I wasn't new to motherhood when my baby Cheetah entered the world just over three weeks ago. That gift came almost seven and half years ago. He was joined five years ago by a sister, and then two and half years ago by another sister. It means that when Cheetah comes home she will have plenty of company. It also means that since the hospital has closed the progressive nursery and NICU to anyone under the age of 18 during RSV season that any time I spend at the hospital is time away from my three older children. It is definitely a hard balance, the kind of thing that keeps one up at night. I've been exceptionally lucky though to receive tons of help from friends and family. Dr. J's mom was here for five weeks and my mother is here this week for the holidays. If you can't raise them yourself who better to do it then the woman who raised you right? We've tried to be a little more flexible. We fully realize that while this situation has been traumatic for us it has been equally traumatic for our children, so when they whine or cry, when they are having a bad day, when they doing a little more shouting then normal, or seem a little more grouchy we try to be just a little more forgiving. We've also tried to keep their schedule as close to normal as possible. Bed time has stayed the same, Grandmas read the bedtime stories, bath time has stayed the same, school has stayed the same, homework is done at the same time, the same way. Since our son was just a little tiny babe we've found that a schedule gave him security. It doesn't mean that we don't occasionally break from it when necessary, but we try to keep some consistency. We've also tried to do some fun things on Dr. J's few and far between days off to thank our children for their patience. It's the reason I took my bruised and cut body to the Chucky Cheese just a week after Cheetah's birth. We wanted to give the kids something fun, and what says more fun then unlimited tokens in an arcade. We've also taken the kids to the Children's Museum, and luckily Grandma's keep things lively. Life might not be perfect but at least we can make some attempts to enjoy it!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Preemie Life - Day 24 Hey We Are Here As Well
I wasn't new to motherhood when my baby Cheetah entered the world just over three weeks ago. That gift came almost seven and half years ago. He was joined five years ago by a sister, and then two and half years ago by another sister. It means that when Cheetah comes home she will have plenty of company. It also means that since the hospital has closed the progressive nursery and NICU to anyone under the age of 18 during RSV season that any time I spend at the hospital is time away from my three older children. It is definitely a hard balance, the kind of thing that keeps one up at night. I've been exceptionally lucky though to receive tons of help from friends and family. Dr. J's mom was here for five weeks and my mother is here this week for the holidays. If you can't raise them yourself who better to do it then the woman who raised you right? We've tried to be a little more flexible. We fully realize that while this situation has been traumatic for us it has been equally traumatic for our children, so when they whine or cry, when they are having a bad day, when they doing a little more shouting then normal, or seem a little more grouchy we try to be just a little more forgiving. We've also tried to keep their schedule as close to normal as possible. Bed time has stayed the same, Grandmas read the bedtime stories, bath time has stayed the same, school has stayed the same, homework is done at the same time, the same way. Since our son was just a little tiny babe we've found that a schedule gave him security. It doesn't mean that we don't occasionally break from it when necessary, but we try to keep some consistency. We've also tried to do some fun things on Dr. J's few and far between days off to thank our children for their patience. It's the reason I took my bruised and cut body to the Chucky Cheese just a week after Cheetah's birth. We wanted to give the kids something fun, and what says more fun then unlimited tokens in an arcade. We've also taken the kids to the Children's Museum, and luckily Grandma's keep things lively. Life might not be perfect but at least we can make some attempts to enjoy it!
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