Tomorrow marks 2 full weeks of her being home with us. It's been both joyous, and annoying. I hate saying that, but she's really required some getting used to. Honestly, we wouldn't hardly notice a difference or upset in our normal lives if she stayed awake during the day and actually slept at night. Unfortunately, day and night are still flip flopped for her and try as we might, we can't break her of this cycle. A friend of mine recently gave me a little bit of hope however....she said that when she had a preemie baby, that child refused to correct night and day no matter what she did. However, when her due date came around, it was like a switch was flipped and she suddenly self-corrected. I have hope on this matter now!
My mother-in-law and I have both sought out preemie clothes for this poor girl as she's swimming in anything labeled "Newborn". Thankfully, my friend who had a preemie daughter and has now outgrown her clothes generously donated them to Rachel's Closet. We've also managed to find a few outfits at consignment stores. She and I were both thrilled to discover these finds! Then a bit deflated when we realized that Rachel is growing so fast that she doesn't fit into some of the smaller outfits we bought. Alas, she's just at that awkward "in between" stage for sizes. I'm thankful that in this regard, she's oblivious.
Jason is such a good dad with her. When he spends time with Rachel it's been so sweet to see him instantly morph into "Mega Dad". Somehow, he has skillfully mastered the art of swaddling. Seriously, each time he hands her to me for my "shift" I see that she is perfectly packaged in her blankets. As I unwrap her to change her diaper, I'm in awe how there's never even a wrinkle! I've not yet been able to quite master his form of swaddling, but I like to think I'm really close.
Last night we put one of her "new" preemie outfits on after we gave her a much needed bath. She looked so comfy and cute:
WIDE eyed after getting her bath! Thankfully, she doesn't seem to mind being in the water too much, as long as we keep it pretty warm and don't tilt her head back too far. If we just let her sit in the tub, she seems to like it just fine. This is great, except washing her back and the back of her head has become very tricky.
She has enough hair now that when we wash it and dry it, it poofs out like a little puff ball. Unfortunately, my camera won't capture her with her "fuzz head", but it is so funny! We don't have to keep a hat on her as much now, so seeing her hair is fun!
The humidifier we picked out for her (it's a duck of course) finally came and has been running non-stop. Unfortunately, her skin is still cracking horribly even after I've put baby oil and lotion on her. I'm not sure what else to do to try to keep this from happening. She doesn't seem to mind it, but it looks painful (at least to me). Her doctor did say that she would "molt" as newborns, especially preemies, tend to do this. But I don't like it! I can't moisturize this girl enough! So every chance I get I slather her with more oil and lotion.
