Please welcome Willow Penelope Celeste Sheer

Willow is sleeping in her swing right now. Looking at it makes me dizzy. Our preferred sleeping place for her is on one of our chests but we have to do other things now and then and I have yet to figure out the Moby. Willow was born at 5:30 am on April 20th. She weighed 6lbs 1oz and was 19 inches long. She is beautiful and perfect in every way. During the 26 hours we were at the hospital, we got to spend most of our time with her. She visited with her birthmom three times while at the hospital and we have pictures of her birthmom holding Willow for her adoption album. We were kept very separate from her birthmom for the whole time and did not meet her, though she has since decided that she would like to meet us. That meeting will take place next week. I feel okay about it...the period of legal risk is over now. Willow's birthmom named her....hence the surprise. When we walked into the nursery to meet her (♥), the name on her bassinet said "Willow Celeste." I fell in love with it immediately. This after months of narrowing down our name selection....haha...you just never know. I'm glad she picked a great name because even if I had hated the name, I would've had a hard time changing it. I couldn't change my dog's name when I got her from the Humane Society...she was Panther...that was her name. And so Willow is Willow and we love it ♥.

Today is our third day home. Willow sleeps well during the day though not so well during the night, of course:) John and I are nauseatingly tired but it is so worth it. She has fun alert times when we tickle and massage her...massaging her little feet is our best calming tool for those (so far) rare times when she cries. We are cloth diapering. I discovered after sticking her that I do not like snappis on prefolds. I am using fitteds with covers and they are enormous on her...it's hysterical. They contain everything and we've had no leaks. Thanks so much to Roxana for lending me all of those diapers! They are a lifesaver and washing them is so easy. I wish the sun would come out for drying however.

Willow had her first Doctors appointment. As many of you have probably experienced, we got conflicting advice from every nurse at the hospital and our own doctor; put nothing on the cord/use alcohol on the cord, limit how much formula she eats/ let her eat til she stops, swaddle with arms crossed/swaddle with arms straight, pat her firmly when burping/no need to pat etc etc. I do like her doctor though....he's loud, funny and comes highly recommended.

I have enough donor milk to last me another week or so. I was using the sns, but since she has no nipple confusion I have decided that when she is hungry I will first put her to my breast to get what she can and then give her a bottle...it is easier than hooking up the sns and provides the same benefits. It is working just fine and she stays latched for a while so she must be getting something. I am producing more milk for sure but don't know how much. I still have to use some formula....it is very unlikely that I will be able to continue to get enough donor milk to supplement my own. We used some similac last night for nighttime feedings and her little tummy didn't like it at all:( I heard lots of noises and there was cringing and writing involved. Poor baby:( Today we got the similac organic formula and it seems to be gentler on her tummy. We've decided to reserve the breastmilk for night feeding.

I promise I will post pics soon. Right now I have to nap!