January 23 - Happy Birthday to Me!

Gerard weight 4 lbs. 3 oz.
Yes - today is my birthday and I got my present!
I finally got to hold the little guy again after a 10-day wait and he looks so much bigger! Well, bigger for a 4-pounder. He looks so funny under the humidifier-oxygen hat. Even the doctor had to laugh at my "boy in the bubble" joke and he remembered John Travolta! Even I didn't remember that part. Now if Gerard grows up to dance like John Travolta I'm all for those kinds of references.

A surprise today for Michael and I was that Gerard was moved into NICU Room 4, which is...closest to the door! I'm not sure he deserved that promotion, but he's there. It's an extremely busy room with lots of noise and lots of babies who look HUGE in comparison. That's the trouble with comparisons. Little girl next to him born December 28 has a full pound on him and she's already nursing, and she was born 10 weeks early as well. Good grief! She never needed intubation and never needed oxygen. Just a big old baby ready to be born. Her mamma's water broke. Hmmm...not sure I'd like that either.
Anyway, I got to hold him after changing his diaper (another promotion - out of the preemies because his output is too big now) and the nurse who helped me said she has 5 boys. Wow! I was wondering if she thought that would impress me? It only made me a little afraid of her.

I'm still dealing with the ear infection and it's causing a lot of pain. To get my mind off of it Michael took me out to lunch for my birthday to one of my favorite new places, Goodwood Barbeque. It's actually decent food for here. The best part is that the service is excellent and the brisket is killer. Tonight Michael teaches, so I'm going to see a Sundance film with my good friend Heather. She's one of several friends who have really stepped up and helped us so much through this ordeal. Thank you Heather! (and Casey) And happy birthday yesterday to her hubbie Casey. He was kind enough to let Michael and I watch the LSU/Ohio game that he TIVO'd. Geaux Tigers!

To finish this off, here's a picture of me sitting in my OB's office in my favorite sweater today waiting...Happy Birthday. This is for when I'm 75 to remember how fabulous (haha) I looked when I was first a mommy. I'm officially discharged until my annual exam. Cheers! As always...Time to pump!















42nd birthday...