May long weekend - Kristi and Jason come to visit and more Stella Pics

The weather forecast for this weekend is terrible, which is good to keep people at home hopefully. Not much sleep last night for me waiting for the birth of our first grandchild, Stella. Then of course my excitement kicked in and it was hard to get back to sleep. lol

Our daughter Kristi and her husband Jason arrived with our grandpuppies in tow at 4 pm on Friday night. We have all been self-isolating and Kristi has not been in contact with any Covid patients at the hospital. She wears her PPE for baby deliveries so we all felt safe as our "bubble's" have only opened for us and them. First hugs from them since last September before we headed south for the winter. Boy I have missed them. They stay downstairs in their own area for sleeping.

We had a great evening catching up. I smoked some chicken quarters on the Traeger for dinner.

Saturday morning we sat out on the deck for an hour under the gazebo with the heaters on, listening to the rain. The rest of the day was spent visiting, relaxing, reading and Jason played his computer game. Dinner was their favourite, Prime Rib with Yorkshire Puddings. Unfortunately, they had to go back home after dinner as Kristi is on call Sunday morning at 8am. It was so lovely to see them, but they will be back next weekend. Yeah.

Sunday after morning chores, it was quite nice out so we were able to sit outside and have a campfire and roast sausage for lunch. Our neighbours Roy and June had the same idea at their house with their grandchildren. Everyone sure takes advantage when the weather clears. Unfortunately at 4 the rains came again. Great weather for gardens though.

Monday morning was quite foggy on the lake but the sun managed to make it dissipate. I decided to make a quick run to Walmart in Duncan as there were quite a few things on my list not available here in town. Ray worked on some projects in his shop . Once I was back we had lunch. I did some house chores and then we were able to sit down on the dock for a couple of hours before the black clouds moved in. Freya managed a couple of swims, her favourite thing.  Once we moved up to the house we had a7 little thunder ... Freya not impressed and by 5 pm it was sprinkling. Another lovely day here in Lake Cowichan.

Baby Stella continues to improve and now is out of her incubator.

Grumpy face ... why is it so bright and noisy when I want to sleep!

Awwww full tummy.

Had her first bath today. Nurse instructing Garrett on how to do it. A little more difficult with her heart monitor and nasal feeding tube.

All tucked in after her bath and in a regular bed.

 Of course Garrett was a little bored so found some wheels to play with! :)

Kat should be released within the next 2 days and Stella will be there for probably 10 more days.

Tuesday morning a cloudy start but by 9am the sun was out although quite breezy. Did a few morning chores and then went out for my walk to the end of our subdivision. Round trip about 40 minutes.

Garrett reports this morning that Baby Stella took 24mls from Kat nursing this morning. Yeah. She also is now gaining weight. She was 2040 gms at birth and then down to 2000 gms and today up to 2048. Good milk. lol Garrett gets his skin time after Kat has nursed.

Ray played in his shop for awhile this morning figuring out his nexts projects. Moving his equipment around so he has a better flow. Fortunately he put everything on locking wheels. lol

Out on the dock for a couple hours in the afternoon before the clouds and wind came in. Probably the last day nice enough for awhile.

One more picture of Baby Stella today. She has started to gain weight and is back over her birth weight. Yeah.

Meanwhile at Jason and Kristi's house, a new fence is being erected and a new vegetable garden planter built in front of the fence to keep the dogs in. They are in the process of redoing their backyard. Looks fabulous Jason and Kristi!

Kristi plans to plant her own vegetables to be more self sustaining. Good for her. Gardening is her "happy place" to de-stress from her busy job as a doctor.

Wednesday, cloudy and windy. The sun is supposed to come out today though with some clouds. It stayed quite breezy and cloudy all day. Kind of a November day. I spent the day busy prepping dinner tonight and dinner tomorrow night when Kristi and Jason come. Things to smoke on the Traeger often need prep a day ahead. lol The rest of the day was spent sewing masks .... finally finished with the ones I had promised. Now the torch or should I say sewing machine will be handed over to Jason to complete the next 30 masks Kristi requires for her office. lol  This lady is done!

Ray and I managed to sit outside in the front of house for an hour as the sun finally came out and it was out of the wind. Another day done and smoked turkey breast for dinner. It was delicious.

Today's pic of Baby Stella is .... Hands up Baby Hands up! She is taking more milk directly from Kat and is growing quickly.

She definitely is a squirmy little thing.

Thursday morning up early and dressed to take Freya to her vet appointment for 8am. Her butt is good, thankfully so the antibiotics have worked. Most of her appointment was in the parking lot lol and her blood work was done from the hatchback of our car. :) Different times to be sure. We are starting her on a new medication though. Our son-in-law Jason, suggested we ask about giving her Gabapentin as they have started Athena on it and have seen great improvement in her movement. Our vet thought it was a great idea so we start one pill every night for a week and then ramp up to twice a day keep her on her other medication but reduce the Metacam. Apparently this new drug will make her pretty sleepy until she adjusts to it, so we are to only give a night for the first week. Jason concurs that it makes Athena quite sleepy in between her romping around with Zeus like a young pup.

Kristi and Jason are coming tonight to stay and then leaving us with her dogs for 2 days as they go to Victoria to stay for two nights to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Their room will have a kitchenette so they will eat in the room and order take-out to keep isolated from Covid and so can stay in "our bubble". They are certainly very thoughtful in regards to our health which we greatly appreciate.

Garrett retrieved his dog Kira from their friends. He sure misses her and she misses him so she is now home. She is used to being left at home for 12 hours when Garrett works and has no problem sleeping all day.

Kira

Kat sent some pictures this morning. Stella even woke up to be fed last night at 2am and the NICU nurses called to to come. She is definitely getting more lively.

Three little monkeys!

Posing for the picture ... note the pursed lips. lol

Kat is discharged today and will go home with Garrett tonight and back to the hospital tomorrow morning for 2 nights and then the hospital has offered them the companion room so Kat can stay at the hospital for maybe a week to be with Stella.

Lots has happened this week. lol