The days of our lives...

Margaret Rose 13 days old, 4/15/07

So, our life has boiled down to keeping Elisabeth and Joseph on their routine and traveling back and forth to the hospital to feed and interact with Margaret. This has been the norm for 2 weeks and will continue at least till the end of this week.

My daily routine has changed drastically from 2 weeks ago...
These days I wake up somewhere between 4 and 6am, whenever my breasts are uncomfortable, and I pump for a 1/2 hour. You see, I'm breastfeeding, and so I must continue to make milk even though Margaret is not home. Well, then I fall back asleep, Mitch wakes up at 5:30, showers, gets the kids up at 6, gets them ready for school, they come and kiss me goodbye and leave at 7.I wake up again between 8 and 9am, grab some coffee, and play moo cow for another 1/2 hour or 45 minutes. Then I shower and eat breakfast. I putter around the house for a little while, then I'm driven to the hospital at 10:30 for Margaret's 11am feeding. I can't drive myself anywhere for another month, due to the c-section.

At 11 we get some awake time from Margaret, then she nurses and conks out. I usually leave the hospital around 12:30 to come home for lunch. But before I can eat, moo cow mommy at 1:00. You see, Margaret only eats about 50 ml at a time right now and Mommy makes about 200 ml every 3 hours, big difference.

I get to rest for a couple hours, usually pumping once in the afternoon. Then I pack up to ride to the hospital at 4:30 for Margaret's 5:00 feeding. She's awake again before she eats, then she nurses again, falls asleep and I usually leave the hospital between 6 and 6:30.

I pump again about 7pm, then before bed about 11pm, then sleep, and it starts all over again at 5am.

Margaret gets bottles of breast milk with a small amount of formula mixed in (for extra calories), when mommy is not there.

Mitch gets to the hospital sometime during the day and tries to get the kids up there after school at least every other day.

Obviously this schedule will be made much easier when Margaret is home. The back and forth to the hospital is very draining on the family and doesn't afford much resting time for me. However, we need to make sure that Margaret is 100% ready to come home. That's what the doctor's and nurses are there for. So far she is expected to be discharged at the end of this week, as long as her condition does not change between now and then. That means, no more bradys, her heart must continue to beat strong without slowing. She is back up to her birth weight, 4lbs 10 oz and will be above it before she comes home. She is only on a heart and lung monitor, to make sure everything is working properly.Margaret and Moma

Margaret responds so well to everyone, she looks directly in the direction of voices she recognizes, like her daddy and sister and brother, and she tries to focus on faces when you get close enough for her to see.

We are continuing our prayers that Margaret continues to maintains her healthy path through this week.

I am still working on her birth story, as Mitch and I remember more details and talk about the day with others it becomes a little easier to write, but it is still a slow process because it was a pretty traumatic event for all of us.