Kayla's first night in her very own room. Yes I am a bad mommy- she has a ton of blankets in there, and her bumpers are up. She is also on a wedge- to help with reflux at night. She needs barriers... so I put a ton of blankets in there and roll them up at the bottom so she doesn't fall down, and on the sides so she can't turn- which she has done..

I would like to say she is very strong- which she is, but she does have the help of that rolled up blanket... I mean most of this holding up is all her, but the blanket does help a little. :)

Kayla's first experience with a dog- and yes, it is a BIG dog.. Homer is his name. Homer lives with Grandma and Grandpa... but is Uncle Tim's dog. She was not scared one bit- he even came up to her and licked her face and she smiled! :) I missed the pic- I was too slow!My gorgeous girl!

Nina came over to get Kayla's routine down for babysitting.... and started reading to Kayla... she loved it- Kayla too :) haha

So I am back to work- have been for a week now. I have to say it is nice to see my co-workers- they are always a ton of fun to work with... but I wish I were home with Kayla... my job is just too germy for my sanity right now. I hate the thought of what I bring home.. thank god my mother takes Kayla to her house during the day... that makes it so I can go home and go straight to the shower and scrub off the germs I picked up at school and change my icky clothes. I only have 2.5 more weeks left and school will be out. Phew!

Kayla is doing great.. I am really happy with her weight gain- I think she is on track, I was a little obsessive and bought a scale.. my scale said last night she was 11lbs 11oz... Monday we have a pediatrician check up and I will compare the two scales to see how accurate mine really is. She eats anywhere from 3-5 oz. I never can tell how much she will do at each feeding. I do let her sleep at night tho, I stopped waking her as it was causing more problems than not. She lets us know when she wants food so I am good with that. She has a check up in syracuse on Wed. Aparrently we "missed" our appt... even tho we went to an appt.. not sure what happened but hopefully this appt will do an x-ray so I can see her lungs.

All in all things are going well. I have to say I have been truly lucky with her! I am praying for those going thru this same process every night. Stay strong and be positive- that is one thing I learned at the NICU, you must stay positive! :)

Oh the many faces of you- I love this little girl!! :) I just wanted to share my favorite pics of her - these are even the pics that the hospital took the day we were discharged.. of course Jerry and I had to order the pics!! I always said- no way would I order the pics that the hospital takes- cause I can get the same pic- but I didn't go home with a newborn and she makes so many faces.... so we ordered the CD- expensive but so worth it! :)

She is doing great- we are kinda at a stand still with 4oz.. once, today actually, she took 5oz...I just can't get her over this bump... but she eats great- knows the diffence between the pacifier and her bottle- even tho we have the soothie pacifiers and bottle nipples... that is how we really test to see if she is hungry... we will give her her binky first and if she takes it and gets mad 5 seconds later, and spits it out- and she does this two times in a row- then we know she is hungry! :) She does spit quite often- not a lot most times, and not even every feed- just makes me nervous-

I start work on Thursday! YIKES!! I want to go back bc I miss the ppl I work with, but I don't want to go back bc I work with Kindergartners and 1st graders- and they are germy- so I'm very nervous- I will shower as soon as I get home and change my clothes then go pick up my little girl from Nina and Papa's house... hopefully that is enough.

My prayers go out to everyone!

Charlie was talking to Kayla- and she is totally paying attention- He's like "Kayla look over there.." and Kayla says- "What.. I don't see it Charlie. I can only see from my hand to your mirror!"

AWWW.... Charlie is like- Mom get me away from this crying baby!

This has nothing to do with our trip to see Charlie and his rents- this was just a cute pic I took of Kayla being peaceful in her swing! :)

So today was our first trip back to Syracuse. We had a follow up appt that was apparently a mistake. The docs did an EKG on Kayla and checked her lungs and heart rate- they couldn't understand why they brought her in for this... as the note from the NICU said that she did not need a follow up. Jerry and I still didn't mind as we like the reassurance we get from the docs.

Kayla weighs 10lbs 4oz now- they weighed her with a new dry diaper - but that isn't how they usually do it- and she weighed 10lbs 6oz.. so Jerry and I took two oz off. She'll get weighed again on Friday from the lady who comes to my house to check Kayla... hopefully she will still show weight gain.

The docs said Kayla sounded great- Jerry and I were very pleased to hear this.

Lately- Kayla has this new thing she does- it's so not cute! :) She will be so content in your arms- after a good NORMAL cry- she'll get her binky in and act like she is about to fall asleep- and just when you stop starring at her- she goes BALISTIC! She throws her arms around, straightens her legs so stiff- and there is no soothing her- she goes NUTS! Her cry makes you want to cry because you have no idea what she needs now- you know it's not hunger, or her diaper- she had her binky in her mouth- so you know it's not that she just wants that- it's soo weird! So we put her in her vibrating chair and wrap her up tight- and then she'll take her binky and face her towards the TV and then be completely fine- SO WEIRD! The cry FREAKS me right out- but she eventually calms down- no idea why- and I don't really want her watching TV- I heard they can develop ADD from it- and she just loves the lights- so Jerry and I bought her baby einstein video for 3 +mo. and hope she'll at least get something out of it... if anyone has any ideas of how to calm her when she goes nuts- feel free to share! :)

Today we got to visit Charlie and his mother- unfortunately his father had to work- so we didn't get to see him- but we were so happy to see how well Charlie was doing. He is so BIG! He looks huge compared to Kayla- I couldn't believe it! He is sooo darn cute too- he def. has a manly cry! haha it's adorable! I also finally got pics of the two together where neither are crying- but they aren't too good at looking at the camera- haha! Charlie is doing great- he brings his hands together, holds his head up with ease, and eats like a freakin pro! I couldn't believe it- he sucked his bottle down in minutes! So Charlies parents- we can't wait to see all three of u.. Patty- thanks for lunch and letting us invite ourselves over! :) haha

The pics - This was Kayla's first bath at home. How happy does she look- the bundle thing was a great idea- thanks Patty!! :) Kayla does not like tummy time- but she is making progress- as you can see she is starting to lift herself. :) She does great-and how cute is the pic of Jer and his daughter!? I LOVE it!! :)

Being home with Kayla is amazing. I'm completely stressed out but working my way thru it. I just get so nervous when she does her "i'm not gonna breathe" cry... I don't get much sleep because every move she makes I have to get up to check that she didn't spit up... I think more than anything- I am most freaked out about her spitting up in bed. Other than that- I'm so happy! Kayla is just so much fun! We do miss the NICU only because it gave us reassurance that she was ok. Now I have to make sure for myself- no monitors!

She is gaining weight.. the hospital ordered someone around my area to come to our apt. and check her lungs, heart and weight. She comes two times a week .. she has 4 more visits. Kayla now weighs 9lbs 11oz. She gets weighed again tomorrow- the lady said that it's good when they gain a half an oz to an oz a day... Kayla has been about an oz a day.. hopefully she'll keep it up. She sleeps thru the night- I started out waking her up- but I quit. She wasn't doing well with those feedings- so I decided to let her wake me up... and she does. But I think this is better for all of us. She is starting to like bath time a little better.. I can put her in the tub- and wash the front of her- with no crying... but once I start the back and her face and head- she goes nuts! I rush!! :)

It's great having her home- but we do miss our friends that we met at the NICU- :( But hopefully we'll get to see the D'Angelo's on the 13th! :) Kayla misses her bf! :) haha