First week at home

Our first week at home has flown by.

Elizabeth Katherine Has grown to 7 lbs 1 oz. She had her first bath at home (she liked it at NICU, did not like it at home). She is a night owl. There hasn’t been much sleep at the Anderson household. To be expected with a new baby, so nothing shocking there. We’ve been using disposables for the first week just to keep things as similar to the hospital as possible. That won’t be continuing much longer. EKA has generated 10 lbs of diaper trash. 10 lbs. In just under 7 days. Wow. A dry diaper weighs just under an ounce. That’s a lot of baby by product. We’ll be switching to cloth pretty quick here. We need a LOT more cloth diapers.

Elizabeth Katherine had her first visit with her pediatrician. She showed off her lung capacity. We’ve also done some visiting around town. She’s been to the White Spot, Great Northern Guns, Northern Security, and Fire Island Bakery (just a few of our favorite spots). She’s also visited both mine and Scott’s work. We are not letting folks touch her yet to limit her germ exposure, and we keep visits brief.

My health continues to slowly improve. The gallbladder incision sites remain painful and the abdominal muscles are weak but there is improvement. My p/t took a hit bringing EKA home however am getting back into it. I have met the weight loss goal I set several years ago – my BMI is now at ‘normal’ weight. There is a lot of flab instead of muscle so I expect to increase in weight as I regain my muscle. I am ok with that.

The nursery is complete except for some minor details. I need to hem the curtains and obtain some storage bins for clothing, burp rags, diapers, etc. Elizabeth Katherine has been sleeping in her bassinet in our room. We use the nursery for nursing and diaper changes and getting her dressed at this point. Scott rearranged the furniture in the master bedroom with the help of a friend, and even got the three book cases moved from the living room to the master. This makes room for the piano in the living room (not here yet and we’ll hire professional insured movers for that move). Scott is going to work on completing the master bedroom this weekend – it needs work in the closet.

Tonight we visited Kate and her pups. Oh My. They are 6 weeks old Monday. They were worn out and sleepy when we arrived but still absolutely adorable. Kate was enthusiastic in her greeting. Kat says Kate is ready to come home. She’s kind of ‘done’ with the whole puppy thing. She’s still being a good mama, but 6 week old pups have sharp little teeth and who can blame her for not being eager to nurse them? She’ll stay at Kat’s for another week or so.

Bing is still with Mel and Chris and has acclimatized well. He has actually warmed up to Chris (Bing rarely warms to anyone) and was playing ‘Touch’ with Chris. This is a big huge deal for our boy. Bing has been attending a four day sheep herding seminar with the help of some friends. They’ve been coordinating to get Bing to the seminar – this is fabulous as there is no way I could get him out and back at this point. Bing has done very well at the seminar. Once I’ve got permission I’ll post some of the words others have written about him. I am so so so proud of our Bing man. He is a herding fool!

Spring is well underway. The crocus are done, with daffodils just about blooming and the tulips not far behind. All of the snow is nearly gone. Just a bit left of the monster pile uphill from the chicken run. The bleeding heart is quite large, and the columbine is up and making progress. I need to clear the area around the delphinium this weekend or there won’t be delphinium!

We had the garden and chicken run rototilled this evening. Cost about the same as renting the tiller, and a lot less effort. The chickens were delighted and hussled over to eat broken worms (sorry buddies) when the carnage was complete. The run has lovely dark soil – we may have a friends son move some of it over to the garden to enrich the soil.

Scott and I are doing a pretty good job double-teaming Elizabeth. It is difficult but not much more difficult than we anticipated. I absolutely love watching Scott interact with our daughter. His delight in her is tangible. He is gentle and patient and excels at calming her. Being fatigued has been the most difficult adjustment, and nothing for that but time. The adage to ‘sleep when the baby sleeps’ is smart. Now if only we could pull that off…

Some photos to enjoy…