Weekend activities

Yesterday was the March of Dimes Annual March for Babies and we were so happy to donate to a wonderful organization and walk with family and friends for a great cause. We were a little nervous that the weather wouldn't cooperate but it was a beautiful morning. I was holding back tears (occasionally losing that battle!) all morning because when I heard and saw so many stories of loss, heartbreaking diagnoses, and roads much longer than ours, I realized once again just how lucky we are. The March of Dimes was very supportive of us during Gabriella's hospitalization and knowing that we weren't alone in our journey was comforting. I am hoping that we will be able to pay that forward one day.

Feeding has continued to go really well and so far, Gabriella has liked everything we've given her. She's had sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pears, oatmeal/barley cereal, and avocados. Her favorite combination seems to be avocado, pear, and cereal- she had that yesterday morning and couldn't get enough! I've been making her food, not in an attempt to be Martha Stewart, but it actually is really easy, doesn't take a lot of time, and is less expensive than buying individual jars. Our freezer is filled with ziploc bags of pureed fruits and vegetables and I just pull out one or two little cubes in the morning of what I am going to give her. We thin it out with formula, thawed breastmilk, or pear juice, and so far it's working well. Over the next week or so we're going to try peas, apples, and prunes.

Project Make-the-Baby-Nap is going a lot better than I expected! I'm glad our pediatrician told me to push her a bit to take longer naps, in her bed. He was so adamant that napping would lead to not only a happier baby but would lead to her sleeping through the night. She is now taking 2 45 minute-1 hour long naps in the morning and 1 or 2 45minute-1 hour long naps in the afternoon. I think the 2 separate naps will eventually merge into 1 nap in the morning and 1 in the afternoon but for now, this works and she is happier, more rested, and is sleeping through the night! 

Activity wise, she is so curious and gets so frustrated when she can't do something. Gianni and I joke that Gabriella is a toddler trapped in a preemie body. I feel bad when she gets worked up and upset over something but her frustration is definitely helping her catch up developmentally. She is on the cusp of sitting independently; she can sit up for long periods of time with my hands supporting her hips so her physical therapist is bringing a small chair for her to try out tomorrow. She can roll over from her belly to her back and is just about able to roll from her back to her belly. Her neck and head control is awesome and she is grasping at and holding a variety of objects. She's also entered the stage of chewing on everything and pulling everything- hair, earrings, necklaces, shirts, lips, eyes, the cat... nothing is safe :)

Almost sitting by herself!

Smiling at her breakfast

I love rocking her to sleep! Look at those sweet cheeks :)

Oatmeal face

Don't try and steal Sophie the giraffe

Airplane baby

Figuring out her toys

Licking up every last scrap of food

Have a happy Monday!
xo,
Mary

First foods

Gabriella's introduction to foods has been successful! We started last week with pureed sweet potatoes, then tried pureed butternut squash and multigrain cereal. She was a little unsure the first time we fed her, but now she loves it all. This morning she had the cereal for the first time, and it was clear that it is her favorite so far. She was waving her hands, kicking her feet, and happy as can be. We are trying new foods every 2-3 days so later this week we will be trying avocados, pears, and apples. I am so excited to continue to introduce her to new things. Meal time is a complete mess now, we are flying through bibs and I am definitely missing Chloe.. she would have seriously helped with licking up the floor!!

We learned after the first feed that we had to make her purees much thinner so I added more milk or pear juice and that has made it so much easier for her to eat. She has the spoon down pat now and this morning tried to help out and grab the spoon a few times.

Happy meal time face

Eating the remains of her dinner off of her hands

Happy first food faces!

On Saturday, my college roommate and dear friend Sandy came to visit with her girls. It was so nice to see her and her girls are hilarious, adorable and I am in love. And because I know she reads this blog- we miss you already!!! 

Gianni did a ton of yardwork this weekend, we had a fun night out on Saturday with some friends, and the weather made it feel like spring is actually here.  We have some fun events coming up in the next few weeks- next Sunday we are doing the March of Dimes Walk for Babies, in May we have Gabriella's baptism, we have a huge number of family and friends with May and June birthdays, we are having a baby shower for my sister Sandy, and then we look forward to welcoming Gabriella's newest cousin to the world! Lots to look forward to.

For now, we will make the best of a week of cold, rainy weather and continue to work on getting a certain baby to nap!

xo,
Mary

6 months old!

Gabriella is 6 months old!!! I feel like I write this every month, but I can not believe that another month has gone by. She changes before our eyes daily and her personality keeps growing as well.

And looking back...

This month Gabriella loves her Sophie the giraffe, noisy toys, her sit-and-stand toy, music, sitting in her high chair, her sippy cup, and bath time. She is noisy now, yelling out to get attention, cooing and "talking" all the time. She gets frustrated when she can't do something, but I think that that frustration is motivating her to learn new things.

We had a doctor's appointment for her today and she weighs 11 lbs 11oz! Because she is taking almost 30 ounces a day, plus 2 ounces of pear juice, we were told to start feeding her foods! We are starting with sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots, then moving to barley cereal, then fruits and other vegetables. I am so excited for this stage but am so emotional too... time is just flying by!

We do have to work on her napping- she is a terrible napper and ends up overtired and fussy at the end of the day. Our pediatrician said she is big enough now to let her fuss a little in her crib to try and encourage her to nap at least twice during the day for 45-90 minutes. He said to watch her cues and when she is rubbing her eyes or starting to get irritable, rock her for a few minutes and then place her in her crib. He said go get her if she starts crying, but if she is just angry, let her be for a few minutes because more often than not, she'll probably fall asleep. We'll see how it goes!!

I'll be sure to take a bunch of photos as she tries some new foods and share over the weekend!! 

xo,
Mary

Watching the Sox game together

Spring is here!

Spring is finally here!!  And hopefully here to stay.  The past few days have been absolutely perfect and it has been so nice to be outside, enjoying the sunshine. Gabriella has been a lot of fun- she has loved being out in her stroller and took a little nap outside on a blanket yesterday. I also realized that it is so much easier to dress a baby in warmer weather than it is in the winter! 

Gabriella is growing like crazy! I swear, she wakes up in the morning bigger than she was when she went to sleep. I am sure she is going through a growth spurt because she is back to eating every 3 hours during the day and she has started waking up at 4 in the morning to eat, which she hasn't done in awhile. She is up to 5 ounces (sometimes 5 1/2!) which still blows my mind. I am thinking we will be given the green light to start cereal soon! Our pediatrician had us start her on an ounce of pear juice 1-2 times a day to help with some tummy troubles and she absolutely loves it. I am putting it in a sippy cup and she does well with it. It is a first-step sippy cup so she still has to suck on the spout, but it is a great starter cup.

Napping outside

Too cool :)

Such a big girl

Have a good week!
xo,
Mary

A hard day

Today we found out that two families that were in the NICU with us had to say goodbye to their boys. They were in a different wing of the NICU than we were, but when you are there for so long, you get to see familiar faces, and both families were always so kind and friendly to us. They always asked how Gabriella was doing and were so happy for us when we were getting discharged- even though it is so hard to see babies going home healthy and happy before yours. The news hit us hard- you hang onto hope in the NICU and block out the fact that it is an intensive care unit. You survive the long days by reading the happy going-home stories of families before you. Even on Gabriella's worst days, I would always tell myself, She's going to be fine. You forget that sometimes, there isn't a happy going-home story. I spent most of today thinking about how grateful I am, and about the staff that treat, care for, and love these babies like their own.
 I was complaining last night about Gabriella being cranky, not wanting to nap, forgetting that a year ago I would have given anything, everything, to have a baby, even a cranky one. 6 months ago when she was born way too early, I was madly jealous of friends home with their crying babies, wishing that ours was home with us. A couple of months into our NICU stay, we met with a developmentalist, because we were concerned that Gabriella wasn't making a noise, not crying out at all. And now, here we are, with a healthy and loud-as-hell baby with wrist rolls, chubby thighs, and big, pink cheeks. And today we hug her a little tighter, kiss her a little more, and thank God with everything we have for giving us the best gift.

Mid-week Ramblings

We had another Birth to Three session today and we are focusing on core and abdominal exercises so that Gabriella will be able to sit up unassisted and roll over from both front to back and back to front. Over the past two weeks she has learned to intentionally hit or pick up an object and bring it to her mouth to chew on. She is also looking back and forth from object to object or person to person. We have some homework to do to continue strengthening her core and get her closer to her 6 month goals!

Exhausted after physical therapy

This week Gabriella has also started sleeping through the night!  She sleeps on average for 9 hours! Now, nap times during the day aren't great at all, but having her sleep all night is wonderful. She wakes up happy and rested and is so fun to play with in the mornings. Because she is anti-napping and will only go down for about 30 minutes or so in the morning and then another 30 minutes in the afternoon, by late afternoon she is over tired, fussy, and her mad face comes out :) So, we are working on getting her to have longer rests during the day.

Being silly

She's not a big fan of headbands

Happy mornings

And a little side note this week.... my sister Sandy is 26+ weeks pregnant with her little boy!  She is officially more pregnant than I was with Gabriella. Crazy to think about! She is getting kicked like crazy so I think Gabby and her cousin might be two wild and crazy kids together.  I can not wait!

Thank you, Easter bunny, for my cool shades

Loves her books

Toes are finally starting to touch the ground!

Hope your Wednesdays are going well! 
xo,
Mary