No more Bili Lights, and the hungry hippo is growing...

We got rid of the bili lights after 2 days, much to our pleasure.

Now, our hugnry hippo baby wants to eat all the time. I weighed him this morning on my postal scale, which weighs up to 30 pounds. He is 9 days old, and has passed his birth weight. He officially weighed in at 6 lbs., 11.4 oz. this a.m. The goal was for him to be back to his birth weight in 2 weeks since he is breastfed (sometimes takes longer than formula-fed babies). But we have no worries there. It is so nice to not worry with that, like we did with our first (the second gained really easily also).

Smurf Baby

Well, Lucas did not do as well with his jaundice/bilirubin test as we had hoped, and now we are putting him in a bili blanket at home. Hopefully just until tomorrow, and we will be done. Lucas hates being in that thing. He'd much rather be swaddled.

Home for a few days, only to go back to the doctor on Monday

Lucas has some mild jaundice, so we are headed back to the doctor on Monday. So much for my wish to stay home and not go anywhere for a week.

I remember my 4-year-old going for a bilirubin check after she was born. It was traumatic for both of us (she cried, and I cried probably more).

On top of that, we are going to change doctors, but we'll have to go to this one once more until we get the jaundice under control.

Introducing our newest Bell family member

Lucas Nathaniel Bell was born Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 3:25 p.m. He weighed 6 lbs., 10 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. We are all so proud of him!

Two weeks to go, and I'm losing my mind . . .

Yes, it's mommy-brain that has plagued me, but it has really struck severely the past few weeks. I have to write EVERYTHING down right now, and things get misplaced so easily around my house.

Like the little baby gap gown that my girls wore after they came home from the hospital. It was one of the few unisex garments I had, and it was so soft and sweet, I had kept it. It has drawstrings around the bottom. We called it the potato sack gown. There was also a blanket that matched it (I've all but given up looking for that). But I washed the little gown just over a week ago. Now I have no idea where I've left it, and I'm trying to pack the bag so we are ready for the big day.

We had also been missing our TV controller for over two weeks. My mother came to help me catch up on some laundry (as I also sorted through baby clothes and stored clothes my youngest daughter had outgrown). Guess where the controller was? At the bottom of a laundry basket, under some clothes. Go figure.

This little one will not have the volume of clothing that my girls did, and I am thankful. I just cannot get a handle on clothes, especially when my drama-queen youngest daughter likes to change clothes 4 or 5 times a day. I have had a horrible time with this, and she throws the discarded outfits on her floor rather than hanging them back up. So, I have really had to keep a close eye on her lately. We are trying to keep things as tidy as possible for my absence, and more importantly, for my return.

My "to-do" list seems to be improving a little, but I know it's a matter of time before it catches up with me and the heavy-duty contractions begin. I have had a few real ones in the last week, and tomorrow I'll find out if they are doing any good.

For now, it's off to hunt for the potato sack gown. I have my heart set on it, and I know I didn't trash it or give it away. The hunt continues . . . .