oh my... not the best track record!

So, it has been ANOTHER ten days since my last post... this is not a great track record!!!  This "new mom" stuff is exhausting!  Did I mention how EXHAUSTING it is!?!?!  The whole changing, preparing bottles, feeding Mia, washing bottles, getting pump ready, pumping for ~30 minutes, rinsing the pump parts and trying to grab 20-90 minute snippets of rest... zzzzzz...


Zeus has been a trooper and SUCH a big help.  Last night he even took two or three of the night feedings so that I could get some much needed sleep.  Thank you love!!!


Now, what you've all been waiting for... more Mia pictures!

Mama and Mia with grandpa in the background - taken through the NICU window by papa.

Papa bringing Mia to our room FINALLY - after 5 days of being in the NICU.

Tired mama's quick pick with Mia as we get ready to wheel her into our room from the NICU.

Zeus heard about how important "skin to skin" time was with babies, so he was sure to get HIS share of time in with his precious daughter.  Does this papa look content with his baby girl on his chest or what?!?!  :)

Mia and papa passed out asleep in our own room.

My papa just can't get enough of me...

Zeus feeding Mia - half the time we have to undress her to try and wake her up enough to finish her bottle.  lol

Papa loves it when Mia holds onto his finger or thumb.  Mama and Mia love it too.

Mama having some skin to skin time with Mia.  I KNEW those maternity shirts would come in handy even after pregnancy.  :)

So tiny and precious on the hospital bed - we love you little Mia!!!

Oh my!  The infamous tooth that cost $9K to remove on our teething newborn!  Pobrecita, teething at 5 days old!

All dressed up and ready to go home.  Mia, you look so precious in pink!

Mia saying good bye to grandma and grandpa - they are heading back to Utah and I'm getting ready to go home!

A thrilled Aunt Tiffany who got over her cold and FINALLY got to snuggle and love on Mia when we got home from the hospital - one week old.

Proud papa showing off Mia's precious little feet to Aunt Tiffany - just in case she missed that adorable detail.  :)

So small in papa's large hands - melts mama's heart all over again.

Mama's turn to have Mia hold HER finger.  :)

Mia and I with Aunt Michelle and Cousin Christopher - born almost a month apart, but due to be born only two weeks apart!

Switcheroo - sisters holding each other's babies.  Christopher and I next to Michelle and Mia.  Baby snuggles are the BEST!!!

Heading to Dell Children's Hospital for surgery to remove premaxilary tooth - 9 days old.

Zeus and Mia - all decked out in her "surgery gear" of a hospital t-shirt and hat.

Mia after surgery - oxygen mask at the top to do some "blow-by" oxygen when her O2 levels went down and her heart rate went up.  Scary day for mama and papa even though surgery took less than 5 minutes!

Mama passed out on the hospital pull out bed.  So very tired and exhausted!!!

More pictures soon.  :)

Heading back into Dell Children's hospital again tomorrow.  She's being put under again.  :(  This time they are doing it to make a mold of her little mouth for her NAM device.  Because she's had some breathing and choking issues, they want to do it in a surgery room so that they have a crash kit ready "just in case".  If that's not enough to strike terror in a parent's heart, I don't know what is!  Thankfully this visit will only cost a little under $4K, as opposed to our last visit.  Geeze Louise, don't know what we'd do without insurance...

Mia update - 10 days old

We can't believe our sweet baby Mia is 10 days old! Mommy and Daddy keep falling more and more in love with her every day. When we look at her, we are filled with love for our little girl. We still can hardly believe that this precious girl is ours and we are so thrilled to be her parents.



It's currently after midnight and we are waiting for Mia's next feeding, which could occur at any time. Our plan is to double-team it - for Zeus to feed her while I pump - and then to try and get right to sleep inorder to try to get a solid two hour rest before she wakes up again. We are both exhausted, but are LOVING being parents!



Just a quick update for those of you following the Moreno's and wondering how things are going. We appologize for not getting the info out there or being able to return all the calls and texts right away, but we have been running non-stop and are beyond tired. We grab little snippets of sleep while we can and then just focus on our little bundle of joy.

Well, it's 2 am now. Just finished feeding Mia and pumping. Apparently I did NOT communicatee the "plan" all that well, so I ended up doing the feeding AND pumping on my own. Was stressed about it and didn't hardly get anything, then dropped one of the little containers and spilled over half of the little I DID get onto the floor. Argh!

Anyhow, I'm going to head to bed, but first - quick update.

Mia spent the first 5 days of her life in the NICU, having her heart rate, oxygen levels and food intake monitored. The next two days she was released to our room in the hospital. One week old Mia gets released from the hospital and we arrive home at around 9 pm.

The next morning (Friday), 8 days old, and our first doctor appointment for Mia with the cleft lip and palate team. When the dentist sees her little premaxilary tooth peeking out, she lets us know that it has to be removed inorder to place the NAM device to start getting Mia's mouth in the right place for surgeries. Our poor little girl went through teething and cutting a tooth at 5 days old!!! :(

Saturday - 9 days old. Mia goes in for surgery to get her little tooth surgically removed at the children's hospital. Since she is still a newborn, she had to be monitored overnight. Who would have thought that one little tooth would cost 9 grand to remove! The surgery was over with in under 10 mintues and went well, but Mia's heart rate and oxygen levels kept setting off the monitor alarms so we had to stay in the hospital another day to make sure all was well.

Today/yesterday (since it's almost 3 am) - 10 days old. Today went much better and we are hoping to take her home tomorrow! So far, little Mia has only spent 1 1/2 days at home, and 8 1/2 days in some sort of hospital - poor thing! Thank goodness for insurance, but DANG if this precious baby girl isn't going to break the bank! Don't worry Mia, mommy and daddy think you are SO worth it!

A look ahead to next week - one doctor appointment for Mommy, 3 doctor appointments for Mia.

June 30, 2010

Mia Angelina arrived two days ago - 4 days past her due date, at about 1:21 pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19 and 1/4 inches long. As anticipated, she was born with a complete bilateral cleft lip and palate, but couldn't be more precious! Her much anticipated debut finally arrived and mommy and daddy are so thrilled to have her be part of our little family!

Brand new baby Mia. Mom and dad barely got to see her before she was rushed off to be checked out thoroughly to make sure everything was okay. It kind of freaked Zeus and I out, and we would have LOVED to see her longer, but we definitely wanted to make sure she was okay first!

The handsome papa, getting ready to meet his baby girl for the first time.

Brave mama, prepped and ready for c-section. Zeus and I went in on Monday, June 29th to be induced and things were moving along, but then didn't progress with dilation as fast as they'd like, especially after my water broke, so we ended up going c-section. I ended up having to have 2 epidurals prior to that because something happened and the first one stopped working or wore off. They were worried that Mia might be too big to deliver or that my internal bone structure might be too small to deliver her that way, so we ended up having a c-section. Bummer to experience both labor AND a c-section, but she is SO worth it. For the c-section, I didn't even have my arms strapped down, which I thought was something they always did - guess not! Was SO glad to have Zeus there with me!

Sharing a special moment with our new baby. Mama and papa love each other, sweet girl, and we sure do love you too!!! You are SO very precious to us already!

A quick smile for the camera during snuggle time.

Tired, and soon to be feeling very sore mama along with very proud, very brave and supportive papa.

Bright-eyed Mia. Such a skinny little girl, all long and slender. She's got the cutest head of hair, and the softest, smoothest skin mommy has ever felt. Papa is sure you have dark blue eyes, but we'll see if they stay or change to brown like mom and dad's. :)

Mia's hands look so tiny in papa's big strong fingers!

Mommy cried when she FINALLY got to hold and snuggle Mia the next day! It was so hard to wait for recovery to visit you in the NICU. What a silky, soft, beautiful little girl she is, and so very precious!

Mommy trying to figure out the tricky bottle for Mia. I think Mia's going to have an easier time at it and is a faster learner than mommy is. Maybe daddy will pick it up a little easier than mommy since he got to watch people feeding her that first night while mom was recovering. Whenever I couldn't find Zeus, I knew he'd be in the nursery with our daughter, talking to her, taking pictures of her and/or holding her. Such a good daddy he is already and you are the joy in his heart Mia!

Wires hooked up to Mia for her PCG (pneumocardiogram) today until 4pm tomorrow in the NICU. They are trying to figure out for sure why her oxygen levels sometimes fall too low. They are thinking that when she's really deep asleep, her tongue relaxes and falls back, cutting off her airways. Because of this, she may have to be put down on her tummy instead of her back is all that we know right now. She's got little sockies on her hands because she keeps scratching her little face and we haven't had time to trim her fingernails yet.

Proud papa and his baby girl. I hadn't realized it until he mentioned it tonight, but he was always WITH Mia while I was recovering and then took pictures of US when I could finally see and hold her, but there was no one to take pictures of HIM and Mia so I snapped a quick one before we had to leave the NICU. Can you just tell she's already got him wrapped around her little finger? :)

How could you not love this precious little face? Mia, it killed mommy and daddy to walk away from you in the NICU while you got your PCG test done tonight and without holding you or kissing you. We will miss you like crazy and even though we can't hold or snuggle you for 24 hours while the test is going on, never doubt that we are peeking in on you constantly and loving you like crazy while we wait through some of the longest hours of our lives until we can snuggle you again. We love you baby girl!