10 lbs and Counting

We had an adventure on Thursday night. Jeff and I had planned to head out around 5:30PM, but I made the mistake of letting Jeff sleep a few extra minutes (he'd been taking a nap). This was a mistake because it was dusk by the time we left the house. We walked up our usual route. The dogs ran ahead of us. About one-third of the way on our journey, we heard a rattle. The dogs had found a rattlesnake. We yelled at them to come back to us. Our dog Marley had a rattlesnake encounter back in March or April resulting in us being $1,000 poorer and Marley being very happy to be coddled at the vet clinic as she was given anti-venom by the vet techs who doted on her for five or six hours. We have, of course, seen a few rattlesnakes in our area, but I haven't seen many this year (saw one baby crossing the road in spring). We walked a little closer to take a look, but didn't get closer than 15 feet of it, because it was one angry rattlesnake. The rattle was going off like crazy, which I personally haven't heard before (at least not in person). I guess the dogs really made it upset. Luckily, neither of our dogs were bitten. We turned around and went home. The snake was positioned across the road, so that we couldn't get around it. That was Henry's first rattlesnake encounter.

My dad came over on Thursday night to hold Henry. Despite having a lot to do for my grandmother's funeral, my dad still came over every day, which was great for Henry. He loves his Grandpa Time.

Before we went on our walk on Friday morning, we put Henry in another one of his Gap outfits from Michele. He wore his very first pair of jeans and his very first pair of shoes. He looked so cute! My dad came in the morning, and my mom came in the afternoon. Henry weighed 10 lbs 1 oz! In between visits from the grandparents, I spent some time with Henry on Jeff's and my bed. He likes laying on it and watching the ceiling fan. Because Henry has needed the extra calories and the reflux made it difficult for Henry to lay in a horizontal position while feeding, I hadn't been doing much breast feeding. His food is pumped from me, then fortified, and then given via bottle. I had tried breast feeding him one evening a few nights earlier, and he took to it (I just wanted to see he could latch). He'd been eating like crazy all day (so I wasn't worried about calories), and we tried nursing (which he did for 25 minutes). No problems with bottle vs. breast confusion.








In the evening, Jeff took care of Henry, and I went the viewing for my grandmother. It was a nice viewing. She looked peaceful.

I got back kind of late because I swung by the Super K-Mart to get a bunch of items. Then, I picked up some food. Held Henry for a little bit. But Jeff was so sweet because he let me sleep as I was exhausted. Henry was not sleep and kept Jeff up most of the night.

On Saturday, we went for our walk in the morning. And Jeff continued to take care of Henry, while I went to the funeral. It was a nice service. My grandmother was 88 years old, so many of her friends have already passed away. A few of her remaining close friends came. Some of the children of her friends came. She had done a lot of baby-sitting before she took care of my grandfather, who had Parkinson's and died twelve years ago. Some of the families whom she babysat for were in attendance. Our family appreciated the support from friends and colleagues who attended. Uncle Dan (O'Neil) and Uncle Jim (Kluger) were there. My dad's and my department chair, Chris Segrin, came. The staff (past and present) at the Kyl Office were there. My family is thankful that we have such supportive friends and colleagues!

I wish that Jeff could have brought Henry, but we are following doctors' orders and keeping him away from other people. This will have to be the way it is until March or April. For some preemies with chronic lung disease, the isolation period can be two years. We hope that this isolation only lasts through March or April. Strange to think that our friends might not be able to see Henry until he's a toddler! In addition to Jeff and Henry missing from our family event, I very much missed the presence of my sister Carolyn. She unfortunately had some tests last week and this coming week. And, the airport isn't readily accessible to Pullman. My parents told her that she should stay put, although I know she wishes that she could have been there.

While I was at the funeral, Jeff weighed Henry at 10 lbs 1.5 ozs. When I got back in the afternoon, I spent time with Henry. And Jeff was finally able to get some sleep. I got him up for our dog walk in the evening (made it before dusk). My dad came over in the evening (he's never gone a day without seeing Henry). Jeff went to bed. After my dad left, I held Henry. I got Jeff up around 1:30AM, because I had to pump. At least Jeff got some solid hours of sleep (finally). Then, Jeff and I gave Mr. Henry a much needed bath, which he enjoyed. He didn't even mind us shampooing his "hair" (peach fuzz).

Because Henry was already unclothed (except for diaper), we decided that it was a good time to try kangarooing (something that we haven't done in a couple months). I tried to kangaroo when we first brought Henry home, but the smell of milk on me makes Henry rather active as opposed to sleepy and relaxed, which is what we want. So, Jeff did the kangarooing. Jeff and Henry were adorable together. When I went to bed (it was around 4AM by this time), they were snuggled together on the couch.

Jeff got me up at 6AM. He put Henry in bed with me, while he got a bottle ready. Henry snuggled into me and fell asleep. We finally got out of bed around 7AM. He ate. And then, we went for a long walk around the neighborhood. We took a route that we call the Peregrine loop. It was a longer walk than usual, and Henry fell sound asleep. Our dogs had a great time.

When we got back, Grandpa was waiting for Henry. He fed him a few bottles. Jeff weighed Henry at 10 lbs 4 ozs. He's 9 lbs heavier than when he was born.

My mom should be coming soon with my Aunt Gloria, who will get to see Henry for the first time. That's all for now.