Change of Blog Name!

The blog name has been changed from "Keira Elizabeth" to "Mom Mom Speaks". I thought this was appropriate since we now have little Ian here to join in the antics!

3 weeks 2 days - Ian is home!

We brought Ian home from the hospital this evening!  Today he reached 36 weeks gestation and it is one month from the day he was due. If you remember, 36 weeks and 2/17 was my long-term goal to make it to while on bedrest. It turned out to be a milestone of a different kind: homecoming!

On Monday, he was circumcised and Tuesday he passed his car seat challenge so the only thing holding him back was continuing to succeed at bottle feeding and going spell-free for 5-7 days or so. Since Thursday, he has been taking all of his feedings by bottle and doing better each day with them. His last spell was around 10 pm last Friday. I got a call from the neonatalogist yesterday afternoon at about 4 o'clock and he said that we could take Ian home today assuming that he tolerated his feedings through this morning and did not have any more spells. He would get his Synagis shot (to help fight against RSV) yesterday afternoon or this morning. I called this morning and Ian was still doing well so we could take him home!

Ryan and I dropped Keira off at a friend's house about 3 pm and we got to the hospital around 3:45 pm.  We spent about 30-40 minutes talking with the nurse regarding his discharge instructions, gathering up his things, and putting him in his carseat (a longer process than I remembered since he is so tiny!).  We picked up Keira a little after 5 pm and got home by 5:30 pm.

Keira was very excited to see Ian in the car and kept talking to him and calling out "Baby Ian." When we got home, she immediately wanted him out of the car seat so she could hold him. She has been talking about holding him and helping me change his diaper all week.  "Me hold Ian. Me help Mommy change Ian's diaper." So I got Ian out of his car seat and brought him and Keira into the family room so that she could hold him. She sat down on the sofa and I put him in her arms and Ryan helped her to hold him. She had the biggest smile on her face! All night she was very interested in what "Baby Ian" was doing (mostly laying in the Pack 'n Play).  When I fed him at 6 pm, she was right next to us the entire time and watching him try to nurse then drink milk from the bottle.  While he was drinking his bottle, she kept trying to hug him (read: crush him!) and give him LOTS of love. I don't think things could have gone better, she seemed so excited to have "Baby Ian" home.

Tomorrow I will take Ian to see the pediatrician while Ryan stays home with Keira during her nap.

A new adventure has officially begun...life as parents of two and big sister to baby Ian. We couldn't be happier to have Ian home!

(Okay, time to go to bed as he will be eating again shortly...I'm tired just thinking about it.)

27w6d: Day 23 - Snuggling with Keira!

Today, Ryan and Keira visited me in my new room! Ryan made the mistake of telling Keira early in the morning that they were going to visit me. She kept asking about seeing Mommy all morning. When they got in the car to take Grandma to the metro station to catch the train to NJ and then come to see me, she chanted "See Mommy" for the entire car ride. Too funny!

Because I now have a private room, she was able to visit me in my room rather than me having to be wheelchaired down the hall to a visiting room. This meant that we got to spend the entire two-hour visiting period together. It was great!

As soon as she walked in the room, Ryan took her coat off and she hopped in the bed with me and give me lots of hugs. She was happy to see her Mommy! Ryan got to sit in the recliner that is in my room while Keira and I snuggled in bed, we ate snacks, she ate her lunch, she played with the buttons that move my bed up and down, and we watched a musical kids show on my swiveling TV.

After helping Mommy eat her snack of cheese cubes and Saltine crackers, Keira wanted more food (of course). She pointed to a silver gift bag that was on my bedside tray table and demanded "Me see food in the bag!" That was her first sentence larger than three words in length! It did not surprise Ryan or me that this milestone involved food. I let her look through the bag and she was unhappy to find that there was not any food in there.

When it was time for them to leave, Keira gave me hugs and kisses then waved to me and said "Bye, Mommy!" from the doorway as they made their way down the hall. She has really adjusted well to me being here and does not show any trepidation about leaving me or about Ryan leaving her with me here (while she was eating lunch, he went downstairs to get his own lunch from the cafeteria). That makes it so much easier on me!

Keira visits Mommy in the hospital!

This weekend, Ryan and Keira came to visit me in the hospital. I had Ryan bring the camera so we could get some pictures of the visit as well as some pictures of me with my ever-growing pregnant belly (26 weeks 4 days along here).

Keira loves playing games on my iPhone (Toddler Teasers-Shapes and Baby Flashcards are both free!).

 

 

Keira joined Mommy in the wheelchair for a ride back to my room.

Keira has a secret to share

Keira has a secret that she's been ready to share now for a while!

She's been busting at the seams to share the news, but Daddy and I said she couldn't share the news until today.

Can you keep a secret?


Keira is due to become a big sister in about 6 months! Baby McDowell is due to arrive March 17th, 2010.

Currently, I am 13 weeks along (out of 40 total) and all is going well thus far. I am feeling good and the baby is developing on schedule.

Visit from Aunt Kelly and Uncle Adrian!

Aunt Kelly and Uncle Adrian are staying with us this week. Today, the four of us (poor Daddy had to work!) went to the Air & Space Museum and Keira showed them around.

We ate lunch at the McCafe. Keira's first experience with McDonald's. She seemed to like it just fine!
We checked out various airplanes and exhibits.
Then Keira amused herself with her new toy from McDonald's. This was definitely the laugh of the day!
We had to get a pic with this interesting statue in the background.

Cherry Blossoms are beautiful

Spring is officially here in the DC area! The three of us went to see the cherry blossoms down in DC this Sunday morning. We spent about 2 1/2 hours walking around and sitting for a while eating a big morning snack. We parked at Arlington Cemetery and walked over to the Lincoln Memorial before heading over to the Tidal Basin.

Keira really enjoyed herself - people watching, nature watching, and walking around during snacktime. Here are some pictures from our beautiful morning.

Lions and tigers and PIGTAILS...oh my!

This Friday afternoon I decided that Keira's hair was long enough to try pigtails after seeing several of her little friends having them. So cute! Check out her smiling at the camera, strutting her stuff as the "bag lady", eating snack, and playing games with Daddy.

I love you Grandpa...

Grandpa passed away this morning just before 10:00 am PST. He will be greatly missed.

I love you, Papa!

Howard Richard Bond
December 31, 1919 to February 23, 2009

Unexpected trip to Seattle

Well, Keira and I will be making an unexpected trip to Seattle on Tuesday, Feb. 24th. My grandfather has been in the hospital since last weekend and is not doing well at all. My mom called today to let me know that the doctors do not think he will make it another 10 days. So we will be flying out to see him. Not the circumstances under which I would like to see my family, but I'm glad that I am able to do so. It is good to be with family in times like these. As of now, we will be out there until Monday, Mar. 9th. I'll keep you posted.

Here are two pictures that I took when we were in Seattle over Christmas. The first is of Keira using Grandpa's walker. She loved pushing it around the room. Everyone got a real kick out of her! The second is of Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma is doing well for 90 years old and Grandpa just turned 89 years old on New Years Eve.

Merry Christmas...early!

Santa visited our house a little early this year since we will be travelling to Seattle on the morning of Christmas Eve. When we woke up this morning, Keira awoke to a tree and stocking full of presents.

After eating her breakfast, she and Daddy went through the goodies in her stocking.












Keira and Daddy then walked from the family Room to the Living Room to check out the goodies under the tree.







When Keira saw the tree, she let go of Daddy and crawled over to see what was under the tree.












She immediately began playing with the toys that Santa had left for her.












Daddy helped her with some of the presents and others she helped herself. She kind of enjoyed tearing the wrapping paper off the gifts!



















She liked Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from Great Aunt Cheryl and Great Uncle Bill.

And she loved playing with the Bee Bop Band that Santa brought.

Daddy liked the drink coaster that Keira made for him with her footprint on it. And Mommy liked the card that Keira gave her with her sock in it. Mommy and Daddy also exchanged gifts with each other.

The rest of the day was spent playing with toys. Keira really likes her new pink butterfly tent and played quite a while in it today. She also played peekaboo in it, trying to hide behind the doorway fabric. So cute!

We topped off the evening with a wonderful meal that Daddy cooked for us: steak, mashed potatoes, and carrots. Yummy! Keira even ate some mashed potatoes and carrots tonight, and liked them! She wasn't a huge fan of them at Thanksgiving dinner so Mommy was pleasantly surprised when she started making motions that she wanted what Mommy was eating.

Now there are just three days until we fly to Seattle. We will be quite busy until then getting ready for the trip, what with laundry, house cleaning, and packing. And don't forget playgroup on Monday and lunch with Ellen on Tuesday! Whew. I think I will be happy to get on that plane as it will mean we accomplished everything that needed to get done between now and then!