The Bionic Woman

Okay, don't freak out with all the wires. Grace was sent home just like every other newborn baby. After one week we had an appointment with the cardiologist and he wanted her to wear a monitor for 24 hours to see how her heart does over an extended period of time. We will be getting the result back in a day or two. This is part of the ongoing monitoring process. We will have another appointment on October 27th and then regularly from then on. After that we will have an appointment every month or two depending on the need. It could be months or years before she needs a pacemaker. One of our cardiologist's patients went 18 years before getting a pacemaker. She played varsity sports to boot! Keep on praying.


This is a photo of Grace's first trip away from San Diego. Jenn and I took a brief "vacation" to visit her parents in Glendora, CA outside of LA. I put "vacation" in quotes because it is impossible to take a break with a newborn. I am only asking for a full night's sleep. PLEASE! Seriously, hearing her cry is music to my ears (usually).


The final question is, who does she take after? I've heard feedback from both directions. Jenn's parents think she looks like her, everyone else in the world thinks she looks like me. I am not trying to be bias but hey, this is my weblog. Okay, seriously, I can see both of us in Grace but you have to admit there are some resemblances to me (poor girl, maybe she'll grow out of that).

Jenn and I have been doing well. She is almost healed from the C-section. I'd put up pictures to prove it but she would kill me.

I am learning how to take care of a newborn. The nurses were actually surprised that I knew how to change a diaper the first time out when we were at the hospital. I guess that babysitting as a kid paid off. I informed them that I come from a small Mexican family of 8 kids. I have lost track of all my nephews and nieces (but I think it is around 15 or so) not to mention grand-newphews and grand nieces (yeah, I'm that old!).

Things are falling back into a new routine. I think it is going to take weeks before we both get comfortable with our new roles. They keep telling me that eventually she will sleep through the night. In the mean time we wake up every three hours to feed her. Well, Jenn wakes up, I kind of grunt and roll over so the light doesn't get in my eyes. Hey, I'm just kidding. We both get up. Don't tell her parents.

Grace continues to grow at an amazing rate. Keep in mind she was less than five pounds at birth and 4lbs, 12oz when we left the hospital. A week after her birth she was at 5 pounds even and last week she was at 5lbs, 10oz. I'll throw out a guess that she'll be at around 6 1/2lbs at her official due date on October 16th which isn't too bad.

I joke about the bionic woman but she is doing things that she shouldn't be doing yet. I seriously think it was the steroids that Jenn was on for 16 weeks. She lifts her head and turns it to the other side, pushes off with her legs and tries to roll over. It's actually kind of freaky knowing how newborns are supposed to be. It is a little surprising when she lifts her head and tries looking around. She is so small I worry that she will hurt herself (no, I don't think her head is going to fall off). I think these unusual phenomenon will pass in time.

Well, I've gotten myself in enough trouble for now. Next time Jenn willl proof the blog before I post it.