Too cozy to drink

Thursday's visit was different. I went from work to the hospital to meet my parents, Tom and Melanie. It was near her 6pm feeding time so both my Mom and Melanie were able to see Alexandra uncovered with just a one-zie on. We were also able to open up a window that oversees a hall on the 3rd floor, so my Dad and brother could see us and take pictures. Our nurse was incredible as she was more than helpful and willing to help Jeanette breast feed instead of the prescribed tube feeding. She is now taking 35ml of milk per feeding and just over 4 pounds.

I started to feed her and she started on the bottle well. Drinking and then dozing off. I had to tickle her feet to keep her stimulated. After about 15 minutes of the swallow, sleep, swallow, sleep process I had to get her less cozy. Unwrapped her and she started to whine. "Whaa, whaaa waa" in her little mousy tone (she really does sound like a high pitch mouse). The nurse came by to see how things were going while I was burping her.

"Buuuuuuuuuuuuuurp!"
"Oh, that was a truck driver burp!" the nurse said as Ali looked content and less uncomfortable. It actually was a huge belch. One that Liana nor Amanda has done. More like a Jessica belch (my 23 year old niece who burps like a truck driver). It was funny and satisfying, finally burping a baby (no bigger than my arm) and they give you a response "Job well done!". So I put her back on and when she slowed down, burped her some more. None were as loud or satisfying. The nurse explained that if this wasn't breast milk she would have more gas and constipation. Imagine that.

So, my family left the hospital at 6:15 to meet some old friends at The Big Cheese. A very good Italian place near Dadeland on US1. Great pizza and salads. Too bad I couldn't join but Jeanette was at home with the monsters, cleaning the house and then when I got home she had to return by 9 to feed Ali by breast.

My evening ended at 11:30 when I called Jeanette, who hasn't returned and she was in the middle of a Familia party at the hospital. That is a small support group of Catholic mothers who travel around aimlessly on Thursday evenings with food, gossip and small talk (just kidding ;-). All I could hear was laughter, screaming and yelling like a sorority party that just started. At least I knew she wasn't sleeping on the road. I planned to download the pictures before I went to bed but we know how plans go ...

Since my last few posts lack the pictures I added a screen shot of the site sniffer I added, which tracks the amound of visitors since the mid of January. I was unsure if anyone was out there but at one point 41 viewed on the 10th. That must of been a Chineese family surfing the word "gum".

Alexandra's New Home

Alexandra's home has changed on both ends.
She was moved to the 3rd floor at the hospital. One step closer to the door and home. Alexandra Michelle now weighs 4 pounds 2 ounces. In 46 days she more than doubled her birth weight. She now needs to take all of her milk from a bottle without any breathing issues before she can go home.

Home has also changed. It is now cleaner than ever. We hired an arc welder to blow torch all of the dust, soot, and cob webs from the house. We had someone perform a cleaning like none other as the house needed to be at least clean for Ali to come home to. Time has not been our friend for the past couple months (really years when it comes to cleaning). Our house is small but detailed cleaning always takes time, which we never set aside. So I am thinking of looking to turn my girls into Cinderella, so they can clean, cook and toil while I sit back and complain how bad things are. I might have to wait a few years before I can get Liana to vacuum or mop. Not much time today. I will try and get the pictures off the camera as we have a couple days already piling up. I will have to look into the wifi-memory card for the camera so it can upload all of my pictures to flickr without having to touch a computer.

The Condensed Evening

Tuesday started out different. I was taking Amanda to school for our field trip day to the zoo. We had a great day at the zoo, good weather. Amanda had a few minor complaints:

• Why the new Amazon section? We just went there last week.
  Most of the class hasn't and it is new part of the zoo.


• My Jelly sandwich doesn't tast good.
  Well if you eat ham and cheese like a normal child I wouldn't feed you crap.


• Why wont you let me run like the others?
  This isn't field day or slam dance sessions, it is a field trip.


• Why can't I feed the birds?
  Birds are like telemarketers, feed them once they will never leave you alone ... hence the current issue.


• Why can't I do sand angels and throw sand?
  You can if you want me to chop off your hair so it is easier to get out.

Dam, wait until you are a teenager and you think I am strict. She has NO idea what is in store for her with her mother. Despite the "why's" we did have fun and enjoy a day away from the normal routine. It was nice seeing the other parents, sharing stories, and taking over the zoo with 32 screaming kids.

Coming home started the avalanche as we actually tried to accomplish something before the 4pm dash. We had a 5pm CPR class at the hospital, another checklist item to get accomplished before taking home Alexandra. I had to give them a bath before leaving, drop them off at Abuelos for dinner and then race to the hospital fighting traffic. We got there late but still able to make it to the class. The class was simple and to the point. One of Alexandra's head nurse, who knows us well gave the class with 3 other couples. We visited Ali after class and found out she is right next to the door now. She will be moving up stairs to the 3rd floor, with the normal babies which is a step out the door then.

She is very close to receiving all her feedings by bottle. She eats like a hog, as we were told by that nurse at 5. Which leads to plenty of gas and dirty diapers. That is leading to her real only issue. A diaper rash. It is very bad to where she has two creams, one to treat and the other to coat. And we can't clean her but too much or her skin will peal. That's the hard part. She looked very cute sleeping with the pacifier, making the sucking sounds. She is two or less ounces away from 4 pounds. I think sometime this weekend or a week from today she will be at home with us.

Her next feeding was at 9pm and Jeanette wanted to breast feed her prior to the bottle. So we had to get some dinner down in the cafeteria, race to the Abuelos to get the girls home and in bed and then get Jeanette to the hospital by 8:30. So in reality we scarfed down our food at the hospital, yanked the girls out of the Abuelos and then raced home to throw them in bed. Jeanette pumped while I got the gremlins in bed. Just as she left for the hospital and Liana waking up 3 times since she had a long nap during the day I started to watch a movie I got from Netflix around 9:30. I dozed off on the sofa just as Jeanette was opening the garage door at 11. I guess the laudray will just have to wait another day.

Split forces ...

Monday was typical as any plans we had made changed during the day. I had to go straight from work to the hospital. Jeanette heard in the morning that Alexandra was doing well on the bottle and a 6 pm breast feeding would work. So my task was to meet them at the hospital, take the girls and the van after they left ballet and leave Jeanette at the hospital stranded. This would allow her to feed Ali before 6 (since they got there at 5:30) and I would take everyone home for dinner, homework, complaining, arguing and bath time.

"Gum" is my first name, if you haven't known. I changed it legally a year or so ago ever since I gave Liana her first piece of Juicy Fruit. The second I sat in the van to take them home the word "Gum? Gum!? Gum please! Gum?" comes out. "Not yet I just started driving, you will have to wait until I stop." Which in Miami occurs more than moving forward. Gum in Jeanette's world is sin in the mouth. She is a tooth brush maniac. She hates the candy, gum or food that cause turmoil in the mouth. Sticky items are just cavities waiting to happen. I am on the other end, never having a cavity or teeth issues, don't see harm in the small items in moderation. One stick of gum a week is toooooo much. She's the candy nazi, hence the bombardment of pleads when a change in command occurs.

"Movie? Movie!? Movie!!!" Which is my middle name. I hate giving into the movie since we reserve it for long trips instead of traffic. But what the hell. I gave them both after a while of waiting in traffic and we finally made it home after 6:30. So now I had 2 hours to cook dinner, do home work with Amanda, give Liana a few minutes, laundry, trash, bath time and any other fire that comes up. It had to be a full moon since I got cooperation most of the evening. I started them off with a cookie. My way of "don't ask for anything" so I go to the top of the wish list.

Jeanette got home around 7:30 when her dad picked her up at the hospital and dropped her at home. She was able to breast feed Alexandra for the entire feeding. She is now over 3 lbs 13 ounces, closing in on 4 pounds. The magical 6:30-8 time that was restricted from visits for nurse change is just a myth. Some policy change that occurred last year but the signs never came down. So most assumed it was in force but it never was. These pictures are from Amanda's visit on Sunday.

Ol Kleyr

A handful of changes since the weekend leads us to the sign of "Ol Kleyr" that Amanda posted on the bathroom door after her and mommy used the bathroom. If you read the words phonetically, you get the safe "All Clear" message that one can interpret. Despite the sign I didn't open the door to see if "All was safe" as I have a keener sense of smell then Amanda does.

However the "Ol Kleyr" words lead me to a theme for Alexandra. On Friday she weighed in at 3lbs 12 ounces. She just started to wear regular clothes and she no longer is in the bassinet (I call incubator, which was a temperature controlled, plastic encased cube that had holes for our hands to get inside). Alexandra is now wrapped up in a blanket, with clothes on. On Friday I visited her on my way home from work which then allowed Jeanette and her sister to visit. That evening turned into a very long visit but Tia was able to hold and feed Ali with a bottle. Something few of us have done and maybe never do since we hope to get her off the bottle and straight on tap. I myself prefer a cold beer on tap more than the bottle or can. I can only imagine what the warm milk tastes like when you have to work for it.

When, when, when???

That is they question I hear more than anything. Alexandra is progressing well. No exact day on her release but she is getting closer. We just attended one of two classes last night. Which was a checklist of basic items the hospital covers when it is time for baby to go home. I have a feeling she will be home sometime next week. But if she is on our schedule, meaning having the house clean and us ready to move at our pace with her, maybe next year. All Alexandra really has to do now is drink from the bottle with out de-satting (no breathing issues during and after feedings). She has good feedings and then some where she only take 15ml of her 35ml from the bottle. Below are some great pictures of Ali's first "real bath". One where her whole body went in the water not just a sponge bath that I gave her a while ago. I have more updates from the weekend but not enough time to post the pictures:

• SJN Fun Fair pictures
• Gifts for the girls (dresses, hair clips, shoes, etc.)
• Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. My niece Jaclyn sent us some hand made chocolate for us and the girls. Not just chocolate but the real crap one dies for as we have a large selection of white and regular goodies for us to get high on for a while. Pictures coming soon of this.

Operation Escape Codename: Zero Two Zero Four

"Mike October Mike this is Delta Alpha Delta are we on for Zero Two Zero Four at Twenty Forty Five?"

"Affirmative Delta Alpha Delta, the operation is a go. I repeat the operation is a go..."

No more squelch or transmissions our second parent impostor mission was already active before I got home. Our new field agent Alpha November November Alpha appeared right on time at the designated drop time. Everyone was briefed as before so we didn't have much to say. We scampered out the door and raced to the destination just minutes after zero hour.

We arrived at our destination to greet nurse Reggie and another lead nurse. Alexandra was ready for her second bottle and we were going to give it to her. Not only that but we are going to put on her first clothes and then reduce the bubble's temperature probe to a stagnant temperature instead of Ali's body dictating the temperature. All went well with the feeding as Alexandra took about 15-20 ml by bottle and a few more with the tube method.

Just as we were in the middle of the bottle feed, our communicator rings. I snatch the devise and remove myself from the NICU as cell phones are prohibited.

"This is Alpha November November Alpha, I say all is well, I repeat all is well but I need to know where the Bravo Alpha Tango Hotel Romeo Oscar Oscar Mike is? All entries are closed and I don't want to wake the mice."

Dam, we didn't brief our agent as well as we thought. "Use the first door on the hall. I repeat the door at the end of the hall. Delta Alpha Delta out." That was quick thinking by the agent as too much noise or light would stir the mice from their nest.

I included some pictures from the mission as well as a Top Secret one of Mike October Mike without highlights. I am told the natural color hair is a disguise, not her "real-fake" hair color. I understand. I wouldn't want her identity blown on the outside. The mission ended just after 2300 hours. All went well and smooth as planned. Despite the weather, nothing spoiled our plans or ruined our special moment as a remote family.

Delta Alpha Delta out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet

Alexandra's current weight = 3lbs 9 ounces

Feeding my chicks ...

Tuesday's plan was to take Amanda with me to Publix when I got home from work. Sometimes one at a time method makes it a bit easier for each parent. But when I got inside, both of them had their backpacks and sweaters on ready to go. "Gum? Publix? Go Now?" That was Liana wondering if I could bypass a bathroom break and just head out. Jeanette had everything ready as if ... take them away now, hurry. I want to hear the walls breath.

So our Publix trip started with "Mommy cheese, please ..."
"Liana, I bought a large 32 package of the little Gouda cheeses, we still have enough."
"OOOHHH, string cheese, string cheese please!"
"Sure. I will just get some prune juice (which I call go-go juice) to help you with all that cheese you consume." Our Publix trip was a big one. Two weeks have gone by, not enough time to shop. I didn't want to go last weekend during the Super Bowl prep weekend. Too many people, not enough time. So I was a mad shopper filling the cart with almost everything we needed. Our usual stop at the deli was more to feed my piranha than to get lunch meat. Only three people ahead of me, and my number was next. But I should know better. What seems is not, and what not seems is what is. Just as the three shoppers ahead of me scampered with their loot, I was left alone. Not a sole in sight. They all disappeared somewhere. I don't know where. I was talking to Liana one minute, then the three deli people vanished. I swear, my purgatory will be the deli line and endless traffic behind Jeanette (the pokiest driver ever, since the van is just a moving phone booth). After a few more minutes, I get someone to call the number prior as I look around and no one but me is waiting (as if I were a ghost). So I feed the piranha some roast beast instead of the usual ham and we continue on. The trip took over an hour and I couldn't fit anything in the cart. I gave them a ton of options since we needed our on-the-go-foods.

We returned home to a mother who turned the whole living room into a laundry mat.

"Don't touch anything. Don't sit on the couch, walk this way, or look at the clothes in piles!" That reminded me of my mother when our pool table in the basement had stacks of clothes, all assigned to each child as we had to go grab our own stuff to wear. 7 kids with 2 parents fills up a pool table rather quick and it never ended. Our laundry for the girls was backed up. Clean but not sorted and folded. Jeanette's leaning tower of Pisa piles (which btw the town of Pisa, Italy sucks, we preferred Luca much more) all could tumble with a sneeze. After pulling out the 50 pounds of food, and prepping dinner I had Amanda peel some carrots. I want them to participate and take over my dinner duties soon so we already started. After peeling she had a huge pile of shavings. I said in plain English "clean up the table, throw out the shredding and wash for dinner." I repeated that statement twice to ensure it was followed. "All done." was the words out of her mouth when she returned from washing her hands. "Great take this plate and bring the other stuff ... hey why are the shavings still on the table? Didn't I say clean up the table ..."


"Oh yes you did, and I washed my hands."
"OK, why is the plate with shavings all over the table still?"
"Ohhhh, I thought you meant, clean the shaving's off the floor."
"Sure, but you still left the other tw0-thirds of the mess on the table." Poor sharkie had carrot shavings stuck to his tank, and mounds around it. "So you really didn't want to clean up at all huh?"

"No, sorry." That simple. I got to the root without any interrogation questions surrounding the real question. I have to start taping these sessions then play them back when she asks for the car, money, etc.

Feeding the smallest chick ...
At 8:15 we had the girls bathed, ready for bed so I could leave and see Alexandra. Arriving just after 8:30 is rare and the place was not too busy. Ali's nurse was Reggie, a person I haven't seen yet. She looked super cute with a new hat on and an envelope for "Mommy" showing her first bottle-fed event. Which for a preemie is a milestone.

Sorry for the picture quality. These are from the hospital which I scanned and they seem way too grainy. If their ISO level is at 400 in low light, you get this quality. That's why I love my Rebel XT DLSR, which we purchased 5 years ago for nearly $1k but has been worth it ever since.

Reggie was busy with another screaming infant, which means he's about ready to leave the NICU. Alexandra was all over the place as her head was pinned against the side as she squirmed all over. Arms, legs, torso flailing. So taking her temperature took a while since I couldn't keep her arm to her side long enough for good readings. After I changed her diaper we were ready for feeding. Her new orders were, bottle once a day, feed by tube three times a day. So we had to use the method of holding her bottle of milk in the air like an IV as it slowly went down the tube into her mouth. It seems they put a tube with only a few inches from her mouth so using the machine that slowly pushes the milk to her stomach was not an option. So I held the syringe of milk above her head. After about 10 minutes of no movement, Reggie check in. "Uh oh, not much movement." So she put it in her hands as if mine were holding the fluids from moving. Shake, move, shake. Then she pushed the syringe down to force the movement. That did it. So after a couple more minutes, I took it back over so she could do other things.

The mad scientist walked in as I was feeding her. Which is one of the NICU doctors who had long grey/white hair that is always all over. "Hey how's baby?" he asks as he looks at her."Doing well, squirming and eating." was my reply. Then he walks away. SHIT, SHIT, SHITTT! I should of kept my mouth shut, now he's going to add another $1500 consultation fee to the bill for just speaking. CRAP, must think before opening mouth.

About 15 minutes later it stopped again at 10ml, which is 2/3 finished since she started at 30ml which is slightly over an ounce. More issues with the flow so she put the plunger in the syringe and gave it some pressure. It started to flow again. I kept Ali's pacifier in her mouth to help her digest and take away some of the gas. But the usual happens at the end of her feeding. She gets full and needs to be burped. So just as the milk reached the end she started to squirm and flail. I could hear her say "I need to burp, damn my belly is full, stop the pump stop the pump." And it started to fill back up to 8ml. It was the residual, which is spit up that she could take or hold down. I couldn't do more than tap her back since she was in her NICU bubble. I prefer feeding her while holder her since there are options to burp and hold up right. How many times do we drink and eat while laying down? Ok, maybe not the perfect question for all of us.

So when Reggie came back to check "Ah, going kinda slow, but still moving." "No, actually that's her residual, coming back up." A few more minutes go by ... "Ok, things are going slow huh?" "No actually it went to 8ml now since that is her residual she can't re-digest." "OK, lets use the plunger again ..." Which is like trying to plunge a wash cloth down the toilet after you just plunged the dam toilet to get it out. I could see the particles in the residual since the milk already hit the tummy, coagulated, and came back up. Just as she plunged the amount went up to 10, then 12ml. "Awe, Alexandra is squirming, what's wrong?"
"You KEEP pushing the milk down my throat, that's what's wrong! Can't you see I can't take anymore?!" As Ali moves around like a fish out of water.
"Hmm, maybe Dad, we will let you hold her while she finishes the bottle." "Really that's her residual that she probably can't re-take."

I haven't gotten a response with that line yet so Reggie prepped Ali to be held. Which usually means, they get the lines attached to her ready so they can go to a 3-4 foot length while she is outside her bubble. I gave Reggie a blanket and she couldn't figure out the pickup inside the bubble and wrap in a blanket movement. Which for the seasoned nurse is like flipping a large omelet with minimal wrist movement and not making a mistake.

I could see the experience level when she told me to hold the blanket out on my chest and I will give her to you to wrap. So she held Alexandra out like Rafiki in the Lion King holding and displaying Simba. I could feel her shiver with the cold. I was thinking of farting to warm up the area but decided not to. So I wrap her up quickly and ask for her hat and we start the feeding process again. More issues as no more than a drop went down. I had my hands full, holding the syringe in one hand and Ali in the other, trying to burp her with my fingers. More issues, after 10 minutes Reggie looked and then did the plunger in the syringe move to push the particles through the thin tube.

"I don't think she can take the last 8ml." Was my response on the feeble attempt to top her off. Then an image I had once happened a few minutes later. I once filled my gas tank too much and the pressure from the lack of air intake pushed the gas out like a myst, squirting all over. Alexandra started to spit and gag, chunks of milk out like a volcano.

"ahh Reggie. Reggie! R-E-G-G-I-E!!!" That got everyone's attention as she had to put the pen down and stop doing a chart to see what happened. I couldn't do much having all my hands full. I had to burp her as the feeding now ended, one way or another. "I guess we will just have to end the feeding." as I heard bells chimming, ringing from all around like the THX sound intro. No shit Sherlock. Feeding her took almost 2 hours. About 5 times longer than usual. I can't always push my way but I have noticed that each day comes a new nurse which changes the consitancy of how treatment is given to Alexandra. Small things like feedings can be easy or laborious. Bathtimes can be good or bad. All the little things change and at times become harder or easier. That's the hard part about hospitals, you can't control nor give the same care you could at home.

Forgotton Pictures

Zoo Weekend Shots

Alexandra on February 03

Rolling with the changes

Monday was a typical Monday. Listening to the Steeler fans at work gloat and the others of us happy for a good game but disappointed it wasn't an upset. It was funny to hear all of the "Congratulations" to the one person nearby who is a huge Steeler fan. His comment after about 20 of the remarks "I didn't do a dam thing, I just sat and watched." That is true but people were patting him on the back like a first time father who brought a kid into the world. And for that matter, I am like a Steeler fan who actually did nothing in the delivery time but I get the congratulations.

Our visiting time at the hospital happened at 10'ish due to a funeral Jeanette and Abuelo went to. So after Amanda and company got back from ballet, Jeanette had to eat, pump and run out the door. Putting the girls down was easier than expected and all went well there. Then Abuelo came by after the wake to sit with the girls for an hour while Jeanette and I went to see Alexandra. She is doing well. Already at 6 lbs 3 0unces.

Actually she weighs three pounds, six ounces (I wanted to make sure you were reading for comprehension). We were talking to the nurse about our classes this week and next for CPR and Infant Care. We are beginning the stages to get her ready for extraction. Alexandra's test will be coming soon. They will remove her from the incubator, put clothes on her, and let her body temperature change to the outside instead of the controlled environment. That will occur at 4 lbs. Which could happen in a week or so. Also the big test is Ali taking the bottle, breathing, and gaining weight all at the same time. Usually for a premie, taking the bottle takes a lot more energy than the feeding tube. So we got home just after 11, and then I forgot to take the pictures from the computer from the weekend. Actually I didn't forget I started to watch a movie Babylon AD with Vin Diesel, and I opted not to get my lazy ass off the sofa until Abuelo came to stay with the girls. Needless to say I only seen the first 30 minutes so hopefully before the week ends I can finish it. I started to upload my pictures to flickr but only six out of the 60+ made it. I let it start to upload around 11:30 and went to bed and Jeanette must have turned off the computer before it finished. So these were the best of the six shots:

The Weekend Outing

January is a slow month for birthdays. Other than Amanda's in the middle of the month I don't recall too many weekend s taken up other than the Super Bowl, New Years and Amanda's birthday week. So this weekend was open and the weather was nice we took the girls to the zoo.
Our local zoo is kinda cool.
Open and grand, usually too large for a band,
to parade and always be heard, past the large elephant herd.

Sorry for the Doctor Seuss fart. Too many children books. But we did go the the zoo in Miami that just opened a new area called the Amazon. Which seems small on the map but it has a ton of animals, serpents, fish, and reptiles. Our plan was to get there before lunch. Hit the new Amazon area, eat then go home. About a 3 hour visit. Which happened but we had to rush through the last part of the Amazon since Liana was hungry, food, me eat, hungry, snack, candy? I have a lot of great pictures of the Harpy Eagle, poisonous dart frogs no bigger than your thumb. They also have a sting ray petting area. I was hoping for a piranha petting area but some think they actually eat people. They don't we had one as a kid. My brother Tom always had unique pets at home and I remember feeding and petting our piranha. He was only about 6 inches but I was only 10 or 12 so my finger must have looked like Turkey legs, if in fact they were food. Anyways the entire new part of the zoo is very kid friendly. Everything is at their level. Even Liana could jump up on a ledge and sit to view a snake, lizard, or animal. It felt like the Atlanta aquarium, which has to be the best kid friendly, exhibit area. I will post the pictures as soon as I take them from the hard drive. We headed home for a Liana nap and a milk pumping around 3pm.

At 5:30 Amanda and I raced to the hospital for the 6 to 6:30 visiting window. Amanda kept badgering me to hold Alexandra. "Can I hold her? Do you think I can hold her? I hope I can hold her. Maybe the will let me hold her. It will be really cute if I could hold her. Maybe THIS time I can hold her. Please, let me hold her. Awe she is soooo cute with the bow, can I hold her? Maybe just for a minute I can hold her..." AHHHHHHHHHHH I get the point Amanda. She would badger me from the time we were in the car until we were next to Alexandra. Non-stop. It sounded like I was on a road trip and my Dad was asking when we were going to eat? And then the kids would badger when are we going to get there. So our nurse was very busy as the NICU had only 3 people inside working. Shift change was about to occur so they were very busy trying to finish. I was asked to take her temperature and change her diaper. So when the nurse came by I asked if Amanda could hold her. "I'm not sure ..." was the response. "Can Amanda hold her for a minute?" Let me ask your nurse Anette. So Amanda finally got onto the wave I started "Ooooh please, nurse. I only want to hold her for a minute. She's sooooo cute with that bow." And then she laid it on thick ... "awe, I never get to hold her. WHY?"

"Because, I don't know why" was my real answer, right next to the nurse. "Liana will never get to see her so you should feel lucky just being here next to her."

That caught the nurse's attention. She explained a similar incident with her child who couldn't visit. And how the hospital wants to change the visiting rules for siblings. She must have had a change of heart or just got tired of us badgering her but Amanda was allowed to hold her sister. It was nice to see her light up and talk to Alexandra up close. The time was brief. We were in and out within 30 minutes but the Abuela-like persistence paid off and the two sisters were able to share some quiet time. BTW, Alexandra is now at 3 lbs 6 oz, which is over the average Publix rotisserie chicken. We are now moving to the ham with a bone weight comparison.