Words...the life story of Mina

Hello!

Here is the words page! You are actually reading them! Good for you...

So, here's the scoop on Mina...she was born June 13th, at 11:23 am, she weighed 5 lbs, 12 oz, she was 17 1/2 inches, and she was a month early. My water broke before 4:00 am on June 12 and so Nate and I called the hospital, asking...do you think we should come in, or can we wait at home till "real" labor starts? They said..."GET OVER HERE NOW." We were still skeptical (we just had the birthing class, and they said we could wait...plus, we only lived about 3 blocks from the hospital!), so we walked there. I was in no pain at that point. 20-some hours later, I was in MUCHO pain. I am somewhat sorry, but not very, to say that I had an epidural. It was "easy street" after that...sort of. So, enough of the birthing story.

SO...after birth, I had her tossed onto my chest (there is a picture of this), for about 10 seconds, before they whisked her away to the NICU...she was not breathing well due to underdeveloped lungs. She was then transferred to another hospital with a better NICU and was watched by drill-sargeant-like nurses for 9 days. I got to hold her only a few times at first, more towards the end. She had to eat through a tube in her nose at first, as well...when she ate from a bottle I cried for joy. Now, she is being nursed...which was REALLY challenging at first...but now, three months later, we finally get it.

MINA...is SUCH A GREAT BABY! She doesn't sleep much during the day, but she sleeps WELL at night...8-10 hours. I can't tell anyone how "I did it," because I didn't really do anything. She just did it on her own. A few things that we do at night with her do seem to make a big difference, though...we swaddle her tight, and strap her into a cradle swing for the whole night. We tried one night without it, and she only slept 5 hours straight. SO, perhaps you might try that if you're desperate. I HIGHLY recommend the book by Harvey Karp: "The Happiest Baby on the Block." It helped a LOT...and even more so, the video. It was recommended by the hospital and some other moms. She is now 12 lbs, and four days away from being officially 3 months old. She is holding up her head now, talking a lot more, smiling, laughing (OH how awesome when she smiles and laughs!), and getting lots of comments. The most common one is "Look at the HAIR!" She is a hairy baby. Not as much now as she was...at birth, she had a hairy back, hairy arms and legs, and even hair on her ears! That was due to her being early...they say most babies shed the hair in utero before birth. Interesting, huh? And no, I didn't have bad heartburn during pregnancy (old wive's tale). She is adorable, wonderful, and hard to take the eyes off of. I love being her mom.

I am not going to work (much) this year. I'll be doing some volunteer stuff here and there, and getting involved more at church, but mostly, I plan to stay at home with Mina. I am working on some projects to keep me from going bonkers from cabin-fever...jazzing up the kitchen cupboards is the big one, then I have a bedroom vanity that I will refinish, and I'll be painting a mural in the master bedroom. I really enjoy doing those sorts of things...sort of a new art medium for me is home decorating.

Alrighty now...that's all I can think of! Badger the wiener dog is doing great...and so is Bill the Cat. You all can come by any time to visit the whole family!

Thanks for reading, and God bless!

Sarah
(and Nate, and Mina)