Tonight we crossed a big hurdle for preparing the house for Elizabeth Katherine. With the help of friends, we (and by we I mean Scott) moved heavy stuff from the marmalade room to the living room.
The couch was tricky. When we bought it from Scanhome some 8 years ago we failed to realize it was too big to fit through doorways and did not disassemble (it has futon like qualities so it wasn’t an unreasonable expectation). Back then the couch remained in the living room for several months while we scratched our heads and Abby dog (gracing the top of the page) thanked us for our thoughtfulness in providing her such a superb dog bed. Placing the cranberry couch into the marmalade room required removing not only the door, but also the framing and door jamb. Back then I accomplished the task under Abby’s supervision while Scott was enjoying a Saturday at Northern Security. That was kind of out of the question this time.
I pulled the framing off the door while waiting for Scott to come home. I might have maybe removed the door too (I slid it so it doesn’t count as lifting over 5 lbs). Scott removed the jamb (I’d started but he thoughtfully relieved me of the screwdriver and finished).
With the aid of friends the monster tube tv, its stand and components and the cranberry couch were all moved to the living room.
And there was MUCH rejoicing.
There are nasty things visible in the marmalade room. A mouse spent some time under the tv stand. There is enough dog hair gathered in the crevices behind the tv and couch to make a 3rd and perhaps 4th dog. There _were_ crunchy things but Bing took care of those. I don’t want to know. I hope that he doesn’t tell us about it later. Sometimes he does.
The living room is a bit awkward right now. We moved the love seat in front of the fireplace, the cranberry couch where the love seat was beneath the windows, and the tv into the awkward alcove near the front door. The living room which had seemed roomy now appears kind of small.
I think it would be nifty to cut away the hearth in the middle so there is enough room to slide the love seat flush to the fireplace brick. The remaining hearth on either side of the love seat could then be end tables. We’d get to use the sawzall, wouldn’t have to build a funky tv stand on the hearth, more square footage in the living room would be available, and it would be an entertaining conversation starter. It would probably also be a train wreck and Scott nixed the idea. I still think it would be cool. I’ll consider it again when I am no longer on pain killers.
Sunday we paint.
We also had a good consultation with our gallbladder surgeon today. She and her nursing assistant declined to do the surgery in the consultation room (hey, Scott’s got a jackknife, you got a table right here, I just took my pain killers and heck, we trust you doc, lets just get this done…). Darn. We almost had the surgery scheduled for tomorrow (glee!) but the doc recounted the number of weeks since the c-section and said no at last minute. Apparently the worst time for scarring is between the 3rd and 4th weeks (where I am right now). However we are scheduled for surgery next Monday. Hurray! I can’t begin to describe how relieved I am knowing this unpredictably excruciating bit of flesh will soon be excised from my body.
A good visit with Elizabeth today. More breastfeeding. She didn’t take as much as yesterday which was a bit surprising because she appeared to be more successful at it. More consistent longer latches, lots of sucking, so I don’t know what th scoop was. More practice needed. She’s suffering from a bit of diaper rash, we’d been treating with Desitin but after a couple days it hasn’t improved so the nurses pulled out the big guns. I don’t recall the product but they have a procedure where they basically rhino-line her rear. Her hemacrat was also a bit low so they’ve started her on iron and some other stuff to improve that. They’re not particularly concerned but will be testing her hematocrit daily for a while until it improves. We are to watch for behavioral changes and breathing changes (lethargy and low oxygen saturation levels).
Elizabeth Katherine was tuned in to her environment today. She kept craning her head back in an apparent attempt to see past our screen to the activity at the next crib. She also exhibited an awareness of other babies crying. She’d be steadily nursing, a baby would cry, and she would stop mid-suck and her eyebrows would furrow and eyes would squint, then she’d resume sucking. She also held my left pinky with her right hand (tight squeezing, good strength) during nursing. Made it awkward to hold her but made my heart pound with the N Rockwellness of it. With Joanne’s assistance I stood up and put back in her crib on my own. Previously I’d had to pass her to a nurse as my abdominals weren’t strong enough to stand with her in my arms. I was in a glider rocker today instead of a recliner which helped.
I should get to NICU for twice daily breastfeeding (day shift and night shift). Not sure how we are going to pull that off as I’m back on Dilaudid and may not drive. Night shift feedings are 9 PM to 6 AM. We’ll talk some more with nurses and lactation consultants. Maybe we could do 9 AM and 6 PM or something like that. Once the gallbladder is removed/healed and I’m driving again it won’t be as difficult.
