Oma, Opa and Co-Co Come to Visit

Oma, Opa and Co-Co came to visit us today for the first time after Opa's stroke. Lindsay was as sweet as ever. Jess slept through most of it as usual. We spent the day in the family room eating, talking and watching "Finding Nemo". It was nice to see my dad trying to explain the movie to my grandma like he always does (despite his slurred speech).

Lindsay's a Big Sister Now

Lindsay is finally starting to show some interest in the baby. She asked to hold Jessica today. Afterwards she pushed Jessie on the baby swing. Possibly the reason why she ignored Jess the first few days was because she was afraid of her.

Jessy's First Checkup

Jessica had her first checkup with Dr. Crysler today. He was pretty impressed with her weight gain. Typically babies regain their birthweight by 10 days and then gain 1 oz/day after that. Jessica's birthweight was 7lbs 7oz and after 10 days her weight is now 7lbs 15oz. At least we know she's not starving!

After the checkup Jessica got to visit Grandma and Grumpa's place for the first time. She decided to christen Grandma's couch in projectile fashion in front of an audience of Grandma, Mrs. Frattini and myself. We were all pretty impressed with her distance. Mrs. Frattini said that in all the 6 grandchildren she's helped raised, she's never seen anything like that before!

A Visit to Oma and Opa's

What a great day! Dave suggested that we go and visit Oma and Opa (my mom and dad) today to let them meet Jessica for the first time. My dad is just recovering from a massive heart attack and stroke and so they have not been able to visit us in a while. They were so thrilled to hear that we were coming to visit.

Lindsay kept herself occupied by strolling her dolly, Violet, throughout the house and playing with Co-Co. Baby Jessica slept through most of the day and if she wasn't sleeping, she was smiling and looking curiously at the new faces -- Oma, Opa, Co-Co, Uncle Donny, Aunty Thuy, Uncle Steve, Aunty Diane and Uncle Ryan.

Supplementing Jessica's Feedings with Formula

Today I made the decision to introduce the bottle to Jessica after only 5 days. Instead of breastfeeding her around the clock (typically 8 times a day), I will be alternating breastfeeding with bottlefeeding. The rule of thumb is that you are supposed to multiply the baby's birth weight by 2.5 to find out how many ounces she should be getting a day. Based on this, Jessica should be getting about 2 ounces of milk per feeding.

From our experience with Lindsay, our 2 year old, we discovered that the concentrated liquid formula is the way to go (all you have to do is add water). Babies tend to prefer this over the powder formula because it seems to have a thicker/smoother consistency. I think we waited a bit too long before introducing the bottle to Lindsay at 5 months. It took us a while to finally find a bottle and nipple that Lindsay liked. Hence the decision to start Jessica on the bottle right away.

This will give me a little more freedom to spend some time with Lindsay or run errands when Dave's at home. Hopefully this will also help little Jessy to sleep through the night too!

Day 2 with Jessica

Day 2 with Jessica went a lot smoother than Day 1.

Dave and I discovered that Jessica can easily be settled using the following checklist:
1. Check her diaper
2. Make sure she's fed
3. Settle her gas pains by letting her sleep on her stomach, or letting her stomach rest on yours
4. If she's not lying on her stomach, make sure she's securely swaddled before letting her lie on her back.

Jessica barely cried at all today! When Lindsay came home from daycare, she was pleased to see Jessica was actually quiet and sleeping. When I went to wake up Jessica for feeding, Lindsay pulled me away and said, "No - Jessica sleep!"

Jessica Claire Comes Home

Jessica and I checked out of the St. Catharines General Hospital this afternoon. Dave and I had special plans to ensure a warm welcome to Jessica from her big sister Lindsay.

The plan was to have Jessica in the car when we went to pick up Lindsay from daycare. I was to greet Lindsay at the daycare and Dave was to wait in the car with Jessica and have a "Big Sister" gift ready. Unfortunately, Jessica was have having a bad day. Probably due to gas pains, Jessica cried and cried throughout the entire car ride home, as well as throughout the night. Poor little Lindsay responded by silently crying beside her.

Welcome Jessica Claire!

"Big sister Lindsay, along with her parents, Joyce and David are pleased to announce the arrival of Jessica Claire on Saturday August 14th, 2004 at 2:16pm. An extra special birthday present for Grumpa! A second grandchild for Martin & Jeanne Tio and Ted & Brenda Bott. Many thanks to Dr. Chan, Dr. Nowicki, as well as Bilijana & Fran at the St. Catharines General Hospital."