1 Week Old - June 9, 2011

1 Week Old
Sophie: 4lbs 10oz
Stella: 4lbs 15oz

Girls,
You are one week old today. We've been home for 2 days now and you seem to be adjusting okay. Our first night home was interesting and mommy was quite a basket case. All I could think about was SIDS and how I was going to get any sleep while worrying that you both could breathe okay and wouldn't suffocate at all. We bought a Pack 'n Play and put it in our bedroom. Our intention was that you would sleep in that until you grew out of it and then we would move you into your nursery into the cribs. That idea did not last very long. The bassinet for the Pack 'n Play is not extremely flat and you both are somewhat of "rollers" so I am just so worried that you will roll over onto your stomachs or that you will roll into the side of the bassinet and not have enough airflow and suffocate. It's absolutely amazing the false sense of security you have in a hospital. I never once thoughts about SIDS while I was in the hospital. I guess you just think "okay, the nurses know what they're doing, so I won't worry about anything." When you get home it is a totally different story. I'm not an anxious person by nature, but I had a lot of anxiety that first night. One, you girls would not stop crying and we couldn't get you to settle down. Two, I was so anxious I couldn't calm down. Daddy and I decided to put you in bed with us for the first night which worked out well. We all got a decent amount of sleep from what I recall...I'm slightly sleep deprived right now, so bare with me!

Hanging in your Swings, waiting to meet the dogs!

Your first full day at home was yesterday and mommy and daddy were so excited (and nervous) for you to meet Desmo and Ohlins. Sheila has been keeping them with her over the past week while we've been in the hospital. She always takes the dogs when we are away and they love spending time with her! Mommy and Daddy got up kind of early so that we could get everything cleaned up and put away before the dogs came. The dogs really hate the vacuum so we wanted to get that taken care of before they came also, because they like to bark a lot and we weren't sure how you both would react to them. Sheila arrived with the pups around 8:15am and we had you both up on the table in your swings so that the dogs couldn't smother you right away. Sure enough, as soon as they came in the door and greeted us, they were on the trail of you girls! We had sent some of your swaddle blankets from the hospital home with Sheila so the dogs would be used to your smells. The dogs figured out you were up on the table and that was all they could fixate on! Finally once they settled down, we introduced everyone to each other. We weren't so sure how the dogs would react to you, but they seem to be doing quite well. They follow us everywhere when we are holding you and they check on you when you're in your crib to make sure that you're both okay. It is really cute! Mommy was so excited that the weather was going to be nice once we got home, but it turned out that it was going to be too nice...and HOT. The first day you girls were home, we hit record highs in the 90s. It was so hot in our house that neither of you really wanted to eat. Daddy was frantically trying to get fans going so that we could feel some of the cool air from the basement.

Great Grammie LaBrake holding "Sparkle"

Great Grammie and Gramps LaBrake came over yesterday also. They have been dying to meet you both. Great Grammie has been talking about you girls for months saying how excited she is for your arrival and she can't wait to hold you both. Yesterday she got the chance! I can't wait for you girls to be old enough to really "know" your Great Grammie. She is one of the most amazing people I know, and is like a mother to me. I spent so much time with her when I was growing up and she taught me so much about everything. I really hope that you have the opportunity to get to know her well because she is THE BEST! She also gave you nicknames yesterday. When I was a little girl, I used to get off the bus at Grammie's house and skip down the driveway to the house. Grandma always used to say, "Here comes Little Miss Tinkle Toes." So, since I'm Little Miss Twinkle Toes, you girls have been named Sparkle and Twinkle; Stella is Sparkle and Sophie is Twinkle.

Today we had our first pediatrician visit with Dr. Monroe. She is an amazing pediatrician and we are so glad that we are with her practice! We weighed you both and you both lost weight again since we left the hospital, but Dr. Monroe was not too concerned with that; she said all newborns tend to lose a little more weight after they leave the hospital, especially late Pre-termers like yourselves. Our goal over the next week is to plump you both up a bit, so we'll be focusing a lot on feeding and sleeping as much as possible so that you are taking in lots of calories and not burning them up with unnecessary "handling" and such. After our pediatrician visit, mommy & daddy took you to visit mommy's work, Adworkshop. All the girls there came out of their offices to meet you both. It was a lot of fun to see everyone and for them to see our two precious little girls!

Well, that's pretty much it for week 1. Mommy plans on writing to you weekly so that we can keep up on all your "firsts" and document our lives as you both grow up to be happy, healthy babies and eventually toddlers. I look forward to what lies ahead and can't wait to accept all the challenges that will be coming our way.

I love you both so much!

Love,
Mommy