At Home - Day Two

We have survived 48 hours alone (just Steve and I) at home with our two girls and so far I am shocked by how well it has gone. We really haven't had any huge fits or meltdowns from Abby and Olivia hasn't really been inconsolable either. I'm just waiting for the shoe to drop - I hope it is days or weeks down the road, but I'm sure we can't be that lucky with a preemie and an almost 2 year old.

We had a much better night's sleep last night with only about 30 minutes of awake but not feeding time. I have the bassinet arranged so that I can stick my hand into it from bed comfortably, so when Olivia just needs to feel and smell mommy I can let her hold onto a finger or rub her head. I had to lay her next to me for a little while too, but she only needed about 5 minutes of that before she was relaxed enough to get back into her own bed. We are definitely not a co-sleeping family - Steve sleeps too soundly and I sleep to lightly, so between the two of us one is worried about rolling onto a baby and the other doesn't get any sleep with a small person next to them. And the doctor's all said Miss Olivia needs to sleep in her own bed and on her back (just like any other baby) to help prevent apnea and SIDS. We are more than happy to comply.

Abby is still doing great in her role as big sister. She has been very good at following the rules for touching her little sister (no touching her face, no picking her up, etc.) and was very careful to keep Maize away from Olivia while she was in her bouncy seat. Abby also enjoyed a solid hour of time outside with her daddy today. The weather was cold (only 36 degrees) but beautifully sunny, so they went on an adventure around the block and played with Maize in the back yard. And she's been reading books to her daddy and baby sister this afternoon too. She is getting pretty good at having a lot of them memorized. She has also managed to absolutely destroy the playroom since we arrived home. You would never know that someone had it all picked up for us. We may have to have a little cleaning party tonight before bed and make her pick up some of her things. I think she pulled them all out just to make sure they were still here.

Since we've been home things have been pretty quiet, but Steve's office did put together a beautiful diaper cake full of cute things for Olivia (some of which Abby decided she would borrow in the meantime - like some beaded necklaces and bunny rings). As we started to pull it apart (after we took pictures of course), we found surprises hidden inside too. It's nice that Steve has such thoughtful and sweet co-workers. We also had a surprise special delivery for Abby and Olivia last night from Steve's office mate Dave and his family. The girls got two matching outfits, a Beauty and the Beast Barbie doll for Abby (she apparently made them play pretend Beauty and the Beast when they watched her while we were in the hospital the first night) and an Ohio State hat for Olivia. I'm not sure we will let a hat like that onto our beautiful daughter's head, but it was a wonderful surprise and the little outfits are adorable (many pictures to come!).