One Pound Has Never Been So Important

One Pound! Yes, you read correctly, she gained one whole pound!

Thanks to Lady Hiva and her dedication to pump breast milk, our petite Little Koala Bear gained a whole pound this week! It was fun to find that out after a week of waking her to feed every 2.5 hours (if she was not already awake) so she would not lose more weight and to flush out the bilirubin that causes Jaundice.

 

It is amazing what difference one pound makes or someone that is going from weighing 5 lbs to 6 lbs. Her cheeks are more fleshy and she is starting to look more like a full term baby. It was funny when the doctor gave us the sheets to show where she charted and she was literally on the bottom of the sheet--compared to full term 8-10lbs babies! He said, "she is healthy and doing well, tall and just a little petite." We will take that for her being 5 weeks early.

She is too tall for "Premie" outfits and "New Born" outfits are like large rubbish bags on her body. 

We looked through old blog posts about Lucky Dragon and he seemed small then, but he was chubby and big compared to his sister! Compare here. 

Lucky Dragon had a low fever a few nights this past week so we tried to keep him away from her. He was so disturbed that he could not kiss his "baby Malia." It makes us glad that he loves her and wants to be around her. The only difference we can see is that he wants to have us be with him as he is going to sleep. We are still trying to find that balance of helping him feel loved and not creating bad habits that will be hard to break later.

Lady and I still feel blessed to have Koala Bear here and doing well.

 

Our Little Koala Bear Comes Home

It was more than we can expect to see that Malia came home with us when Lady Hiva did. Truly a miracle. There is nothing else that can explain it. She has surprised us and all of the staff at the hospital too! For being 5 weeks early, she had proven resilient and strong.

The only person more excited to be home than Malia, is Lady Hiva. She was ready to sleep without a nurse or a doctor coming in to wake her every ten minutes. She too has been tremendous in recover from her surgery. I guess Malia can claim she takes strength from her mum's example.

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Throughout the week Lucky Dragon stayed with Madre (or Pluba as he calls her) and the two of them would come see us as often as they could. Bringing food and joy when they came. He has been so excited to be with his 'baby Malia.' We played with farm animals that Aunt Vyonne brought for him and we played with Legos that Aunty Jan and Pluba brought. That brought hours of entertainment in an otherwise limited room.

We all guessed weights and length of Malia before she came. I guessed the weight right on! And Lady Hiva was the closest with the length.

He thinks it is wildly hilarious that Lady Hiva decided to nickname Malia Koala Bear because she will lay on Lady Hiva's stomach and spread her arms and legs wide as she can (which is not very wide for a little 5 pounder) and she clamps on with all her might like a Koala. She will stay there as long as Lady Hiva will sit still. So I guess we will have a Lucky Dragon and a Little Koala Bear in our house.

Little Koala Bear

We have had our Little Koala Bear home for a few days and she has been loved by aunts, uncles, friends and grandparents. It has been fun for Lucky Dragon too because the cousins that come to visit with their parents.

I am not sure what will happen in the next few weeks when he does not have all the other people to distract him and he realizes that Malia is here to stay and not just a fun toy that comes and goes.

So we are back into the realm of two hour feedings, hourly pooping and peeing etc. Actually, she has caught me off guard a few times when I was changing her diaper and she peed all over! I thought it was only boys that do that...I guess I was wrong! haha

We continue to be thankful for this little one. And although we worry constantly about how she is eating, looking, gaining weight and how she is doing--with all of our history we may over worry. But thankfully nothing has merited these worries.

So Welcome Home, Malia!