3 hours of sleep... Priceless.

Today, Jen and I are at the hospital next to Belen inside NICU parent room 1B. It is 7:05 in the am and have been awake for about an hour. I arrived here at the hospital around 2am, fell asleep around 3 and, yes, I woke up around 6.

It is a special day because Belen might be allowed to go home today. I was scheduled to be at work at the Home Depot from 1-9pm today and 2-10 pm tomorrow, but I asked to be off both days simply because I need to be here for my daughter on her first day at home. I am anticipating Belen coming home today. I want to be with her on her first day at home. She is tucked in her bed right now. We changed her diaper, then fed her since 6 this morning.

Mom breast fed her for nearly 20 minutes then she took in almost 20cc's from the bottle. She is resting and sleeping, now. I could hear her sweet squirms, quiet breathing and some unique sounds as she fell asleep. (Mom just woke) Are you going to change her, she just asked. I'm not going to feed her til she starts crying, I said and immediately we hear a cute, sudden baby "waaah". I laugh! (Mom just went back to sleep)

Another special moment was captured this past Tuesday. I was here at the hospital visiting Belen doing a routine father/daddy care time. She drank 90cc's or mL for the first time. She drank them straight out of the bottle as I held her. I fed my baby all this milk... I was cheering her on because the nurse had told me that it would be the most she's ever fed if she finishes the next 30 mil's. The first bottle was full at 60.

I was very happy, not necessarily because she broke her all time record(up to that point) but because I had been struggling in getting her to feed. I was feeling a bit discouraged and wondered if I would be able to ever get her to eat. On previous attempts, I was lucky if I could get her to drink half a bottle. It's a scary thing because she is still learning to eat, swallow and breathe at the same time. She tends to choke on the milk and this causes her to turn red, in turn she may stop breathing.... It's a scary deal. I had to call the nurse because I noticed that she was turning red; by the time the nurse came, Belen had continued on her breathing, but not before she handed me a scare.

Learning to care for Belen has been a treat and that is a primary reason why we are here at the hospital next to her. It is customary for parents to stay in a room with their baby a day or two before the baby's discharge. Parents use this time as a practice run and since the baby's have just graduated to this point, the nurses are here just in case we have any questions and to perform routine check-ups. Basically, it is time for mom and dad to spread their own wings and take it from here. yeah...

There are no instructions when the baby's go home. It is up to mom and dad to be exactly that... mom and dad.

The feeling is both scary and exciting and I would not trade it for anything in this world. I love my baby girl and learning to be a daddy is a priceless moment. I love holding her and whispering to her about how my day went and about my goals and dreams. She listens to me for a few moments with her eyes wide open, then immediately falls asleep. lol... I know her sweet spirit understands me and hopes that my dreams to be able to provide for my family succeed.

Looking directly into her eyes wide open brings me this feeling of hope. Heavenly Father has allowed me to be a parent and He knows that I am capable and ready to do this. I know this because He would not have allowed it to happen if He did not think that I were ready... If you know who I am, you would hope to agree simply because of the experiences that I faced or failed to face in my past.

This beautiful girl depends on mom and dad for all of her daily needs. I feel it a privelege that she has been sent here for love and to teach. I hope that I will be a great parent; I know that I will always love her and I hope that I will also be wise in the things that I choose to teach her.

I don't understand why people always told us to "get plenty of sleep, because you're going to need it" or commenting on how we should get as much sleep as we can. WHY? It's not like we will be able to tap into some type of reserve and fuel our bodies with stored "sleep" when our baby keeps us awake in the early AM.

Yeah. that's a useless thing to do; furthermore, I can be more productive without all this "sleep" that I'm supposed to be getting.


With only three hours of sleep since I arrived here this morning, this moment is simply "priceless" and I will sleep when I am sleeping. get out of here!

Baby Shower

Belen's baby shower was yesterday at 1pm. I spent all week preparing for the festive day. First, I made sure that the yard was clean. I had been working on our backyard for some time now. It still lacks some tlc. I picked up leaves on our front porch and lawn. I rearranged some of the flower pots and simply cleaned up the area. The entrance into our home seems much nicer than the overall view of our backyard.

Jen and I spent Friday cleaning the interior of our home. We cleaned each room, one at a time, beginning in our bedroom, the baby room and slowly progressing towards the livingroom. Jen left to spend time with Belen at the usual time. We, she typically leaves home around 10:30 am and returns home around 1 or 2...

I think that I finished installing new sliding closet doors inside Belen's room on Thursday. The older ones were outdated.

Melissa arrived around 11:30 am, Vanessa about an hour later... Other people arrived shortly after 1. Our neighbors, the Schrimps, loaned us some chairs. I don't know exactly how many ladies showed up because I took Oreo and Mocha to the dog park.

I stayed at the dog park til about 3pm. We parked at the soccer field, then walked to the dog park. Oreo and Mocha have a great time. Oreo seems to enjoy scouting the area on his own and can often be found wandering the perimeter. Mocha is more of a social butterfly and especially likes to chase the smaller dogs and play catch, not fetch. I throw the slimy tennis ball directly up into the air and Mocha jumps nearly six feet up in the air to catch the ball. I think she's part kangaroo.