Thursday, November 20, 2008

Today went well...

Esther's appointment this morning went smoothly - she weighed in at 10 lbs 11 oz - so she's gaining nicely!  She's also gained another 1/4 inch in length!  I also got a few errands in, but one didn't go so well.

My laptop started randomly restarting with a blue screen error message last August, but by then it was my only way to stay up with the business while on bedrest, and then once we were staying in the hospital it was my only link with the "real world".  So not I decided it was time to take it in to get fixed.  But, unlike in the past when they would run a quick diagnostic and get back to me later in the day, he said it would sit there for 4 - 5 days before they could get to it.  And no, they couldn't
put me "in line" and have me bring it in when they could get to it.  I can't afford to be without it for that long without major work moving stuff to another computer.  So I brought it back home and I'll try to get myself switched over the Jessica's work computer and then bring in my laptop for repairs on Monday and leave it until they can get to it - hopefully the week of Thanksgiving will be slower in the computer world!  I certainly hope so!

Then I went home, pumped, had lunch and the headed back to Bellingham with Jessica.  Her surgery went well, and was faster than expected because they were not able to put the rod into the bone today - they had warned me that it might take two separate appointments if there wasn't enough bone when the tooth was removed.  So she'll wait 2 months while her body builds in some bone where the tooth was removed, and then she'll have a second procedure to implant the rod.  I'm actuallly relieved as the implant is more painful than the tooth extraction, so at least that will be after the holidays and hopefully things with Esther will have settled down as well by then!

We got home late in the afternoon, and pumped, fed Esther, had dinner, and watched some Christian Music videos with the kids - some were really cool, and others you end up wondering what in the world was Christian about that song???

Then it was time for bed, thus I started putting Esther to bed, getting the kids settled down, going back in twice to quiet the girls, then pumping, and now I'm blogging before giving Esther her meds, preparing her feeds for th erest of the night, and then finally going to bed!  It's now 10:44 and my day started at 6:30 - long day!

I did save the best news for last - Esther took 70 of her 75 ccs of her evening feeding last night, and again tonight she took 65 ccs - both times it took her over an hour, but since I was just sitting around holding her and she was awake, I just kept trying and she kept taking little bits!

Another milestone, she actually breastfed this afternoon - with the help of a breast shield, but she did it!  I was pumping and she was awake and hungry, so I switch the pump to work on just one side and worked with her on the other - it took a little work, but she finally got going and hung in there for about 10 minutes, getting milk from me all the time!  Woohoo!!  There's hope for us!

Good night on that good note  - off to settle Dayton down, as he "can't sleep in my bed"!

2 comments:

  1. I am glad you had a breakthrough with nursing. That would really help you...I'll be praying for that to really take. Love you~Lisa

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  2. Ruth, I have long thought you are an AMAZING woman and continue to think so. However, I need some deeper understanding into something..... Your friend with 11 children, one with special needs, who is pregnant again, is a situation I just don't understand. How on earth can you give the appropriate attention to that many children???? A toddler and a special needs child would take up my whole day. What happens to healthy child #4 who just needs to feel special too? I have three kids and struggle with whether having a fourth would be an appropriate parenting decision. I want them to be able to have multiple children of their own and wonder about whether the earth will have abundant resources for them to do so in light of the exploding population. I am saying this through the eyes of a deep faith in God but am just wondering why you and your friend don't think it's a good choice to STOP procreating at some point. I am saying this with the utmost respect/admiration for you and am just profoundly curious.

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