Update - 4/26/07, 20 days old

Zoey came home the afternoon of the 18th (yes, I lose at timely updating, I'm sorry *hangs head*) at 12 days old, weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces (she was born at 5 pounds and dropped to 4 pounds, 10 ounces before working her way back up from there). While it was a roller coaster of ups and downs from isolette to bassinet (her first failed attempt at the open air test she maintained her temp but lost weight) and lengthy days and evenings at the hospital, waiting for the next day and new decisions about her progress, we're grateful she only experienced issues with temperature control and weigh gain and was able to remain in the hospital nursery the whole time (instead of being transfered to a hospital with a NICU).

At her appointment on Monday the 23rd, she weighed 5 pounds, 8 ounces, so she easily did the ounce a day they wanted her to do. Everything else was great so all she needs to do is keep up her weight gain for her appointment on Monday the 30th. :D She's an absolute doll, fusses but hardly ever cries. Even when she does it isn't for more than a few seconds. We're waiting to see if she is just this sweet-tempered or once she's a little bigger she'll learn how to use those lungs to their full capacity. ;) She is steadily increasing her alert awake periods, so we joke she's finally figured out what her eyes are for and have been able to enjoy seeing her looking around. Phoebe, our dog, thinks she's the greatest thing ever and is very protective of her – I think she gets less sleep that we do, waking up at every little noise Zoey makes! Tigger, our cat, has been curious about her but has only peeked in the pack-n-play a few times to check her out.

Zoey's solely on breastmilk now, for now most of it still by bottle after I pump (pumping is going really well for me, I was surprised). We had been using a fortifier for the breast milk in the hospital to maximize the calories she received and used that for the first few days at home but now that we know she's gaining without the constant use of the fortifier, we don't add it in. The weight gain also means I'm less worried about her intake (it's amazing how worrisome that can be with a small-weight baby and how reassuring knowing the numbers was to both Zane and I), so now we're working breastfeeding (with the nipple shield to aide her small mouth/growing muscles and my flatter nipples) back in. I had stopped most of my evening attempts the first few days home when she'd completely wear herself out trying to suck and then not want to take her bottle, even though she needed the food to grow. Now when she's at her most alert, we work on it and she's doing really well. I'm hoping to transition solely to breast in the next two weeks before we have to rent the pump another month, but if it takes longer, I'm okay with that too - she's getting my milk and that's my goal.

As for me, my excessive swelling is finally gone (disappeared about a day after we were home permanently), so it's nice to see my ankle bones and knees again. I'm healing well, apparently all that walking i did with a wheelchair (as I didn't have a bassinet to push), as well as all of those days of walking back and forth from car to hospital to car really helped with c-section recovery, even if it made the swelling persist longer. The only thing is my BP is still high, so I'm on the meds from pregnancy for two more weeks. Hopefully by then it'll be down permanently and I can stop taking them!