Busy, Busy! (More Pictures)

First, I want to apologize to everyone who has sent emails, greetings, and gifts. All well wishes are greatly appreciated. Thank you notes and return messages are on the way - as soon as I catch my breath. It's amazing how busy we are. Between visiting Bea, getting the house ready for Bea, trying to rest -- it's exhausting. Matt also has work, and I spend at least eight hours a day on breast-pump-related activities alone. My friend, Janis, who also had a preemie told me that I should be prepared to be best friends with my pump... and she was definitely right!

Until those thank you notes arrive, you can check out some more pictures of Bea. People have commented that she looks like a normal baby for being born so young. What the previous pictures we posted didn't show was scale. In one picture below, you can see my hand in there for comparison. In the other picture, she is being held by her nurse, Margi -- who is a very small person. So, you can see, Bea is pretty darn tiny. The blue wire in her nose is her feeding tube. The big thing on her arm WAS her IV (it's gone now-hooray), and the wires near her legs are for her heart and respiration monitors.

It was another good day for Baby Bea. She breastfed lots, pooped lots (that's been a worry), and is still barely avoiding more jaundice lights. Tomorrow, she will have her first real tub bath. From what I can tell from the other babies in the special care nursery, baths are not actually enjoyable experiences the first couple times -- but maybe Bea will enjoy splashing around in the fluid, since she had so little in the womb...

Enjoy! Talk to you soon, Melissa