Book of Days (and Nights)

Night 1: "We don't know what we're Doing!"

Overwhelmed with joy and excitement at bringing their little girl home, Ja and Emily dress little Libby up for her first night's sleep. A full 4 minutes of sleeping ensues over the next 10 hours. Not for Libby, who is pretty good at getting her naps anytime she's being held by Mommy or Daddy, but for her obviously not-up-to-speed parents. Due to Libby's jaundice, Ja has been ordered to supplement her breast feedings with formula, administered via his finger and a tube. This leads him to believe that at any moment she will stop breathing because he has poured formula down her lungs. He determines to prevent this by listening to every breath she takes all evening. He develops an online spreadsheet to track feedings and diaper changes broken up into various subcategories. Mom and Dad are surprised by how little their little angel actually cries.

The next day is a haze of sleep deprivation and awe. In the evening, Team Morris is convinced to make an appearance at the Dawson Super Bowl party thrown by Emily's Uncle Jim. Ja dozes on the couch during the game with a beer in his hand while Emily and other moms coo and cuddle Elizabeth Anne. Life is good.


Night 2: "Shift Change"

Team Morris gets it's act together and comes up with a plan. Mom and Dad take turns changing, comforting and feeding little Libby while the other one naps. This leads to some entire Hours of mostly uninterrupted sleep. Team Morris is going through diapers like they're discount Russing iPhones. Mom and Dad wake up feeling like supermen.

Daytime. Doctors offices. Emily goes to a Breastfeeding support groups and walks out a full 2 feet taller. Baby Libby is loving her day out in the snow (what she can see of it from inside her fortified carseat). Life. Is. Good. Pediatrician tells Mom and Dad that they are doing a great job. Laughs at Dad's poopy diaper spreadsheet. Asks them to get another bloodtest to check jaundice levels. Mom and Dad drive to a different hospital for bloodtest thanks to Awesome American Healthcare Insurance System, takes a LONG time. Run out of diapers and have to use a gigantic one borrowed from a nurse. Life still good. That evening Mamma Ru comes over and fixes spagetti. Lab results come back and Libby's bilirubin score is higher. More jaundice. More tests to come. Life is marginally less good but still rediculously awesome.

Night 3: "Patterns Emerge"

Shift change is still in effect and working well. Baby Libby is sleeping for nearly 30 uniterrupted minutes at a time. Mom and Dad are becoming used to a lack of sleep and feel wide awake at a moment's notice to go to work. Libby's going through fewer diapers, but does manage to pee all the way through one and cover her bassinet sheet. Dad finds this hilarious, and is then ordered to take care of cleaning it up. Life, again, is Good.

 (okay folks, you're all up to date! Wish us luck at the doctors today as we go to get more blood tests. The hope is that this will be her last one, but if the scores go up, Libster may have to come home wearing a sort of Tron blanket. We'll just have to wait and see...)