Thanksgiving

Birthday time! Oh My!

Summer Time and the living is easy

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Avisit to see Happah and Nana

Easter

March

Our little Valentine Surprize

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Changes in the new year

Chang

Riley's first Christmas

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At home with Riley

....I never having a newborn premee would be so much work.  I am lucky that the hospital already had him on a feeding schedule every 4 hours.  But he wasn't nursing at all so I would get up a bit before him and pump. My milk came slow and I just made enough for a feeding.   So I would be up for at least two hours for every feeding at night,  I was always so tired.  In the morning we would lay down in the living room and I would show him what we looked like in the mirror.  

Riley comes home.

On Riley's 10th day in the world, he entered the last step-down unit of the NICU. I came in on the 20th of October. My parents and little sister came to visit us at this point, and I really needed that bit of support. They brought me indescribable support by just being there to help me get over my depression.  Lucky for them, Riley was holding his eyes open a lot longer so they all got to see his baby blues. Even greater than that, they were all free to hold him and give him their love too.

My dad said he was "3 pounds 15 ounces of pure elf."  Those two weeks went by the quickest, and all I got were positive reports. Riley spent  just over two week in the last "step-down" area of the NICU where he continued to put on weight. They removed the feeding tube because he was taking the bottle like a champ. Riley passed all the tests and I was told on November 2nd that if I wanted to stay the night with him he could leave with me in the morning.  I was ecstatic, and jumped at the chance.  

I barely slept at all staying that night in  NICU.  I remember it rained that night, usually I love sleeping when it rains but with babies crying in other rooms and machines beeping in the night, not to mention my excitement for getting to bring my son home, I got no rest. The night seemed to drag on. But when morning came, so did a nurse and Riley was weighed again (he was 5 pounds exactly) and I was shown how to give him a bath and told we could leave when I was ready.  

right after his bath

he hardly ever had his eyes open

I packed up everything in the room and brought it to my car, and brought back the baby car seat with me.

He looked so tiny in the car seat I had to put blankets all around him.  But he didn't cry, he slept for most of the drive home.  When he was awake he looked like he was in deep thought. He was probably wondering what was going on.  Matt was home from work when I got there and we were thrilled to be together, we didn't even tell anyone he was home till the next day we were so absorbed in him.