Blood draws and boats

Chloe got to make a trip to outpatient peds yesterday for another blood draw. On the upside, we stopped by the NICU for the first time since she was sprung...and got to see both Nicole and Tori (Chloe's primary nurses during her incarceration) and also the NPs Lara and Darlene -- and some of the other nurses that took care of Chloe, Denise and Penny. It was SO great to see these ladies. Although Chloe has been home for 2 months, it seems like I was just sitting in the hospital talking to the nurses about infections and transfusions yesterday. Time flies when you're watching a baby grow. Chloe smiled and did some cooing for nurse Nicole (I was very proud of Chloe's skill to show off her milestones to her nurse). I think Chloe recognized Nicole's voice (since she was mommy #1) -- How could she not?

The nurses at outpatient Peds were nice enough -- one had a cold and wore a mask while trying to stick Chloe (her stick failed, so another nurse had to do it). Nothing like going to the hospital to get sick. I told them we had just come from the NICU and they wanted me to be sure and tell the NICU nurses that they only had to poke Chloe twice. It was like they knew that I was thinking "hmmmph. They could have drawn that blood easily in the NICU." I let them poke her arm and her foot in order to get ALL of the blood they needed for all the tests. Chloe's arm is bruised from the squeezing/holding that went on.... Once we got home the nurse called me and said she was really sorry, but they needed one more ml of blood. What a surprise. So, we'll go back on Thursday to do it again. Chloe is tired of blood draws. Hopefully, this will be it for a while!

On another note... Hayley had to do another class project -- which was to build a boat. She does more projects than any grade I know. Maya has done ONE project this whole year and Hays has done countless!! Anyway, she did a great job so far -- here's the boat almost finished. She still needs to varnish some of the wood -- And that's supposed to be Lewis and Clark, but all we could find were pirates. Maybe Lewis and Clark liked swords and eye patches, too. (I think Sacajawea would have been super impressed by both swords and eye patches)