We made it a month!

My baby is four weeks old today! :( It is going too fast and she is changing so much. It may not look like it but she looks a lot different. Her head is bigger, she is longer, her hair is lighter, her eyes are lighter, she has developed more, she is almost ready for kindergarten. Ok so the last one is a bit exagerated but not by much. Thank you to all my friends for warning me about the ups and downs of motherhood. I appreciate you preparing me for the rough stuff! No one told me, however, how fast she was going to change. Seriously this week we went to bed and the next morning when I got up she looked so different!! It makes me sad that it's going this fast. I love watching her develop and grow, don't get me wrong, I do want her to flurish, but does it really need to happen so fast? I used to think that people just sat there watching and waiting for the next mile stone their young one would make but now I see you are glad for the mile stones but sad at the same time. Parenting is hard and I just started!!!!!!

Well enough about that. Today my baby is a month old and I am glad that we made it without breaking her! Friday we had our first Parents as Teachers home visit and I must say I am very glad I signed up. Our "teacher" stated that even though Elizabeth is a preemie she is developing beautifully! I tell you what this little bit was deffinately ready to come out because I have heard that ever since she was born. The only thing we are finding difficult is her sleeping which I found out is expected out of premature babies. She will sleep for long periods one night and the next night want to stay up all night. It is getting better because I have just givin in and let her sleep next to me all night. I didn't want to do this at first for fear of smothering her or pushing her off the bed and many other reasons, but I have taken percautions so these things dont happen and she sleeps much better. I can tell this is helping because she usually has some short periods of awake time but this week she has been awake for hours at a time during the day. I love this because then I am also fully awake to stimulate her and teach her things. So hopefully very soon she will be a daywalker not nacturnal!

Every person and every book tells you to get your new baby to sleep well you have to swaddle her. Well even when swaddled this is what happens.



I will swaddle her as tight as I can and she will kick and wiggle untill she has the bottom kicked out, and the top is loose so she can have her feet and hands out. She does not like restrictions. Great!

This is what happens when she is comfy!


She does still like to be snuggled though. She will sleep better if I roll up blankets and just tuck them around her, but still lets me know if its too tight. This is what I get if she is too restricted or uncomfortable.




One of my favorite parts is looking at and kissing those cute little feet of hers. I love those things!! I did find out today though that they have grown. They used to be as long as my thumb when I rested her heel in the nook between my thumb and finger. Now the tip of my thumb comes to the ball of her foot. She's getting so big! They are still super cute and she still makes her funny faces.




Yesterday our niece Emma came over for a visit and decided that she wanted to hold Elizabeth this time. It was so cute to watch them and everytime Elizabeth would wine or start to fuss Emma would put her hands over her ears.




We also got a vibrating chair this week and although it took some getting used to Elizabeth loves it and sleeps amazingly in it. What is it about sleeping in a bassinet where she is suposed to sleep that makes Elizabeth so restless? Well now she is cozy and lovin life!




Well this is my baby and though you may not see it I see her growing super fast. Compare for yourself.
This is one week


And today

It's going too fast!!

My baby is already three weeks old!!!! She is already growing so fast! It kind of makes me sad sometimes to think she is already almost a month. Too fast too fast!! This week we have had a big one! She went to the Dr on Monday for her two week check up and she weighed 6lbs 4oz and was 19inches. She is growing so fast!

We went to Target yesterday and she had her first public melt down. We went to just get a few things so shouldn't take too long. She ate just before we went in so it should be fine. Just inside they had a huge sign stating that they had H1N1 vaccines at the Pharmacy. Since I had missed the last two clinics at the Health department and couldn't get it from my Dr this was our chance! Too bad they weren't actually giving the shots for another hour. When it was our time and Thomas was sitting getting ready for his shot she woke and decided she was hungry and wham! WHAAAAAA!!!!! Finally Thomas was done and it was my turn. I finally got my shot just as Thomas got her calmed and we pulled the partition for the shot area so I could feed her. It is crazy how your breasts are not such a private thing anymore when you hear the heartbreaking cry of your baby wanting food.

This week has also been catch up. All week friends and family have been coming to check on us and see my sweet girl. She has been growing this week so she demands more food which I haven't had. She decided one night that she wanted to eat off and on for almost four hours but I just couldn't comply. The next day Thomas went and got a breast pump because I read that is the fastest way to increase supply so now when she is done empty or not I have been pumping to make more. Luckily this has been helping and I have not had to have a repeat of the other night with her crying and me crying because I couldn't feed her. That was the worst feeling I have ever felt let me tell you!

Well I think that's all for updates now for the pics!

This picture I think is funny. Elizabeth was having some awake time so I was looking for things to read to her on the internet. She decided she didn't like sitting up and wanted to kind of lounge instead. Just like her mama!!


My girl loves to make funny faces. This morning after she ate she decided to stay awake for a while. We sat in bed looking at each other and talking and she made some of the cutest and funniest faces I have ever seen. This one I like to call "too cool for school"


I have no idea what Thomas is looking at but Elizabeth is very surprised by what it is!


Elizabeth goes through phases in the night of not wanting anything to do with her bassinet to being ok with sleeping in her bassinet. The other morning I was trying to get her to go back to sleep after Dad got up so I could get maybe just one more hour of sleep myself. Instead I got kicked out of bed all together. First she decided she was not going to sleep in the bassinet and then she decided she would not sleep with the Boppy next to her at all and I had to cuddle her, then she decided she wanted to sleep on Dad's side of the bed so I just got pushed out.
The first is a pic of her taking over the bed and the second is a pic Thomas took that I forgot to post two weeks ago from our first week when I finally got a nap!





Daddy having some quality time after a diaper change.


These are just some of her cute little faces she makes!




Here are a couple of pics from from today her 3 week pics and I am proud because I finally got a picture of her smiling!!! She is very smiley and does it in her sleep and awake periods. I can't wait til she can tell what I am actually doing and laugh in response. For now I will take the smiles in response to me kissing her.

I'm Too Cool Mom!!

So my sweet baby has decided she is too cool to do a few things. Among these are sleep at night, latch on and eat without fuss, not peeing or pooping on mom, and wearing hats. She is two weeks today and as she did in the womb she is letting me know what she is going to do instead of me letting her know what she is doing. She is becoming rather humerous though. For instance when she needs to poop she farts really big, fills her pants then screams like it was my fault! She has her own language which includes nothing but grunts at different pitches and levels. She has started to smile when she is awake and not just asleep. She smiles when I kiss her forehead sometimes. She has decided that her time to be awake and alert and ready to play is when Mom is ready to go to bed. YAY!!

Well that's about it for our developement. Not much going on around here. We did have an outing with friends. Well it was an outing for us. Since I don't get on the net on a regular basis I missed the memo that our planned dinner with friends was cancelled so we made a suprise arival to our friends the Hortons house last night. It was nice since we haven't gotten out or been able to visit for a while. I had makeup on for the first time since my baby shower three weeks ago and it was nice to feel like a whole person. It felt so good I may put makeup on today!! HA that was funny I thought! We do have our two week Peds visit tomorrow so hopefully everything checks out. I do go to breast feeding support groupe twice a week and get to weigh her and as of Friday she weighed 6lb 1oz so she is doing well.

Well here is what you came for. New pictures! Enjoy.

One Week!!!

Today Elizabeth is one week old!!! It has been a busy week too! I mean she did have to come out of her comfy home into this big bright world. She had test to study for and pass, she had to go from the hospital to her new home, she went to the Dr office for her newborn visit, went trick or treating and had a family visit. Man what a week!!!

She is doing well and getting older but she is still so small!



She had her first Dr appointment on Friday and of course she passed with flying colors. She was in the 2 percentile for weight which sounds bad but she is still a preemie and doing well for being a month early. She weighed in at 5.7 lbs which is good because she didn't lose 10% of her birth body weight and she has been gaining.

She did get to take part in my favorite holiday...HALOWEEN!!!! I love it!! For her first experience I did make her a costume and we went to Thomas' mom's and sister's house for our trick or treating experience. How could you say no to this sweet thing?


She also got her first bath on Thursday! She wasn't too happy about that but I also gave her one today and she enjoyed it a bit more. This is from her first bath on Thursday.


The next pic is pretty funny. Elizabeth was getting hungry while Thomas was holding her and she turned and decided there should be a nipple on his cheek.


There is our first week. It has been a good one. She did have a couple of rough nights when we first got home, but she just didn't like sleeping in her bassinet. The first two nights I slept with her on my chest which was not good for me at all! Then I discovered the trick to her and I having a peaceful night. I swaddle her tight and wedge her in her boppy then I sleep on the open side. I did want to co sleep with her but Thomas is a restless sleeper and I was afraid he would push us off or roll on her. She made the choice for us she will not sleep if she is not next to me so there you go, choice is made. I still wake up to see if she is breathing and alive but I heard that all new mom's do that in the same room or not.

We have a BABY!!!!!

We have our long awaited arival!!!!! She is beautiful and perfect! Having her is the best thing ever!!! I am very fulfilled right now and love her very much.

Now I will answer the questions...
Yes she was early. She was due November 25th and was born October 25th. She decided she was ready and woke me up at 5 a.m. My water broke at 5 and she was here at 6:39 a.m. I did have to have a c-section but only because she is stubborn and stayed breech and they didnt want to take the risk of her getting stuck or hurt. I was disapointed I couldnt do natural birth like I had planned but I am glad that she is healthy and it didnt take long. For all those that kept saying I would end up getting the epidural I am proud to announce that I was dialated to a five when we got to the hospital and the contractions only got stronger and closer together and they were like a light cramp from my period so i could have totally done it!!

She came out and screamed her head off. She screamed while she got checked, wiped down wrapped up all the way until they brought her to me. That was a great feeling I must say. She weighed 6 lbs 2 oz and measured 18 1/2 in. She did have to be in the NICU for a bit but only because she was so early and they wanted to keep her monitored to check her vitals and all. This was fine with me because they checked her all the time and had her hooked up to monitor her heart and all that which I like. I have found that I am not imune to the new mother habit and I do put my finger or a mirror under her nose to make sure she is breathing. She is slightly Joundus but it never got to the point that she needed treatment.

Really she is a rock star!! One of the pediatritians said that she needs to teach all the other babies how to act. She was premature, but it only took us one day to learn how to breast feed and she actually didn't lose as much weight as most babies and she actually gained weight before we leave. She kept up her body temp up on her own really well as well as all her vitals. She is just amazing!

That's all for that any questions I missed post em and I will answer.

Now for the fun stuff...Pictures!!! I have to warn you though. You are about to see a super cute girl that will melt your heart so be prepared. Here you are!

Here is Thomas and I before the C-section and don't let him fool you, he is freaking out! Lets just give the shortened version of what happened when my water broke and say that I was in the car with it running ready to go and he was in the bathroom puking.


And here she is! I was just wheeled out of recovery and my nurse took me to see her since I hadn't really seen her much yet. Poor baby had so many wires :(




Daddy dressed her for the first time. He was down in the NICU every chance he got. He loves her so much! Don't worry the tube comming out of her nose is her feeding tube and it was by my request. If they don't feed them through a tube it is much harder to breast feed and being my first time I didn't want anymore obsticles.


Here she is trying to wave! No not really it just looks like it and I thought it was funny.


Here is Dad changing her diaper


She looks so tiny next to Daddy!


She is about to take her first car ride, because we are going home!!!!


Next is just random pics of my sweet baby!