Going out into the world!

Today HG was released from hospital after the standard two-day observation period for newborns. She is tiny, at just under 2.2kg, but has hardly lost any weight, and is bonny and healthy and a good eater.

After spending her first couple of days in massively oversized standard issue hospital baby clothes, she is finally dressed in an outfit that fits - an "Early Baby" size white babygrow and vest from Mothercare, courtesy of her uncle in London.


People who saw us taking her out of the hospital asked if she was a preemie. No, just small, but perfectly on time - born just 2 days ahead of her due date. A few little girls saw Ima waiting with HG in the hospital lobby for Abba to bring the car around.
They all wanted to see the baby. One asked her mother whether HG was a doll, while her older sister turned to HG's Ima and said "the baby is so small, are her eyes open yet?" The little girl's mother explained that HG is not a kitten...

Friends who have a house close to the hospital kindly allowed the new family to spend a day there before the longish drive home. Just as well: Ima and Abba discovered that she is still really too small for the car seat, and had a hard time adjusting the straps to fit her, so it's a good thing HG's first car ride only lasted a few minutes.

This was HG's first time outdoors, but she was quite dozy and fell asleep in the car.

Hello, world!

Hannah Geitel was born on Shabbat morning, July 2, 2005, at 9:14am, in Laniado Hospital, Netanya, Israel. She weighed in at a tiny 2.2kg (4 lbs 13 oz), and quickly got to work on gaining weight.

This is her blog, composed by her loving parents. It was founded on September 7, 2005, over two months later, so to start with they're trying to think back and record the significant milestones HG has passed since then.

The photograph was taken after Shabbat by her mother's hospital roommate. HG is resting in the hospital bassinet.

(This post has deliberately been timestamped with HG's time of birth. Nothing on this blog has been written on Shabbat!)