The growing Roza family: Our hospital stay and visitors

Lilah's hospital stay certainly wasn't boring! Because she was a c-section baby, she had a lot of fluid and mucus that she had to clear out of her system. That meant lots of spit ups and coughing. But not just regular spitting up. It was almost projectile for the first 1-2 days. Edward and I were concerned about it, and of course worried she was going to choke on the thick mucus she was spitting up. So we kept a very close eye on her, and we didn't get much sleep during our hospital stay. One nurse even saw her semi-projectile spitting and wasn't pleased with it. That was our 2nd night in the hospital. So they had Lilah examined by a NICU nurse, and then she was taken down for an ultrasound of her tummy at 11 pm that night. I was freaking out of course. The nursing staff just wanted to make sure she didn't have any blockages in her digestive system that may have been contributing to her projectile spitting. I was in tears, waiting in my room, as Edward went with Lilah to have the ultrasound done. One of the nurses even shed some tears with me. All of the nurses were aware of our history, our loss of Avalon, and that we are now super cautious with Lilah. The ultrasound was negative, and they had no concerns with the findings.
During our time in the hospital, Lilah's projectile spit up became less projectile and more normal. But because she had that issue, and because she was slightly jaundiced and lost a bit of weight, they kept us in the hospital for 4 nights. Her birth weight was 6 lbs 2 oz. She went down to 5 lbs 13 oz, and then down again to 5 lbs 9 oz. She was released from the hospital at 5 lbs 9 oz. Because Lilah was such a sleepy baby for more than the first 24 hrs, we had a hard time getting her to eat. Thankfully my milk came in right under 48 hour mark, and it came in with full force, so that helped to keep Lilah's tummy full. I always worried that I wouldn't be able to produce enough milk for her (based on stories from many other moms), so I feel very blessed that I have more than enough milk for her.
Lilah has very slowly started to put on weight. Her first pediatrician appt was the day after we got released from the hospital. At that first appt, she was still at 5 lbs 9 oz. The good news is that she hadn't lost more weight, but we were disappointed she hadn't gained weight. The doctor was a little worried about her weight, so she told us to go home and feed her a lot, then come back in 2 days on Christmas Eve for another weigh in. 2 days later, after Lilah had started eating more and wasn't quite so sleepy, she weighed in at a whoppin' 5 lbs 12 oz. She had gained 3 oz in 2 days, and her doctor was very impressed by that! Lilah had another weigh in on New Years Eve and she was up to 6 lbs. She is eating very well, so I anticipate her weight will continue to improve and shouldn't be an issue anymore. Her jaundice was also much better by Christmas, and it was completely gone shortly after Christmas.
Lilah has had several visitors so far. She had a few family members visit her in the hospital, including both sets of grandparents; her uncle, aunt and cousin; my uncle, aunt and cousin; and one of my co-workers came by also! Once we arrived home, Lilah had more visitors. My good friend Saari and her husband Jackson were Lilah's first visitors at home. Saari and Jackson live in NC, and they were in CA visiting for Christmas. I am so glad they were kind enough to drive up here from the Bay Area to meet Lilah and visit with us. They also brought us a delicious Spaghetti Factory lunch, which was amazing! Then our good friends and cousins Chris and Cindy (Chrindy) brought us dinner from Dos Coyotos and they got to meet Lilah for the first time. They also brought Lilah a t-shirt from the US Open, which they attended in September. It will be awhile before Lilah can fit the t-shirt, but I can't wait to see her wearing it! And more recently our good friends Leah and Chris came over to meet Lilah, and they brought us pizza for dinner. Boy did that food hit the spot! We enjoyed visiting with them and hope to see them again very soon.

Me and my mom, taken about 3-4 hours after Lilah was born. I was still pretty dizzy at this point from the meds and the surgery.

Here I am, frantically trying to update Facebook so all of my concerned family and friends would know that Lilah had arrived safely!

Gramma (my mom) holding Lilah for the first time!

Lilah with her two loving grandmas!

I think that smile from Grandma pretty much says it all!

Proud daddy with his daughter and his mother. 3 generations!

Loving Auntie Shea holding her niece for the first time.

Lilah meeting Grandpa Tony (Edward's father)!

Lilah with Auntie Shea, Uncle Anthony, Grandma Rose Marie and Grandpa Tony.

Grandpa Tim (my dad) holding Lilah for the first time.

Family picture!

Auntie Shea holding Lilah, and Uncle Shaun holding cousin Kai when they came to visit us in the hospital.

Me with my little sweetie.

I love Mommy (says her outfit).

Lilah's "take home" outfit, purchased by Gramma several months ago!

Ready to go home!!!

Leaving the hospital with our precious cargo!

Lilah sleeping soundly, with big sister Avalon's bear rattle right behind her. Avalon was photographed with that bear rattle, and it holds a special place in our hearts.