1/24/2011 48 Days Old

On the 48th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. Maya was asleep in her bed. She had an apnea at 2:30 this morning that lasted for 4 minutes. Trying to catch up on our sleep Erin and I stayed in bed and took turns holding Maya. After both of us woke up we decided to try and give Maya some tummy time. We draped her over the boppie and watched. She was able to hold her head up and look around for a minute or two before she decided face down on a boppie was a nice way to sleep. She tucked her hand under her check and drifted off to sleep.

At 11:00 Grandma Patti came over to help out with Maya. She brought over my baby book and we compared Maya to pictures of me as a newborn. We had done the same with Erin’s baby photos.  Maya has my lips and the color of my eyes, and Erin’s nose, checks, and shape of her eyes. After our very scientific picture analysis we took turns napping through out the day.

At 2:30 pm Maya had her second apnea of the day. It lasted for 3 minutes. When Maya is coming out of an apnea and struggling to breathe she gets very angry and lets out forceful cries. It is heartbreaking to hear, but it is helping her recover. Since she is on oxygen and has air being pushed into her lungs constantly it is not the lack of oxygen but the build up of carbon dioxide in her lungs that effects her. When she cries during an apnea it pushes the carbon dioxide out of her lungs allowing the oxygen to take its place. Her cries are heartbreaking, but they are helping to keep her going. Maya is resting now in Grandma Kathy’s arms. It was a difficult day for us. But with the help of our family we are getting through it. One more look into her beautiful blue eyes makes all of the anxiety and sadness on days like today worth it. When I see her look up at me wrinkling her forehead all of those other things fade away, and I am left alone holding the most beautiful girl in the history of the world.

1/25/2011 49 Days Old

On the 49th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. I woke up at 5:30 to feed Maya before I headed to work. Maya had 2 apneas last night. One at 12:45 and another 15 minutes later. They both lasted for 4 minutes and as always we held her and comforted her as she came back to us. Sleep did not come easy after that. Her early morning feeding went well. She has become quite the grouser. During every feeding she squirms and cries a little. She has developed some digestive problems over the past few days, and when she is not feeling well she lets everyone know about it.

While I was at work Maya had a visit from Michelle. At 2:15 Maya had her third apnea of the day. It was just like the others and lasted for 4 minutes. It happened just before Mayas scheduled nurse visit. The nurse checked Maya’s vitals and Maya is doing well. As far as we know Maya’s apneas have not taken a toll on her. She seems so fragile when we think about her but she actually is very strong. She is resilient, and keeps battling back.

When I got home at 4:30 Maya and Erin were asleep on the couch. They say when the baby is sleeping mom should be sleeping. I think thats is a great idea. I love seeing the two of them sleeping. When they wake up they both scrunch up their foreheads while craning their neck back and stretching. It must be hereditary.

Tonight we ate dinner with Grandpa Bob. We are watching some basketball now. Maya and Bob are snuggled in the rocking chair. We are hoping for a restful night.

1/26/2011 50 Days Old

On the 50th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. Maya stayed asleep in her bed as I prepared her morning milk. She had no apneas last night. That didn’t stop her from raising a stink from 10:00 till 1:00, much to the dismay of Erin’s beauty sleep. Eventually she fell asleep in her bed and Erin and I got some much needed rest.

While I was at work Grandma Patti and Kristi came by to visit Maya. Maya also had a visit from her occupational therapist. Maya is doing well with her exercizes. Her fingers are loosening up and so are her hips. Durring the visit Maya did some tummy time. Erin proped her up on the boppy and let her explore a new way of laying down. She does really well lifting her head up off of the boppy and looking around.

When I got home Maya and grandma were cuddled up in the rocking chair. This evening Grandma Kathy came over to see Maya and eat dinner with us. After dinner Maya got a bath. She doesn’t fit in her pink bucket anymore. She was promoted to bathing in the kitchen sink. She even has a little underwater hammock. She still doesn’t like bathing. Now we are sitting on the couch and watching basketball. It is 8:00 and almost bed time. I never thought that I would ever look forward to going to sleep at 9:00. Oh how parenthood changes people.

1/27/2011 51 Days Old

On the 51st day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. I fed Maya in her bad before I headed out to work. While I was at work Maya had plenty of visitors. Michelle came over to help take care of Maya. Maya’s nurse came around noon to bring some supplies and Weigh her. She now weighs 6 lbs. 6.5 oz. and 18.5 inches long. It was an increase of 10.5 oz. in 2 weeks. Another few pounds and she will be up to her cousins birth weight.

At 2:00 Maya had an apnea that lasted for 4 minutes. Erin held her and comforted her while she recovered. I was at work and Erin was home alone. I feel bad that I was not here, but I know that Erin takes good care of her while I am at work.

This afternoon Chris came by to see Maya and deliver some G scout cookies. Maya’s stash was running low. She needed some shout outs. I don’t know how she eats them but they seem to disappear while I am at work. Chris held her for a while. She was awake and looking around most of the time. After Chris left Jennifer came by. The girls got to catch up on a little gossip. As Jen was leaving Grandma Chris and Grandpa Bob were arriving. We ate dinner with them and now Grandma Chris and Maya are cuddled in the rocking chair. Both of them are wide awake.

Maya’s Playlist

The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers (Maya highly recommends this album, She gave it 2 eyebrows up)

Ben Harper, Lifeline

Various Artists, Oh Brother Where Art Thou Soundtrack

1/28/2011 52 Days Old

On the 52nd day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. Maya was asleep in Grandma Patti’s arms. Grandma had stayed overnight to take care of Maya so that Erin and I could sleep. She stayed with Maya until 11:30. Today was my half day at work so I was home shortly after noon. Later in the afternoon Joel and Kate from carousel came by to visit with me and Erin. The people from carousel have been very helpful to us and we appreciate greatly the work that they do. It is always good to talk to the two of them. They have seen many couples go through what Erin and I are going through. It is good to talk to people that have some kind of understanding of what we are going through.

This evening Grandma Kathy came over. Erin made some stir fry for dinner, and we relaxed on the couch. Maya set a record for the messiest diaper ever. it was so bad she went straight into the tub for a bath. I wrote too soon… She may have just reset the record as I was typing. She is quite the talent. I better finish this post now. We might have to go get out the hose. This one is a doozy.

1/29/2011 53 Days Old

It is Saturday yet again… You know what that means. Maya is doing well today.
Nighty night.

1/30/2011 54 Days Old

On the 54th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. We slept in this morning. We stayed in bed until noon, taking turns holding Maya. She was a little cranky last night, but not to bad. We all got enough sleep last night so we  just enjoyed our peaceful morning, staying in bed until long after the sun came up. At noon we got up and took care of some things around the house. Maya decided this afternoon that she didn’t want to be in her bed. She just wanted to be held. At one point we put her down on her boppy for some tummy time. She pulled her head up and turned to me as if to say. What the hack is this about. It’s your job to hold my head up. This is too much work.

Later in the afternoon Maya got a bath. She decided she would let us know that she wasn’t happy and periodically let out a yell. She is getting baths more often now due to her uncanny ability to out do her diaper. I’m thinking of inventing a diaper shaped like overalls. Maybe then at least her onesies would stay clean.

Tonight we ate dinner with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Chris. They are taking turns now patting Maya on the back. It was a nice day. We watched movies and just hung out most of the time. The tea kettle is warming up and Maya is sleeping. Hopefully her day wasn’t too restful. She does need to sleep tonight.

1/31/2011 55 Days Old

On the 55th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. Maya had some trouble sleeping last night. Me and Erin took shifts with holding her. She spent some time in her bed but not for very long. Early this morning I woke up as Erin was holding Maya trying to get her to drift off to sleep. After a short while she succeeded. We stayed in bed until noon. At times we held Maya and at times we slept. With the exception of a blown up diaper it was a peaceful morning. She is now affectionately nicknamed the diaper assassin. We never hear it coming, then bam blown up diaper. Bust out the oxyclean and try to rehabilitate a onesie.

This afternoon Maya had a visit from her nurse. Last night while she was hooked up to her monitor we had noticed that her numbers were not quite as good as they usually are. Not really bad, just a little lower then normal. After her nurse had observed her we talked with her about Maya’s sats. She is seeming to need to work a little harder to keep up. We don’t know what that means, but she is working a little harder today than she had to a few days ago.

Tonight Grandma Kathy came by to visit Maya. We are just holding her, (Maya not G Ma Kathy) and listening to Ben Harpers new album, Fistful of Mercy. It is nice to stop everything and just listen to music with our girl. We do a lot of things while holding her, but listening to music is the one thing that she can do with us. We can tell that she can hear the music, and she listens carefully. She is definitely our daughter. She stretches out after a nap just like her mother and loves listening to music just like her father, and we love her.

Maya’s Playlist

Son House, The Complete Library of Congress Recordings

Amos Lee, Mission Bell ( Another Two Brows Up from Maya)

Fistful of Mercy, As I Call You Down

2/1/2011 56 Days Old

On the 56th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully. This morning it snowed, and then it snowed some more, and then it snowed some more. School was canceled today. Another snow day. Another day at home staying in bed and admiring our little girl. She is still struggling today. She has slept most of the day. She needs her rest. She is not struggling with being cute though. She still makes hand gestures when you bug her. She pulls her hand up to in front of her face and holds up one finger as if to say “wait a minute.” Then she drifts off to sleep.

We didn’t have any visitors today due to the weather. Just the three of today. I shoveled snow, Erin held Maya, I played guitar, Erin held Maya, Erin fixed diner, I held Maya. It was an uneventful day. We had the shades in the bedroom open and watched the snow come down, or sideways, or which ever way it wanted to go. I could count the number of cars I’ve seen drive up my street today on one hand. It was a peaceful day.

2/2/2011 57 Days Old

On the 57th day in the life of the most beautiful girl in the history of the world the morning began peacefully.  Hi, this is Mom (Erin).  This is my first official blog I have written so if the humor is lacking, you will know why.  We had another snow day today so that means JJ got to stay home with us.  We stayed in bed till late.  Some of us later than others… I slept till 1pm. That is not to say that wasn’t up in part of the night with our little girl, but it did feel good to sleep in that late.  I woke up to JJ going out to shovel the driveway.  He had shoveled twice yesterday and spent another hour and half shoveling today to clear the drive and walk.

Maya was really awake today.   She has spent most of the day exploring her environment with her eyes, playing with her hands, and squirming around.  We stayed most of the day in the bedroom relaxing and watching movies. Grandma Kathy came over tonight and made dinner for us.  She also helped with bathtime and held Maya while she ate.

JJ has another snow day tomorrow. That means one more day snuggled in on a super cold day. Stay warm!