Teaser...

Last Wednesday we got professional pictures taken of Audrey by Jamie Kutter. She was incredibly patient with Audrey and did an incredible job! Here is a picture of Audrey from the shoot she posted on her BLOG. I am anxious to see the rest!!

Bath Time with Daddy....

Evan loves to give Audrey a bath. It is their time together every night, though Audrey still isn't so sure about taking a bath. Last night I was excited to take pictures of the event, but our little girl wasn't too happy. Evan is very patient with her and we both still think she is cute even when she cries!

I look forward to the day when bath time is fun! Shouldn't be too much longer!

Two Week Appointment

On Tuesday, Audrey had her two week appt. She is now 7 pounds and 19 1/4 inches long! She is starting to wear her newborn clothes which is very exciting! Audrey usually hates being unswaddled, but to my surprise she loved laying on the table at the doctors office. She seemed to be happy and content hanging out in just her diaper. Precious :)

The bow is a little big, but she'll grow into it:)


Sweet Girl

Great Grandma

On Monday, Audrey got to meet her Great Grandma! (Nicole's Mom's Mom) It was so sweet seeing 4 generations all in the same room. My grandma insisted on us all taking a picture but I am definitely not ready to have my picture taken yet! Hopefully I will be soon! I am anxious to get family pictures of the 3 of us!

New Outfit

Nicole and I went to get Audrey a new outfit today. It is crazy, nothing fits this girl. We found the smallest dress we could find, and it still swallowed her. Oh well, she'll grow in to all of her cute clothes here before too long. I thought this picture was really cute.

Comparison

Here is a picture of me coming home from the hospital in October 1986. I can definitely see similar characteristics in Audrey!! Although, I am anxious to get a picture soon of Evan to compare. I see a lot of her daddy in her facial expressions.

One Week Old

Audrey home from this hospital

Awake Time!

Wow, I can't believe this time last week I was in labor waiting for precious Audrey to arrive. This past week has gone by so fast and of course has been nothing but life changing.

Audrey had her first appt. with the pediatrician yesterday and she is 19 inches long (she has grown!!) and exactly 6 lbs. We go back next week for the big "2 week" appt. The pediatrician said everything looks great and that he would not recommend getting her tongue clipped. He encouraged me to nurse for shorter periods of time but more often. He said this would establish a better sleep cycle faster. And guess what?! He was right! All day yesterday I fed Audrey every 2 1/2 hours in stead of 3. Dr. Pope also said to let them sleep for longer periods of time at night 3-4 hrs. Well, last night was the BEST night we have had so far and gives me great hope for the future. After giving Audrey a bath, we changed her into her pj's, swaddled her, then fed her (@ 9:50) and put her to bed at 10:30. She did not wake up again till 12:50 exactly and was ready to eat!! After this feeding we swaddled her again and layed her back down. She slept again till 4:10 and woke up to feed. She went down great and I had to wake her up at 6:30 to start the initial feeding of the day. (BabyWise) - So, today we will keep the 2 1/2 hr schedule and see how tonight goes!:)

Audrey is such a blessing to our family and we constantly are laughing at all of the precious things she does. Evan and I haven't laughed this much in a long time!

Things I don't want to forget:

• Audrey LOVES to be swaddled. Thanks to her Auntie T and Uncle Casey who gave us a copy of the "Happiest Baby on the Block" we learned how to swaddle and soothe our baby with the 5 S's
• Audrey can be a little houdini she loves to have her hands by her face and will put any good swaddle to the test!
• She is a wonderful eater and has become more efficient with time. I am enjoying our sweet time together.
• At night if she begins to cry we have set a limit not to let her cry longer than 5 min. this is very hard for Evan and I. But trying it a couple of nights ago, She never cried for longer than 5 min and would put herself to sleep. Trichelle (Audrey's Aunt) reminded me that they are just blowing off steam and it is ok to let them cry at times. This really put things into perspective for me and what a difference it made when we let her do this at night.
• Audrey is tiny! She does not fit into ANY of her newborn clothes and her preemie onesies are loose on her. I never dreamed I would have a baby that wore preemie clothes but looks like she may be in these onesies for a little while longer.
  

She is growing before our eyes and I'm so excited to see what the future holds. Evan and I are so in love we cannot see straight!

Update from Momma

I cannot tell you how glad I am to be at home with Audrey. I got extreme cabin fever in the hospital and was extremely emotional. After being in the hospital 4 days and 3 nights I was so ready to sleep in our bed and smell all the comforts of home. Evan's family (Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-in- Law, and 7 month old nephew Parker) is staying with us and have helped us out tremendously. I really have enjoyed all the wonderful help and advice. They have cooked all the meals, washed clothes, watched Audrey while Evan and I have slept, and have been loads of encouragement to us. Like any newborn baby Audrey's time clock is off. She is awake during the night and asleep during the day. She also wants to be held constantly and has a hard time laying in her bed. After observing all these things last night we have worked today on not holding her as much when she is sleeping and laying her down on a flat surface that mimics her bed. She has done really well so I'm hoping tonight will go a little smoother. Things will just take time :)

I am excited to announce that breast feeding is going great!! What a relief! But, after working with the lactation consultant we discovered that Audrey is tongue tied. This is very common on Evan's side of the family. Both his sister and her son Parker had this characteristic. For Audrey she is able to feed and latch but she makes more of a chomping motion then a wave with her tongue to get her milk. She really has adapted well, but we are hoping to get it clipped sometime this week to allow her to have full range motion with her tongue. The lactation consultant assured me that this will relieve the pain of the initial latch and suck. - I feel so blessed that she is able to get the milk that she needs and that it is filling and satisfying to her.

Gotta go feed! update later!!:)

The Promised Pictures

Alright - I finally got a chance to post some more pictures. We got zero sleep last night with Audrey "singing" to us, but it's alright, none of that really seems to matter. Nicole is doing sooooo much better. She isn't as out of it from the morphene, and is able to nurse Audrey. Speaking of nursing, what a trooper. "Little A" is a quick learner. She picked up on this nursing thing like a pro. Alright, my phone has been blowing up with people asking for pictures, so here they are.

Long Day

Ok, what a day, it is now 12:09 AM. Nicole and I got up at 2:30 yesterday morning. She was in labor for 16 hours, and the Dr. finally decided that she wasn't going to fit, and we needed to do a c-section. It turned out that Nicole had to go under because she wasn't getting numb, and I wasn't allowed in the room. this was the longest 30 minutes of my life. But i finally got to see my beautiful baby girl. She is 6 lbs 7 ounces, and 18.25 inches long. Her and Nicole are doing great. One quick picture, more to follow.

I can't sleep...

It is 1:30 in the morning and I cannot sleep. I am so excited about what today holds. I am anxious to get to the hospital and to have Audrey here. The last few days have been amazing. I truly count it as a blessing that Evan and I got to have these last few days to spend together and with family.

I honestly have never seen Evan so excited. He is giddy! He is constantly smiling, laughing, and talking about Audrey. It warms my heart and I cannot wait to see him hold her for the first time.

Today is going to be an amazing day!:)

We are bringing our laptop, camera, and video camera to the hospital. Continue to check the blog for updates!

April 7, 2009

Is a day that Evan and I will never forget. It will hopefully be the day our sweet Audrey is born! After a long night at the hospital all my tests came back with wonderful results. Everything looks good! But, due to the fluctuation in my blood pressure when I am active, the doctor felt it was best to induce next week. So I am scheduled for an induction beginning at 4 am on Tuesday April 7. Evan and I are so excited. I was a little bummed that we did not get to meet our little girl today, but I love the idea of getting to spend these last few days with Evan and enjoy the anticipation of sweet Audrey's birth. Keep us in your prayers!

Side Note: It is so nice to finally have something to update the blog with! Now all I need is pictures! Those are coming soon! More then I'm sure you will want to look at:)

38 week update!!!

Today was my 38 week appt. and my blood pressure was extremely high again. My doctor informed me that she believes that I have a mild case of toxemia and felt it would be best if I was admitted to labor and delivery for monitoring for the next 23 hours. If I am still feeling bad she plans on inducing tomorrow. But, if everything looks ok then she will induce early next week. Evan and I are staying at the hospital over night and will see the doctor early tomorrow morning.

My headaches from the toxemia are still very intense and do not go away with medicine, though it does take the edge off. My blood pressure is fine for now and my blood work came back clear. They performed and sonogram and checked Audrey's diaphragm. The nurse said the results were great! The technician said that she is measuring 7.2 lbs + - a pound.

So, hopefully we will know more in the morning. I will keep you posted!