New World's Record

Yes that is right, my amazing little girl has just set a new world's record! On day 37 (!!!) she has finally lost her umbilical cord. I know it seems ridiculous and it is. It only fell out after a week of some intense rubbing alcohol therapy. She had her first real bath and it was so much better and easier than the sponge baths we have been having for the past month. Even better news is that she is almost asleep, so I am going to go put her and myself to bed Ü

Tummy Time

I think this helps to show just how tiny Shelby is!
Some days are more successful than others........

SAHM

I have a new job and a new boss. My boss is tiny and enjoys taking naps during the day. She is often very demanding, especially when she is hungry. She is more laid back when it comes to our dress code, often we end up wearing our PJs all day. When she is unhappy she makes it known. She demands OT daily and our schedule is never the same. She makes me laugh every day without fail. She has the funniest facial expressions I have ever seen. She also can melt my heart with a sound or a touch. She teaches me new things about taking care of others, love, and why we are here. I really love her and am often amazed at just how perfect she is. We get along really well, probably because she is acting more and more like me all the time. The good news is that we are both night owls, the bad news is that she still expects me to be back at it early in the morning. I am still working on that. This is definitely the most challenging job I have ever had, but also the best. Plus, the pay is way better than getting a paycheck that is never as big as I think it should be anyway Ü

I love my job and my Shelby!

Daddy's girl

When Melanie called me up to tell me she just had an ultra-sound and she found out we were having a girl, I was a little disappointed. I had been wanting a little boy to take to the baseball games and play catch with. How was I supposed to do all that with a daughter?
Well, the idea of having a girl started sounding better as time went on and by the time Shelby was born, I was happy to be having a girl. (Besides, who says you can't do all that with a daughter anyway?) As soon as Shelby was born, and I went out into the hall to tell Mel's parents, I had a huge lump in my throat. I could barely get anything out. Warm tears streaming down my face, I let them know everything was okay and rushed back into the room.

As I followed Shelby down into the nursery, I still hadn't gotten a grasp on my own emotions. I was surprised by how this little girl coming into Melanie's and my life would affect me so rapidly. As I sat by Shelby's side in the nursery, she was pretty lethargic (with a blood sugar at 21, no wonder) the nurses were trying to get Shelby to respond a little more. I decided to do what I could and placed my finger next to her hand to see if she would grab it and she did! This made me think that everything would be alright with little Shelby. She gave me that reassurance with the finger grab.

Ever since that first finger hold, I have loved letting little Shelby hold onto my finger, I try to offer it as a way of reassurance for her when she is upset. And everytime she takes that finger, it just melts my heart. I don't know if a baby boy would be the same, but I know I am glad I've got my little baby girl!

Days at the hospital

Since we were at the hospital during Christmas, Santa decided to come and visit us there. We had some other pictures I wanted to post, however, Melanie went through and deleted the ones that included her.

Since Shelby was hypoglycemic, she had a blood sugar of 21 when she was born when 50 is a normal low level, and she didn't like to eat and had a bit of an infection. Because of all this, miss Shelby was in the NICU for her stay at the hospital. Due to the limits on visitors in the NICU, only Shelby's grandparents got to come and hold her while at the hospital.

Initially, Shelby had an IV in her little hand but with the continual moving around, the IV came out so one morning, Melanie and I walked in and Shelby had the IV in her head. The nurses assured us, this was a great spot for the IV because they could find the vein easily, of course that is probably just because there was less pudge on her head. Shelby received dextrose and anti-biotics through the IV for four days.

We were told Shelby needed to maintain her own blood-sugar without the dextrose but poor little Shelby couldn't quite figure out breast feeding. We kept trying to get Shelby to eat but she wasn't getting enough nourishment on her own. Melanie and I wanted Shelby to breast-feed but it wasn't looking good at first. We then heard the nurses talking about a feeding tube being used. At this point Shelby was given a blessing by her dad and grandpa and we decided to use formula to supplement the breast milk. The next day Shelby came home from the hospital and has been great since. And Shelby is completely on breast milk, we just feed her through a bottle. This way she can maintain those chubby cheeks!