1/14/2011 38 Days Old
Maya’s Playlist
Johny Lang
James Taylor Greatest Hits
Norah Jones Come Away With Me
White Stripes De Stijl
On the 38th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. Maya slept well last night. There was no starring at the ceiling and cooing for mom last night. Just a sound asleep baby in her bed. Me and Erin were very happy. I got to have my special Maya time in the early morning while the house still slept. It gets so quite in the house in the morning. We sit in our little baby bubble. I am not one who can sit still for very long, but when me and Maya cuddle up on the couch my restless legs can take a break. We sit and stare at each other letting the world wake up around us.
Today Maya had her nurse come for a visit and she got weighed. I know I’m not supposed to talk about a ladies weight but Maya is now 5 pounds 12 ounces. She is growing so fast that our nutritionist recomended that we slow down her feedings. It is amazing that this little girl who has so many physical struggles can do so well. She is an impressive little girl.
Today I was able to get out of the house and head over to eat lunch at work. I know thats a little backwards. I shared pictures of our little angel with all of my coworkers, and caught up on the month that I missed. It was good to get out of the house and start to get back into some sort of rhythym for the day. I found out while I was out that Maya had a second apnea while I was gone. It was short and Erin was here to comfort her through it. I was disapointed that I wasn’t here, but it is something that I have to get used to.
In the evening Grandpa Bob and Grandma Chris came by to fix us dinner. Grandpa Greg also happened to come by and we all sat around the table and ate cheese burgers. Right now Erin is out shopping. It is one of the few times that Erin has been able to leave the house since Maya was born. While she was gone she called me to ask an excellent question about which socks to buy. You know the important stuff. As I was hanging up the phone Maya let out a wail of a cry. I was sure that my phone picked it up the cry and sent it right into my wife’s ear. Great I thought to myself. She will never leave me alone with her again. But all is well now. I was able to sooth Maya and now grandpa is holding her while I type. She is so active now. Her blue eyes are wide and searching the room. I think it’s time for me to go now. I gotta get back to my girl.
1/15/2011
Maya is doing well. The blog will return tomorrow.
Sleep tight
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)1/16/2011 40 Days Old
Maya’s Playlsit
Phil Keaggy, Beyond Nature
On the 40th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. Maya had slept all night in her bed. I woke up before dawn and got my special Maya time before Erin woke up. I sat in bed with Maya next to me reading a book. This morning Maya woke up slowly. At first it was just a slight peek out of sleepy eyes. Later a squirm and a coo before a full on hands over head stretch and wide eyes. I picked her up from her bed a held her as I read. Erin slept next to us as we read and the sun rose. Our morning went on like that for hours. Me reading, Maya stretching out, and Erin sleeping.
The rest of our day consisted of Erin learning to crochet while holding Maya, and Me practicing guitar. It was just our little family unit going through a normal sunday with no place to be and no schedule to keep. Maya seems to be awake more and more every day. Her eyes get wide and search the room. She is exploring her world with her hands. Reaching out and feeling whatever is close by. Every now and then right hand meets left hand. When this happens her face lights up. Her lips purse as her now linked hands move up and down.
At 12:30 Maya had an apnea that lasted for 4 minutes. We held her and talked to her until her breathing became regular again. She has been having about an apnea per day. She seems to come out of them a little easier now. There is less crying and wrenching now than there was last week. She just gradually comes back to us.
Tonight we ate dinner with Travis and Krissie. They were nice enough to pick up some Dos Reales for us. We are now watching Matilda. Maya is once again resting in Erin’s arms as Erin crochets. It is a nice end to our day. It was a big day for us Maya is the big 4 o now. 40 wonderful days with our angel.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (1)1/17/2011 41 Days Old
On the 41st day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. Maya’s 5:30 feeding went well. I put her back in her bed and drifted off to sleep. We woke to the sound of Maya’s monitor alarm at 8:00. Her apnea lasted for about 4 minutes. We held her and comforted her as she came back to us. The rest of her morning she rested.
We stayed in bed today. Erin held Maya as she crocheted her a hat for valentines day. It is a little pink hat with two concentric hearts attached right above Maya’s forehead. As Erin crocheted and Maya slept I worked on small projects around the house. We stayed inside our baby bubble until 2:00 When we moved out to the living room for Maya’s appointment with her nurse. Her nurse looked her over and listened to her lungs. Maya is doing well. With all of the apneas she is still a very healthy girl. She cries when she is hungry and lets us know when she is not happy. She does every thing that a healthy baby does.
This evening Grandma Patti and Grandpa Greg came by to hold Maya. Grandma Kathy fixed us diner as we watched the K-State game. After everything had calmed down in the house Maya had her second apnea of the day. It lasted for about 4 minutes. For the second time today we held her and comforted her as she slowly came back to us. She is resting now. KC is holding her, Erin is crocheting, I am typing, and Maya is resting. Tomorrow I am returning to work. Erin will have help with Maya tomorrow while I am at work. Sleep will be important tonight. Bed time is 9:00 and our day is winding down. It was a wonderful day with our wonderful girl.
1/18/2011 42 Days Old
On the 42nd day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. Today would be my first day back to work. I woke up for Maya’s 5:30 Feeding. I got to spend a half an hour with her as she ate before I had to get ready for the day. Leaving this morning was tough. I thought I would never make it out the door, but eventually I made it to the car and headed to work.
Maya had no apneas during the day. All in all it was an uneventful day.
When I got home Maya and Erin were waiting for me on the couch. I could see them through the front window as I pulled into the driveway. Maya was awake and exploring her surroundings. Her blue eyes were wide open and moving around the room. I gave her a kiss on her wonderfully kissable forehead causing her to blink her eyes squirm and attempt to look straight up placing two wrinkles across her forehead. The looking up wrinkles are not nearly a distinct now that her face has filled out, but they are still one of my favorite things to see.
Tonight we ate dinner with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Chris. Grandpa and Maya are napping in the rocking chair. Maya had a good day. Erin was able to take care of her through the day with some help from Michelle. It makes it much easier to head off to work when I know that my girls will be well taken care of. Our family has been so much help over the last 42 days. I am greatful that so many of us still live in town. I guess it really does take a village.
1/19/2011 43 Days Old
On the 43rd day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. I woke up at 6:00 and fed Maya as she slept in her bed. She had slept through most of the night. Most but not all of the night. She tends to get really cranky around her 11:30 feeding every night. She squirms and cries until her tummy is full and then drifts off to sleep. When I left the house shortly after 7:00 Maya and Erin were still snoozing peacefully. Grandma Patti would be by later in the day to help take care of Maya and let Erin catch up on her sleep.
Todd, Lisa and Hallie came by for a visit today. Lisa commented about how small Maya is, but to us she is huge. Compared to the day we brought her home she seems so big even though she is still is smaller than most newborns.
My journey back to Maya after work was a little longer than usual. The snow had started to come down at noon, and was increasing by the time that I was driving home. It was the wrong time to be on the road. My drive home to see Maya that normally lasts for 25 minutes took an hour and a half. I was dissapointed that I had lost so much time that I could have spent with my girl until I learned that school tomorrow was canceled. I get to spend a day that I was scheduled to work at home shut into the house with my girls. It more than makes up for the extra hour that I had spent behind the wheel trying to get home.
This evening KC brought by Thai Place for dinner. After dinner I sat down with Maya on the couch. She has started to really like laying on her side with her check and nosed pressed into my arm. At times she sleeps that way, but she will also crane her neck back just enough that she can peer out over my arm and keep an eye on things. She is also starting to use her hands more and more every day. She often reaches out to feel her suroundings grabbing whatever she finds, and feeling it before she lets go to search for something else. She is making sense of her world.
1/20/2011 44 Days Old
On the 44th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning did not begin peacefully. We woke up this morning at 8:30 to the sound of Maya’s alarm. She had an apnea that lasted for 4 minutes. As always we held her and comforted her until she came back to us. It was her second apnea of the morning. The first was shortly after midnight.
After our startling awakening we settled back into to bed to hold our little girl. Due to the snow day we were able to stay in bed and watch TV all morning. We stayed cozy in our baby bubble until 10:00 when Erin got up to make breakfast. We had pancakes ,bacon and eggs. Erin held Maya as we ate and maya may have gotten a little syrup on her blanket, but you didn’t hear that from me.
Later in the morning we were watching Maya sleep as we often do, when she woke up stretched her little hips back and forth, and found one hand with the other. Erin was very happy when I pointed out that she always grabs her right hand with her left hand. We had gone back and forth. Me making the case for Maya’s right handedness and Erin refuting every argument. I conceded the point. If Maya is left handed like Erin that is alright with me. I love seeing myself in Maya, but I enjoy even more when I see some of my beautiful wife in my daughter.
In the afternoon Krissie stopped by to see Maya. I took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep. When I woke Krissie had gone and Grandma Kathy was here. We ate dinner as we watched the Big Bang Theory and Community. Maya thinks Abehd is hilarious. She laughed so hard we had to change her diaper.
It was a good day today. We were all so happy that we had a snow day. It was a gift of time. A little more time that we could all spend together. With all the ways that Maya has changed our world the most important thing that she has taught us is the importance of time. Don’t waste a moment. Seek out the joy in every minute. If there is no joy to be found build it.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)1/21/2011 45 Days Old
Maya’s Playlist
Eagles Hell Freezes Over
On the 45th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. When I woke at 5:30 to prepare her food Maya was awake. I was so happy. I got to spend the first thirty minutes of my day holding Maya in bed as she ate. Often in the mornings I won’t wake her so that when I head off to work Erin can stay asleep, but today she was awake and we got to start our morning together. Me and Maya up before the sun.
I only had to work a half day today. When I got home at around noon. Michelle, Luke, and Krissie were here helping Erin with Maya. After Maya’s visit with her nurse Erin had to leave the house. With Krissie’s help I was able to take care of Maya in Erin’s absence. We sat on the couch and surfed you tube. As we sat there I noticed that it began snowing. For some time we sat and stared out the window watching the flurries make their journey from the clouds down to the ground. Maya has seen a lot of snow. With the windows shades in our living room pulled open, and all the snow reflecting sunlight it gets so bright in the room it seems like we are sitting outside.
This evening Maya had visitors from Erin’s work. Grandpa Bob and Grandma Chris came over with Hollie , Jay, and Jadin. We are sitting listening to the Eagles and drinking hot tea. It has been a good day.
1/22/2011 46 Days Old
Saturdays are not for blogging. Maya is doing well. She ate, She pooped, She slept
Sleep Tight
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (1)1/23/2011 47 Days Old
On the 47th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. Maya had slept well last night. She is getting out of the habit of staying up between 11:00 and 1:00, and we are really happy about that. We stayed in bed this morning taking turns holding Maya. We didn’t get up and about until noon. I was sitting in bed this morning and talking to Erin and I asked her how I got so lucky. It seems strange to say, but in the mornings alone with Erin and Maya I do feel lucky. I feel lucky that I have such a beautiful daughter and lucky that my wife is so strong. In the morning there are no thoughts of trisomy. No thoughts of Dr.s and nurses. Just me and my girls. And in those mornings I feel that I am luckier than I deserve to be.
When we finally got out of bed this morning we gave Maya a bath. We have been using a small bin that we got from the hospital to bath her, but she is getting too big now. When we first gave her a bath she didn’t like it much and we could see it in a scrunched up face. Now when we bath her and she wants to let us know she is unhappy she lets out quite a cry. Her cries are getting louder by the day. After we got her dried off and dressed she calmed down.
This afternoon Sarah came by to see Maya. Everyone that meets her seems to say the same thing. She looks and acts just like a healthy baby. We have gotten used to the nervousness that most people feel the first time they hold her, and now know that the nervousness fades when how strong Maya is comes shining through. She is a very strong little girl. She had been through so much that me and Erin have not been able to protect her from. But each time she fights through. We are constantly amazed by her will.
This evening Grandpa Bob and Grandma Chris brought us dinner. We sat and ate then hung out watching Maya and talking. It was a first for a grandparent visit. There was no snoozing while holding Maya tonight. The only person who slept was Maya. It has been a good day.
