Diaper NIGHTS

Earlier Mark wrote about Diaper Days…now I will write about Diaper NIGHTS. Rebekah generally sleeps for 3-4 hours in between feedings. If we time it right this means we need to get up @ 2-3 AM then again @ 5-6 AM. Mark and I figured out that I am much more coherent from 1AM to 4AM but then turn into a zombie. For Mark it is the opposite. I once asked him to turn the fan on during the night. It was about 3AM and I thought he was awake. He agreed to turn the fan on but then he started pressing the buttons on the alarm clock. When I asked, “What are you doing?” he replied, “I’m turning the fan on...it’s just going to take me a minute.” So Mark is somewhat incoherent during the 1AM to 4AM time period. As such we’ve worked it out that I will feed Rebekah any time between 1AM and 4AM and Mark will take over from 4AM onward. This past weekend I had a 24-hour bug so I was not feeling well on Saturday. Mark lovingly offered to take care of Rebekah throughout the entire night so that I could get some solid sleep. I took him up on the offer of course! The next morning I was feeling much better so I was caring for Rebekah. I went to change her diaper and LAUGHED OUT LOUD at what I saw. Mark was obviously incoherent when he had put the diaper on during the night. Poor little Rebekah was “hanging cheek” and had the biggest “plumber’s crack” I had ever seen. It was so funny that I just had to take a picture. (Sorry Rebekah!)

Bath Time

Rebekah LOVES her baths. She’s still small enough that we bathe her in the bathroom sink. We line the sink with a towel and roll once end to support her head and neck. We swaddle her body in a blanket then wash her hair. Once Rebekah’s hair is washed and rinsed we put a hat on her to keep her head warm. Then, while still swaddled, we submerge her body (blanket and all) into the water. A nurse at the hospital taught us this technique and Rebekah LOVES it. It is like a little spa treatment for her.

Once submerged, we unwrap the blanket in order to wash her. She remains relaxed and peaceful the entire time. I would highly recommend this technique to anyone with a newborn baby. Over time she’ll outgrow the need to have baths in this way but for now she loves it and so do we. Here are some pictures from her recent bath time. Isn’t she so precious?

First Week Home...10 days later!

Well Rebekah has officially been home with us for 17 days. My intention was to write a blog about her first week home but here it is 10 days after the first week home! Life certainly does change! But we knew it would and we welcome the change. As Mark puts it..."we had nothing better going on anyway". LOL!

Rebekah's first week home was exciting. She had lots of visitors and she also had her first major outing...to the pediatrician. The doctor told us Rebekah is beautiful (we already knew that) and that she is very smart. I don't know how she knew the latter but we accepted it as true. :-)

Rebekah also attended her first social event...a baby shower hosted by Diane Travis (love you Diane!) There were over 25 women who were able to attend and they were from 4 distinct "sets" of friends: neighborhood friends, church friends, cat rescue friends, and miscellaneous friends. You would never know that these "sets" of friends didn't all know each other! It was AMAZING! Every person there remarked at how wonderful all of my friends are using words like “friendly”, “outgoing”, “warm”, and “welcoming”. And I would have to agree...I have the BEST sets of friends! Of course everyone had a great conversation piece...REBEKAH! Rebekah was such a trooper being passed around the circle of women. There was just one disappointing thing...not everyone who was sent an invitation actually received it due to SPAM filters. :-( I am still trying to sort out who might not have received an invite so if you didn’t receive one please let me know! We are going to host another “Meet Rebekah” event soon and you’ll be sure to be invited!

Diaper Days

From Mark....

Great news! My diaper aversion syndrome has been cured. Bekah’s beauty seems to be neutralizing the ill effects of facing the day’s natural processes. I have feared this day for my entire life. And now that its here, I simply pull each tab and see what’s inside. It feels great to provide her with all she needs to get going in this life. From clean diapers, to a warm crib, to holding her in my arms. This baby ‘implant’ feels natural. I don’t think I will be missing the pre-baby years.

The Homecoming Queen

For those of you who have been patiently waiting for an updated post...my apologies! I actually spent about 1/2 hour last night comprising an updated post only to have it mysteriously disappear without warning! All that hard work down the drain. But alas, I have come up with a fail-safe way to ensure that doesn’t happen again...write the post in Word then “copy/paste”! Hooray for copy/paste!

Rebekah’s official homecoming occurred on Sunday. Rebekah was moved to a private room at the hospital Saturday night. Mark and I got to “room in” with her...our first slumber party with Baby Bekah! I slept in the twin bed and Mark slept on a pull-out chair. Wait, did I say we “slept”? I meant to say that Rebekah slept. Mark and I listened, dozed, listened, dozed.... It was good to be able to adjust to all of Rebekah’s sleep sounds with the comfort of knowing the monitoring equipment would let us know if those sounds were troubling. “I wonder if I could take that monitor home”, I thought to myself. :-)

The nurses told us that Rebekah would need to be woken up every 4 hours to eat. I thought to myself, "Surely she will wake up every 2-3 hours crying." But amazingly she slept for 4 hours straight then, like clockwork, she started to stir on her own. No crying, no fussing, just gentle stirring. So the routine went like this...take her temperature, change her diaper, feed her, swaddle her, repeat in 4 hours.

Sunday morning was busy with meeting with the doctor, hospital social worker, car-seat installation inspector (I highly recommend this for all parents!), etc. FINALLY Rebekah got to have her monitoring wires REMOVED!!! It was wonderful to be able to change her diaper and get her dressed without having all those wires in the way. We dressed her in her “coming home” outfit...a pastel green onesie, pink pants and socks, a white sweater with pink and green buttons, and her knit hat (compliments of a mom of one of the nurses). (I’ll post pictures soon!) Rebekah was so adorable all dressed up! We went around to each of the nurses who had cared for her and said goodbye. That was a bittersweet moment. We were so happy to be taking Rebekah home yet so sad to leave the caring, supportive nurses who were all rooting for us.

Our final nurse told us we were free to go at any time. FREE to go? You mean we are just FREE to leave here with Rebekah? No signing paperwork? No going through a security screening? We were really just going to walk out the door? Yes!

Our drive home was smooth sailing and we arrived to see a bunch of balloons tied outside our front porch, complete with the “It’s a Girl” pink balloon. It was all so surreal. Rebekah settled in quite nicely and our kitties seemed to take it all in stride. Perhaps they just think she is one of many foster kitties that have passed through our house over the years. Whatever they think...this is one foster kitty that is here to STAY!

Strollers and car seats and onesies. Oh my!

From Linda...

I've often gone into Babies-R-Us to purchase a gift for friends' baby showers. Every time I went in I would notice pregnant women registering for items in anticipation of their own baby showers. I often wondered what that would be like. It seemed like such fun to me...registering for all those cute little baby things. Was it like being a kid in a candy store? Perhaps it was like paging through the Sears "Wish Book" noting items on a "Dear Santa" letter? Well tonight I found out. It was OVERWHELMING!!!

I felt well prepared because my friends (as well as new mom's I've met at the hospital) have been helping me write out a list. But let me tell you...once you get in that mega-store you can just forget about that list!!! My list said "stroller". But WHICH stroller? The 4-wheeler? 2-wheeler? Umbrella? Entire "travel system"?? My list said "car seat". But WHICH car seat? Which one is safest? Which ones goes into the car easily? What color do we want? My list said "Onesies"? But WHICH onesies? What size? Pink ones or yellow ones? Frogs or kittens? (Ok, kittens for sure!) After 2 1/2 hours I think I made my way through only 1/3 of the store! Never again will I look at a pregnant mom registering for gifts and think, "Lucky her". LOL!!!!

Keep those prayers coming!

Hi everyone,

We had our first visit from the social worker last night. Due to confidentiality reasons we can't disclose alot of information but knowing that a social worker is involved, I'm sure you can read between the lines. The bottom line is that Rebekah's short-term placement with us is guaranteed yet her long-term placement with us is not. We were told last night that her birth-father is showing interest in custody. While we knew in our minds this was a possibility, hearing the words was a blow to our hearts. Once the social worker left, Mark and I talked about it and cried about it and resolved to move ahead no matter what. No matter what happens in the end Rebekah will be "ours to love" if not "ours to keep." But keep those prayers coming so she might be ours to keep. And also keep in mind that if things don't work out with Rebekah's adoption we are free to adopt another child. In other words, we have more than one opportunity. It is Rebekah that has only ONE opportunity to be with US. So please pray for Rebekah more than you pray for us. We will work through any grief if we have to suffer a great loss. It is Rebekah who might suffer a loss far greater than our own.

Ok, enough of the hard news and onto the good news...

Rebekah is doing really well and the doctor said she might be able to come home this weekend or early next week! Mark and I are still in overdrive as we are juggling work, hospital visits, and house preparation. We have Rebekah's room ready for the most part but still need to go "register" for things she'll need. I'll be able to cut back on work (thanks to my 2 fabulous employees!!) and Mark will take some paternity time off.

I had my first bout of motherly instinct and anxiety last night. Due to the social worker's visit we got to the hospital later than normal so we missed Rebekah's 8:30PM feeding. Normally she eats and goes right back to sleep but last night she was still awake (in her bassinet) when we arrived @ 9PM. It was great to see her awake and we loved being able to make eye contact with her while talking and singing to her. After a while Rebekah started "rooting" and I knew this meant she was still hungry. I asked the nurse if Rebekah could have more to eat but she gently informed me that Rebekah was on a 3-hour feeding schedule and all we could do was "pacify" her. At first I thought the 3-hour feeding schedule was to accomodate the nurses and their busy schedule but then found out it is "protocol" for babies that are being partially bottle fed/partially tube fed. Even though I understood the reason behind the protocol it was still difficult to hold Rebekah knowing she was hungry and not being able to take care of her need. My anxiety grew as I watched the clock (which is like watching water boil!) and I could hardly stand it by 11PM. Thankfully the next 1/2 hour seemed to go more quickly and we were finally able to give her a bottle...only to have her fall asleep half way through then need to be tube fed! Uugh! :-) We can't wait for her to be home so she can eat on her own schedule. (Famous last words!)

Thanks again to everyone for your continued interest and support. Thanks also for your comments on the blog. It looks like Rebekah is developing quite a fan club! We hope to have her in our lives for a long time so we can tell her all about our wonderful friends and family and how much everyone loves her.

Blessings!
Linda

Progress Report

Hello everyone!

Thanks to everyone who has been emailing and calling us. We appreciate your love and support. Many of you have asked when Rebekah will be coming home. As of today the doctor estimates another 2 weeks before she can be released from the hospital. Every time Mark and I visit her it gets harder and harder to leave without her.

Rebekah now weighs just over 6 pounds so her weight is not an issue. The situation is that she needs to be able to finish her bottle 8 times a day (every 3 hours). Because she is a "premie" Rebekah tires more easily than a full-term baby therefore she doesn't always finish her bottle. When that happens, the nurse will "feed" her via a tube. It's a tiny, tiny tube in her nose and it doesn't seem to bother Rebekah one bit. The funny thing is, every time Mark and I are there feeding her she drinks from her bottle like a champ! We keep encouraging her so she can come HOME!

Once Rebekah is home we start a (possibly) long, drawn-out process of adopting her. The pace at which that occurs has many variables so it is not possible to say how long it will take. But please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it very much!

xoxoxoxox
Mark, Linda, and Rebekah