As most of you know, Michelle has ITP which is a platelet disorder. When Zoe was born she had extremely low platelets and had to stay in the ICN (intensive care nursery) for several extra days to help get them back up. We knew that this certainly could have been an issue with Avery as well.

At first Avery’s platelets were low, but not low enough to put her in the ICN. We kept her by our side and waited every 8 hours for them to take another blood draw and see how she was doing. As of last night she was still low, but not in the danger zone. This morning we found out that the Dr would like to keep her for at least another night for observation before deciding what to do. The Dr thinks that they will end up going up on their own and as long as they don’t get too low before then.

The good news is that her platelets were slightly up at her last two draws! We still need a couple more readings with the platelets going up for them to feel good about letting her go home, but it seems we are heading in the right direction. So, we didn’t quite make it home for Father’s Day, but things are looking up for tomorrow…

Jon Q

Avery’s only been with us for 48 hours, but I already have so much to write about. While I need a bit more energy to recount my labor/delivery experience (let’s just say it was very, very different than what I had expected), I will share that I didn’t feel terribly bonded to Avery right from the start. I was happy to see her, of course, and I marveled over her pink cheeks, sweet baby noises, and intact nose (Zoe’s, as you might remember, was quite squashed) – but I didn’t feel that rush of mad-love like I did when I first met Zoe. “I just don’t feel that connected to her,” I’ve said to Q several times since Fri. night. “I like her, but I don’t really feel like she’s mine.” I wondered if it was because she seemed so different than newborn-Zoe or because I was still trying to process/recover from a very emotional labor.

Whatever it was, there was a definite shift early this morning, when the nurse brought her to me for a feeding. Curled up beside me on the bed, Avery had her snack and then fell asleep; when I woke up a few hours later and felt her little body pressed against mine and heard her little baby coos, I was hooked. A little snuggling was all it took for it to hit me: she is mine, and I’m one lucky mama!

-M

Avery wanted to wish all the dads out there a Happy Father’s Day…

Jon Q

One thing is for sure, Zoe is going to be a very good big sister. In her baby sister’s first hours she has been very helpful…

She brought her some beautiful balloons:

Wrapped her in a perfect swaddle:

Took her to visit the nursery:

Showed Mommy how to put on her baby hat:

Soothed her from crying:

And loved her as part of our new bigger family:

Jon Q