4 February, 1999. Well, we took Shayna out on a date last night. not quite dinner and a movie, but her first night out. And reallyu protected from the environment, all bundled up and wrapped in receiving blankets and covered in her baby buggy. She got to go out for dinner and then out to run some errands at the locazl outlet mall. And she got a cute little baby dress out of the deal, from her great aunt Estee. Esteee also was very excited last night when she found that she could get Shayna to stick out her tongue by first sticking out hers. I hear that it was cute, but I did not witness this myself. Shayna slept well after her big night out too! So did mommy and daddy. Well, back to work...

3 February, 1999. Sweeet Shayna permitted us a much better night last night. We are all a bit better rested today. Perhaps this is because she spent a lot of yesterday awake and even looking around. When you hold Shayna, it seems as if she is now trying to track objects and faces. How exciting to look her in the eyes and feel that she is looking right back at you. And she makes a lot of different sounds and coos a little bit too (or maybe she is just gassy). Shayna is smiling more and more, and what a beautiful smile it is (or maybe it is just gas). It's funny; back when Shayna was first born and so small, it was scary to get attatched to her for fear that she might get sick or even not make it out of the NICU. But as she grew, that clearly reversed. Now, it is painful to leave her when I go to work and it is joyous when I get home in the evening and when I hear her making noises over the phone. And kissing her. And holding her. ANd feeding her. Of course it doesn't hurt that she is so darn cute. Well, Shayna had herself another bath last night. Daddy got to give her this one. Shayna really does seem to enjoy her bathtime; she just sits and smiles during them. What a darling.

2 February, 1999. A long night with little Shayna last night. She was so quiet nad good during the day, eating big amounts of milk every four hours and then sleeping in between or staying awake quietly and looking around, smiling. But last night, she woke up and only ate a little bit at 11pm, then woke up at two pm and ate and cried and ate and cried all the way until past 3:30 am. And boy did she scream loudly. It was so frustrating to quiet her down finally, place her in her bed, and have uher up and scream again. And she would act hungry and would get fed a little, then again and again the same thing. Finally, we went to prepare a bottle, and upon being threatened with it, Shayna promptly threw up everything that she had eaten and went happily to sleep. What a little sweetheart. Daddy held her for anb hour to make sure that she was okay, then went to sleep himself. This morning, Shayna is awake, alert, smiling at her musical mobile, and her parents are tired. This is much better than the NICU.

1 February, 1999. Back to work for real today. No more taking a few minutes in between patients and at lunch and either end of the day to sneak down to the NICU to see little Shayna. Now she's at home (where she belongs) and daddy has returned to the hospital. It's not quite as lovely a place without her. At least mommy is lucky enough to get to work from home and spend the day with Shayna. Since her big project is almost completed this morning, she will get to do more of the feedings and diapers than she has been able to do the past week or so. And her Aunt is still around, helping out especially with those middle of the night feedings and diaper changes. Well, Shayna is still eating a lot for most of her feeds, often overeating and subsequently spitting up a little (normal for some babies). She often has a slightly sour breath to complement her sweet self as a result of this. She also now occasionally gets congested, probably from her spitup going up into her nose. Shayna just loves her bulb nose suction thing. She screams and screams and screams when she gets her nose cleaned out. You can probably hear her from miles away! Well, Shayna makes up for this by sleeping nearly through the night. She only wakes up once, usually between two or three oclock. It continues to rain outside and it is so cold. At least Shayna is snuggled up, nice and warm in her cozy pink nursery.

31 January, 1999. Well, daddy left home today for work and little Shayna and mommy were sleeping soundly. Lotta kisses goodbye. For the first time since Shayna was born, she is not at the place where he works while he is at work. How sad, I miss her already. Well, Shayna was 9 weeks old yesterday and doesn't look a day over negative 1 1/2 weeks. Shayna only awoke once last night, at about 3:30 am. She ate and went back to sleep. Mommy, on the other hand, tossed and turned. She has a big project from work which is due tomorrow, which seh is doing from home. She may be a little stressed. But what better stress relief than feeding and holding a cute little baby. Well, another day of feeding, growing, pooping and sleeping ahead.

30 January, 1999. Not a whole lot of news today. Shayna enjoyed her first Shabbat at home last night, but otherwise slept and ate and made diapers for us to change. She is trying her hardest to wear all of her premie clothes as many times as she can before she outgrows them, much like she just outgrew those five pound diapers. Her pets, Barley and ZooZoo are getting used to having ehr around and to her occasional screams for food, for changing, or to be held. And my is she loud when she wants something. Shayna is nursing better and better, and she needs the fake nipple less and less as her mout grows. Her great Aunt is due to arrive in just a couple of hours. Not much else to tell.

29 January, 1999. Sweet little Shayna got to go out into the world for the first time yesterday. After an okay from her pediatrician, we took her out to see the town twice. She is only allowed to go to isolated places, away from anybody with even a sniffle or a cough. She can't be around anybody who is smoking or anything else. So she got to go out to a late luch during a very off peak hour at a local Mexican restaurant. We were the only three there, and it was so nice to get out of the house after a week of isolation. (Of course a French-Suisse friend of mine points out that a quarantine really ought to last forty days). Later we went out to a friend's house for dinner and nobody got to touch little Shayna. So, overnight, out little darling finally demonstrated just how thoroughly she has outgrown the up to five pound diapers, utterly messing up her outfits on just about every occasion. She may also be doing this because of the husge amounts of milk that she eats. This paternity leave thing is great! Sitting at home, feeding and holding the second love of my life, and getting everything else back in place after two months of spending every free moment in the hospital. It will be a bummer to go back to work in two days. Well, the first family member is going to show up tomorrow to help out around the house; Mommy's aunt (is that Shayna's great aunt?) will come in for a week and will live in the nursery/guest room. Well, our little petunia pie, our little Mexican jumping bean, she got to witness her first lighting of the Shabbat candles at home this evening. And daddy said her blessing. She slept through the whole thing. Sweet little Shayna. (who ought to be waking up soon for a new diaper and for a fresh meal!)

28 January, 1999. Today was Shayna's first visit with her pediatrician. She weighed 4 pounds, nine ounces, an increase of more than six ounces in just six days. She is growing like a champ. According to Dr. Moutsios, Shayna's pediatrician, "She's just perfect." We are so happy with how she is doing. Lovely Shayna is still eating lots and lots, and now is spitting up a little more than she used to. She spit up right before getting her shots today! Probably in protest. We are back visiting the NICU right now so everybody can see how big Shayna has gotten. Shayna slept well through the night last night, only waking up at 2 am and again at 6 am. How lucky to have such a small baby sleeping so long at a time. Shayna is beginning to outgrow many of her premie outfits, which is good since she has tried so hard to slime them with spit up, poopies, and pee pee. Such a darling little girl. Shayna also got herself a nice bath again yesterday, and sat through it with bright open eyes and a smile on her face. No screaming this time; she really seemed to enjoy it. Shayna is really beginning to enjoy being awake and alert, sometimes crying just to be held, not to eat or have her diaper changed. Our little socialite! Little Queen Shayna.

27 January, 1999. Well, it has been a fun past five days since bringing home little Shayna. Shayna is still working on getting acclimated to being at home. She needs to learn herself a new schedule. Right now, she sometimes sleeps four hours at a time after gorging herself from either a bottle or from her mother. Other times, she gets up after just two hours after having eaten only a small amount. She is doing a better and better job of nursing, and is now able, when she wants, to fill herself up that way. Other times, she still wants her supplemental bottle after nursing. Sweet Shayna has almost outgrowht the preemie, up to five pound diapers (and is overfilling them with pee pee frequently now). Mommy and daddy are acutally getting a lot more accomplished than when they had to trek back and forth to the hospital with every free moment. Mommy is trying to start working from home, and daddy has finally been able to do some of that yard work that he has needed to do since November. Shayna has had a steady flow of only the healthiest of visitors, and remains off limits to touch for the most part. She, Barley, and her parents have been going on daily walks...the weather has been delightfully warm and sunny, but Shayna gets completely bundled anyway. She usually sleeps through these walks, lulled by the gentle bumpity bumping of her carriage on the walkways. Some nights are good nights with our little Shayna waking only once or twice, eating, then going right back to bed. Others are more wakeful, with her babbling and crying, and slow to eat (such as last night!). But she usually does a good job sleeping and eating during the day. She likes her crib and her mulitude of stuffed animals all around her. She has music playing most of the days, be it more Yiddish songs, Toomba Toomba, Mozart, or an array of other musics. She sleeps so well while being so stimulated. Well, our baby is growing up. She is at home, and it is a delightful thing. We have new picutres up on Shayna's other site today. Once daddy returns back to work at the beginning of February, there should be more frequent updates to this page.

22 January, 1999. Big day here! Our little Shayna is going home. Tornadoes and storms and winds may brew outside today, but our little sweetheart will brave it all in daddy's new (and safe) car to come home. Her nursery and bassinette and puppy and kitten are all ready for her. Shayna Meidele, Shayna Glorious, Shayna Dori is coming home. (We're a little excited here.) So, when we called in this morning, we were told that there was bad new, that Shayna would have to stay...daddy's heart sinking...they wanted to hold her hostage in the NICU because she was to cute to let leave...big relief that that was all. Shayna is going home at a hefty 1876 grams, 4 pounds 2 1/2 ounces. And she is still eating like a champ. And she is sleeping for three to four hours at a time in between. Those are good times just to sit and stare at her, play her music, and feel her soft skin. What a darling little Shayna. Coming home. Today! (Baruch HaShem)

21 January, 1999. Little Shayna is sitting in daddy's lap right now. She just had herself another big breakfast, burped well, and got to tour around the whole of the NICU to say hello to everybody. He went to put her into bed, but Shayna would have nothing to do with this. As soon as her bundled her up and laid her down, Shayna started screaming. A clean diaper and a full stomach...she was screaming for more attention. I wonder where she got that traint? Well, Shayna did great with her shots yesterday and came off of her heart monitor today. If all goes well, she should come home tomorrow! (Baruch HaShem) We're getting ready, but it's a bit scary. We cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like to take home a brand new baby just days after giving birth and still trying to recover from that, without having spent two months getting to know her, and without having amply practiced changing diapers, giving baths, and feeding. A two month hospitalization is definately the way to do it! We feel so much more prepared than we otherwise would have been! I hear that some people have to take their new baby home two or three days after giving birth. How weird! Well, little Shayna is hiccuping now. Her hair is growing and growin, taking on a lighter color. As she grows, she is looking more and more like her mommy, especially as she fills out her cheeks. She has a nice pink glow (presumably from her grandmother's blood), and the softest of skin when you kiss her. She also has a slightly sour and bready smell to her, no doubt from her spit up. Shayna is so awake and alert, "the most neurologically intact premie that I've ever seen," according to her nurse practitioner. Well, I'm off to try and put Shayna back to bed again. Hopefully this time she will lull off to sleep. Just one more day. Oh yeah, Shayna weighs 1829 grams, or four pounds, 1/2 ounce.

20 January, 1999. So our little girl! Well, she just sucked down three whole ounces from daddy's bottle this morning. She just keeps eating and eating and eating. Soon she will need to go on a diet at this rate. It's really nice to escape from work for a few minutes to feed little Shayna. The nurses here have it great; part of their job description is feeding babies. They get paid to do that in addition to provide medical nursing care! What a job. Well, sweet Shayna weighs 1811 grams! That is 3 pounds, 15.5 ounces! SOmebody got it into her mind to grow again. She is ready to go home today, but we'll give her just a couple of more days to make certain that she is doing well. Plus we don't want to take her home today as she will probably be kind of cranky this evening after she gets her first baby shots. We'd rather that Shayna's first night at home be a little smoother. Well, almost there...

19 January, 1999. Another good night for Shayna. She is eating now about every four hours. And if her bottle is not ready at four hours, she lets everybody within earshot know that she is hungry. She has quite a pair of lungs for such a little girl! But what a sweetheart all the same. She is really filling out and growing big. She really fits right into her preemie clothes which used to drown her. She won't get to wear these for much longer, at this rate. Shayna is now up to 1736 grams, or 3 pounds, almost 14 ounces. She may just yet make four pounds by time she leaves for home. And speaking of home, Shayna's nursery is all ready. The rose carpet was laid down yesterday, fortunately mellowing the pink paint on the walls a bit. We put together all of her furniture and arranged her room up nicely. We still have to put things on the walls and in the drawers, but everything is just about there. Of course Shayna porbably won't need any of this for another month or two as she will be sleeping in a small bassinnette next to her mommy and daddy. Daddy just got to feed Shayna this morning again from a bottle. She is now taking more than two ounces at a time when she is not nursing. She has quite an appetite, our little girl. Shayna did well with ehr blood transfusions yesterday and her face has picked up a nice pink color, just in time to match nearly everything that she owns. Unfortunately, after her transfusion, Shayna is beginning to look a little like her paternal grandmother, though (just kidding!). Well, one day closer to home. We can't wait.

18 January, 1999. Today begins what should be Shayna's last week in the NICU. Her room is almost ready for her (although she won't likely use it until she is a little bit bigger, sleeping instead in her bassinette). She has again grown, this time up to 1688 grams, or 3 pounds, 11 1/2 ounces. Shayna now fits perfectly into all of her premie clothes and gets to wear a new outfit every day, that is until she poops or spits up on it and then has to wear one of the hospital outfits. Shayna did well with her blood transfusion yesterday. She should get another today, still of her grandmother's blood, to help build her up big and strong. In two days, Shayna's doctors will check her blood level; if it is too low still, they will go ahead and give her one last transfusion before sending her home. She will also get her first shots, one to protect against hepatitis and another to protect against RSV, which is a really bad cold virus. Shayna is still getting vitamins and iron every day, and her bottle feedings are still being made up of half milk and half high calorie formula. She should be able to wean off of these sometime in the next few months as she grows bigger and can nurse more efficiently. Shayna had an exciting night last night. As a huge storm moved through town and toradoes threatened, the NICU closed down and all of the babies were moved into the stepdown nursery (where Shayna is) to get them away from the windows. Shayna got a bunch of new neighbors for a few hourse. Of course, by time all of those babies made it into the stepdown room, the storm had passed. But it gave Shayna a chance to see how small she had been and how far she had come (and to show off to all the little babies). Well everything has quieted down this morning and Shayna just ate two big ounces again from her bottle. That's the way to grow...

17 January, 1999. Well, we are all a bit better rested this morning. Yesterday, we napped, painted Shayna's nursery, and bought a car. A blue Corolla to take our little girl home in. This morning, Shayna's nursery got its final coat of paint. We are about to give Shayna our first bath so we know how to do it, and we'll be sure to take lots of pictures and video in order to embarrass her in front of her prom date. Shayna continues to eat huge amounts every time she is fed, now up to almost two ounces with each feeding! Her weight gain has not been quite as dramatic as it had been, but if she continues to eat like this, she ought to have another growth spurt soon. Shayna now weighs 3 pounds, 10 ounces, or 1645 grams. Shayna is also due to get one last blood transfusion today or tomorrow. This is because premies don't make blood quite as well as bigger babies. This time, Shayna will also receive her paternal grandmother's blood. Not a whole lot more to tell this morning. Shayna is eating and growing and peeing and pooping as she tries to get out of her and to her new home.