just happy that the party Tooth Fairy pays the same rate for teeth as the normal Tooth Fairy.

What a day

First, at Becca's request, some new pictures. In the top photo, Elizabeth just looks the absolute picture of contentment. She snoozed in knittergran's lap like that for an hour. Knittergran finally moved Elizabeth to her bouncy seat so that she could knit - she's trying to finish a sweater for Elizabeth before she leaves on Saturday (sob).

The second picture is blurry because the flash didn't go off for some reason, but you can get an idea of how teeny Elizabeth is. That's my finger she's holding. The hat she's wearing is one that I knit last month. I was worried it would be too small for her. Instead, it's a bit big. Elizabeth manages to squiggle out of it during the night.

And now for something completely different. Yesterday was one for the record books. I still don't think I've recovered.

I was out in the front, loading car seats into my car so that mom, who has to drive me, and I could drop some of my unfinished work off at the publisher I work for and then go to the scary baby store when B called for me. I went in to find him holding a pill bottle with my anti-nausea meds in it. He asked how many had been in the bottle, but I couldn't tell him.

Campbell had walked up to B with with the open pill bottle, and when B asked him if he had eaten any, nodded yes. So B called poison control, and they told him to get Campbell to the ER. B headed out with Campbell while I stayed home and tried not to absolutely freak out.

The doctor told B that he didn't think Campbell had eaten any of the pills because they taste awful when chewed and he thought Campbell would have spit the pill out rather than swallow it. B hadn't found any pill residue in Campbell's mouth or on his clothes, but the doctor still had to treat Campbell as if he had eaten one. So Campbell got to drink chocolate milk mixed with charcoal, which was supposed to make him throw up. He never did. They held Campbell for observation for two hours - I had joined them after an hour and half - and then released him with instructions for us to watch him closely for the rest of the day. Campbell never showed any ill effects, aside from disgusting charcoal diapers today, so we're guessing he didn't eat anything.

Still, better safe than sorry.

(Warning - gross stuff ahead)

As if the day hadn't been exciting enough, at about 9:00 pm, we heard sounds of wretching and splattering from the girls' room. Ella was throwing up. She had told us she didn't feel well before she went to bed, so we gave her a puke bucket. Unfortunately, when she started throwing up, she was still mostly asleep, so she just leaned over the rail of the top bunk and let loose. Since I can't afford to get sick, I sent B in to clean it all up. It was awful.

So even though I'm horribly tired, it was a good day just by virtue of the fact that no one threw up or went to the ER.

And you're sitting on my foot

Monday was a rough day all the way around at chez hok. All the kids were home from school for the holiday, and it was Elizabeth's first real day at home, so the novelty factor was still huge. Every time I tried to nurse her or pump milk, I'd have three other kids in my lap wanting to watch.

And to complicate matters, B came down with some horrible stomach bug that had him throwing up for hours. I quarantined him the back of the house and took him gatorade every few hours.

Fortunately, knittergran is here, and she was a huge help with the kids. I don't know what I would have done had I been solo with all four.

Lily had a particularly rough day of it. At one point I found her in bed with her covers over her head. I sat down next to her to have a little chat.

H: Are you having a rough day?
L: (muffled by covers) Yes.
H: I know it's hard. Everyone's paying attention to Elizabeth because she's new, and everyone's paying attention to Ella because it's her birthday.
L: (muffled) And you're sitting on my foot!

I had no idea I had added to Lily's woes by sitting on her foot. I curled up with Lily in her bed for a while and just loved on her. Fortunately, our divine neighbor L saved the day later by inviting Lily over for a playdate, cup cake party and dinner.

B and I are trying to remember to take time each day to give Lily some undivided attention to make sure she doesn't get lost in the shuffle. Yesterday, B made a mountain of Chex Mix and had Lily be his sous chef. She also got some one-on-one time with knittergran while Ella was at rock climbing. I think she had a better day all around.

And finally, an update on Elizabeth. We took her for her first check-up yesterday, and she has gained a whopping three ounces since Sunday. That may not seem like a lot, but when you weigh less than five pounds, it's a significant amount of weight. We go back on Friday for another weight check. Her jaundice is looking better, too. She's much less orange than she was in NICU, so that's more good news.

Happy Birthday Ella!

Ella turned 8 today, and it's hard for me to believe that this monkey hanging from the tree with her grandpa was such a tiny little thing not so long ago.

Now she's a rock climbing, Nancy Drew reading, adventure girl, always up for any kind of outdoor fun.

Ella's birthday has kind of gotten lost in the commotion of Elizabeth's arrival. She was supposed to have her birthday party this past Saturday night, but we had to postpone it. We've promised her something extra special to make up for the delay. Today she's getting to go out to a movie and dinner with B's dad, whose birthday is also today. It will be good for her to have some one-on-one time with him.

I hadn't bought her any presents yet, thinking I had this past week to prepare. So B and knittergran made emergency runs to stores last night to pick up a few things. Her main birthday presents are all of her new rock climbing gear, but they haven't come in yet. I didn't want her to not have anything to open on her birthday - her presents from my parents are in the mail, and since there's no mail delivery today . . .

So happiest of birthdays Ella-bella. You are the best 8-year-old I know!

She's Home!

At 1:30 today, as I was taking a nap, the hospital called, and I got the good news that we could fetch Elizabeth. I bolted straight out of bed and dragged B off the back porch.

When we got to the hospital, I nursed Elizabeth to the sounds of all the beeping machines one last time as B and I watched the mandatory CPR and Shaken Baby Syndrome videos. The nurse cut the rest of the check out short since she figured we already knew how to change diapers and swaddle babies. As one nurse said, "There's a benefit to being a four-time mom."

When we got home, knittergran and the girls were waiting on the front porch. The girls could barely contain their excitement. Campbell just wanted B to go in the back yard with him. We made the girls scrub their hands and then let them hold Elizabeth.

Lily needs to work on keeping Elizabeth's head higher than her feet. She also needs to work on sitting still while holding her. Every time Elizabeth got comfortable, Lily would wiggle and move her.

Ella needs to practice keeping Elizabeth on the pillow. Elizabeth kept sliding down between Ella and the pillow, and I'd have to fish her out again.

Campbell eventually came in and studied Elizabeth for a while. He finally held her hand and jabbered at us about her. Then he brought toys in for Elizabeth, including his new favorite train. I had to stop him from driving the train across Elizabeth's belly. Later he got very concerned when I took Elizabeth's hat off while I was nursing her. Campbell handed the hat to me and pointed at her head - I think he figured that since she came home with the hat, she always has to have the hat on.

And now we start the fun of waking up every three hours to feed the baby. I'm so grateful to have her here that I don't even mind the impending sleep deprivation.