Home

We are home from the hospital. It is nice to be home, but I can already see that life is going to be a lot more chaotic. At least for a little while.

Addison is having some issues that we are having to deal with. She was born with a cleft pallet, which is making it harder for her to nurse. They wanted to supplement her with formula from the beginning, but I was against it. So we came up with a compromise of nursing her and if she wasn't able to nurse then I would pump and we would give it through a surrenge. That worked well for a few days. She was latching on well and they were happy with her progress. I was happy, because she was doing so much better than Regan did at that age. Well, then my milk came in. She and I had a challenging day of trying to figure out what would work for us as far as latching on. Just when I felt like we had gotten it figured out, the doctor came and said she had lost to much weight and wanted to again supplement her with formula. I again resisted. So, now the new plan is for me to nurse her for a short amount of time and then pump the rest. The doctor wants her to get two oz. of breast milk every three hours, and we are adding a human milk fortifier that they give to preemies to give it some added calories. The only way to ensure that she gets two oz. every three hours is through a bottle. It is a little challenging, but I think once we get in the routine of it we will be okay and worth the effort. At least I hope so.

The other issue is Addison failed her hearing test. We have been told not to worry, yet. Apparently it is very common in c-section babies to have a lot of fluid in their ears and fail. We go back in two - three weeks to have it checked again. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that all goes well.

On the upside we have a new beautiful little girl. Regan seems excited to be a big sister and eager to help. When we were taking the picture of her holding Addison, she was very much the proud big sister. She told Addison to "look at Daddy." The cleft pallet is very mild, and can be fixed with one surgery once Addison is about six months old. It isn't visible unless you look in her mouth. Also, Regan never took a bottle once she was three months old (which was stressful for me) and now we don't have that concern with this one. : )