Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

It's been way too long but here is my attempt at trying to catch you up with what's been going on...

Our first Thanksgiving was quite a memory! Ben got sick for the first time and trying to protect Athea from any kind of germs (goal is to avoid getting sick during the winter season)... he wore a mask pretty much the entire Thanksgiving weekend! Quite a sight!

We also got a visit from Athea's great Aunt Terry and great Uncle Keith. It was nice to see family!

Check out our pics from the weekend. The house is a pass down from a friend of ours. Athea has a new "hobbit" house and we are already envisioning Athea playing in it!

The first picture is Athea "watching" her first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! PLUS... who do you think weighs more? Athea or the turkey? If my memory serves me correctly... I think the turkey weighed a few ounces more than Athea!

Birth Announcement

We love Shutterfly!!!!!

Moon Doggie is getting older too

Exactly three years ago, I found Moonie near my school... I brought him home and he's been with us ever since! Happy Birthday Moon! Check out his birthday dinner pics!

Athea has two wonderful furry brothers... here are some pics from the past couple of months.

Guess who is 3 months old?

Athea is three months old!!!!

Athea's doctor had her come in at 3 months to check her weight and get a few more vaccinations (spreading them out a bit since she is so small). She is gaining more weight and is now 9 pounds, 6 ounces!   We've also been exclusively breast feeding for the past month (no bottles with fortifier or bottles in general unless I'm running an errand and Dad has to feed her)... she's eating like a champ! Plus it is less pumping for me and less prepping of bottles for the day! Woohoo!

ALSO... the other night she slept for about 5 hours!!!! I had to give her a pacifier in the middle of that 5 but she fell right back asleep! I was shocked!

Here are her 3 month pictures! It might be time to retire the burrito... and yes, that is a fresh burrito!

Fun Weekend

We had a fun weekend... it started Saturday morning taking another mini photo shoot! So much fun now that Athea is beginning to smile!!!!!

Saturday night we took Athea to her first "social" gathering... a baby shower for one of Ben's co-workers. His wife is due in February and we really wanted to make an effort to be there... I think also we wanted to be a part of a baby shower since we had to cancel our own after being in the hospital. We definitely had to plan it out and of course I dressed Athea in long sleeves and long pants with footies so that no one could touch her. She was attached to me in the moby the entire time so no one made a move to touch her! All in all it was a success... she slept the entire time. It was great to get out as a family but we also knew that this was a special outing that wouldn't happen again. 

Sunday morning we took the whole family out for a wonderful walk on the River Path... we love this walk since it has beautiful views and is easy for us all to walk on.

All in all... a very nice weekend!

Did you notice I am putting pictures up in collages???? It's my first attempt... makes adding pics a lot easier... thanks Aunt Malia for the tip!

Gaining weight and goals... (this is a long wordy post... no pics)

Today we had our first visit with Nurse Becky. She is a former NICU nurse and now provides services to babies who were in the NICU within the home setting. Athea qualified to be a part of the Newborn Infant Care Program since she was in the NICU for a while. 

I'll be honest... when I first heard we "qualified" for the program I wasn't too keen on the idea of having a stranger come into our home to track Athea's development. But recently I've been feeling overwhelmed at times and unsure as to what to expect with Athea. She can be very very fussy and at times it feels like there is no warning with her "moments." After we went to our centering class reunion, it was a big blow to realize that our daughter is definitely a preemie. The other two babies  were full term and the moms had a normal pregnancy. Nothing to write home about... they both gave birth naturally at the birth center. So it was a bit hectic when we were at the reunion and Athea was literally crying for almost the entire two hours while the other two "termies" were contently eating and just hanging out in their mom's arms. It was such a reality check. A week after the reunion the moms got together and just talking to them about things that they have been experiencing were completely different than what we were experiencing with Athea (eating, reflux, developmental milestones, being much more cautious about germs). I remember driving home and thinking that our daughter will continue to be challenged differently. 

SO, when I got the call from Nurse Becky I jumped at the chance for her to come into our home and I started making a mental list of questions to ask. 

I am so happy we met Nurse Becky and she was impressed with Athea's weight gain. She brought her scale and also measured her body. She explained that we should be comparing Athea to other babies that were born on or near her due date and not when she was actually born. 

Her are her stats:

Actual age: 11 weeks, 6 days

Adjusted age: 6 weeks, 2 days

8 lbs, 14.5 oz (20% compared to babies born around her due date) 

21 1/2 inches long (30%)

37.5 cm head (75%!!!) she has a big head!

Nurse Becky gave us some goals since a lot of her development is emerging (beginning to smile, beginning to vocalize- mostly grunts, lifts head a little, beginning to look at faces). MORE TUMMY TIME!!!!! Encourage face to face time and more talking/singing and eye contact. 

All in all I was reassured that we are doing what's needed for our daughter and to not place so much pressure on keeping up with the other "termies."