Substitute mommy

One of the hardest things about having Alexis home was not having Amelia home.  Before Alexis came home, I was at the hospital basically all day. I woke up around 6, drove to the hospital, and left after boris got there after work around 7pm. Sometimes when I was particularly sleep deprived I didn't leave until more like 10am, but I didn't like doing that because my stupid pump schedule made it really hard to get out the door if you don't do it fast.

Once Alexis was home, I didn't want to take her in the car every day for an hour each way, and also didn't really want to have her in a germ-filled hospital all day, since I would have to take her to the cafeteria, etc. My compromise was to take Alexis every other day, and to take my mom with me so that she could help take care of Alexis while I was there. That obviously was really hard, because it meant I didn't get to see my sweet Amelia every day. It really killed me that I didn't get to see her, and I felt really guilty that she wasn't getting mommy's attention.  Plus the nurses always told me that the reason Alexis was coming home so early was because I was there helping her all day and speeding up her growth, etc. Knowing that, it was hard to leave Amelia behind when it meant she potentially would not do as well without me.  Luckily I have awesome family. My aunt Jean, who lives near Stanford, volunteered to come to Stanford on the days that I couldn't come, to hold baby Amelia.  It was an amazing gift because I didn't feel quite as bad for not visiting. My very pregnant cousin Becca also helped to hold Amelia. When I did come to visit, the nurses told me that Amelia was getting spoiled by all her special visitors.