Smile Too Much v2

Whew, good thing this whole parent thing gets easy when they come home, right?  Today was a long, wonderful day.  We were up before 6 and not home until after 10.  Mom was a champion taking care of the kids, nursing in the morning, attending their doctor's visits, heading home for some chores, and then back to the hospital at night.  Dad did service work in the morning, work in the middle of day, and an infusing visit with his daughter at night.  We even snuck in time for a nice quiet dinner alone, just Marni and Jonathan.  I am now exhausted.  Grateful and happy, but exhausted.

Lucas had a great and also long day.  He did very well nursing with mom in the morning.  He got much better reviews from the speech therapist later in the morning, taking a good 10 mL from his bottle.  Unfortunately, when we arrived at 8 pm for a nighttime visit, he had been moved to an open-air crib.  This seems good, but we're too experienced now to be fooled.  Being in open-air means using more calories to keep warm, which means harder to grow bigger, which is the number one priority.  At rounds this morning, the doctors said they would leave him in his incubator (his box as the attending calls it) "at least through the weekend."  When we arrived tonight, the nurse had decided to move him because his incubator kept malfunctioning.  Don't worry, mom was a strong advocate for him (I'll leave it at that), and we'll be pretty surprised if he's not back in his box by morning.  We're very close, but we've also learned to be patient.

Nevertheless, Lucas had a great night visit with mom, nursing again and again doing great.  After a long day, he enjoyed some deep sleep.

Dad and Olivia had a marvelous night.  While mom was nursing Lucas, dad got a tutorial from the nurse and gave Olivia her first bath.  (Well, not first for her, but first for dad.)  She really is tough, because she survived dad's rookie hands.  Actually, we had a great time.  It was so much fun to have her out, leads off, just the two of us, and the nurse.  She did great, and when we were all done, she held my hands while we got her dressed.  We then hung out together as she ate her dinner.  She told me about her day, and she paid rapt attention while I told her about mine.  With her cpap a vision of the past, her eyes were wide open, staring intently at me, while I explained to her the fascinating details of accounting, litigation, and arbitration.  We then said our prayers, and she fell asleep.

I have this sneaking suspicion, this will not be the last day where I reach the end of the day, beyond exhausted, but too happy to contain my smile.