a new plug

Grady has a new soother - kind of looks like a drain plug! Samara and Keithan used the NUK style of soother and Rhett wouldn't have anything to do with soothers! I bought this one because it was most like the one he was given at the NICU.

beautiful winter day

I love the pictures of Keithan. The kids had fun playing in the snow yesterday. Next year I'll have to have eyes in the front, back and both sides of my head to keep track of 4kids and keep them off the street!

just some more photos

For those of you who are checking for photo updates .... here are a few. I it is very hard to find time to take pictures. And, when I want to take a photo there is at least one child who isn't in cooperation mode. Not much new here. Grady weighed 6 lbs 14 oz on Thursday. I wonder what he would have weighed if he had been born at full term. His due date was Wednesday Feb 13th - glad it was over before that!!!

music lessons

Grady had his first music lesson from Auntie Marci. He enjoys both the piano and the violin. It was soooooo nice to have Marci here for a few days.

one month old

In some ways time flies ... and in other ways it seems like Grady was born just last week. But, he is a whole month old. No complaints from mom ... except that a little more sleep (for both of us) would be a bonus. Last night was our best one so far. He slept from 10:30 until 2:30!

Hospital Statistics

Admitted: November 2, 2007; readmitted January 22
Discharged: Grady - January 24, myself - January 18, then January 25
Number of visitors while on bedrest: 289
Number of visitors after Grady was born: kind of a fuzzy memory but at least 40
Number of days with no visitors: 6
Number of times I saw the kids: 18
Number of books read: at least 40
New hobbies: crochet, cross stitch, and suduko
Number of outings: 5 for a total of 17 hours out of the hospital before Grady was born
Number of room changes: 7 including readmission
Number of IV starts: 11 that I recall ... probably missed some
Number of ultrasounds: 8 (including 3 prior to hospital admission)
Estimated birth weight on admission: 1 pound 13 ounces
Birth weight on delivery: 5 pounds 11 ounces
Number of blood transfuions: 16 during surgery plus 1 the next day
Number of hours till I saw Grady: 36 (did see pictures)
Worst memory: waking up in ICU with tubes down my throat and feeling like I couldn't breathe
Best memory: feeling so sore but when I was holding Grady the pain disappeared (for the most part!)