7 weeks

My little girl is 7 weeks old today! I cannot believe all the craziness that has ensued over the last 7 weeks. Most of it has been good, but still crazy no less. As I mentioned before, she is now 5 pounds 12 ounces and about 18 inches long. She also has a double chin. I love that she is finally looking like a real newborn baby and not so much a fragile preemie anymore. Also, she is now only on oxygen at night, which I have LOVED. I love that I don't have to haul the oxygen tank everywhere anymore. That thing is such a pain in the butt. Hopefully this week she will be weaned off the oxygen completely. If only I could sleep this well. This is what I came upon this morning as I was working. Doesn't she look heavenly?

40 weeks

(26 weeks)

Today is my due date. I never thought this day would come. Never did I think that 9 months ago, that this is where I would be in my life. It's kind of surreal. We have gone through a lot since December (in vitro, moving, trisomy 18, birth, funeral, etc.). And now look at us. We have been so blessed. We have the most beautiful little girl I have ever laid eyes upon and we have a perfect son in Heaven who watches over us. See, we are blessed. If you want to re-live the in vitro experience, go here. If you want to read about the birth of Kingston and Scarlet, go here.



Scarlet is currently 5 pounds 12 ounces!! She is up 2 pounds since birth. She will be 7 weeks old tomorrow. I have attempted to move her clothing up to newborn size, but it's still a bit of a stretch. The newborn pants are huge on her, but she looks cute anyway. I did break down today and buy a couple of pairs of preemie pants and some preemie jammies since she needed a few more to get us through until she can fit into the newborn sizes. Also, I got the most beautiful necklace from this place. I'm in love.

Not a newborn.... yet

Ever since we have been able to dress Scarlet (yes, there was a point where we couldn't dress her in the NICU), we have had to put her in preemie clothes. I thought I had a decent amount of them, but I still end up doing the laundry almost everyday. I figured to cure this problem, I would just start putting her in newborn jammies. They looked like they may fit her. Afterall, we switched from preemie diapers to newborn diapers a week and a half ago and she does just fine with those (there is not much difference between preemie and newborn in the size. The newborn diapers just have all the bells and whistles with the elastic stuff all over them).

How am I supposed to make the jump from preemie to newborn if there is this much difference (preemie on the left, newborn on the right)?

My attempts were futile. Once I got her in the jammies and zipped up, her little legs couldn't even fill the legs in the jams. She looked ridiculous, not to mention it looked like she was swimming in her jams. It seriously looked like I had put her in jammies that were about 5 sizes too big for her. I swear the package says these jammies are for babies 5-8 pounds. They lie. As for now, I will enjoy my baby being in her adorable preemie clothes. There's just nothing cuter!

Here's the evolution of the diaper. From left to right: Micro-preemie, a little bigger micro-preemie (the one we put Kingston in and it was still way too big for him), preemie and newborn.

6 weeks old!

Wow, time is going by really fast. I cannot believe our little Scarlet will be 6 weeks old tomorrow. She is growing like a weed! As of Friday last week, she weighed 5 pounds 7 ounces (up from 4 pounds 12 ounces just the Friday before that)! She is such a great little eater. She still doesn't like to sleep at night, which always creates an adventure. At least I occasionally get to watch the long lost music videos on MTV and VH1 since they only play those between 2 and 5 in the morning.

Scarlet finally got to meet her Marziale cousins. It feels like they had to wait forever to meet her. I'm so glad we were finally able to get together and compare her with Makoy (one of the cutest babies EVER) who is only 3-1/2 months older than Scarlet. I'm so glad Scarlet has at least one cousin close to her age. I wish she had more, but we sure are glad she has Makoy.

Dr. Jacob was the main man who did my C-section. He was also the main doctor throughout the trying times in my pregnancy. He was there the day we found out that there was a problem with Kingston. I am so glad he was there for the delivery. He has been absolutely amazing throughout this entire process.

In other news, Ryan has been crazilly trying to get applications into two graduate schools, Georgetown (Washinton DC) and Kaiser (California). We are not getting our hopes up for acceptance, this is more to just kind of see where he stands among the applicants. If he gets in though, great! If not, we will try again next year.

Here's a pic of Scarlet, just because she is the cutest baby ever (I can say that since she's mine, right?) Hopefully she can get that stupid oxygen off this week. Keep your fingers crossed.

Dear Scarlet -- 1 month

Dear Scarlet,

Today you are one month old. In some ways this month has gone by fast and in other ways it has felt like forever since you were born. Everyday that goes by, you get more and more beautiful. Your father and I just adore you and we are so glad you are finally a part of our family.

Bella is trying to get used to you. She still smells you and wonders what in the world is going on. I'm quite positive you two will be best of friends some day.

In the last month, you have lived most of those days in the NICU, 27 to be exact. Kingston came and went. We had an amazing funeral for him. One day we will show it to you. You have grown quite a bit. You went from 3 pounds 12 ounces to 4 pounds 12 ounces. You have grown just over half an inch as well. You are still very petite, just the way I love it. You have been so fun to dress in the little tiny preemie clothes. Your headbands still don't fit because your head is just too small still. You love your baths. You have been so much fun already and I can't wait for all that is to come!

Scarlet, we love you to pieces!

Loves,

Mom

4 weeks and.....

SHE's HOME!!!!

I'm a little late in posting this. As you can probably guess, things have been a bit chaotic lately. The hospital called me at 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning and told me to pack my bags because I would be staying at the hospital until Scarlet came home. I packed up and off I went. We worked on feedings all day long. The NICU gave me a room to sleep in so I could take some naps in between feeds. I did this all day Sunday and all day Monday. Then I made Ryan come to the hospital so he could "room in" with us. They brought Scarlet to our room and made sure we were okay to take care of her on our own. Ryan said it was the worst night of his life. It wasn't really that bad. Tuesday morning we woke up and we were all ready to go. The doctor came in to do Scarlet's discharge physical and low and behold.... She found a heart murmur. Are you kidding me? Of course this was on labor day and the cardiology people were super slow because of the holiday. We waited around for 6 hours to get an echocardiogram to make sure Scarlet's heart was okay. Yes, she does have a murmur and a few other small problems with her heart, but they don't seem to be too serious. We will have her follow up with a pediatric cardiologist in a few months to check it all again. We made it home by Tuesday evening, just in time for dinner. We are SO glad to be home. I love having her here with me all the time now. She thinks it's funny to stay awake all night and then sleep all morning. Little stink. We'll teach her eventually. They discharged Scarlet one day shy of being in the NICU for 4 weeks. Welcome home cutie baby! We love you!

Tubby Time

Last night, Ryan and I got to give Scarlet a bath. It was a first time for us. I thought she would start screaming the second she touched the water, but she didn't. She slept the entire time she was in the bath. At the hospital, they do what is called a swaddling bath. You keep the baby wrapped up the entire time in the bath and only unwrap the part you need to wash. She was in heaven. I loved every second of it. Seriously, I cannot wait until she is home.

Three weeks

I am in complete amazement that it has already been 3 weeks since I gave birth to the two most beautiful babies I have ever laid eyes upon. It has also been 3 weeks since I said good-bye to one of those most beautiful babies. I have a lot of mixed emotions as I sit here today. Scarlet is more amazing than I ever could have imagined and the biggest blessing I have ever received. It is because of her that I wake up every morning and smile.... but it never fails. Every time I hold her and see her looking off in the distance and smile, I have to wonder if she can see Kingston... and then I cry. I miss my baby. I would give anything to hold him in my arms again... to kiss his perfect little nose... to smell his smell... to hear his cry. My heart aches that he is gone from this earth. I know he is safe and sound with my Heavenly Father, but it still hurts that he is gone. I miss him for Scarlet too. The day they were born replays often in my head. The memories are still so fresh. With the memories, comes the pain and tears of losing a child. This will get easier one day, right?


Scarlet earned 2 gold stars last night. I'm not joking either. When I went in this morning, she had 2 gold stars stuck to her name tag. She ate almost double what her regular feeding is! She kicks major butt in the eating department. We are now breastfeeding her 3 times a day. It is really wearing me out to drive to the hospital 3 times a day, but it is so worth it. I love that baby to death. She makes me so proud! Also, she is finally over 4 pounds!!! Yeah Scarlet! Her weight last night was 4 pounds 0.4 ounces. Tiny little squirt!