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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Chunky monkey and what I like to call STTN!

STTN=Sleeping through the night and while we aren't there yet, we are well on our way. I took Emily for a weighed feed on Tuesday because I was worried when her eating times were only 10-15 mins. Plus, it was taking me over an hour to get those 15 mins since she kept falling asleep. Ultimately, I wanted to know if she fed for 10 mins, how much she was taking in and I really wanted to make sure she was gaining weight appropriately. Little did I know, we had NOTHING to worry about. Emily gained 1 lb 6 oz in 14 days. WELL over the 1/2 oz to 1 oz per day the ped wants to see. She is now up to 8lbs 9 oz. Almost 2 lbs up from her birth weight. Woot woot! So we talked to the dr. and she gave us the ok to no longer wake Emily at night to feed. We will just feed on demand at night. We still have to wake every 3 hours during the day if she doesn't get up before then, but sleeping at night is going to be AWESOME! Of course the first night after we were given the OK, she woke up at 2 after only 3 1/2 hours, but last night she slept a full 5 hours, waking me up at 4:15. Yep, I got 5 hours of straight sleep. Then she slept again till 7:30. Bliss. I hope she keeps up the good work!


So the reason for my lack of posts over the last few weeks was due to the holidays and because my sister was in town. She came and stayed with us for a full week and it was AWESOME. Probably boring for her, but I loved getting to just relax and hang out with her. And she was more help than you will ever know! I love when our family just comes over and hangs out. We don't do anything, but having the company is awesome. I love having them over and wish I got more visitors! Here are some pictures of Em, Koley and of course Kiki!



























With Uncle Rich













And here are some 1 month pictures. She is definitly filling out.














He he...I love this one

Monday, December 28, 2009

1 month old...

And I have been slacking on the blog! Last week my sister was here and I just wanted to spend time with her, then the holidays hit. I spent most of my spare time online shopping since going to the mall was out of the question (for sanity purposes). I promise, I have not forgotten about my blog and I will try not to neglect it any more.

Emily is 1 month old today. We had a mini photo shoot. I will upload the pictures and get them posted as soon as possible!

Friday, December 18, 2009

2009...

What a truly amazing year! Sean and I are so blessed. 2009 was a year of a lot of change. Some was good, some was hard, but overall we are in such a good place right now. Both personally and professionally.

In March, we found out after almost a year of trying that we were expecting our first child. This was something we both wanted and we were so so thrilled to find out that in 9 months we would be parents.

In early 2008, Sean took a huge leap and changed careers. It was definately for the best. Work doesn't have to be work and he finally realized what he was doing was not what he loved. He switched jobs and is now an assistant Project Manager for a local construction company. Zig is so hands on, this is perfect for him. Plus, it keeps him on his toes. For me, learning something new everyday is what keeps your job interesting. Having no experience, the owner of this business really took a risk on Zig, but he saw something in Zig, that those who really know him knows is true. He is so dedicated and such a hard worker. He would do everything it took to learn the ins and outs and be successful at what he does. This year, Zig's boss encouraged him to take the LEED exam and become LEED certified. This is a pretty challenging exam, but it allows him to oversee "green" building projects. Something that is huge these days. Zig studied his butt off and passed the exam! He is the only employee at his work who has this certification and it is such a great thing to have!

In May of 2009, Sean and I ventured out of the country and took a vacation with Jenn and Dan (our brother in law and Zig's sister) to Ireland. Neither of us had been to Ireland and really the only travel out of the country either of us had done was either on a cruise or to Mexico. We had a such an amazing time. Ireland is beautiful and it was a once in a lifetime experience. While I didn't get to enjoy a pint of Guiness while I was there, and my monring sickness made meal times interesting, I am so glad we were able to do this. I can't wait till Emily is old enough to enjoy a trip like that! We are definately not done with our traveling. We both would love to tour more of Europe!

Also in mid 2009, our Dad went through a major surgery battling cancer. We are very happy to report that Dad is doing great and feeling better than ever! His strength and motivation to beat this disease is truly admirable.

We received some very sad news late July. We lost Nana after a long battle with lung cancer. We all know she is in a much better place, but we miss her everday. We know that she is watching over us from Heaven and keeping an eye on little Emily!

After 4 long years of trying (and likely several thousand dollars!) I finally passed the CPA exam. I am now a Certified Public Accountant. It is so crazy, because it was something that I worked for on and off for so long. I am so glad I didn't give up because let me tell you, there were days when I felt so defeated. This exam is tough and I was so busy with work (and life) that I just didn't put in the time that I should have to study all those years. Emily was definately my motivation and that motivation finally paid off!

You all know our biggest news! We welcomed Emily to the family on November 28, 2009! Just one day shy of my due date. Here we are almost 3 weeks later and life could not be better. We are so happy and so in love with our little girl!

To round off the year, I recevied some great news from work while on leave. I got a telephone call letting me know that they decided to promote me to Manager! After 5 years with the firm, I am so excited to start this new chapter! It feels good to know that your hard work has paid off and that there are people who work with you who have faith in you and appreciate the work you do.

So much happened in 2009, I hope I haven't left anyting out! It was a great year. Though we don't have high expectations, we can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Hats Off to the Most Amazing Woman!

So I can't tell you how many people have given me the "Oh your whole life is going to change" speech, or the "good luck with getting any sleep" comments. Well here is what I say to that, "This is the most awesome experience of my life, and I am sleeping just fine thank you". Here is why, first, I have a ridiculously awesome wife. She is a natural mother, maybe a little paranoid, but still rocking awesome. Some time between the pushing and first feeding her maternal instincts kicked in. Michele, my hats off to you. You are already a fabulous mother. Second, we have a pretty sweet system in place. I do everything during the day, and I mean everything. I try to make sure that Michele and the baby have everything they need. I don't complain, I don't make excuses, I don't take turns. No whining, I just do it. Reason...she lets me sleep at night. When we give Emily her last feeding of the evening (about 10:30) I help with the burping and changing. Then I am off to bed. I don't hear a peep until 6:00 when the alarm goes off. That's right, my wife, in all her amazing ways, gets up at 2:30 and feeds our little one without me. What have I done to deserve such a wonderful person. Her reason is that I don't have boobs (thank god) so why is it necessary for me to get up to feed her. Thanks babe!!! This trade-off, has allowed me to be fresh all day, which allows me to take care of anything that Michele or the baby needs. I love my wife, I would lie in traffic for her, and her 7 hours of broken sleep is such a selfless act, it makes me feel so blessed.

And about the previous post...and my crazy sleeping habits, it is important to know that the wad of blankets I was cradling did have something there, it was Bodhi, and it was probably the best sleep that dog ever got. I must have held him for three hours...lucky little sh*t...so when he finally moved, that's when I woke up, and with a half-asleep arm, naturally I thought it was Emily...so don't judge...I was doing the right thing!!!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Take the baby Michele!

This is what I woke up to at 1:30 in the morning. My half asleep, sleep talking husband had convinced himself that he was holding Emily. He woke me up and at first I too was convinced he was holding the baby. Here is how I recall the hysterical event.

Zig: Babe, take the baby please! My arms are tired. I can't move.
Me: Why are you holding the baby?
Zig: I don't know, take her Michele
Me: Honey, why is the baby in bed with us? (I swear at first I thought he was holding her and I was getting freaked out that she wasn't moving)
Zig: I don't know, Michele take the baby
Me: How long has she been in bed with us?
Zig: Since you fed her last
Me: Why? She was asleep, why did you bring her to bed? How long has she been here?
Zig: Only for a half hour.
Me: But it's 1:30 and I fed her at 10...(this is when I realized the baby was NOT in bed with us. He had the blankets all wadded up and was cradling them in his arms.
Me: Babe, you are not holding the baby.
Zig: YES I AM, TAKE THE BABY MICHELE. I AM SERIOUS.
Me: Honey, you are not holding the baby. Wake up.
Zig: Please my arms hurt

At this time, I took the wadded up blankets and pulled them out of his arms. He FREAKED out.

Zig: Michele! You just pulled the blankets over the baby's face! What are you doing?

Then he realized. The baby was not in bed with us and he finally woke up enough that we both laughed for about 15 mins.

HYSTERICAL! I actually did panic at first. My husband is one funny sleeper.

Another week down and lots of pictures

The last 2 weeks have flown by! Things are going really well. According to the doctor we have a very "calm baby." Let's hope it stays that way. Emily has put herself on an eating schedule, eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours everday and then every 4 hours at night. We really can't complain. Sleep has not been bad and even the 2:30 feeding isn't a big issue. I still get about 7 hours of broken, but good sleep. I usually set my alarm for 2:30 and the little miss will wake up just before then with her little grunts in the other room.

She still sleeps like a champ in her crib. For the most part during the day, she likes to be where the people are, and tends to fuss a little after her 7:30 feeding when we put her in her crib, but after her 10:00 feeding she is out till about 8:30 during the day, dream feeding for her nightly feedings.

Her first bath was a huge FAIL! She pooped in the tub and I cried. I felt so bad for her. I am sure we will get the hang of it. Afterward I think she was way over stimulated because she proceeded to projectile vomit all over me right after she finished eating. It was a little traumatizing.

I feel great! Feedings are so much easier. She still can be hard to wake sometimes. The only time it gets hard is if she decides to start her nap too close to the next feeding time. Then she is my little comatose baby and is nearly impossible to wake up. Physically, I have recovered really well and even managed to squeeze into some of my pre pregnancy jeans. SCORE! I have lost all the weight, plus a little more, but again, I attribute it to the fact that I was a little pudgy before and didn't really gain that much to begin with.

Overall we are doing good. Here are some pictures! Some are from the hospital when she was brand new and some are through today. We love this little girl so much! We just can't get enough! Enjoy!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Weight Check

So we are paranoid parents. I have been worried because our little miss sleeps ALL.THE.TIME and when I can actually get her to wake up, she only feeds for maybe 10 mins. Night time feedings take over an hour and again, she only eats for a few minutes. We called the doctor yesterday and she asked us to bring Emily in for a weight check today. The result: Emily has gained 10 oz in the last 7 days. She is definately eating and eating good. They typically like them to gain 1 oz a day and she gained more. We are pretty happy. The doctor told us not to worry and to start waking ever 4 hours at night instead of just doing 1, 4 hour stretch. She said she is just a calm baby. It was nice because we were able to ask her some other questions we have had lately too. We really like our doctor. So we go back again next week for her 2 week check up.

Then I thought I jinxed myself. We got back from the doctor at 10 or so and she was due for a feeding at 10:30 (we have been asked to feed her every 3 hours from start of one feed to start of the next if she doesn't wake to be fed, which she usually doesn't). Well she ate at 10:30, stayed awake till 1:30, ate and stayed awake and fussy till 4, when I decided to feed her again. She finally fell asleep at 4:30 and has been snoozing since. I just hope she stays being such a good sleeper at night. Here is to hoping...

Monday, December 7, 2009

It's amazing how much you learn...

Seriously. Looking back to last Monday, I am truly amazed how much we have all grown together. So far Emily has been a really really good baby. I am still waiting for the hurricane to hit. She is still in a very sleep stage. It's like you worry if they cry and fuss and you worry if they don't. Right now she doesn't. We still are having to wake her every 2-3 hours to feed her and still checking to make sure she has enough wet diapers so we know she is eating enough. It has been really challenging to feed her because I am constantly trying to wake her to make sure she is getting what she needs and not sleeping through meals. Every day, the amount of time she is alert is getting more and more. Today she actually took a meal and stayed awake till the next meal. She just hung out with dad, while I went to run some errands. I am not going to lie. I needed to get out of the house. Not to get away from her, just to get some fresh air. I am still too scared to take her anywhere with me. Anyway, she did really well last night. I have been setting my alarm so I know when it is time to feed her at night and it seemed like whenever it was time, I could hear her starting to fuss in her crib. It is almost a relief to hear her on the monitor, because then I don't have to wake her from a deep sleep to feed.

One of the things Zig and I were pretty firm on before Emily came was that we really wanted her to sleep in her crib. Her room is right next door and we literally had no room in our room for a bassinet or pack and play. Bed sharing is also not an option. Zig is a very deep sleeper and we are both worried we may roll over on her. Everyone laughed and wished us luck on that. Even the first day home, it took everything in me to not ask to borrow my moms pack and play for a few weeks. I am really glad we have stuck to this so far. I am not saying that we won't adapt if it is not what is best for our family, but right now, it works really well. She is a relatively quiet sleeper, but I know that any noise she made that is too quite to be picked up on the monitor, would wake me from the dead in a panic if she was in our room. I think we would sleep less and worry more often. I am not going to lie though, there are times when I leave the video monitor on and just stare at her for several minutes to gain comfort that she is ok, but it is going really well so far and I hope we can keep it up.

As for feeding, other than the waking to feed and worring that she is not getting enough, it is like night and day from a week ago. A week ago, I was still using the shield. I decided one day that we just needed to wean off of it because I knew she wasn't nursing as efficeintly as she would be if we didn't use it. It was not as hard as I thought. And everyday, I am getting better at the different positions to feed her in. It seemed so hard at first and I thought I would never catch on, but we are doing good. I was literally at my wits end and ready to just start pumping to feed her, but now I am getting a good routine down. Night time feedings are hard. I have to wake her up if she is asleep and we literally try everything to try and make sure she gets a full feed in. I undress her, rub her feet, her back, her hair. I try and burp her or change her, and have even used a cool cloth, but she sleeps like the dead. It sometimes takes me an hour just to get her to nurse for 15 mins. The ped said as long as she gains her weight back at the next appointment, we will no longer have to wake to feed. I am sure by that time, she will up all night instead of sleeping. Kidding (I hope!). What I do know is, she seems to be eating much more efficiently now. It would take her over an hour to eat before and now she is down to about 15-25 mins.

I feel so much better. Last week, I couldn't get off the couch and all I could think was I would never be able to do this by myself when Zig goes back to work. Slowly I try and do more by myself. I getting pretty good at doing things one handed now. I also got some reference books to help ease my mind. I still worry a lot and I honestly don't think that will go away any time soon, but it has gotten better. Physically, I feel great. Even though I am getting up every couple of hours, it is almost like I am used to the broken sleep since I was getting up to pee a hundred times a night before anyway. I let Zig sleep through the night feedings, mainly because there is nothing he can do. I wake up, start to feed her, if she falls asleep I change her, and then try and feed her again. It doesn't make sense to wake him up in the middle of her feeding when I am capable of changing her myself.

Let's talk Zig. He is amazing. He has been so helpful and supportive. I was really emotional the first few days home and he was so good at comforting me and easing my mind. And he makes a mean sandwich. :) I let him sleep at night and he helps me so much during the day. He watches the baby while I shower and get ready and makes sure I am eating enough and nutriously. I love him more and more every day.

I am looking forward to next week now. I am sad that Zig has to go back to work Monday, but so excited because my sister is coming into town on Wednesday for an entire week. It will be so good to spend that time with her, since she won't be here for Christmas this year. This is the first year I have not spent the holiday with her and I am so sad about that. I am already counting down the days till next Christmas.

Sorry for the long posts. Ok so here are some pictures from the last week. I still haven't gotten them off of my fancy camera, so the quality isn't great because the are from my phone. Enjoy!

Emily is 1 week 2 days old.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

She's here!

Emily Alice was born on Saturday morning at 10:25. She weighed 6 lbs 12 oz and is 19 3/4 inches long. We are so in love with her already!

She is asleep now so I just wanted to post a blog update. Sorry, this is going to be long. I was not feeling too great on Thanksgiving, still having tons of back pain. We went to my aunts house for our annual Turkey Day celebration and after eating I was so exhausted that I just layed on my Aunt's couch and am a little sad I didn't get to socialize with my cousins who were in from out of town. I was just exhausted. Anyway, after that we went to Mom and Roberts and again, all I really was up for was laying of the couch, but I did get to have a nice visit with Zig's sister and our cousin Alice. Later that night we went to bed. My back pain was starting to get worse as the night went on. I woke up several times, trying to adjust and get comfortable, to no avail. I finally woke up Zig around 7 friday morning (Due date day!) and we started to time them because at that point they were moving into my lower abdomen. They weren't really timeable, so we decided to go to breakfast with my Family. Little did I know, that would be my last meal pregnant. I am so glad I ordered the pancakes. ;) I was still in a lot of pain all through breakfast and afterwards we went to my moms to just relax and watch movies. Throughout the movies, my contractions started to get closer together, coming ever 5-6 minutes and lasting over a minute. They did hurt really bad and several times made me cry, but looking back, they weren't as bad as I had always thought they would be. Fast forward a few hours and I was in pain and just not feeling myself. We left my moms around 4 and went straight to the hospital. I had been putting it off because I didn't want to be sent home. We got there and they checked us into triage. I was 4 cm and 80% effaced. My contractions were now consistently 5 mins apart and lasting a minute. They admitted us and around 7:30 I got my epidural. HEAVEN. Seriously. I had no pain from that point on until delivery. Our families are such troopers...Everyone waited around for several hours and our parents even spent the night in the waiting room. At one point we had 12 people in the waiting room. Thinking about it now makes me so emotional. I love that they were all there and that everyone was so excited even though it would be SEVERAL hours before Emily actually came. Everyone thought for sure that she would be there before midnight..my due date and grandmothers birthday. Around 11:00 the doctor came in and checked my dilation again and I had only progressed to 5 cm so she broke my water. I was so glad for the epi, because it allowed both Zig and I to get some sleep. Fast forward to 6:30am on Saturday and I was ready to push. At one pint during the night my oxygen levels had dropped and I had to get oxygen, which totally dried out my throat. Since I have asthma, they ordered me an inhaler, which took almost 2 hours to come. I was really excited though because my doctor started her shift at 7, which meant she was going to deliver me. I started pushing around 9:00 and little Emily was here at 10:25. During that time, I wasn't able to feel my contractions because of the epi, which made pushing difficult, so they decided to give me pitocin and turn of the epi for a short time. That short time made a ton of difference (even though it was only 5 mins or so) because I was in some pretty bad pain towards the end of the pushing. I was super emotional and honestly I don't handle pain well. Zig is such a trooper. He was so encouraging and supportive. I feel bad because I know there were a couple of times I told him to stop touching me. When I am in pain, I just want to be left alone, but he still stood there and took my crap and I love him so so much for all he had done over the last few days. Again, I am so lucky. Some time during the night I also started to run a low grade fever. They gave me some tylenol to try and bring it down before delivery, but it was still there when Emily was born. Here is where it got crazy. Since I had a fever they were worried that I had an infection and that I passed it to Emily. This required her to be taken to the NICU for a mandatory 48 hour stay. I was so crushed. I was still in a lot of pain and I had a 2nd degree tear. After Emily came, they immediately put her on my chest and I held her and Zig and I both cried. It was really amazing, but then we found out that they were going to take her, about my possible infection, I wasn't clotting so I required a huge shot in my thigh and all the while there were nurses everywhere trying to tell me what was going to happen next. It was too much. I felt like I couldn't really enjoy the moment and I was super emotional. Everything is better now. We both were put on antibiotics and Emily was monitored 1 floor down from where we were. This made feeding very challenging. We were called every couple of hours to go downstairs to feed her (which was and is a huge challenge all in itself). I am a little sad it turned out to be that way, but I am so so glad that Emily was being closly monitored and didn't show any signs of infection. I have to say, I am very very happy with Pres. All our nurses were AMAZING. The NICU people are the most incredible people I have ever met. That made the very difficult experience so much better.

Anyway, we are all home now. We were discharged Monday afternoon and are enjoying our time as a new family.

So how do I feel? Like I got hit by a truck. I am still in a ton of pain, and was told I may not feel "normal" for several months because of the tear. I take each day at a time. I am super emotional too, but I am sure it has something to do with the change in hormones and the fact that I feel like I have NO clue of what I am doing and just praying I am doing the right thing. I told myself during the pregnancy that I wsn't going to read a book because what works fro one person, may not work for everyone and I didn't want to get too caught up in one person's opinion and that I wouldn't get too worked up if things didn't go as planned. I kind of regret that now, but am lucky because I have lots of people I can turn to with questions. I feel SO paranoid all the time though. I worry that I am not feeding her enough and that something that I am doing could hurt her. My milk came in on Monday, but we are still having some latch issues. The pediatrician told us to look for 4-6 very wet diapers a day and 1-2 poopie ones. It seems like she is only having the poopie ones, which sends me into panic mode since it is not the norm. I think I am driving Zig crazy, but I can't help it. As we all know from this whole pregnancy, I am a huge worrier. I am amazed at how well my body has tried to bounce back. With in the first 2 days my uterus had almost completly retracted down and my tummy, while very jiggly is started to really go back to the way it was. It may never be exactly the same, but I was worried I would have giant gut that would just hang there. It is amazing what a women's body can go through and its ability to recover. I am just taking each day at a time.

Anyway, I know this is super long. I wanted to write it all out more so that I would be able to remember it all, but to share my experience with all of you. I love my daughter so so much. Just thinking about her brings tears to my eyes. She is absolutely perfect! Keep checking back for update. I know I never really posted my 39-40 week update. Maybe if I feel brave, I will post those pictures, plus my 1 week post partum ones. People always seem interested in that. I know I was when I was pregnant. And you can expect tons and tons of pictures of our little bit. Here is one for now. She is only 2 days old here. Many many more to come and we now embark on being parents. Tomorrow I will try and post on how things have been going since we have been home.