Sweetie pie!

2nd Doctor's Appt & Sleeping

Well, she's almost 6 lbs now!! She weighed in at 5 lb 13 oz and is 18 3/4 in long, which is exactly one pound and one inch more than she was at her last appt two weeks ago. Now that it's Sunday, we guess that she probably is 6 lbs. Her preemie clothes and preemie diapers are barely fitting now, which is so exciting. She also got her first round of immunizations and actually responded very well to them. Besides the worst scream that I've ever heard that brought tears to my eyes, she didn't get the low-grade fever or loss of appetite that the doctor said would be normal if she did. She's such a good little baby. :) She doesn't fuss too much, just when she's hungry and sometimes right before she falls asleep, which is all to be expected.

She's also letting me sleep for a little longer at a time!! Ever since last Wed night, she's done what the doctor calls cluster feeding. She'll have two feedings very close together right before bed, then sleep for 6 hours! I'm definitely enjoying this, because I can get a 5 hour stretch instead of just 2-3 hour stretch like I was getting before, and I am definitely feeling better. I'm not quite as deliriously tired as I was before. I'm just plain tired instead.

Smiling :)

I think we finally caught a half smile on camera!

Taking My Bottle

I finally caught her with her eyes wide open! You can really see how blue they're getting. Notice the darker ring around them. I think she's getting Mommy's eyes. :)

Bath Time 2

Well, we finally remedied the bath tub problem. Jonathan bought us a new bath mat that works perfectly. It's like it was made for our bathroom sink and Leighton fits great in it.

She seemed to cry a little more this time we bathed her, but I think it might have had to do with the fact that she was hungry. We've seen this pouty face a few times, but finally caught it on camera! It's so sad, but so cute when she does it!

But right after this face, she was fine!

My Daddy Loves Me

Funny Faces

Daddy burping me Mommy playing with me

I'm hungry and found my hand!

I'm gassy!

"Heyyy...whadup?"

Sucking on my thumb :)

Bath Time!!

So we've got to buy a bigger tub to bathe Leighton in. We're using that little bin that the hospital was using and gave to us. I think she's pretty much outgrown it now, and she's a slippery little thing, so it's so awkward trying to hold her and bathe her in that thing at the same time. Besides the fact that the tub is too small, she actually likes being bathed and especially having her hair washed. It's so sweet, but I do have a funny story to tell. Last Saturday night, we were deliriously tired to the point that we were just laughing at every little thing, even if it wasn't that funny, but we still needed to bathe her. So, we got through the bath part, I had wrapped her in her warm towel, and was about to wash her hair, when she did it. She had a blow out in the towel in my arms! Poor little girl was shaking because I was laughing so hard. Needless to say, bath time lasted longer than we had hoped, since we had to put her back in the tub, reclean her, and I had to clean out the towel. It's funny how once you become a parent, you all of a sudden don't care if you're spit up on, pooped on, pooted on, or peed on, because that little girl has already done it all! LOL Here's a picture of her during her first bath at home.

First Doctor's Appt

Well, she had her first doctor's appt at Memphis Pediatric Clinic. It was pretty scary actually taking her somewhere for the first time. I've still yet to drive the car with her in it, but Jonathan was being extra careful. Thankfully, their office is only 5 minutes from our house. We really liked her doctor, Dr. Christian, who came recommended by a few friends. She weighed in at 4 lb 13 oz, so we were very relieved to hear that she had gained weight since coming home and that we were apparently giving her enough food. She was a good little patient and didn't cry too much. The doctor reinforced to us again how important it was that we limit visitors and not take her to any public places if we can help it. Also, if we did have any visitors, they need to have the flu shot, and we'll find out again if they should get the H1N1 vaccine once that comes out. Leighton absolutely cannot get sick right now. If she was to get sick, she would immediately have to be admitted into the hospital and we just couldn't live with ourselves if we knowingly exposed her to something. At the same time, we know that Jonathan still has to go to work and the grocery store and be somewhat exposed, but we can't help that, we're her parents and obviously have to be around her. So, let's just pray that we can make it through this flu season all healthy!!

She's home!!!

Leighton came home at 6 weeks weighing 4 lb 8.8 oz!! We didn't think this day would ever come, but her time in the NICU really did fly by. It's so hard to believe how far she's come. Just look at this picture from the beginning when she was only 2 lb 10.5 oz:

And here she is coming home!!

The first night home was a little intimidating. We were wishing we could take a nurse home with us! But we survived it. Jonathan took the next week off from work, so it was nice to be home with the entire family. :)