Aria Surrounded by Love

These pictures might not be the most current, but they're also not the least current... That's gotta count for something, right?

We're grateful for all the people there are to surround Aria with their love.






I'd like to mention that these were all taken with a little point and shoot camera. I have to shoot more frames with it to get good shots, but in the right conditions I can get it to achieve some decent results. Hey, there are times when you don't have to haul the camera bag around... Who knew?

Grandparents and Aria

These are the last pics that we got while my Mom and Dad were visiting. We have a great looking family, don't we? And the love we each share is so evident here.

First Responsive Smile

I for sure finally got Aria to smile at me. She's been making more eye contact over the last couple of weeks. But yesterday she definitely smiled back. It wasn't a full grin, however. Which means she's still got lots of mileage left in this little gesture. :-)

Grandpa and Grandma are Here...

Aria has been eating up the attention of her Grandpa and Grandma J since Saturday VERY early in the morning. She's gone up a mountain (at Grouse) and seen her first bit of snow, (and Grizzly Bears), she's been for a walk at Campbell Valley Park, she's gone shopping and got a crib (which Grandpa and Dad put up last night - it looks GREAT). She hung out with her Great-Great-Great-Aunt Iris (not many kids have one of those any more) and she's been held, cuddled, consoled and cared for all week long (and mom's enjoyed the break)!

She also went to the doctor yesterday and he said she's growing faster than they hope for (250 grams is the target growth in a week, she's gaining 300) and he doesn't need to see her again until July!

So, little Aria is 91/2lbs and growing steadily. She slept through the night twice this week (about 5 or 6 hours), but last night she kept me up again - I guess I can't expect things to simply be totally liner when it comes to that stuff.

It's been great to see just how much Grandpa and Grandma love little Aria. You begin to understand God's love for us more and more when you've got a child of your own - and seeing how one little girl can wrap four of us around her finger is pretty amazing. Sometimes we'll all just stare at her and agree together that she's gotten even cuter since the last time we all looked at her. What a sweetheart! And so great to have Grandpa and Grandma J visiting...

Next week - Opa and Nana!!

Here's a picture of her at the top of Grouse in the restaurant where we had dinner I love the way Brad's caught the light in her eyes:

Aria is -1 day old today

It's May 8th today, and Aria's due date was May 9. It's amazing to think about how different things are than were expected - and what a blessing. I'm glad she came out early - and my body is certainly VERY glad!! I like her a while lot more than I liked being pregnant!

We went to the doctor yesterday - Aria's 8lbs 2oz! She's gained 2 lbs since coming home 4 weeks ago!! Crazy!

Today's Photo Session

Everyone thinks that I must be taking an overwhelming number of pictures of Aria. Well, truthfully I'm not. I tell people that I'd rather her be able to recognise me as a person, rather than a mutant with one long, black eye. :-)

When I'm with her, I'd rather be with her. I only really enjoy photography when it's intentional and I'm in the right headspace. And quite honestly, Aria seems to agree with me:

Aria's Growing...

She's now 7lbs 12oz! I just took her to the Public Health Office to find out how much she's grown. Now it's official - rather than just my muscles telling me she's grown. Her height isn't all that different, BUT she stretches her legs out more often, so she APPEARS to be getting taller!!

Oh yeah - and we still love her to bits!

Bathtime for Aria

We haven't had much experience with bathing Aria - let's just say it's a two person effort right now, and she likes to squirm - I don't think she knows whether she likes taking baths, or doesn't - sometimes she cries, but then she splashes around and seems to like it - then she looks like she's going to cry again. Needless to say, the cuddle time afterwards in the towel is something we KNOW she likes...

She's just so wonderful!!

Doesn't she look much more filled out than the previous pictures? She's certainly getting heavier!

Aria's HOME!!!!

It's been a long two weeks and a day - but two days ago Aria came home. Sorry for the delay in telling you all - it's been an interesting homecoming. Suddenly things are very different!

I've just gotten on the computer for the first time (and phone calls haven't been happening either). Yesterday was the first full 24 hours with Aria and us - how great! It's certainly an adjustment! At the hospital I could invest all my time in her when I was with her, and then take off and do "Deb" stuff and leave her to the care of nurses (the highest paid babysitter Aria will ever have) - now I need to try and remember to eat, and nap, and do all the stuff I need to do as WELL as taking care of Aria! Even going to the bathroom requires planning!!

And yet, waking up in the middle of the night for a baby is so much better than for a pump. And she is so wonderful that I'm just enjoying her right now. It's nice to be able to figure out how the three of us work together, rather than how the three of us PLUS 3 nurses and 10 other babies and permission to enter the area she's in, and hand washing, and other families and SO MUCH MORE not to mention the 45 minute drive...yes - this is better!

When we picked her up the first thing I did was took her to Brad's office - he had to work - his yearly review happened to be that day (kinda awkward to skip out on a day when they're evaluating you...it went good, by the way). We showed her off to everyone and Brad was such a proud father, carrying her around the office showing her off to people - it was great. Then we went to school (it was the end of the day), and I snuck her up to Sue's class. Sue is the art teacher at the school, we were planning the trip to Ontario together - she went - I had a baby. She's going to be Aria's Grandma away from Grandma, and Aria her grandchild away from grandchildren, as her kids all live out east with their new babies, and Aria's grandparents live out east without her, so we figure it's good - they'll both get quality snuggle time, even if it isn't with "official" family. Aria's going to have lots of adopted family out here - that's the great thing about our community - both work and church - people REALLY care - they're not just people we work with - they're people we share life with - and that's unique and something I cherish.

SO - Aria's home - and I've gotta go check on her.

Thanks for your prayers, and keep praying - we could all do with a little more prayer, couldn't we?

New Picture...

You can really see the dimple in this one...I love it!

Good days and Bad Days...

As I said earlier (I think), Aria needs to be "eating" on her own for two days in order to go home. Sunday morning I was all excited because she'd bottle fed all night - if she did well the rest of the day and the next, she could be home by Tuesday YAY!!

She didn't. She was sleepy & lethargic all day (could have been from being woken up at night - who knows, she's a baby - and "Figure Out The Baby" is a game I don't know how to win yet - ever... So I was pretty sad at the end of the day Sunday. Sunday night she got a feeding through her tube again (the third of the day), BUT today she did AWESOME! FOUR feeds in a row - full feeds from me, and the last one she drank 67 ml!! (She only needs to drink 51).

SO...we're going to try bottle feeding again tonight. Here's hoping things work out. At this point, though, I'm tired of getting my hopes up - I'd love to have her home for the weekend, that would be great - but we'll just have to see what happens - and I'm willing to be patient - since she doesn't seem to be the sort who likes to be rushed.

We still love her to bits - she's completely adorable and it's been wonderful to sit with her and have nothing to do except hold her. All the housework & preparations are at the house, and when I'm at the hospital - they're not even an option - which is kinda nice. I need to remember to create this cuddle space and time in my day every day, not just while she's in the hospital.

Pray for more good days!!

Aria got a Gold Star!!

We've been working on getting her to feed, and part of that includes making sure she gets enough food. How do you do that when it's breast feeding? Well - ml converts to grams really well - so for every gram of weight she gains, it's a ml of milk she's drank. So the process of feeding starts with weighting her, then I feed her, then we re-weigh and make up the balance of what she needs for that feed with a bottle or tube feed, depending on how tired she is. She needs about 51 ml per feed.

Yesterday she was feeding REALLY well, and when we re-measured her, she had gained 42 grams! Once you hit 80% they don't top up the feed, but Aria looked to still be hungry - so I continued to feed. She drank 66 ml!! That's INCREDIBLE! Not only did she have a full feed - but she drank 15 more ml than she needed! So she got a gold star from the nurses (literally, there's a gold star on her name board). That evening she fed and ended up with almost exactly 50 ml. She's pretty amazing. Brad & I are very proud of her accomplishments so young in life!

Today we're starting on double feeds. Up until now she's done one bottle/breast, one nose tube, today we're going to try two bottle/breasts in a row. If she keeps being good at that, soon we'll take out that horrid nose tube and 48 hours later...BUT it may take a bit - feeding is tiring for a baby - especially a preemie.

Keep praying - but I'm glad she's doing better. Here's hoping she gets out of the incubator today (if her jaundice levels are low enough that's the next step there). Then she'll be in what they classically call the "tub". Nice.

Love to you all!

Introducing Aria April...

We love her - how could you not??

I also really like a photographer who can manage to make me look good in a picture a few days after giving birth! Thanks, Brad - what an amazing husband you've been!!

On a side note: I'm home, Aria's been moved to Surrey (which is closer, but not home yet). She needs to be able to feed all on her own (she still has the feeding tube you can see in the picture in and they're feeding her by that every other feed right now). Once she can take all her food by mouth (be it bottle or breast), for 48 hours, then we can bring her home - so keep praying, we'd love to have her here with us soon!

She turned one week yesterday - it's amazing what can happen in a week!

Deb's going home...

My blood pressure is figuring itself out (meaning the pills are working and keeping me stable) - so I'll be able to leave the maternity floor probably tomorrow. HOWEVER...I'll still be in the hospital more often than not until Aria also figures herself out. She eats like crazy! It's amazing how strong her neck muscles are, she can lift up & move her head when she wants to, and when I try and pull her off the breast - she sure lifts her own head and lets me know that that's NOT an option yet. BUT when she's not feeding with me, her stomach doesn't react well to the food they give her (she especially doesn't like the ham sandwiches for some reason) - so she's just not getting enough food & liquid for a baby her size and until she is - she's on the IV and we're waiting. She's just got to prove to them that she can do it - and I need to learn to be patient as she does that!!

So, if you're the praying type - pray that her digestive issues sort themselves out - she needs a couple of good bowel movements, and her stomach needs to start digesting all the nutrients she's getting fed and then, hopefully, we get to take her home... PRAY.

It's A GIRL....

SURPRISE!!!!

Aria April was born April 1st at 3:14pm. She is beautiful - she has a dimple in her chin, long dark hair (and signs of curl), dark eyes, long fingers and toes and big feet. Brad & I are both quite smitten. She was born at 34 weeks (40 is the "due date") so she was quite early. I was suffering from some pretty severe issues that were affecting my health to the degree that Aria was quickly becoming better off outside than in.

She was 6 lbs 1 oz and 19 inches when she was born (VERY big for a 34 week old) and yet she showed all the typical symptoms of a preemie - she was dealing with breathing issues, digestion issues, and even the placement of the wrinkles on her feet showed how far along she was (she was born at BC Women's Hospital which is a teaching hospital, so Brad was being taught what to look for in a preemie with a bunch of new doctors while Aria was being checked out).

She's been in an incubator since she was born, but we're getting more and more cuddle time as the days go on. She was jaundiced for the last two days, but that seems to be diminishing - and we just started trying breast feeding today and it's going extremely well. I love holding her and struggle with balancing that and being upstairs in my hospital room trying to get my blood pressure under control (part of what was making me so unhealthy at the end).

We're both doing well - and now it's getting to the point of a race to the finish - who's going to be ready to go home first?? Today both of us seemed to have a bunch of good signs!

We'll get pictures up soon - but this is a public computer at the hospital - so it's not really an option right now.

Oh yeah, and she also has a new cousin who was born only a week earlier than Aria. Silas David was born the Tuesday before - only an inch bigger, but 2lbs 9oz heavier! So much fun!

More later.
An excited mom (& dad).