Tuesday, October 7th - Barely a day old

Last night was full of commotion. Between breastfeeding, checking her vitals, and running her to and from the baby toaster, it seemed like none of us got very much sleep at all. In actuality ... none of us got very much sleep at all.

For me, today was much more of a blur than yesterday was. I think it was because we were more on our own. No longer did were we on a semi-predeterminded schedule of admistering medication every 12 hrs, doctors checking in every 2, etc. We had to do what came natural; and we had to do it by ourselves.

Despite having only had 3 hours of sleep the night before, I think I held up fairly well. The day began with yet another feeding marathon. Now that she's been out for some time, she's starting to develop quite an appetite.

Breastfeeding is truly an art. Even though I had absolutely zero knowledge on the topic of breastfeeding prior to attending our class a few weeks ago, I'm confident to say that I now have a pretty through understanding of it all. It's not easy for any baby, not to mention with preemies. It takes time, patience, and energy. Lots of energy. Lots of energy that neither mommie or daddie have much of. Fortunately, our little one is doing quite well in this area. She just needs a bit of convincing every now and then. Like I've been telling Jen this whole time; for me, it's terribly frustrating when it doesn't work and all I want to do is blow my brains out. But it's one of the best feelings in the world when it does. It totally makes it worth the struggle.

Aside from feeding, we had a good group of visitors. They got to see a cleaner, sleepier, more relaxed side of Josie, compared to the day before. Greatnan made her first appearance; she's been so anxious to meet the little one and she definitely got in her fair share of bonding time. Also, Grandma Shue went out and got Josie some new attire. Due to her size, virtually nothing that we've bought or have been gifted will fit her at this point. I hope she doesn't expect me to go out and buy her new clothes like this when she's 16!

All cleaned up with no place to go


With Greatnan


That's about all I can remember for now, so I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Monday, October 6th - Welcome Josie Kaye!

Well, after what seemed to have been forever ago since we first set foot here at the hospital early Saturday morning, our beautiful baby girl finally graced us with her prescence at 7:18 pm. Weighing in at 4lbs 14oz, Josie Kaye is certainly a bit on the small side. However, she is ever so alert. Shortly after her arrival, we heard her first cries. Then her eyes opened and she began to assess the new and unfamiliar environment. She settled down quickly and seemed content and well situated until her first ever exam started. Once all the poking and prodding began, the cries quickly resumed.



The initial exam showed that her body temperature was a smidge on the lower end. According to the nurse, preemie babies usually have trouble regulating body temperature on their own. However, her breathing seemed normal, and her blood sugar was at an acceptable level as well.

Once the exam was over, baby and mommy were reunited. We were on a tight schedule due to the fact that the nurse wanted to get Josie over to the nursery as soon as possible to get her temp up.





As a result, we got the meet and greet going right away so that we could get in the first feeding immediately afterwards. Josie got her first glimps of Grandma and Grandpa Shue, as well as Aunt Tiffy. After everyone had a chance to hold the baby and the initial photo op was over, we had to send them on their way.







Our first feeding happened a lot like how they said it would. A little bit of sucking and a lot of falling asleep. It was a lot of trial and error, but we got her to latch on a few times. It wasn't as big of a success as what I wanted, but we were hopeful.

After feeding, the nurse performed another quick exam. Even though her body temperature did go up a little, it was still not enough for us to keep her with us. So off to the nursery she went; under the baby toaster. Her blood sugar level had dropped a tad as well, so I was informed that a little bit of formula would be given to her. While I made my way over to the nursery, Jen was back in the room recovering. She finally got something to eat for the first time since early this morning. Needless to say she was estatic.



Once the baby arrived at the nursery, they began to check her out right away. She was weighed, measured, wiped, and pricked. I stayed until they finished with her and then it was back to the room to pack up. We were being transferred to the maternity ward (from labor hall.)





The room here at the maternity ward is much better. We settled in quickly and off went the first batch of emails and phone calls. I must admit I did turn the Monday night game on pretty much right away to get a quick look at the score. In fact, the first question that I asked the nursing assistant when she came in was how to get the volume to come out of the TV.

I decided to create this blog because I realized that there was no way to distribute information about what's going on with us and the baby widely and effectively to everyone via emails and phone calls. Please check back frequently as we'll try to update it as much as possible. Before I could fully create the blog though, we needed to give her a name. I had insisted prior to Josie's arrival that I would need to see her before I could decide on a name. Well she came and that didn't happen. We had a few names floating out there, but it wasn't until we said it out loud to each other that we knew we had landed on the right one.

Josie Kaye Lau


So now it's 1 am. Josie was returned to us about an hour ago, and Jen did another feeding. It went much better this time as she latched on well and stayed on longer. Since her body temperature has gone up and stabilized, we'll be keeping her with us here.

That pretty much sums it up for day 1. Sorry for such a long post but I wanted to be able to give something back to everyone who has been with us through this journey thus far. We're very fortunate to have so many friends and family that care and love us so much. Your thoughts and prayers are very much appreciated.

I'm going to sign off now but I will leave you all with some pictures. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Until tomorrow ...











































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