Friday, February 29, 2008

Belle of the Ball...er, Mall :)

Zoe was a hit at the mall again yesterday. Zoe, Mommy, and Gramma C went to the mall and Zoe attracted attention from the little old ladies (and others, too!) everywhere she went. She went to her first restaurant (Ruby Tuesday), and learned the way of shopping those discount racks at Macy's with her thrifty Mommy and Gramma. She helped Mommy pick out a shirt for Zoe's Uncle J's 30th birthday this weekend, and she was able to talk Gramma into getting her an outfit for spring time. She also helped pick out an outfit or two for her cousin J, who is coming the end of June/beginning of July.

I see more trips to the mall in the future! She had a ball!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Picture link

www.smilesbywire.com

Customer's name is Mommy's first and last name (caps for the first letters of each name)
Access code is LTP60301087012JCP. Just copy and paste the code into the space.

Hopefully that will work!

I think that'll work. These are the JC Penney pics! I can't remember which ones we ordered. I'll update when I figure that out.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Surprise gift!

And we don't know who sent them! We got stationary from Expressionary.com today, and they're personalized with Zoe's complete name. We would like to give someone the proper thank you, but there was no shipping receipt or a name on the envelope...

Here is a link to show you what the cards look like: http://expressionery.com/product.aspx?lineid=11&productid=1349

We know it can't be random...The ladybugs make it impossible for us to think that it's a random thing!

Please, if you sent this or you know who did, please let us know! We'd like to thank you!!

****UPDATE**** Grandma D--THANK YOU for the notecards. They are adorable. :)

Latest happenings!

It's been a few days, but that doesn't mean that Zoe was just sitting pretty doing nothing! :) She's had more visitors. Sunday, Grampa and Gramma C came to visit, playing with her and then treating Mommy and Daddy to pizza. We've found that she definitely has some "C" side of her...her Grampa naps the same way as Zoe!! :) Of course, as soon as he ate, he perked up quite a bit--just like Zoe!

Then, Grandma D and Uncle G came over on Monday with Chinese for us. On top of that, Daddy's friend, J, came over too. Again, more cuddling and playing abound!

Monday was also a day of gifts. Zoe received more gifts in the mail, from family and from friends. A big thank you to all of you who send/bring gifts to Zoe. It's amazing how many clothes a little baby can get, but also, how DIFFERENT they all are! Mommy and Daddy really appreciate all of the things people keep bringing for Mommy, Daddy, and Zoe.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Lots of Visitors Today!

Zoe had a lot of visitors today. She was finally able to meet two of Mommy's good friends, C and V. C brought her two girls, G and A, over for lunch and a visit. The girls ate bagels while Mommy, Daddy, and C ate sandwiches--all from Panera. The girls were a little shy, but had fun. C held Zoe for quite awhile and just couldn't stop talking about how beautiful she was. Of course, right? At the end, G did decide that she wanted to hold Zoe. We grabbed the Boppy, wrapped it around that skinny little 5 year old's body, and then C put Zoe right on the pillow with G putting her arms around her. When I get permission, I will post a picture of Zoe and G. Until then, you're just going to have to see it when we pass pictures around!

Then, a couple of hours later, V came over with her husband P and sons N and J. There is definitely a difference in how boys and girls are. The girls G and A are 5 and 3 respectively...N and J are 5 and 16 months respectively. The girls were quiet, sat on the couch, and talked with us. The boys...well, let's just say, they were able to demonstrate that our house is not toddler proofed! They are active young men!! V and P both held Zoe, with P commenting many times how tiny she was. Compared to J when he was born, she IS tiny! J was 9lbs 4oz when he was born!! While it was a much more active visit than the one with the girls, Zoe was VERY alert and good through the entire visit. I didn't get any pictures of this visit...I wish I had, but we had to hide the camera from the boys!!

Zoe had a very good day...at one point, Daddy went out and made some purchases at Target. She and Mommy had some good quality alone time. I can't share with you our talks, but they were very special! :) Then, when we discovered that one of the purchases didn't make it into the bag, Mommy went back to Target to get it. Daddy and Zoe had some very good alone time. I don't know what they did, but she was sleeping when I left, and she was sleeping when I got back. It was so weird for Mommy, as it was her first outing without Zoe, and her first time driving since Zoe was born!!

Tomorrow, we are looking forward to a visit with Grampa and Gramma C. Exciting times continue!!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

First Doctor's Visit!

It was a success. Our little Zoe was a perfect patient. She didn't cry or fuss, even when getting nekkid! What a great little girl!! The ladies in the doctor's office just oohed and ahhed over her (this is becoming a broken record, huh??). The doctor liked her progress in her first week of life.

We had been wondering how much she was eating, and if she was eating enough. Breastfeeding, you can't always know how much they are getting in...you can only measure it in diapers. However, we were very pleased with what we learned at the doctor's office! Officially, she is now 20 3/4 inches long, a whopping 8lbs 7oz, and her head circumference is 36.5cm. All of those measurements are in the 75th percentile. What a great little eater she is!! :)

So, stats so far:
Born: 8lbs 3oz, 20 inches
Discharge from hospital: 7lbs 10oz
Nurse's visit the next day: 7lbs 8oz
Week 1 drs appointment: 8lbs 7oz, 20 3/4 inches

Just to compare with what's in the "average", it can take breastfed babies a couple of weeks to regain the weight they lose from the hospital...Zoe has surpassed this in one week! I guess she's eating enough!!

Adventures at the Mall

Zoe's first trip out of the house since we got home was to the mall. We went to get pictures taken at JC Penney. Even with the appointment pushed back because the person ahead of us took forEVER to pick her pictures for her baby, Zoe did phenomenal as a model. She was dressed up in a cute Winnie the Pooh jumper that Noah had picked out--brown jumper and flowered turtle neck. She wore some tights with Maryjanes printed on the feet, complete with a little ribbon where the buckle would be. She was making quite the fashion statement.

Because we had time to kill before the appointment, we went to Sears to return something and then got her a new outfit set and socks. We walked around the mall, too. Throughout this excursion, Zoe caught the attention of many strangers who stopped and looked at her, and a few of them even asked about her. She's quite the attention grabber!

During the picture taking, she was getting hungry...remember, we had to wait a lot longer than we wanted because of the person ahead of us. She was good. She got into the poses that the photographer wanted, looked as beautiful as always, and didn't fuss too much. We picked two different poses that we think you'll all find beautiful. We spent a little extra money to get a web link so that if people want to order prints and other things, they can. When that's available, I'll be sure to post it.

After we got home, her Daddy's good friend, N, came over with dinner for Mommy and Daddy. She was a hit, again, and insisted on being the center of attention. A good time was had by all.

Today, she has her one week appointment with the pediatrician. It'll be exciting to see how much she's grown since she came home. She's been eating like a champ, so we expect that she's gained some weight since the nurse's home visit on Sunday (Zoe weighed in at 7lbs 8oz). Then, her Grandma D is coming up...another exciting day planned!!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Family Visits

Today, we had an eventful day, and Zoe was welcoming everyone as only she knows right now...sleeping and looking as adorable as ever.

First, her Grampa C came over with food for Mommy and Daddy to help us with these first days home. He makes some good food, so it's great to get that from him. We'll be enjoying meatloaf, chicken, and pork loin, as well as Creme Brule! YUM. He spent a lot of time cuddling with Zoe in her pjs and talking with Mommy and Daddy...She had lots of fun, but wasn't much of a conversationalist! After, she spent some quiet girl time with Mommy before her next visit.




Then, her Uncle G, Auntie D, and Grandpa and Grandma B came up and had a nice visit with us. They brought us some groceries, lunch, and spaghetti and homemade meatballs (thanks Uncle J), some diapers, wipes, burp cloths and bassinet sheets, a stuffed animal, and some onesies...Everyone got to hold her and ooh and ahh over her and her cute outfit. Pictures will be uploaded soon and I'll add them to the post. Zoe did look quite dapper in her white sweatsuit, green onesie, and green socks. She had her matching cap on for most of the time, but it kept sliding off. What a cutie!! Lots of pictures were taken. Lots of conversation was around talking about Zoe, to Zoe, and with her. She had such a good time, she just had to sit back and listen as relaxed as she knows--SLEEPING! She was so relaxed sitting with Uncle G that Mommy had a hard time getting her to wake up to eat her dinner!


At this point, Zoe is sleeping in her Boppy. She had so much fun that she just can't stay awake. Here's hoping she'll wake up so Mommy and she will get more sleep later tonight!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

The story :)

Well, if you've read the second entry, you know how this story started...we did not have a scheduled c-section. Now that we're home, I'm glad I don't have that kind of recovery...it would have been so much more difficult on everyone. This way, I can still move around and attend to Zoe, but I'm so much less limited in what I can do. I'm not pushing it...if you come to the house any time soon, don't expect the most put together house on the street. I know we weren't perfect before, but this is going to be even less! Plus, who cares about a messy house when you have a perfect angel like Zoe.

Well, we had our doctor's appointment on 2/7 so that the doctor could check my blood pressure, and then see where I was in the realm of things for a natural birth. This was the only appointment that Noah missed, as he needed to be at work as much as possible knowing that we were really working on an unknown at this point. He did, of course, confuse the heck out of his co-workers who didn't know what happened! Anyway, at the drs appointment, my BP was back into the normal range. The dr who examined me wanted to schedule an induction. I just wanted her to be there, so I didn't really question it or push it. She said that if I didn't go on my own over the weekend, then I would need to schedule another drs appointment for Tuesday or Wednesday, and then go into the hospital Wednesday night to begin an induction, for delivery most likely on Thursday. Little did I realize that it was Valentine's Day!!

We went through the weekend, thinking that every twinge and thing I experienced COULD have been labor, but it wasn't...Noah and I went to the drs appointment on Wednesday, and the dr did determine that I needed to be in the hospital that night to begin the induction. I went home, made dinner, talked to some people to let them know what was going on, emailed others, and made dinner, while Noah finished things up at work and came home. We ate and went on our way!

At the hospital, we were settled into a room in Labor and Delivery, and then I was given an IV of saline and the medication to begin labor, Cervadil. It's meant to get the body ready for the rest of the labor experience. It kicked some regular contractions into gear and I didn't get a lot of sleep that night. The next morning, at 6am, I got the Pitocin to really get things going. Those contractions were VERY hard. They gave me an epidural when I was a cm smaller than they normally do, so I could rest before I had to force Zoe into this world. :) I was able to sleep for two hours, and when I woke up, Zoe was ready to come into this world. With about 20 minutes of pushing, she made her grand entrance in FINE fashion!

As all parents do, the first noise they want to hear is the baby's cry when they're born. Zoe had literally JUST been born when she started crying. It was an amazing experience, one that is so hard to put into words. Suddenly, everything that I had gone through physically in the last few months hardly seemed worth anything other than this little girl. The dr put her on a towel on my belly, and immediately, she peed on her mama. I counted her fingers, counted her toes, and just fell in love with the slimy, wiggly, loud little baby that I could now call my DAUGHTER. Noah was crying, I was in awe, and we just didn't know what to do with ourselves. The nurse told Noah to snap some pictures, and he did. Then she took the baby over to clean her up. Watching Noah with her, I instantly knew the real reason why I fell in love with him...it was watching him with her and how in love he fell with her, cared for her, and would not leave her. It was a beautiful moment.

This was also where we learned that our "little" girl was 8lbs 3oz (we found out she was 20 inches long after the trip to the nursery). We also noticed how BIG her feet were!

There were many comical moments and things said. Maybe one of us will post them in a separate entray another time. :) This is not that time!

After everything was cleaned up and the room was put back together, Noah was just standing there with the baby, and the nurse went to let everyone into the room. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, who was there fell in love instantly. Everyone was just taken by how beautiful, alert, and cute she is. She was so alert, moving her big blue eyes around to take in all of the details of the moment. Pictures were taken, people talked, laughed, oohed, and awed. Phone calls were made, and tears were shed.

It was a very eventful day. The stay at the hospital was eventful, with all the people from the hospital who needed to see us, from the nurses to the drs, to the social workers and financial office people. Everyone who met us was more than gracious, congratulatory, and friendly. Noah and I were so impressed with everyone who helped us with making our first baby's birth a very enjoyable experience! The staff at Lawrence General Hospital were great. The nurses kept commenting on how good Zoe was for them when they would take her, she would be the one who would wasn't crying when there was a group of babies to be examined, and how well she did on all of her tests and procedures. That's our Zoe, perfect in every way.

Since coming home, it's been an adjustment to doing it in a hospital with the doctors, nurses, and lactation consultants, to doing it at home with just Noah and me and Zoe. She has her nights and days a bit confused, but we're going to get that straightened out.

I would like to thank EVERYONE for the help that they've given, the food they've brought, and the support they've offered. It's been great, and we all appreciate it. I would also like to thank Noah for all of the support and help he's been for me. In the hospital, he made sure that I always had water whenever I needed it, I didn't get up and move around needlessly, and that anytime Zoe needed her diaper changed, he did it. He also paged for nurses or a lactation consultant when we needed it, was so calm during everything, and made sure that both Zoe's and my needs were met at any time. He worked so hard, he was aching at the end of the day! It made me fall in love with him all over again. Then, watching Noah with Zoe, in their private times--well, let's just say I'm going to have to watch that they don't gang up on me later!! She's got her daddy wrapped around her little finger already!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Home again, home again, jiggity jig



She's here! We got home from the hospital about 2 hours ago with baby Zoe in tow. She arrived at 12:43pm on Thursday, February 14th. That's right, Valentine's Day! Obviously there's more to come, but I wanted to post these first few pictures and let everyone know that we are home. She's a little miracle. I thought I knew what love was before I met her; boy, was I wrong.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Alas, it wasn't meant to be...

Zoe was supposed to come into the world today. We had scheduled a c-section for today, and Dr. Davidson came in to do an ultrasound to check her positioning. He wanted to make sure she still was breech...well, wouldn't you know, the little bugger had turned! She is now head down and it's a waiting game. We had the c-section cancelled, and we now have to wait until she's ready to come into the world.

As her parents, we were disappointed because we really wanted to meet our little daughter today. We wanted to meet her, hold her, and kiss her. But, we understand that this is for the best. We need to make sure she is healthy, and waiting for her to be ready to come out is the best way...the natural way.

I do have a drs appointment tomorrow because my BP was high. The dr wants to make sure that it wasn't high for any other reason other than the stress of the day. We'll see what happens! :)

Sunday, February 3, 2008

First post!

Noah and I have decided to start this blog to chronicle our daughter as she grows. She will be born via c-section on February 6, 2008. Our daughter already has quite the personality. She is breech, and just does NOT want to move from that position. I'm sure she just wants to make sure that she is given full control of the situation. She moves around a lot in my belly...moving and making waves. She kicks her dad when he touches her, and moves around when he tries to talk to her. She likes her sweets, and is particularly fond of orange juice. She also thinks that when it's time for bed, it means it's time for HER to dance and play.

We have not told anyone her name yet, and will not be sharing the blog with anyone until after she is born. People have been teasing us about it, but understand why we aren't going to do that. We just don't want anyone to share their comments with us--being a teacher, it was VERY hard to find a name that I couldn't associate with a student, positively or negatively. It was easier for a girl's name than a boy's name, but it is still hard. Noah actually came up with the first name. He really liked the name, and so did I. Then the middle name took a lot longer. We were finally able to narrow it down to two, both family names. Noah didn't want Elizabeth (because he knows so many of us with that as our middle name, his wife included!!). To be honest, we BOTH wanted her to have her own name. I'll talk more about choosing the middle name after she's born.

We're both a bundle of emotions right now. We're anxious to meet our little bundle, excited, nervous, happy, and really looking forward to it. I think I'm happy that I KNOW the day she's coming, instead of wondering about every little twinge and cramp, but it still is nerve wracking waiting, just waiting...My last day of work was Friday, and it was much harder than I thought it'd be knowing I wouldn't be in on Monday. It was emotional for me, not knowing who is coming in to semi-permanently replace me until June, handing over my job, my students, my classroom and all that is in it, to someone I don't know. Knowing that the one assistant I've worked with a lot this year (who has to suddenly move the same time) won't be there is sad as well. The people at school surprised me with two showers, a really nice thing. The sixth grade teachers and then my special education department the next day. We got some nice things for the baby--books, clothes, diapers, lots of things. We are SET.

But I digress...This has been a very emotional time for me, for Noah, for everyone. I'd like to take this time, as I'm sure I'll forget later, to THANK everyone who's been around. I'm sure Noah will agree...everyone has had a hand in helping us in the last many months. Family, friends, co-workers, even strangers, have been more than helpful in making this time easier for us. I won't call people out until I know it's okay to put your name in the blog. But, recently, people have offered their time to help when the baby's born (because I can't drive right away, won't be able to move around much, all that), cooking food for us, getting us those last minute things, making sure this baby has the things that she needs for the cold weather (we ended up with 2 snowsuits!), and anything else we may not have even thought of. Even the gift cards have been immensely helpful. SO, thank you to all of you. Even just letting us talk when we've needed to talk has been wonderful. We feel very very lucky. We have had people we don't even KNOW offer up support and gifts...Thank you all.

We know it will be overwhelming in the beginning. We know that a lot of people are excited for us. We really appreciate it. We know that when we get home, people are going to want to come visit, and we would love to see you. We are going to be in the hospital for four days, and we know that some of you will come to the hospital...that is fine too. Just don't expect me to be the hostess with the mostess! :) I know who you REALLY want to see, anyway!!