2 Weeks Old!

Wow - it has been 2 weeks since we welcomed Abigail Rory into our family.  Matt and I both agreed last night that it seems like she has been part of our family longer than just two weeks.  I have LOVED every minute of the past two weeks - hard to imagine what our lives were like before her!

Abigail has changed a lot in the last week - she is a very vocal little girl now.  She constantly is making noise and sounds, but she is perfectly content while doing so.  It is very cute and fun to listen too.  On top of being talkative while awake, she can sure make some noise when she eats - sometimes I wonder how Matt sleeps through her and her sounds.

She has been more and more awake lately too which is fun to interact with her more.  She loves to look around the room and at the person holding her.  She is just so darn cute that you can't help but to stare back at her!!

Life around our house is great - Matt had in-service on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so Abigail, Koda and I were alone those days.  We all survived without any issues and were able to keep the house in order, bring dinner to Matt one night at school, do some shopping, and take early morning walks to beat the heat and to get outside.

This weekend, Matt's parents are coming up for some much needed Abigail-time.  It will be neat to see their reactions to how much she has changed since they last saw her almost 2 weeks ago!

Well, sorry to keep this short, but here are some newer pictures of my baby girl.

Have a Happy Labor Day Weekend everyone - stay safe and enjoy the weather!

Daddy's Last Day at Home

Well today is Matt's last day at home before he goes back to school - in service starts tomorrow and then school starts on the Tuesday after Labor Day.  I think he is ready to go back, but hesitant to leave his baby girl all day - too cute!

Today we went for a nice long walk at the park before the heat and humidity set it.  It was nice outside and both Abigail and Koda loved it.  It was nice going for a walk in the morning rather than after dinner - this mom gets tired by the end of the day!

Matt spent some snuggle time with Abby this morning and I am sure he will get more quality time with her later this afternoon and evening.  He just loves her so much and is such a huge help to me with her - it will be quite a change to be on my own tomorrow!

Abigail is still doing great - the last few nights have been pretty good sleeping and she has been more awake and vocal now, which is amazingly fun!  We are both so thrilled with her and could watch/listen to her for hours.

Below are some pictures of Matt and Abigail snuggling....enjoy!

Doctor Appointment and New Pictures

Abigail had her one week doctor appointment on Friday (8/24).  She did really good and now weighs in at 7 lb 3.5 oz - almost back to her birth weight!!!  Her doctor was very impressed with her and how she is doing.  We were very happy to get good news - guess that is the parent in both of us.

Below are her stats:
54.47% percentile on head circumference
27.36% percentile on weight
86.91% percentile on height
 - guess she is taking after her dad on height and me on weight!!!

We had lots of visitors again this week - which is great, but exhausting.  Some longtime friends of Matt from his hometown drove up for a visit and to meet Abigail - which was absolutely wonderful to see them and share Abby with them.

This past weekend we had my parents up, so that was a really nice change of pace for our house.  Abigail also got some much needed grandparent time - and mom / dad got a little break too!  It is fun to share our daughter with them and neat to see their love for her and their excitement with all her little movements and expressions.

Abigail is still doing great at eating and sleeping.  Matt and I are loving every second of this and we are soaking in every minute that we get with her.

Below are some new pictures of Abigail - some of them are actually when her eyes are open!!

Outfit that I wore when I was a baby.

Abigail, Caitlyn & Ian (my cousin Kelly's kids)

1 Week Old

Wow - one week ago today we welcomed Abigail into our lives.  Sure has been a busy but amazing week for us.

Things at home are going great - we are adjusting well.  Together, Matt and I currently have everything under control and in order.  We work great as a team and he has been incredibly helpful when I need him.  Abigail has been super wonderful thus far so that helps to keep her parents happy and in order.  Some amazing co-workers/friends of Matt's have been delivering meals all week for us.  So nice to sit down to some wonderful food with no prep work involved.  Not to mention, the food has been superb!!!  I froze some meals prior to delivery and we received some other frozen meals from others, so those will be stored and put to good use in the future.

Abigail has fit right into our house - she is a very calm child (lets hope this continues).  She really only cries when she is getting changed or when she has a dirty diaper.  As soon as we put clothes on her or change her diaper, she is all good and ready to snuggle.  Yesterday morning, her and I snuggled in the recliner for almost 2 solid hours - hard to get up when she is just so cute and sweet in your arms!!  Breastfeeding is going well, we had one minor hick-up but thanks to the amazing lactation consultant at Aspirus, we are on a better track.

I know most people keep their newborns inside for the first few weeks after getting home, but once again, Matt and I don't always do what the "norm" is.  Abigail has been all over already this week and she has done great!   We took her to the doctor, the lactation consultant at the hospital, Target, Menards, Wal-Mart, and Mullins Cheese.  She travels great on these short trips (we didn't do them all in one day) and was very content to be in her car seat in the shopping carts.  Hopefully she continues to be a great traveler as we embark on longer trips in the weeks ahead.

Even though she is a week old, we have managed to move forward on the basement.  Matt has all the drywall, mud / tape, and texturing done all over the basement.  The second bedroom now is primed and painted.  The next step will be to prime the family room and paint it.  We need to pick out furniture first so that we can get paint to match, so I guess Abigail will be making her way to the furniture store shortly!!

Well, that is about all for an update today.  We have her one week check with her pediatrician this afternoon, so I will post stats and info on that later this weekend or early next week.

Until next time, here are some pictures of our little sweetheart:

Milk Coma!!

First Days at Home

The first few days at home are under our belt now and we have learned lots of things.

Abigail has let us know what she does and does not like.
     -She does not like to sleep laying flat, she wants to be on a slight incline.
     -She does not to be naked....so changing her is sometimes a screaming and struggling match.
     -She likes to be upright and wants to hold her head up on her own.
     -She LOVES to sleep, eat, sleep, eat.
     -She calms down almost immediately when Matt holds her.
     -She loves to be swaddled tight and snug.
   
We have adjusted thus far without much of an issue.  Koda had a harder time, but he is getting TONS better with each passing day.  He is still unsure of what to do when she is crying, but other than that, he just checks on her once and a while and of course gives her kisses!!!

Sleeping was touchy the first night until we realized that she doesn't want to lay flat.  Last night (our second night home) was much better when we propped her up in her bassinet.  Matt and I were both able to sleep and I only got up 3 times to feed her.  This morning we felt like new people with energy - what a great feeling!!

We took Abigail to her first doctor/nurse weight check.  All is good there and she is doing great.  We go back on Friday for her one week appointment, so more updates to come.  While we were at her weight check, we had quite the eventful undressing of her before putting her on the scale.  Matt was taking off her diaper since she had pooped and so that they could get an accurate weight.  Well, as soon as the diaper came off, the flood gates opened - yep, she started peeing and didn't stop.  The nurse laughed at how much she went and poor Matt ended up dealing with the majority of it on his own, including a handful of pee!  Welcome to Fatherhood!

So, that has been our life the past two days.  She still sleeps a lot so we are able to get stuff done and nap when needed.  As I type this post, Matt is headed down to the basement to get some work done.  Sure can tell that we all slept good last night!!!!

Until next time, here are some new pictures of our precious Abigail.....we are so much in love, it is crazy!!

I will try my best to get some while she is awake, but no guarantees on that.

Introducing Abigail Rory!!

She is finally here....our precious daughter....Abigail Rory Lindsey.

Here are the details:
Born Friday, August 17th, 2012 at 2:33pm
Weight: 7 lbs 5.8 oz, Length: 19 inches
Head: 34 cm, Chest: 32 cm

Labor was a relatively fast process for us, I had two doses of medicine on Thursday night to get things moving.  Friday morning around 7:30 the doctor came and broke my water....then we were off to the races. I progressed rather quickly and by 9:20 was far enough along to have the epidural.  Gosh, those are some amazing drugs and totally worth any minor discomfort to get them.  After that, I was able to take a nap and rest - then, before we knew it, we were at 10 cm and ready to push.  By 1:45pm I started pushing and at 2:33pm - Abigail Rory was in the world!!

Matt was amazing throughout the entire process.  He stayed with me at the hospital the entire time, got me about a million glasses of ice water, made sure I had all the stuff I needed, made sure I was comfortable and was there to support everything that was going on.  I could not have done it without him - he is such an amazing man and father!

The first days with Abigail have been great.  We have gotten enough sleep and learned tons!   I am feeling pretty good, a little sore but nothing that stops me from doing anything.  We have had a ton of wonderful visitors already - it is so fun to show off our daughter to all of them!  

As of a little before noon today (Sunday 8/19), we are home and pretty settled.  We walked her around the house and "showed" her the house, her room, and all that fun stuff.  She met Koda too - she received lots of licks!   It will be an adjustment for him, but we are not worried - he will get used to it and soon he will love her!   Right now he seems concerned about her and what she is doing and why she makes a noise....just being a big brother.

The next few days will be an adventure for sure, but they will be great.  Matt is home with me all week this week so that will be wonderful!    I will do my best to keep this updated with new pictures this week for all....even if I don't post anything much but the pictures.  Enjoy and thanks for all the well wishes and prayers that were sent our way - everything turned out better than expected and we couldn't be more happy and blessed with our little Abigail!

Daddy and Abby

Mommy and Abby

First Family Picture!!

All ready to go Home!

Sleeping at home in bassinet...so adorable!

The Final Countdown!

Well - here we are, 38 weeks in and 1 week to go!!!   Next Friday (8/17) is still our date to be induced, probably heading to the hospital late Thursday night.  Doctor appointment was good again this week, nothing really new to report.  I am dilated 1-2 cm and the doctor did not rule out me having her before next week - so I guess any day now.

Matt and I are both ready - the majority of the stuff we wanted to have done before she arrived is done.  There are just a few things that didn't quite get done, but there is also more things that got done that were not on the list.  Overall, we are ready and excited to meet our little girl!

I personally am ready for a break from work - it seems like I have not had a day off in a really long time.  Wait, I haven't - I think the last day off I had was back in late 2011, but it will all be worth it when I get to spend all the extra time with our daughter.

Lots of people have been asking me if I have been "nesting" - well, I have but not in the normal cleaning the house, rearranging furniture, and redecorating sense that lots of people have.  I have had a huge urge and want to BAKE!  Yep, that is what I said, bake - cookies, desserts, anything!   That is totally not me since I really don't care to eat any of it.  I have made over 200 frosted sour cream cut out cookies, 2 ice cream cakes, 4 loaves of banana bread, 4 loaves of sour cream coffee cake - and those are just the things I have in the freezer!!   I have baked lots of other cookies and desserts for Matt and his dad as they work in the basement - hey, gotta keep the workers happy!!  Thank goodness you can freeze this stuff and it will be enjoyed when our little bundle arrives and there will be no work involved at that point!

Basement is still moving along.  The guys have sanding and one more coat of mud to do.  Then comes texture and paint!!!  Overall it is still moving along at a great pace which will slow down when baby arrives, which is fine by both of us!!

This next week will be more work in the basement with Steve coming up to help some more.  I will probably be baking again and just waiting for this girl to arrive!  Then, in less than 1 week, Matt and I will be heading to the hospital to welcome our little bundle.

Below are some pictures....belly pictures are at 38 weeks and the pictures of my mom/Matt/Koda were taken at 37 1/2 weeks.  Hopefully the next pictures posted on this blog will be of our baby girl!!

On an ending note....any thoughts or prayers for an early delivery are fine by us.  And if you feel the need to make us wait, thoughts and prayers for a smooth delivery and healthy baby on 8/17 are appreciated!

37 Weeks and a Deadline!!!

We have now past the 37 week mark and into the home stretch!!  We are very excited to meet her but we are still enjoying our last few days/weeks as a couple without a baby.

Doctor appointment this week was good - everything was good, baby girl is doing great, and doctor is happy with the progress.  During our doctor appointment we received notice that our little girl has a deadline now.  If she does not come on her own, we will be induced on August 17th.  Our doctor would like her delivered at 39 weeks due to some minor health concerns for both baby and mom.  Matt and I were a little shocked about the news, but we are 100% good with our doctor's decision - we trust him to help us bring a healthy baby girl into the world.   Now thinking about this "deadline" it is kind of fun to think that in 13 days, we will have a baby - unless she wants to make her debut earlier than that!

Matt now also has a deadline too - with the basement.  He is currently working right now down there with his dad, they are mudding and taping the drywall.  After that will be the texture on the walls and some paint.  We are hoping to get at least the 1 bedroom painted and bed moved in before she arrives - that way we have 1 extra room for grandparents to stay.  I am sure he will continue to push ahead even after she arrives, but it won't be his main priority as it is now.

Nothing much else to report from us, we are just enjoying our time, relaxing, and trying to get some extra rest.  Matt and I had a relaxing and fun evening at the Wisconsin Valley Fair this past Tuesday evening.  We walked over and through the fair and then took in the Thompson Square concert.  Very relaxing evening for us both and nice to have some "just us" time where we were not picking out things for the baby or basement.

Next week will be another week for us - I will be working, Matt has a 2 day school conference right in town here, he will work on the basement, and another doctor appointment.  This appointment is when we will be going over our birth plan and getting all the details of when we will be induced and how it should go.

Well, until next week - more belly pictures for those that care!   I have included 2 that show Matt's hands on my belly - if you know how big Matt's hands are, you can then visualize just how large my belly is!

Hope everyone has a great week!

37 weeks and 1 day!

Matt's hands on Baby Girl!!