Penelope Update

Hi all - quick update: We're home, follow-up check on Wednesday morning at the pediatrician to make sure the bilirubin is still going down like it should, and we're enjoying seeing her more pink and less yellow!

I am currently pumping at every feeding and also supplementing with formula, because Miss Penelope's so sleepy and lazy from the combo of being early and high bili that she often won't suck on my boobs at all, not even with a shield, and when she does suck she's very reluctant and requires lots of encouragement the entire time, so she doesn't end up getting a whole lot. But she's eating very well with the finger-feeding, I've spent lots of time with the lactation consultants and am hopeful things will improve as her bili goes down, and I'm pumping about 20 ml at a time now, which is increasing slowly but surely! So I'm hopeful we'll be back on track with breastfeeding and off formula in a few weeks or so.

But the whole process of feeding takes so long that there's rarely more than an hour to sleep at a time, and this feels like it counts more as our first day home, so it's still tough to make any time to answer texts or calls or to think about visitors. I'm sure we'll start emerging and welcoming visits as the week progresses!

I've been feeling all your prayers and support (and reading texts even if I never respond!), and it has really helped us keep our heads up. Luckily our little P-pie is doing great and is so undeniably adorable that we can't help smiling through the long feeding sessions and frustrating attempts to breastfeed. She's so perfect, and I can't wait to start introducing her to everyone!!

Also for those wondering about birth details (like I always do when my friends have babies!), I had to be induced with pitocin because labor didn't start on its own after my water had been broken for 18 hours, and once the pit really kicked in, I went from 1 cm to 10 cm in only 2 hours!! They never even checked me in between, and I was so relieved to hear it was time to push! I hadn't had any pain meds, but the contractions had been virtually constant with very few breaks, so I was getting pretty close to begging for some relief. Then once they gave me permission to push (not that I could have stopped myself--I had already been pushing for a while before they noticed!), she popped out in about 10 minutes. And we did it with no pain meds, and came out smiling on the other side! She had her eyes open and we gazed at each other as soon as she was out! It was pretty awesome. I want to write a real post about just that, it's an experience I never want to forget.