Our Pip Squeak

Today Dwight and I went to lunch with Anya for the first time. We went down the road to Carrabbas. She slept through the whole thing and we had a nice lunch :o) We went for a walk again today which was nice. I am enjoying Dwight being home from work for these two weeks so much. I don't want to think about him going back on Wednesday of this week.

I put Anya on her play mat today and she stared at the picture of the turtle. She seemed to love it already. I flipped her over on her belly to see what she would do and she was content. She really has been a great baby so far. As for breastfeeding, I am pumping the small amount that I make and using that along with formula. This has made me relax a lot and not stress as much on how much Anya is getting because I can see it. At night I breastfeed her and give her formula after.

Anya likes to make squeak noises. We call her pip squeak and squeak because she is always making these cute little peep noises. She gets the hiccups a few times a day. Poor thing - I hate having the hiccups. She has been smiling randomly (probably gas lol) and the other night started laughing at me after her feeding. I think it was her system trying it out randomly but it was so darn cute. Today she lost her umbilical stump!!

I am feeling much better today.. but I know it could be one of the 'ups' in the hormonal post pregnancy roller coaster :o)

First day out visiting

Anya met her first friend yesterday! Her name is Madelyn and she is 9 months old. She is the daughter of a good friends of ours Janice and Fil. We went to visit Anya's Nana and Grampy for a cookout and our friends and my sister came over for a visit. We all had a great time!

First Walk

Today we brought Anya for her first walk in the stroller. We had fun and the Jeep stroller worked wonderful. It was a nice smooth ride :o) Thank you Aunt Betty, Aunt Vicky and my Nana for the stroller. After our walk we drove to King Kone for soft serve ice cream covered in cherry dip!

Happy 1 Week old Anya!

We gave Anya another bath today. This time we were prepared ahead of time and things went much smoother. We bathed her in her bathtub in the kitchen sink this time. She cried a little bit but did pretty well. After I took her out of the tub and wrapped her up I brought her in the living room. I heard a noise and realized she was pooping in her towel. I guess my lesson of the day was to put a diaper on her immediately after a bath! :o) Today I have been a little hormonal. My hormones are trying to regulate themselves and it has been a tougher day on me. I am finding breastfeeding a bit hard since I don't know if she is getting enough milk. We are supplementing with formula after I feed her but it has been hard because she never seems to be satisfied by what I can give her from my body. We are going to try pumping to increase my milk since I would really like breastfeeding to work for us. If anyone has any ideas on how to increase my milk production please share.

A week ago at this moment we were on our way to bring Anya into this world. A week has already gone by! She is amazing and I just look at her with so much love. I can't believe how much I love her. I knew I would feel a love so strong but I had no idea... no idea.

Our first week

Our first week home is going well. Yesterday Anya found her thumb and I took this photo. She hasn't found it again yet :o) At the hospital we had given her a pacifier. We haven't given it to her since Saturday. We think she is doing fine without it now so we are going to continue life without one for now. Yesterday Dwight told me to get out for some alone time in between feedings. :o) I went to Babies R Us and Motherhood for some nursing tops. It was nice to get out of the house for a little bit. We wanted to try out our stroller today but it is raining. Maybe we will get to it Friday when the rain is gone.

We got this Vermont Teddy Bear in the mail yesterday! It is from her Nana and Grampy (my parents). It has her name and birth date on the bib and a hospital band on the wrist with her name. We love it and know Anya will love it as she grows too!! Thanks Nana and Grampy :o)

3 days old

We gave Anya her first bath yesterday. We wanted to give her a bath that night or this morning. She decided herself when she had a blow out diaper! It was a mad rush to get all our bathing supplies in the bathroom. I think I was more tramatized than Anya.

We brought Anya to the doctor yesterday to check her weight. The doctor wanted to make sure she wasn't losing too much weight. She had gone down to 5 lbs 15 oz (just under what the normal weight drop is) so the doctor suggested we continue breastfeeding as normal and suppliment after each feeding with a little formula to get her weight up. We started that yesterday and last night she slept very well. I woke her for feedings every three hours and we didn't hear a peep from her. It was so nice to know her belly was full and she was happy. They also had a blood test to check her jaundice level. It came back normal and we are just going to keep an eye on her coloring. Today we went back and she was up to 6 lbs 2 oz.. Hooray, she is gaining!!

My mom, sister and Marty all came up for a visit after our appointment. Jill had been very sick last week and was unable to be at the hospital when Anya was born. She was elated to meet her niece and spoiled her rotten with the cutest little outfits. Now Anya has some more newborn sized clothing (size 0-3 hangs on her now).. and some more adorable outfits for the summer in bigger sizes too. Uncle Marty and Jill also got her a pink RedSox hat!! My mom spoiled her as well and brought over cute little outfits and that big pink bow that we love so much.

Our first days with Anya and birth story

Anya is 2 days old today! We are in love with her more every second. We are all doing well! We came home from the hospital today. She was born after midnight on Thursday so we were at the hospital Wednesday through Saturday. The journey bringing Anya into the world was a challenging one but well worth it. I ended up being induced on Wednesday. If you don't want to hear the personal details skip the next part. I want to remember the birth so this is partially for my own record. My birth story includes:

* Being put on pitocin at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday the 20th.

* Having it progress very slowly and having them break my water at 2:30 p.m when I was about 3 cm dilated. When my water was broken they saw that there was meconium in the amniotic fluid. This meant that the NICU would be present at the birth just in case the baby breathed it in.

* Two hours later (around 4:15) I was in a lot of pain and asked to be checked. I was 4-5 cm dilated, 100 % effaced, and between zero and -1 station. I was asked if I wanted an epidural ordered and I said yes.

* Around 5pm the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. It was not fun but I got through it only to have him tell me he hit a vein and had to do it all over again. He did it a second time and it was done right.

* I feel great at this point because the pain is finally numbed. I am thinking the birth will be easier than I thought. My mom shows up around 6pm and me, her and Dwight chat.

* Around 7:45 I begin to feel a lot of pressure. Dwight's mom shows up around 8pm. The epidural is wearing off and I start to feel a lot of pain. We call the nurse and she tells us she will tell the doctor. It seems like forever that we wait and Dwight eventually goes to find the nurse.

* At 8:45 pm the doctor comes in to check me and I am 10 cm dilated. She tells us it is time to push. I start thinking the baby will be here soon. Dwight's mom leaves to wait outside the door and I had my mom stay in the room with us for support.

* I begin to push as the epidural wears off more and the pain gets more intense. Dwight and my mom are wonderful and helping me every second. Three hours later of pushing I am exhausted and I am feeling everything but the baby has moved down and is stuck at a curve in the canal. Around midnight the doctor tells me that we have to get the baby out soon or we will have to discuss c-section and other options. I get the baby to move a little more down and the doctor tells me we will have to discuss a vacuum or forceps. It has been over three hours of pushing now so I agree on a vacuum. The NICU team start to come in and the nurses and doctors robe up. I know it is almost time because the room is filled with people now. The vacuum was very painful and pushing the baby out was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and probably ever will do in my life. Our baby arrived at 12:28 a.m. pink and healthy. There was no problems with the meconium and I hear everyone saying "Great! She's beautiful, etc" I hear my mom saying "Is it a boy or a girl?!" and I hear the doctor say "It's a girl!" I am so happy to finally know if it's a girl or a boy but I am so exhausted after 3 hours and 45 minutes of pushing that I can hardly keep my eyes open and I am shaking and my teeth are chattering.

*After the doctor finishes with me they hand me Anya and I get to see our beautiful baby close up. She is staring at my face :o) My mom takes some pictures of our new family. Dwight's mom comes in and sees her too. They ask if I want to try breastfeeding and I say okay. The new grandmothers leave to go home. After a few minutes I hand her to Dwight and she curls up on his chest as he sits down on the rocking chair in the room. It is so wonderful to see him holding her and she instantly became quiet at the sound of his voice.

* I had no idea how challenging giving birth to Anya would be and I keep replaying it all over in my head. We are so in love with our little one and I can't wait for each day with her and our new little family.

* Our hospital stay was good and the nurses at Southern NH hospital are amazing. I am breastfeeding and so far it is going well. We go to see the pediatrician tomorrow to make sure she is getting enough food. It feels great to be home now although I am glad we stayed at the hospital until today. I will keep updating with photos and updates of our little love so stay tuned!

IT'S A GIRL!

Anya Elizabeth Perry
Born May 21, 2009
12:28 a.m.
6 lbs 14 oz
20 1/2 inches

We are in love.. and tired too :o) It was a long day/night...
Pictures and story to come!!!

Baby weight poll closed

The poll on the baby's weight is now closed.. :o)
There were 32 votes..

0 people (0%) voted for 6-7 pounds
19 people (59%) voted for 7-8 pounds
11 people (34%) voted for 8-9 pounds
2 people (6%) voted for 9-10 pounds

39 Weeks

Our baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds. The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

Our baby weighs as much as a mini watermelon!!

What's Happenin'?

* Our weekly update on the baby is no longer interesting as the baby is now ready for the world. :o)

* I am still on bedrest although my blood pressure hasn't been as high as it was around 36 and 37 weeks. The doctor sees me twice a week to keep tabs on how I am doing.

* At my appointment yesterday the doctor checked me and I am 1cm dialated. Her guess for the baby's weight is high in the 7 pounds.

* We can't believe a baby will be at the house soon!!!

Girl or Boy poll closed!

The time has come where our poll "Do you think it is a girl or a boy" is closed! We must be really getting close :o) There were 51 votes!!!! Wow!
The results are.....

29 people (56%) voted Girl

22 people (43%) voted Boy

It was a close game and stayed close to 50/50.. go figure! We shall see soon!

10 days :o)

10 more days until the due date!

Happy Mothers Day!

My doctor said I could go to my aunts house for a cookout as long as I put my feet up and relax. It was such a beautiful day out!! The temperature was about 70 degrees and I was able to sit outside and get some sun. Dwight gave me a card and a gift certificate for a pedicure this morning to celebrate my "soon to be Mothers Day". :o)

Dwight being silly and my sister and me

My mom and me and a picture I snuck of my dad while he wasn't looking!

Baby's arrival poll closed..

The poll for the baby's arrival is now closed!.. The results were..

0 votes (0%) for May 10-May 16th
10 votes (47%) for May 17-May 23rd
7 votes (33%) for May 24-May 30th
4 votes (19%) for May 31-June 6th

Thanks for playing!!
A new poll on the baby's weight has been added but will only be available for a week... so vote soon! I have not been given a guess on baby's weight from the doctor yet.

38 Weeks

Our baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long. She has a firm grasp, which we will soon be able to test when we hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb. Wondering what color our baby's eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If she's born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Our baby is long as a leek.

What's New:

* I go to appointments twice a week now. This way they can keep a close eye on my blood pressure. At my appointment today my blood pressure was elevated but not as bad as it has been. It was 140/90. They let me go home without making me first go to the hospital for more monitoring. I was really glad about that. Once I reach 39 weeks the doctor will start to discuss induction with me. I am not sure if this will happen at 40 weeks or before/after. I guess we will wait and see what they say. Maybe the baby will make an appearance before we even get to the discussion.

* We are so excited and nervous! I can't imagine having a little baby here in a couple of weeks! It's so amazing! I feel like its the anticipation of a big trip somewhere or speech. I get excited/nervous/anxious.... I just can't wait to hold our baby.

* I have been keeping myself busy on bed rest with reading, crochet, organizing photo albums, watching movies and TV, magazines, going on the computer, etc. I snuck out of the house for a pedicure this week because I know it will be my last for a while and my feet enjoyed it a lot!

* Dwight has started his work softball league. Maybe the baby and I can go watch one day :o)

* I am still sleeping well! I get up to use the bathroom a lot since the baby is pushing on my bladder.. but I go right back to sleep after.. hooray.

Holding Hands

Dwight has been amazing the past couple weeks with me on bedrest. He has helped out in any way that I have asked. I will never forget how great of a husband he has been.
Here is an awesome video. Keep watching even after they break apart...

37 week appointment

I had another appointment today. My blood pressure was elevated again so they sent me over to the hospital for more monitoring. I was there a couple hours and my blood pressure came down to normal. There was a trace of protein in my urine but my blood work came back normal. They released me on continued bed rest and they will call me tomorrow to set up another appointment. I'm guessing this appointment will be at the end of this week or the beginning of next. I'm hoping I have the baby before my due date so that I wont have to keep being monitored and stuck on bed rest. I really haven't gone stir crazy yet and I have actually enjoyed my final days of 'alone time'. I think one more week of it and I will start to really be 'done' with it. I can't wait to see the baby but it is a little scary to think about how soon it really is. I can't believe we will be a mommy and a daddy in the next few weeks!!

37 Weeks

Hooray - Our baby is full term! This means that if our baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though our due date is still three weeks away. Our baby weighs about 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Our baby is as long as a stalk of Swiss chard.