Naptime

Someone has his own ideas about naptime...

Our baby is 5 weeks old today

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes


(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)


how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?


(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
             -e.e. cummings

Gramma Joy

Gramma Joy holding her first grandchild for the first time.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Leaving.

I lift the little folded bundle of Amon out of the crook of my arm. I examine his closed eyes; Red and puffy because of the drops he received prior to his eye exam earlier today. I notice his tiny eyelash seedlings, his pale eyebrows connected to the hair at his temples. The flecks of dry skin on his forehead. The feel of his restless foot straining against the blanket that envelops him. I love him.

Naked no more

Amon is in his cot now, and he is wearing clothes for the first time in his life! He is wrapped in a "Chinese egg roll" swaddle thanks to our nurse Heidi, who corrected me when I called it a burrito. Oh, Toronto, I love your multi-culti vibe!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Baby outside the Box

When I arrived at the hospital today, Amon's incubator was empty.
My heart dropped. Where is my baby?!

Pumping Sucks, Sucking Rules!

Two days after Amon was born, I started using a breast pump so that when he was big enough, I would have the good stuff to feed him.  At the time, I was still in hospital and in pretty rough shape.

Beefing up to bathe.

Today, like every day, Amon was back on the scale. Today was also the special 'every other day' when Amon gets bathed. The bath was a little extra special for us because it was the first time that we would do it ourselves. Some tension preceded this momentous occasion.

Baby steps.

He gained 68 yesterday making him 1732! He will be in a cot soon! So excited!

- Day, text message

Amon lives most of his life within the tight, transparent confines of his incubator. Inside, his mostly naked body is kept bathed in warm, humid baby-scented air. It must remain this way for a time because at birth, thermoregulation was not one of his most keenly honed skills.

First Family Photo

It took a lot longer than expected. This photo was taken on the 16th of May, 2011, three weeks after Amon was born. We are standing in the NICU at St. Michael's hospital, so happy to be safe and together.

Squirmy.

I arrived today to find a very active Amon. Tucked in the bottom of his little u-shaped sleeping pad, he wiggled, twitched and then did a horizontal thrust. His little quadriceps straining, his upper body shot forward. Fully extended, he continued to twist and turn seeking a more pleasant and restful position.

He seems more like the newborns I am accustomed to seeing. His thorax and abdomen are fuller and so are his cheeks. Day notes that you can't see his ribs anymore. His little arms are still pretty slender, as are his legs, but overall he just doesn't scream fragile anymore. I recognize that the label will stick for a while but, at least, I feel less scared.

Amon (or Amin as my iPhone autocorrect insists on calling him) has gained weight today, 22 grams. He is now almost 3 pounds and 10 ounces on the button. Only six more pounds until grandma can enjoy potato chips and sweets again!

Here Now, and before Now

This is where we are now: St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto.  We've been here since May 4, 2011.

This is where we were before: Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida.  Amon arrived there with Michael on April 28, 2011. They flew with an amazing medical team in a Lear jet formerly owned by none other than Dick Cheney. True.... 


And before that: Turks and Caicos Islands... this is where Amon Soleil came into the world... Don't let the picture fool you... it wasn't a romantic ocean water birth at a luxury birthing centre... he was born on Easter Sunday (April 24th, 2011), a few kilometers from here at the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.

If you want to know how all of this happened, read more here