Day of Life 30: Breastfed

Day one in my new digs is going pretty good.  I have a new nurse named Linda (like Grandma Bond) that knows all about what I need to do to go home.  Mom has decided to stick to her like glue, and wrote out a list of questions for Linda to answer.  Linda was even really excited to help Mom breastfeed!  All the other nurses and docs preferred to bottle feed or use the feeding tube so they can keep track of how much I'm eating, but Linda disagreed.  She says we should do what works for us and that's the best way to get big and strong and HOME!  So mom and I had our first breastfeeding session (not pictured) and it went really well.  I'm proud of mom and she's proud of me!

Still doing Kangaroo Care and still loving it.

The speech therapist, Laura came by for my next care so we could try a newborn nipple to bottle feed.  I had been ahead of the game with bottle feeding, since they really like to start at 34 weeks, and I started around 32.  I was pretty tired from breastfeeding, since it was a new activity, and I didn't do as well with the bottle for the speech therapist.  I only took 4 mL and was pretty crabby the whole time.  We decided to just take a break, since we want my experiences to be positive.  Forcing small babies like me to eat with a bottle only makes me want to do it less, so Mom and my hospital staff are real careful to be patient with me. 

Mom wanted to send Grandma a photo of me and my new bed.  Grandma made this blanket for me.

Mom giving me smooches.  She does this ALL the time.  It's annoying.

My Grandma Simpson's good friend, Cindy Sevier mailed us a bunch of super cute premie outfits.  It was a life saver because mom only had a few outfits to use.  Cindy was kind enough to let us use her Grandkiddo's hand me downs and we love them.  Especially the ones that say stuff like "Mom Adores Me"  Thank you so much Cindy! Now I have a whole drawer full and can stay clothed for my entire NICU stay!

Mom adores me, but is terrible at putting onsies over my head.  That's why I look so mad.

Day of Life 29: Graduation Day!

Today was a really big day for me:

First off, I got to wear clothes.  Now, I hate clothes.  It makes it harder and longer for Mom, Dad, and my nursing staff to change my diaper and do all my most annoying cares, like the temperature and the blood pressure cuff.  However, grandma's all around the country reading this blog can now rest assured that this baby is not naked all the time.  For some reason every grandma hates it when babies don't wear clothes.  Even if they're being kept warm in an incubator, grandma's just want to put pants on a kid.

So here is a fashion show of my very first outfit, courtesy of Grandma Bond:

I do look pretty darn cute.

Eat your heart out boys!

Rest assured Grandmas, I have clothes on now.

My butt even has ruffles on it.

The other huge new is that I got a new bed today!!!  I said good-bye to my first home outside of mom's tummy: the giraffe isolette I was put into immediately after delivery.  Now I can sleep in an open air bassinet like a big girl!  Nurse Lindsey lobbied for me to go into a bassinet because I am almost 4 lbs and the docs said yes!

Good-bye giraffe.  Thanks for keeping me warm and safe!

This is my new home.  It has a much better view and my parents can pick me up whenever they like!

Now I am one step closer to breaking out of this joint!  But the nurses and Occupational Therapist Lisa cautioned Mommy that I still need to make sure my eyes are protected, and that I get good sleep.  My brain is still very fragile and in order for me to develop without sensory issues, I need to have good REM sleep, and be stress-free.  My parents have been great at containing me and listening to all the recommendations on how to touch, hold, and talk to me so I'm sure they will be really diligent about protecting me in the bassinet.  

I really like my new home, but now my parents have to protect my sleep so I am still on track to develop.  I need lots of REM sleep at this stage.

Even my night nurse, Benjamin was impressed with my progress!

This is my night primary nurse, Benjamin and Daddy performing my 9pm cares.  

Daddy hates it when I'm called a princess, but two guys cleaning your diaper and making sure I get my exercises, and fed seems a bit princess-like to me!

All in all it was a GREAT DAY

This is what 4 weeks looks like.

I hit my 4 week birthday today!  They do measurements on me Sundays too, so I know I am 16.9" long.  That is over 2 whole inches from my birth length!  I am still growing and weighing a whopping 3 lbs 15 oz.

I also won the most boring baby award during resident rounds again.  Mom was really proud!

Just a quick post today!  Here are some shots of me! Dad got to feed and hold me today.

Dad feeding me like a big girl.

Mom is really excited to see Dad feeding me.  She thinks it will lead to more sleep for her.

Cozying up with Daddy

I love my Daddy.

So snuggly and warm with a full belly.

Boom.  Just when you least expect it.  Mamma said knock you out.

Day of Life 27 HGTV friends build my new room at home.

Hi there!  Mom has been telling me about amazing friends that have broken into the house and cleaned the place and have started building my room!  I can't wait to come home and not have to be hooked up to wires and lights and hear other babies cry in the middle of the night like.... babies can't trust em.

So my good pal Michelle Rundio (of the swaddle gifting and cleaning posts) has a great eyeball for decorating a room.  My mom had asked her for help with ideas for the room way back when I was still cooking in her womb.  Then Mom and I got admitted to the hospital and Mom thought she would try to swindle Michelle into just doing the room with Dad.  Little did she know that Michelle is a machine at organizing a crew and just getting Sh*t done.  Mom gave her a few pinterests posts a budget and a key to our apartment and she recruited friends to pitch in!  The Summer's family, Jill McMahon, Laurel Reed, the Hesanos, and Amy Pane worked their booties off (and I know how hard that is, because I freaking hate booties on my feet).

The big reveal was today, and Mom and Dad went home to take a look at the place:

Cozy glider and beautiful gray, purple, and white pallet.

My new bed is amazing!!!! And look at that mobile!

Mom is going to rock me to sleep here a lot.

My mom said my room is small, but this looks spacious!

Changing my diapers will be much more relaxing here than in my isolette.

I even have books and play space on the floor!

I can't wait to move in to my new home.  Maybe in a month!

A note from Malala's Mom and Dad:  This is the one of most incredible and thoughtful gifts to have received.  To surrender weekends and extra time away from family and friends to build a nursery from scratch is a humbling sacrifice.  I have no idea how I will repay this kindness.  Words cannot express the burden that this took off our shoulders as we cope with delivering Malala 11 weeks earlier than planned, and trying to figure out how to live at the hospital and home at the same time. Delivering early has been an emotional and very very difficult experience to deal with.  All of our normal bills, cleaning, cooking, errands had fallen by the wayside and started to pile up.  We knew they were there to be dealt with down the road.  These friends that cleaned our place and built our nursery are true angels, and will forever have our gratitude and friendship. There's no way to actually express what a beautiful and unexpected relief this has provided us.  Thank you so much!

Days of Life 25 & 26- Attitude & Mom figures out she's allergic to Penicillin

Hi there!  I haven't been doing too much but working on growing these days.  I'm awfully grumpy and fussy though when I wake up.  The nurses think it is because I've figured out that I'm HUNGRY when I am woken up every 3 hours.  I've already had to have my feeding tube re positioned because I've grown so much.  I am now eating full feeds through my feeding tube of 34 ml like a big girl and weigh 3lbs and 12 oz. Watch me hulk out from sweet to hangry below.

I'm so angelic and sweet.  Dreaming of being inutero still.

Mom has undone one side of my swaddle, but I'm still so comfortable and angelic right when care time starts.

The eyes begin to open.

Wait a minute.

What is going on?

Something has gone terribly wrong and now I will throw a fit.

I don't want Binky  I want FOOD.

I am just miserable.

Some of my mom's coworkers came by to have lunch with her.  She was really excited to have them come to the hospital and some of them even got to see me (as long as they followed the rules).  She said she had a really good time seeing everyone and couldn't believe it had been nearly a month since seeing them.  Jayme, Kate, Pam, and Maria all came up to take a peak at me, but unfortunately, I acted like a real baby jerk when maria wanted to get her picture with me.

No smiles for Maria.

 All in all it has been another good string of days for me.  Even being fussy isn't too bad, it means I'm strong.  The report on Mom is that she hit another bump in the road.  It appears she may be allergic to penicillin.  She got this awful itchy rash all over her face, neck, armpits, chest, and stomach.  She looked like she had measles so everyone in the NICU was really wary of her. It looked like it itched BAD but she was determined not to scratch it.  She gave in after 48 hours of the rash.  I think everyone felt real bad for her, after all the penicillin was to get rid of the mastitis that was making her sick. AND since it happened on a Thursday, a follow--up appointment to see how it goes will hit the weekend.  Which means of course that she was miserable until Monday.  Lucky I am cute because she still says I'm worth it and she's still all about breastfeeding.  We are both determined, I guess!

Days of Life 22-24 Swaddles and Bottles

These hands.... they're driving me nuts and have mind of their own! I never know what to do with my hands! Mom says I remind her of Ricky Bobby.  Whoever that is:

I'm not sure what to do with my hands, so sometimes I just rest them on my face.  Other times I want to tear out my feeding tube, or throw my binky across the isolette.

Luckily I'm big and strong enough to get swaddled!!!! My first swaddle is with this really pretty muslin blanket that Michelle Rundio gave me.  All the premies are toats jealous of my sweet swag.  It's just a weeeee bit big for me, since it's made for a minimum of 7 lbs.  I'm actually only 3lbs, 10oz. , so I sort of swim in it.   Mom says there  is nothing cuter than a swaddled baby, with a close second being this wet baby fox.  What do you think?

Maximum cuteness

Put me in a swaddle 

The other big news.... I was bottle fed today!  Some of the neonatologists didn't think I was ready, but I showed them.  I chugged almost 10ml of milk today!  I knew exactly how to suck, swallow, and breathe all together, which is sometimes very difficult for babies my age.  

Like a boss.

a num a num  num 

Proud mama!

Later that night, I wanted to show off my skills to Dad.

I got this!

Bottle feeding sure does wear me out though, with all that burping business. I had to have the rest of my feed through the feeding tube.   Afterward I needed to rest, and cozied up in my swaddle so much that I was in a cocoon.

Where in the world is Malala Simpson?

Day of Life 21: Mom steals my 3 week birthday and how I was named Malala

Happy 3 week birthday to me. Where's my cake?

Well, I don't have any photos of me today because Mom got a second case of mastitis.   However when she told me the next day why she was down and out this is how I reacted:

Oh Mom not on my 3 week birthday!

So I don't have much of an update except that Dad had to come rescue Mom.  Yesterday I talked about my pacifier and how it soothes me.  I guess Dad is sorta like Mom's pacifier for crazy.  She just picks up the phone and starts crying and he shows up like superman or something.  Most of the time he just hangs out with her or takes over my cares, but she says it helps.

I got my weekly measurements today and have grown a whole 2 centimeters in length since birth!  

Now a note on the name Malala Hope.  First of all it is pronounced exactly how it looks if you broke the syllables up:  Ma-La-La.  Lots of people think it's Hawaiian or Malayla, and while those sound neat and pretty, it's just not me.  Unless I change it when I'm older, which my parents said I can do or shorten it to Molly or Lala.  Right now, they still call me squeaks, or sweetness, or sweet pea, or baby girl.  So many names!

So how did I get this name?  I am named after Malala Yousafzai.  She is the youngest winner of the Nobel Peach Prize (she was 17 when awarded).  She is an activist for women and girls education in Pakistan.  When she was 14 a Taliban gunmen targeted her and shot her in the face one day in a van full of young school girls. She nearly died, but recovered and has become an international advocate for education.  Her hardship has only made her more resilient and determined to use her voice.  Mom and Dad like her a lot because she is brave, strong, and a fighter. They wanted to name me after someone with those qualities, because they believe I am those things too.  After all, my parents were told in week 13 that I wasn't going to ever get to this point, and I showed them I could!  and everyone thought I was going to be so weak and sick, but look at me now (or you could if mom took pictures of me).  So that is the story of Malala.  It is a unique name and maybe a lot to live up to, but the other thing that my p's like about her is that she is also just a girl.  Mom read her book and it reminded her that anybody, even someone from the most humble beginnings can make a difference and inspire people.  And just in case, I got Hope for a middle name.  We can all use a little HOPE in our lives, and it's what Mom and Dad clung to for 29 weeks and counting.  

It kind makes you think... some people are willing to die to be educated, and others take it for granted and complain about it all the time.  Pretty interesting perspective!

Day of Life 20 My Binky and Me.

Hi!

I have graduated to a big orange pacifier.  I really really really like my pacifier. In fact, at this age using it is the only thing that I can do to soothe myself.  Otherwise, I need mom and dad's help, or one of my devoted nurses.  I have two favorite, and now primary nurses.  My day nurse is Lindsey and my night nurse is Ben.  They both love me and it makes mom and dad feel so much better when they are on shift. 

Me and my best friend, Binky

I thought I'd post a few videos so you can see that I actually do move. I'm rooting around and moving my head a lot, which they all say is a good sign that I can start a bottle and breastfeed soon. 

The weekend nurses were all about Mom getting to hold me a lot more instead of just Kangaroo Care now.  She sometimes hold me during feeds or can re position me if I get fussy.

My noggin has gain a cm in circumference!

Mom was holding me after feeding and decided I needed an extreme close up of my eyes opening. 

I am doing pretty well, just a- growin!  My new weight is 3lbs 6oz!