Waiting

Today's title sums up our life currently: waiting.  If I were still pregnant, we'd be waiting for Judith to be born.  But I'm no longer pregnant, Judith has been born, and we're still waiting - waiting for her to come home.

It's exhausting, nerve-wracking, and exciting all at the same time.

Let's face it.  John & I have been very lucky where our daughter is concerned - Judith has done very well since her first moments in this world.  Yeah, there were a couple scares early on, but she overcame them like a champion.  Her feistiness is helping.  I realize that we could be looking at a completely different scenario.  Judith could have encountered many more complications common to babies born at 29 weeks, she could have needed a ventilator to breathe in the beginning, she could have needed oxygen, etc. etc. etc.  But I thank God every day that we've been able to go down the path that we're on.

Judith's daily update by the numbers:
Actual Age: 1 month, 1 week old
Gestational/Adjusted Age: 34 weeks, 5 days old
Weight: 1750 g (3 lbs 14 oz)
Length: 41 cm (16 in)
Isolette Temperature (as of 9 PM 1/9/11): 27.5 degrees celsius (81.5 degrees fahrenheit)
Feed Amounts: 34 mL (1.15 oz)
Feeding Frequency: 8x daily; 4 by bottle, 4 by gavage
Apneas/Bradys in the last week: 0

I've become slightly obsessed by numbers, an amazing feat for someone who really doesn't like math.

I know I say this regularly (probably daily): I'm ready for my baby to come home.  But I want her to be healthy and safe when she does come home.

We are slowly but surely getting the house ready.  The crib still isn't up (it's sitting in the box against the wall, where it's rested for the last couple months), but it's not a priority right now since she won't be in her actual crib for a while anyway.  We got the bassinet, put it up, and have it in position in our bedroom.  It's a bit strange seeing it there, and I was trying to figure out what it was in the middle of the night when I had to get up to pump - I probably would have helped myself if I had just put my glasses on and would have saved a minute of standing there staring at it trying to figure out what was in my way.  Anyway, the nursery still looks like an organizational nightmare, and probably will look that way until I can go out and get some storage baskets to put things in.  Mom looked at it a couple times, and she said it doesn't look nearly as bad as I had led her to believe.  I guess I'm still nesting and I just want everything to be organized and ready since we know she'll be coming home very soon.

The dogs are actually adjusting well right now to the new things coming in the house.  The dresser was the biggest issue.  I'm not sure why they got upset over that - they were curious about the car seat, and curious about the bassinet.  Buster was a bit sad last night because he can't jump up onto the bed from his regular path anymore (he gets up at the foot, and that's where the bassinet is now).  It didn't help him that Lady kept stealing his rawhide bone every time he'd stop chewing.  He almost got it back from her too - what a brave Boo! - but then he chickened out when she pulled the darn thing closer.  Oh well.  I know he's going to be more upset mid-week if we get all of the snow that's predicted.