Back in SM

happy mommie

Walking into the NICU this morning in Santa Monica was such a nice relief. It is SO much quieter than at UCLA in Westwood. We had a nice visit with Claire, and learned more preemie feeding techniques from the new nurse. Claire seems like a good learner, and by the second feeding in the afternoon, was already responding to the bottle-prompting by rooting with open mouth.

The neonatologist and nurse bombarded us with information regarding Claire's impending release. My response to this is curious: on the one hand, I am glad, but on the other, find it hard to grasp fully since it seems like we've been in the hospital forever, and the thought of bringing the baby home seems so remote and foreign.

Jen was extra nice to me after lunch and read to me on the patio until I fell asleep in the lawn-chair recliner. Then she went to pump, and called me 20 minutes later for another feeding. This time I got to hold Claire. She is such a cutie, I fall in love with her more each time I hold her. This picture is not actually of today, but it is similar. We've tapered off on the picture-taking a bit. But her facial expressions seem more and more articulate, so I need to take some more pictures. I swear she smiled at me today {melt}.

After the hospital, we went to Target and bought a car seat. I felt a bit silly doing this so "early" since Claire won't be coming home with us for another couple of weeks, but we as busy as we've been, there may never be a "convenient or easy" time to do it.


P.S. Yesterday's results from the MRV showed more detail, but nothing conclusive about the cause of the cerebral hematoma.