Ava's First Outings

January 7^th-17^th

Wow, I can’t believe we’ve had Ava home for 10 days!  It is her two week birthday today!  And while I know I should be sleeping right now (because she is sure to wake me in an hour or so to eat), I want to write out anything I remember from the past few days.  We were very fortunate that Ben got to stay home with us for her first 8 days at home.  Between the two of us, nighttime feedings/diaper changes weren’t too difficult most days.  She went through a small growth spurt where she “cluster-fed” for hours on end (on her 2^nd and 3^rd days home), but since then, she has been eating on a fairly regular schedule of about every 2-3 hours (although, as I type this, it has been 4 hours since her last meal..).  On the days where she cluster fed, she would then sleep for longer stretches of time.  At first, I was delighted to get the extra sleep, but then I got worried that I should be waking her to eat.  Luckily, she went to a more normal schedule herself because she did not like when I tried to wake her to eat.  She didn’t fuss, she just didn’t wake up or if she did, she fell back to sleep very quickly with minimal intake. 

   On January 8^th we had her first ‘outing’- we went to the pediatrician for a standard newborn check.  We waited forever (1.75 hours) to see the doctor, but she was perfect the whole time.  We brought a bottle, and anytime she woke up, she ate a bit and went back to sleep.  The doctor said she looked great.  Her jaundice levels were very low (they were never high), she had already started gaining weight back (the lowest she ever was, was 6 lbs 12.5 oz), and she looked great!  I am concerned about her getting a cold because I have one, but doctor said to just run the humidifier and use saline drops if needed.  Hopefully the saline won’t be necessary (we’ve already been using the humidifier).

   Ava’s second (and much more fun) outing was to her Dongarra grandparent’s house for Sunday night dinner (a tradition we have been doing for quite sometime now).  Again, she did great!  Everyone was so enthralled by how sweet she is.  We just sat around looking at her.  On a side note- It is amazing how much better Ben drives now that Ava’s in the car!

   Other than those two ‘outings’, we have just played at home the last 10 days.  We planned to take her to a friend’s small get together tonight, but it was cancelled due to weather.  Having Ava in our life has been incredible, and we are so excited to see the person she becomes!

After her first bath - Jan. 7th