3 Weeks

Yesterday Scarlett turned 3 weeks old. I feel like we have crammed a lot into the first three weeks of her life. 

On November 19th our world was turned upside down but in a good way. Our little Scarlett went through a lot being 5 weeks early but has done amazingly well under her circumstances. A lot of babies born that early are in the NICU until their expected due date. We were fortunate enough to be able to bring her home 4 days after birth. I can't say that those four days weren't hard, but at least it was only 4 days. There is nothing fun or easy about having your child in the NICU or in Intermediate Care and my heart goes out to those Mom's and Dad's who have to go through that for an extended period of time. 

When I was in the hospital I would go visit her in the Intermediate Care Nursery. Each baby has their own little bed separated by curtains. I would sit in a rocking chair and hold her. Mostly the room was pretty quiet but one sound I became familiar with was the cries of other Mommy's around me. I would often hear crying behind the curtains. It broke my heart to hear that. A lot of these Mom's would come to the hospital day after day to see their babies. Many of them would sleep on the hospital benches or in the rocking chairs by their babies beds because they couldn't bring themselves to leave them at night. It felt really good to bring Scarlett home so I can't imagine how good it must feel when those parents finally get to take their babies home. 

A little bit about Scarlett

• She weighed 5 lbs 1 oz at birth and went home from the hospital at 5 lbs 3 oz. At her two week appointment she weighed in at 5 lbs 7 oz. We haven't weighed her since then but I imagine she is  still in the 5 lb range. Maybe close to 6 lbs. 

• Her premie diapers are getting snug. Newborn diapers are still too big but we have been using them anyways.

• Premie clothes are now too small but most newborn clothes still drown her. It depends on the brand. 

• Scarlett is so noisy! She grunts and groans all day. She even eats loud and coo's loud. 
• She is always moving. This is no surprise to me because this is what she did in my belly and she has two very active parents. 

• She hates to lay flat. When she is flat she is more alert, unsettled and squirmy. She won't sleep laying flat so we have to put her in her swing at night. 

• She tries to hold her head up. She has been doing this since week 2. She is just determined to lift it up and look around. When I lay her on my shoulder to burp her she uses her hands to push off and then lifts her head

• When she is mad she starts throwing punches and kicking. Sometimes she hits her binky across the room. She also likes to try to grab her binky and hold it while it is in her mouth.

• She loves to be swaddled and held. If she is in someones arms or her swing she is so happy and content. 

• She smiles. I don't know if it is a gas smile or not but she does it fairly often. 

• She goes cross- eyed a lot and gets stuck. She isn't always sure how to get her eyes out once they are crossed. When they come undone her eyes go really wide like "what just happened?"

• She is a really good sleeper at night. She cat naps during the day and at night she usually sleeps in 4 hour stretches. This is as long as you can let a premie sleep because they need to eat every 4 hours. 

• Scarlett's facial expressions are very animated and she is always pulling funny faces

• She hates her hands being restricted. She always has them out somehow. She prefers to have them on her face

• She likes movement. She is only happy in her carseat if we are driving or swinging it back and forth. She also likes it when her swing is moving.