Photoshoot!

A day in the life of a 5 week old...

I thought it would be fun to do a post on a day in our life-like i mentioned, the days do blend together! I completely understand different events, growthspurts, etc. will affect our schedule; and it's likely as soon as I post this it will change! :)
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345a. Vivian is up after going to bed around 11pm. She doesn't cry but starts to stir and makes grunting noices. I unswaddle her, feed her on the R side for 14 min. Change her wet daiper, reswaddle, then feed her on the L side for 11 mins. Burp & Snug for a few mins. (I play on my kindle fire while she's falling asleep-and I chug water & eat almonds + luna bar. I drink SOO much water to keep up with my breastfeeding-kid you not about 1.5 gallons a day). Back to bed.
7am-She will fall in and out of sleep until I get her. I unswaddle her and she ate on the R side for 12 min. Get up and change a wet diaper. Reswaddle and nurse L side for about 10 mins. I give her a manicure while she's eating :)
Back to bed one more time...
910a: (it's usually closer to 10/1015a) Baby stirs because she had a poopy diaper-a Blow out! Sponge bath and outfit change were necessary.
930a: Viv hangs in her crib with her musical mobile while I mix a quick smoothie for breakfast.
1015a: Time to feed again. R side for 17 mins. Burp and catnap while I watch TV. She wakes up and nurse L side for 20 mins. Change a poopy diaper.
1120a: Play time! We lay a blanket out on nursery floor and turn on some music. She lays on her back and we play with toys and stretch her out. Then we do some tummytime. Vivi is getting very good at holding her head up!
1145a: Crib time again so I can change clothes. Head to the kitchen where Vivi hangs out on the newborn napper on the kitchen table while I make myself lunch and prepare dinner. On the menu is BBQ marinated chicken and sweet potatoes. It's all ready to go in the oven at 615p.
1230p: We play some pattycake before I load her up in her carseat so we can go run some errands. We head to the post office, starbucks and the bank. She falls asleep in the carseat.
130p: Home and it's time to chow! R side for 25 mins. Change a wet/slightly poopy diaper, then nurse L side for 10 mins. Rock and snuggle. Catnap for Vivi.
245p. She starts to root around at so I feed her on the R side for a couple minute and she falls back asleep. I take a nap myself from 245-335p. Get up and change poopy diaper.
345p: Bring V down to kitchen to hang in the Boppy newborn napper so I can eat again.
410p: Playtime! We turn on the Hit List on comcast TV and dance around and bounce on the fitness ball. Tummytime on my lap while singing and waiting for Dad to get home.
430p: Gene gets home and hangs with V for about 10 mins.
445p: Time for her to eat again! She nurses on the R side for 20 mins & L side for 10 mins. then we rock and burp. Catnap on my chest while Dad works out.
530p: After Dad is done-he takes Vivi after we change a poopy diaper. Then I put the dinner in the over and get in a nice hot shower. Vivi and Dad play.
7p: Dinner for V. Nurse on the R side for 16 mins and the L side for 15 mins. Hand her off to Dad while I eat. They bounce on the fitness ball to get out any bubbles or gas.
745p: Change a poopy diaper and rock Vivi to sleep.
1015p: Last feed, change and snuggle for the day...HOPEFULLY sleep until 3ish.
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One month old....

HELLO! This past thursday was Vivian's 1 month birthday. It was probably the most challenging and rewarding month of my life! She is such a sweet little baby. Our days are still a blur, I'm lucky if I can guess what day it is--every one is a new surprise!
Here are some notes from her first month:
*Her face has gone from a swollen newborn to a beautiful olive skinned 1 month old.
*I swear we got our first smiles! And not just "gas" smile! Talk about melt your heart!! I can't wait for laughs!
*She really seems to enjoy bathtime...she's so calm during it!
*I look forward to our nursing sessions and I feel blessed I'm able to provide nutrition for her...That being said: she can go from 0-100 when she's hungry. I call it HANGRY! She roots and snorts around for the food!
*She LOVES bouncing on the fitness ball! I sat on the ball a lot during PG. It soothes her almost instantly!
*she loves looking at the lamp and lights
*She's found her tongue and sticks it in and out.
*I think our record for diapers is 3 or 4 in about 30 minutes...go girl. pretty sure daddy was on duty for that episode! HA!
*she likes when dad shakes her rattle
*I tell her she's Healthy, Happy, Strong & Smart about 20x a day. And that I love her. Lord knows I love her to death!
*she loves her zebra and monkey mobile in her crib
*She loves animal print clothes just like mommy :)
*We have taken more pictures on both of our cellphones and cameras then I've ever taken before.
*Today we had pictures at Sears which went relatively good after a few fussy moments!

I survived the first month. We survive the first month! She has exceeded my expectations about life as a momma. She eats well, sleeps well, hold her head up like a champ...she certainly has her moments in fussiness, but nothing a clean diaper, feeding, snugging, or bouncing on the fitness ball can't cure....Also want to note that I did my first weights workout in MONTHS! I lifted triceps and chest and good heavens am I sore!!! I am still waiting until my 6 week appt. to get fully released, but it did feel good to do something!
Until next month...

Growin Girl!

Picture time!!! Thursday Vivi will be one month....how is that POSSIBLE!?!?!? We're doing so very well. I actually feel rested--Vivi is doing great and we're in a pretty good routine! Here are some recent pix

Vivian's Birth Story

I wanted to have a record of her arrival--so if birth stories aren't of interest to you...check back later! :)
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Thursday December 15th:
My last offical appointment. One day shy of my offical due date. No real progress. About 2 centimeters, about 50-60% effacement....Dr. suggested stripping my membranes and I agreed...not the most comfortable, but if it enabled me to go into labor by myself, I wanted to try it. Our next move was scheduling an appoint for Monday Dec. 19th to strip them again if neccesary. Last ditch effort would be scheduling an induction for Thurs. Dec. 22nd. Which was the LAST thing I was hoping for. I really really wanted to go into labor on my own!!!
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Sunday December 18th:
I had contractions (contrx) all night. Enough to wake me up and make me notice, but not enough to make me start timing them. It was finally a pain different from the braxton hicks...which is what everyone said: you will KNOW real contrx pains!!! Hubs and I woke up and did some cardio in schwetty's. I only did about 20 min. walking on the treadmill. I was continually losing my "plug" and felt like I had to pee ALL the time. Got a lot done that day--did laundry, walked the dogs, and took a 2 hour nap on the couch since I didn't sleep well...I had a feeling we were gonna meet this baby girl in a day or two!!! I didn't feel like making dinner, so my in-laws graciously provided dinner for us--as they were hosting a 94th bday party for my M-I-L's mother! (she's in the picture below) WOW! Hubs came home with chicken, potatoes & birthday cake (if that wasn't a sign!) :)
Around 7:30pm I took a shower and felt more moderate contrx. After that I decided to time them while were were winding down for the night. I was pretty tired and ready to rest...again I knew she'd be here in a day or two...
8pm: Called labor and delivery. My contrx were pretty close together, but I also noticed I was 'leaking.' Oh boy! She said since I was a first time mom she would have recommended I wait, but the mention of leaking fluid made her insist we come in and get checked. We had our bags packed and ready to go...and my friend nicole was on puppy duty when we needed her, so if necc. she'd come get the dogs in the morning and take them to the pup sitter...
830pm: Test indicates it indeed is amniotic fluid---time to admit us!!!!!!!!! CUE PANIC MODE! (kidding-we were actually very calm!)
10pm: Got the Epidural. Enough Said....:)
11pm: So bizaree to see the contrx on the monitor and not feel them at all. I felt great-my legs felt tingly like they were asleep, but not too bad. The only downside was the periodic SHAKES! Oh my those sucked.
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MONDAY DECEMBER 19th 2011
1:30am: it's Officially Vivian's BIRTHday! DECEMBER 19th 2011. Was checked and was 4cm and 80% effaced. So far no intervention (pitocin or cervidel) which I was so thrilled about! I tried resting but as you can imagine it was so hard!
2:45am: 5cm and Vivi had decended considerably!
3:30am: 6cm and 0 Station!
4:45am: 8cm
5:50am: COMPLETE! Ready to push, just waiting on doctor. Go figure, since it was technically still the weekend, we had the on-call doc, who was NOT my doctor. (BUT!! he ended up being AMAZING, and we were thrilled with him!)

7:15am: SHE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 hour of pushing! 7lbs 14ounces 19 inches long. She's got a head of hair, light eyes, she's Beautiful! Vivi was placed on my chest and I was just in AWE of what just happened! Hubs was amazing. He was holding my right leg and coaching me the WHOLE time-and he cut the cord! Also, sounds crazy, but they had a mirror, so I saw everything! It really helped with the pushing, to actually SEE progress! Everything went so amazingly well, I couldn't believe it! I was utterly exhausted! Pushing was so. freaking. HARD!! Granted, I didn't "FEEL" it, but the action of pushing I cannot compare to anything...It took so much out of me. Amazing what the female body is capable of!
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I can't believe my baby is 3 weeks old tomorrow. We are doing so well. (Thanks for the wonderful comments, by the way!)
My body is feeling good too. I'm still sore after long walks and don't plan on doing much more than that anytime soon. My midback is crazy sore from nursing, so yoga stretching really helps with that. Here's my tummy 3 weeks post pregnancy. I did end up with a couple stretch marks on the lower part of my belly, which hopefully will fade away...if not, honestly who care!!! :) Until next time.....

2 weeks old

The old cliche rings true: Time FLIES with a new baby! The last two weeks have been so amazing and such a blur at the same time! Vivi is a great baby! She nurses every 2.5-3.5 hours and last night she even went 4.5 hours! Wow! It's crazy how much she has changed already in the last 14 days. We've all had many firsts: 1st bath, 1st walk in the moby (which I LOVE!!!), 1st diaper blow-out, 1st time being peed & pooped on....and on and on! I feel like I've been a mom for a long time now! I feel so comfortable with her and am learning her distinctive sounds, coos and cries! The dogs have adapted very well, after a rough first night, they're doing great! My mom goes home Wed. so I will officially have to start cooking and cleaning again. Words cannot express how incredibly helpful she has been!!! She will be missed tremendously, but I look forward to developing a good system on my own!
Here are some pix from the last 2 weeks-including my last belly shot @ 40 weeks + 2 days. My next post will include her birth story. (So i can have a record of it.)
LOVE