The Whole Famdamily

Well, apologies that we missed a posting yesterday. Truth is, it was my turn, but I was too wiped last night to get around to it, and it turns out that today has been a busy day too...


Today is the first official day of my parental leave. I finished up with an unofficial 1/2 day yesterday afternoon, and it feels great to be able to immerse myself in the beginnings of sleep deprivation... I mean, parenthood. I took the 2am and 5am evening feeds last night and tried to let Jan get a little more sleep. I got a little insight into exactly how difficult last week was for her -- when she was handling all the nighttime feeds while I worked. Anyways, I'll give her another break tonight, then we'll try to get into some kind of routine.


We kicked the day off with a couple of nice firsts. We finally took Jennifer in to the hospital to meet her other two sisters! Jennifer was thrilled to go and somewhat awestruck by the sights and sounds of the NICU, but I think that it finally dawned on her -- she's outnumbered. Let's just say that I can relate to her dilemma! 

Eenie Meenie Minie Mo...

The other first was that we were finally able to get a picture with, astonishingly, all members of this family present in the same place at the same time.

The whole famdamily

I had a rare opportunity to see Caitlyn back with her sisters. It might be my imagination, but I think you see her be tangibly more comfortable in the presence of her sisters...

Caitlyn practices her mind meld with Heather

We caught rounds on Emily and Heather this morning. They have a somewhat anomalous result on their cranial ultrasounds. Those results could be, and probably are, nothing, but it will have to be followed by our pediatrician. Heather has certainly developed a spot of anemia as well, so they are watching her blood (you can see a difference in her complexion, as compared to the others). It seems to be rebounding as they would normally expect it to, so hopefully that situation will gradually improve with time. E&H are also going to get some occupational therapy to help them get on top of their feeding. I must say that I feel Emily is making strides, but Heather's ability to eat is somewhat compromised by the low energy that is the result of her anemia.


The afternoon was a bit chaotic. We had to get Caitlyn to her first appointment with her pediatrician. That went well but, as usual, we had to wait and it took a good long time. It's always a small irritation, but our pediatrician is great, so I always feel like it is worthwhile. Anyways, the wait and the delay put us, and particularly Jennifer, behind schedule for the rest of the day. Jennifer's behaviour went a bit downhill as a result, but you could just see that she was exhausted. We'll have to figure out how to attend to these appointments in a way that taxes all of us a little less.


Anyways, there is a ton to do (there seems to be a theme here somewhere...) -- paperwork, thank-you cards, meal planning, cleaning, tidying, shopping, appointments, etc, etc, etc... 


We'll take it one thing at a time, one day at a time, but it is so nice to be together, as a family!


Cheers,
Jeremy