Thoughts from a New Mom

Last week, while I would be driving around with Zoe, running errands and seeing people, the radio station I keep on in the car, Mix 98.5 (yeah, hold the commentary, I know what some of you think of that station!) was having a radiothon for Children's Hospital in Boston. They call it Mix Cares for Kids. While listening to the radio, you'd hear remixes of songs that had stories from kids, parents, and other family and friends of those who are at Children's or have been patients there. There were all kinds of things that were encouraging, exciting, heart wrenching, and downright depressing.

If you know me, you know how sappy a person I can get when I hear that kind of thing. I always have...however it was so much more now that Zoe has come into my life. I would look at her by way of the mirror and be so thankful for what I have. I look at her now, thinking about what I'm writing, with her snoozing in her jungle swing, so peaceful and content, and just think, "wow, I'm so freakin' lucky." I hope we never need to use Children's Hospital, but if we do, I'm so glad it's there. I'm so glad it's nearby, it's easy to get to, and that the doctors, nurses and other people do what they do. I'm so happy that Zoe is a happy and healthy six and a half week old baby, with no signs of anything wrong with her. I am so happy to know that she is my daughter, that she was brought into a happy, healthy, loving family, to two parents who are so head over heals in love with her, they don't know how lucky they got....we definitely feel blessed and very lucky.

I could go on and on about this...I don't write this to be a sad post, I write this to celebrate the good we have. We didn't find out about Zoe until we were almost done the first trimester. In that time, I went through my normal coffee drinking, wine drinking, and taking the medication I had been on. Thankfully, the medication I was on was not a high dose, and not anything I needed to be on...but it was still a concern for a first time mom. I didn't drink gallons of coffee OR wine, so that wasn't a concern..but I still worried. I think it's only natural to do so. Of course, everything is ALL right. Everything is NORMAL. She is perfect in every single way. This is why I feel so very lucky. Zoe was not planned. She was not expected. But, she is the best thing that has happened to us and we wouldn't change the course of events for anything in the world.

Zoe is a smart baby, she's reaching all of her milestones, she's doing all the right things, and she is loved by everyone who comes into contact with her. She has this uncanny ability to have those who you wouldn't expect to fall in love with her...to fall head over heals for her in a way that I don't think anyone would expect. She's a doll, she's our little angel, and our perfect little love bug.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say, I'm so happy for what I have, for what is available to us, and hope we never need to use those resources that are available. If we do, though, I know we're going to get the best care in the area at Children's Hospital...to those who work there, THANK YOU. To those who've used it, I'm so glad it was there for you. And to those who don't need it, hug your children just a little bit closer. Love them just a little bit more. And, kiss them just a little bit more. I know that's what I've been doing with Zoe.

Snapshots of Zoe's new skills!

By the way, the previous blog has been updated with lots of photos! Enjoy!!

Zoe's first bottle with Daddy. What a good little girl she is!

Hugging Mommy! No, we didn't pose her! :)

Daddy and his two girls! Peanut's grown quite fond of the Boppy. We usually have to push her off so Zoe can use it!

Tummy Time! Look at her lifting her head! Zoe doesn't really like it on her Boppy. Mommy and she like to do it on Mommy's chest. It's much more fun that way! She's getting stronger and bigger every day. We're so proud of her!

6 Weeks Old Today!

I promise, as soon as Noah uploads pictures and resizes them, I'll put them up. We have lots of new pictures to show the new things that Zoe is doing.

Zoe is now grabbing at things and smiling up a storm. She's starting to coo and talk, and we have lots of little 'conversations' during the day...she says some pretty important stuff if you just listen hard enough!! Yesterday, after her bath, Zoe was in her bassinet just hanging out. She had just gotten dressed, and Mommy and Daddy needed to clean up. Daddy looks in, and she has a rattle around her arm! How she did that, we don't know, but we DID get a picture...She doesn't really know what to do with rattles yet on her own, but with Mommy and Daddy's help, she's able to shake them!

Speaking of, Zoe is now tracking by sight and sound. She's our little genius! She's also rolling onto her side if we put her down on her back and she's awake. She's been doing this awhile, but now it seems like it might lead into a full blown roll-over soon!!

Sunday, Zoe had her first Easter. She spent it with Mommy's side of the family. Grampa hid eggs filled with sour jelly beans (Daddy loved that!!), and Auntie J helped her find them. She wore a very cute button outfit with bunnies on her feet and a bunny tail on her bum. She was quite worn out at the end of the day....

Before that, we had St Patty's Day. Zoe had a cute t-shirt from her Grandma B, and just looked snazzy, as usual.

Zoe has also had a couple of *real* baths, now that her belly button has completely, totally healed. She really doesn't mind the bath!! Daddy got a LOT of pictures of her enjoying, and then not enjoying, her bath. Most are not meant for public viewing, but we'll post a couple that are.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a carrier for Zoe and Mommy. This will help Mommy be able to keep Zoe close (she just loves to be cuddled all day!!) but still be able to do things around the house! Mommy never realized how hard it'd be just to empty the dishwasher with a little baby in her arms!!

Updated 3/28: Here's a picture of Zoe with her Grand-Memere (Mommy's Memere, Grandmother for those who aren't in the know). This is the woman from who Zoe got her middle name. We feel very lucky to be able to get a picture of the two of them together.

Milestones and other madness!

Yesterday was Grandma D's birthday. Zoe got to meet her Grandma's friends M and B, and she spent a lot of time hanging with Uncle J.



I thought I'd write some of the milestones Zoe's accomplished recently. About a week ago, she started grabbing at things, like my hair and my shirt. She also started tracking things with her eyes about the same time. How exciting! Her attention span has been getting longer and longer, too.



Tuesday, we went and got her a fun swing. Zoe didn't know what to do with it at first, but she's starting to nap in it, much to Mommy's happiness!! She likes to look at the tree frog that hangs in front of her when she's in there. She likes it on the lowest setting as well...that just conks her out!



Sunday, now that was an eventful day. She had her first official bath (sponge baths to this point). She liked it, until she didn't. If we had stopped it a little sooner, there wouldn't have been tears at all. Zoe didn't even mind having water poured over her head! She also had her first bottle from Daddy. Unfortunately, milk comes out of that a LOT faster than she's used to, so we have to practice that slowly with her.



Wednesday, Mommy started seeing a glimmer of a smile from Zoe. And, then, on Thursday morning, Mommy went to get her out of her crib, and there was a big goofy grin! No, it wasn't gas. It was a different smile than a gas one. Her eyes lit up! She did this twice, and then almost did it for Daddy right after. Later in the day, she did it again! Mommy was VERY excited. She's going to try to get it on camera, but it's SOO hard to time it right! She'll do the best she can!!

Zoe's already starting to hold her head a little more than before. It's great to see her get stronger every day! We're so proud of our girl!!

1 Month Doctor's Appointment

Our 'little' Zoe is getting big! The doctor is very pleased with how she's doing....she even gave him a couple of surprises--one in her diaper and one on the exam table! That's our Zoe!

Okay a recap of stats: At birth, Zoe was 8lbs 3oz, got as low as 7lbs 8oz. She was also 20 inches long. At her one week appointment, she was 8lbs 7oz and 20 3/4 inches long. Her head circumference was 36.5cm as well. Today, she measured at a WHOPPING 9lbs 13oz, 22 inches, and a head circumference of 38.2cm! WOW!

When you compare her to other infants her age, this means that she is STILL in the 75th percentile with her height, but dropped from the 75th percentile to just over the 50th percentile in her weight. Don't worry, because she's still well in the average range, the doctor is not concerned at all.

What a good girl we have!! :)

Weekly Update

As I sit here, I have Peanut on my arm rest watching Zoe very protectively, Zoe crashed out on her boppy, white pjs with pink and green polka dots on and her pink 3 eyed monster that Uncle G gave her next to her. Daddy is busy playing a video game...it's quite a sight for a Saturday morning.



Anyway, this week was eventful for Miss Z. Wednesday, Zoe went to visit Mommy's school for the first time. Of course, she was a hit. The teachers loved her, the administrators, secretaries, and even the kids loved little Zoe. We didn't get to see everyone, but I'm sure we'll be back to the school soon enough to see some more of Mommy's work friends.

Thursday, Zoe went shopping with Mommy. We went to the post office to get stamps and mail out the announcements (hopefully you've gotten yours by now!!), to Marshall's to just nose around, and then to the grocery store. I don't think I need to repeat how GOOD she was.

Friday, Zoe and Mommy took a well-deserved nap before heading out to visit with Grandma C's work friends. We went to Grandma's school, and looked around, saw all of her work friends, and even met a former student of Grandma's!! It was really fun to see where Mommy went to first and second grade...lots of changes since she was there!!!

After that visit, Mommy and Grandma C took Zoe to meet her Grand-memere, who her middle name comes from, in the nursing home. Unfortunately Zoe was not much of a conversationalist, but we were able to introduce them, and even got a couple of pictures. When I get them uploaded, I'll be sure to post them.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa C's house and spent some time with them. Grandpa C couldn't resist showing her off to the neighbors, and I heard she was very good! Zoe enjoyed spending time with her grandparents, looking around, getting tickled by Grandpa C, and even getting checked out by their cat, Sadie. Grandpa even learned how to open and close the stroller, put the car seat in the stroller and the car, and how to buckle her in. Good news for when they do the eventual baby-sitting gig!! :)

Today, we have a shopping trip with Auntie J. She needs help with her registry, and Zoe is going to help her figure out the best and latest in baby gear. What a good girl she is!!

New pictures--Mommy's favorites of this batch

I won't share with you all of the pictures. If you've been getting the emails for the link to snapfish, then you've seen them. If you haven't, and want to, then just email Mommy or Daddy, and we'd be happy to send you that link! :)

But, here are my favorites from this batch. Of course, it's hard to choose just a few, but I'll do my best!

This is our comatose kid...right after she eats, this is what Zoe looks like. I wish I were that relaxed!!



This is, by far, one of my favorite pictures. She just had a sponge bath, and decided that she needed to pose. Look at that hair. Believe it or not, she does enjoy her sponge baths! I've also decided that this is a picture in the running for her yearbook when they come looking for baby pictures!! I'm an evil mommy, I know.

This is her best impression of Mother Theresa. This is right after the funny picture from above. My expressive genius!!

And the "Caron Lip"...That's my girl!!

Long time no post!

It has been awhile since Mommy has posted. That does not mean that Zoe has been sitting pretty doing nothing, though!! She's been a busy lady. There are pictures to post (Daddy finally uploaded them), she's been on visits, and visited by others.

Mommy forgot to tell about Zoe's visit to Daddy's work! On the Friday we went to Mohegan Sun, Mommy and Zoe went to visit Daddy at WSI. He showed Zoe off to all of the people at work. We met his new boss, some of the other people on his team, and lots of other ladies at work. Of course, Zoe was wonderful and a hit at the scene! :)

Now, to catch up on things from the last post! If I forget something, forgive me...Momnesia has officially set in.

On Wednesday, Zoe was visited by her cousin Taylor, his Mommy and his aunt. We all had lunch, and played a little bit.
As you can see, Taylor was a little more excited about Zoe than she was of him! It's hard to believe that they're about 14 months apart!!

Saturday, Zoe's Uncle and Auntie Js came over. She got a new outfit for the summer, her first set of capris, and her Auntie and Uncle spent a lot of time just holding her, talking to her and playing with her. After, the adults had pizza while Zoe allowed them to (she rested in her bassinet!!). A lot of fun!

Sunday, Zoe's older cousin, A and her Mommy, Zoe's auntie B, came down from Syracuse to visit. Zoe's Grandpa B brought them, and they were in utter awe over Zoe (as if anything else was possible, right??). They held her, played with her, and just spent time with everyone. It was nice for Mommy and Daddy to see B and A, since they hadn't seen them since August.

Monday, Zoe and Mommy went to lunch with Auntie D and Grandma B. We all went to Not Your Average Joe's for lunch, and then we walked over to the Gap and Old Navy. Of course, Grandma B couldn't hold back and got Zoe some of the latest in fashion, including her very first bathing suit. She got a two piece. The top looks like a t-shirt with a flamingo on it. It looks very VERY cute, and Mommy can't wait to take her swimming in it!

Currently, Mommy is making plans to take this social butterfly to school and bring Zoe to Grandma C's school, visit her Grand-Memere (Great Grandmother who Zoe got her middle name from!), and her Mommy's aunt, uncle, cousin, and his family! She's a busy little lady!!

Mommy will work on getting the latest pictures posted. It's time for Zoe's lunch!

"From Pinky to Binky"

said her Daddy. Zoe had a difficult day...very fussy, did NOT sleep very much yesterday, and just had a tough day. I think she was just overstimulated from the weekend. Such is life. Daddy and Mommy broke down and gave her a binky...a paci..whatever you want to call it. Zoe didn't really know what to think of it at first, but did take to it, and has been sucking away with it. It has definitely helped her calm down, and when she's done with it, she spits it out. So now, Mommy and Daddy have their fingers back! :)

For anyone who cares, we introduced a MAM paci first, and we have ortho something or other ones that we're going to try after. Mommy doesn't think she'll have a problem with either, but you never know! :) Also, we're going to hold off on the bottles for another week or so. I'm sure she'll take those just as well!! Then Daddy can help feed her, and even get up with her on those 4am feedings!

BTW, there are many more pictures that Mommy will post later. Daddy has taken on the job of uploading the pictures, shrinking them to useable sizes, and flipping the horizontal ones into vertical when they need to be...oh and putting them on the house server (if that's the word??) so Mommy can use them. She could do it, but it takes so long, and it's easier for Daddy to do it! :) So, when he does that, we'll have more pictures to show how much she's changed in less than three weeks!!

What a showoff!

This weekend was a weekend of firsts...Zoe's first sleep over at Grandma D's house, meeting dogs for the first time (Roxy and Josie were fabulous, by the way), first long trip, first time in a casino (Mohegan Sun), first birthday party (Uncle J), and first time she had to eat in public! Zoe did a wonderful job, wished her Uncle J a wonderful 30th birthday, and showed off her beautiful Winnie the Pooh dress with the faux fur jacket and too long tights...she was gorgeous, as you can see! All of the people there could not get enough of her. They were impressed with how good she was, how beautiful she was, and that HAIR!! It was hard--it was loud, there were a lot of people, and she had to just look beautiful. Mommy and Daddy were so impressed with how she was. Zoe did appreciate some quiet time in Grandma D's room to get changed and rest before we took off to go back home to Plymouth.

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!

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.

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.

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!!

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!!

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!

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!

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.