The Power of Breastmilk

We brought Aurora home from the hospital when she was three days old, verbally wrestling her from the overly-helpful people at the Doernbecher Neonatal Care Center at OHSU. (Gary did that part.)

Hours after we arrived, after Gary convinced the on-call doctor that she WOULD get enough to eat and that we wouldn't inadvertently kill her with our bad parenting skills, we gently placed her in her carseat and buckled her in. Her little 5 pound, 12 ounce body was too small and the straps were loose. Too loose to leave, our nurse said regretfully.

So I drove to Babies R Us, anticipating having to buy a brand new carseat especially for preemies, which was a different brand from our hand-me-down one and which wouldn't fit either of our strollers or the two extra bases we had bought. Damnation!

Just as I was at the checkstand with two new carseats, Gary called. "The nurse who knows all about carseats found another adjustment and she fits now! Come back and let's take her home!"

I sped back downtown and up the hill and we gave Aurora her first car ride on that warm July day. Look how spindly her little arms were! (Above) She still had the wires from her monitoring devices on, too.

Yesterday (7 pounds later, right), I took this shot of her in her carseat, napping contentedly. What a good grower she is.