Daddy's Little Girl

Even though Gemma's little finger is tiny, I think it's safe to say that her Daddy is securely wrapped around it!

Visitors at Home

This past Sunday afternoon Mike and Amy stopped by for a visit.

And, on Sunday evening, Sean and Jean visited.

Natasha stopped by Monday evening.

And, later Monday evening, Gemma got to watch her first Manchester United match with Dad, Sean, and Dermot.

First Outings

On Saturday night, a business networking group that Paul is in had a barbeque at a nearby restaurant, so we made it out for an hour to that- Gemma didn't even wake up once!  On Sunday morning we went out to breakfast at the Tea Rooms in Lucan.  It's a friendly spot that Paul and I often go for Sunday breakfast, so the staff were admiring our little girl!

After breakfast we went to a nearby hotel where they were having a "Baby Bay Market"- it was like a garage sale, but only baby items.  People brought their stuff into the ballroom of the hotel, and everyone got a table to sell their gear.  I looked around and got some pink items while Paul and Gemma relaxed in the hotel lobby with the Sunday paper.

On Monday after our weight check with the nurse, to celebrate Gemma's weight gain, we headed to Starbuck's to get Mom and Dad some caffeine!  

First time in the swing!

Gemma was awake this past Saturday when Paul and I were just about to eat our lunch, so she got to try out her swing for the first time.  She was very content in it!

One Week!

Here's Gemma last Friday, August 17th, at one week old!  Seriously, how can another week have passed already?

Going Home

On Wednesday, August 15th, Gemma and I got to go home!  I was extremely glad to be getting home. Unfortunately here dads/partners can't spend the night in the hospital, and there isn't a nursery where the babies can go to, so this made for pretty much no sleep for me for 5 nights.  Gemma lost over 10% of her body weight by day 3, and we were struggling with nursing, so that meant I was having to pump either before or after feeding her (I tried a couple different regimens based on recommendations by the pediatrician, midwives, and lactation consultants).  It was really hard those nights in the hospital.  I had some great midwives/nurses, but they had other patients to look after too.  Gemma lost a little more weight on day 4, but gained some on day 5 (discharge day).  Here we are all ready to go home!

Mom and Gemma

My hat is a little too big!

Off we go!

Bubbles checking out Gemma

It was great to be home!  My own bed never felt so good, and it was wonderful to have Paul there around the clock.  Unfortunately we struggled with nursing/pumping for another two days.  The public health nurse visited on Friday after we got home, and Gemma had lost a bit of weight again.  The amount that was coming out in her diapers was also decreasing.  It just wasn't working for us.  I struggled with the decision to give it up, but the evidence was pretty clear.  We started formula Friday afternoon, and the change was almost immediate.  She had a lot more alert periods, her output increased significantly, and when we had a weight check with the nurse again on Monday the 20th, she had gained almost half a pound!  We had her two week check with the GP today, and she had gained another 160 grams, so she's back up to her birth weight!

First Bath

On Monday, August 13th, when Gemma was 3 days old, one of the healthcare attendants instructed us in how to give her a bath.  Paul did the hard work, and I was the photographer!  I hope the video works- sorry for the bad camera work!