Look at me!

Look at her! She's holding that ring all by herself!

11 Weeks Old

This has been a busy week for Miss Mia. Last Friday was her cousin Erica's 8th birthday party. It was a great Halloween themed party. All the kids dressed up including most of the adults. There was a haunted house, a worm hunt, lots of decorations and yummy junk food like pizza, chips, cookies, and cupcakes. Mia dressed up as a sweet pea. Such a cutie pie!

Mommy and daddy dressed in scrubs - mommy was an ER doctor and daddy was a surgeon. My sister-in-law really knows how to do birthday parties! Mia did very well around all those screaming kids and even slept through some of it.



We spent the weekend at home and watched the Gamecocks on television Saturday night. Sunday was a lazy day around the house with Clay's birthday dinner that night. His birthday was on Monday the 9th. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I made his favorite, eggplant parmesan and cheesecake. His very first birthday as a daddy and I did not get any pictures of our little family dinner or present opening. I stink.



Monday night, his actual birthday, we went over to his mom's for dinner. She makes THE best lasagna and I think we both overdid it eating that and red velvet cake! It sure was good!



Tuesday night, his dad, Rhonda and Caryn came over with dinner from Longhorn's. YUMMY! Rhonda brought Mia 3 new outfits that are going to look just adorable on her. We had another red velvet birthday cake. Can you tell that red velvet is Clay's favorite? Unfortunately, neither cake had cream cheese frosting on it. I didn't know bakeries actually made red velvet cake without it! Kinda unheard of if you ask me! It was still a tasty cake and a very nice dinner. Mia had her first taste of something other than breast milk and Tylenol. CAKE FROSTING! She seemed to like it pretty well. Here's some video of it!

DVD photo slide show at onetruemedia.com

Mia also had an appointment with a pediatric orthopedist on Tuesday. This is regarding her right hip being "loose" do to a breech positioning. The doctor performed another ultrasound and said that everything looks great. She was such a big girl and just smiled and laughed at mommy and the red biohazard box the whole time. (Red seems to be her favorite color.) We will go back for another look at her hips in about 4 months just to be sure. The doctor said the looseness was probably due to leftover hormones from birth. Glad it all worked out for the best and we are done with that!



Work has been going pretty good. I am getting more accomplished when I'm there and adjusting pretty well. Although I still miss her like crazy when I'm there! No new weight loss to report. I have decided to only jump on the scale every other week now. I like the results even more that way.

Almost forgot to mention....Mia slept through the night for the first time last night without being swaddled. She is wiggling out of her swaddle and moving all over the crib now so we decided having a blanket in there wasn't a good idea. She is such a big girl. I am so proud of her! I still swaddled her for the car ride to the sitter's house this morning. She still likes to be snuggly. :)

10 Weeks Old

Mia is doing great! I do believe we were blessed with the most perfect child. I would love to say that she is adjusting to the staying with her sitter very nicely, but it doesn't seem like any adjusting was required at all! I talk to the sitter several times during the day and Mia is always doing great. She takes her bottle just fine. She's napping pretty well. Her sleeping at night as even IMPROVED and she's sleeping longer lengths now...like 8 and 9 hours at a time! She's keeping busy with checking out the new surroundings and entertaining herself in the bouncy seat, etc. She really doesn't even seem all that excited to see me when I get there either. I hope that will change. It sorta hurts my feelings right now. :(

This week of changes turned out better than I thought it would for all of us. I thought I would be crying every day at work, but I haven't. I still miss her terribly but I feel confident that she is in good loving hands so there's no extra stress like I thought there would be.

I jumped on the scale this morning and have lost 4 1/2 more pounds in the last 2 weeks. Woohoo! I certainly didn't expect it at all so I had to get on the scale three times just to be sure. That's a total of 40 pounds lost. Only 18 more to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight. It will feel good to reach that point. Even though I was trying to lose weight and working out when I got pregnant, I was very comfortable at that size. I'm pretty comfortable now but still can't wear most of my regular cloths. I'm trying to save money and I don't want to have to spend an arm and a leg replenishing my closet. I can't believe I just said I didn't want to spend money on clothes. LOL!

Have a good weekend!

Update

Well, my first day back to work is about to come to a close. I made it! I lived through the day! I seriously was doubting I could do it this morning. Yes, I have talked to the sitter 3 times today but who cares. Each time she assured me that Mia was doing great, eating well, and even napping. I cannot WAIT to see my little sweetie baby!

Ta-ta for now!

First day back to work

This is my first day back in the office and Mia's first day with her sitter. Let me just go ahead and say THIS SUCKS! I cried all morning. I cried when I was nursing her. I cried when I was wrapping her up and putting her in the carseat. I cried when she smiled at me in her sleep. I cried when I watched her daddy carrying her to the truck. I cried as they drove off. I cried while making my coffee. I cried in the shower. I cried on the drive to work. Deep down I know I will be okay and things will eventually feel less horrible but this first day is going to be pure torture for me!

2 Month Check-up

Mia had her 2-month check-up yesterday with her pediatrician. She is up to 13 pounds 6 ounces and is 24 inches long! The doctor joked that she would some day have trouble finding pants in a long enough length. She's almost off the percentile chart but Dr. W said not to pay much attention to them because her height and weight were proportionate to each other and that's what counts.

After all the good news came the bad and the ugly - SHOTS! My poor baby. I can see why Dr. W doesn't give those things and makes the nurses do it. Dr. W just loves Mia and her little rolls and loves to hug on her when she's in there. I can see where it would be difficult loving on a little angel like Mia and then turning around and sticking her FOUR TIMES! That's right. They stuck our precious baby FOUR TIMES, two in each juicy thigh! Mia didn't seem to realize what was going on until the nurse stuck her the second time. After that, it was just blood curtling screams. They really need to come up with a better way to vaccinate babies and children. There has GOT to be a better way!

She cried for a good 5 minutes afterwards. I was surprised she let Clay put her back in the carseat and even more surprised that she slept all the way home. I was fully expecting her to cry during the ride home. She woke up when I got her in the house. I unbuckled her and she stretched her legs out and I think they much have still been tender because she started crying again. I gave her infant Tylenol and nursed her. She calmed down and I thought maybe she wouldn't react to it the way I had been warned that she might. A few hours later is when she really started to feel the effects. She cried a good bit last night and we could just tell she did not feel well at all. I was prepared to sleep in the rocker with her on my chest all night, but I swaddled her up a little before 11:00 and she slept until 5:00 this morning. She still seemed a little achy so I gave her a little more Tylenol, nursed her and she went right back to sleep. When she woke up again around 8:30, she was more of herself and smiling a bit. She is napping again right now.

It completely broke my heart to see her in such pain and agony. It broke my heart all over again several hours later when she was feeling so badly and I couldn't take the pain away and make her feel better. I am not looking forward to the next check-up which is at 4 months because we have to do the shots ALL OVER AGAIN! I know they are probably for the best, but I can honestly see why some parents don't vaccinate.

First Vacation

We took Mia on her first vacation this past weekend to Hilton Head. She did beautifully. I thought her sleeping habits would be disrupted a little but really were not. She woke up one extra time during the night and her sleep stretches only lasted about 4 hours but I thought that was great considering. I thought once we got back home she would need to get readjusted, but did not. She slept for 8 straight hours Sunday night.



We took her shopping at the outlets and bought her some warmer (and bigger) clothes from Carter's and Baby Gap. I really like Carter's stuff. It's roomier and is just good quality clothing. We got her the cutest body suit and denim overalls from Baby Gap and a pink fuzzy coat with little ears on the hood part. It looks so warm and snuggly. They are going to look adorable on her!



The next big event was introducing her to the sand and the ocean. I'd like to say that her face just lit up and she was truly amazed by that vast amount of water, but she is only 2 months old so she just looked at it without much reaction. In her defense it was about 6:00 in the evening and she was winding down for the day. It was so cute to see her scrunch her toes in the sand. She wasn't scared of any of it at all. We got a couple of smiles out of her. We didn't stay down there too long. It wasn't cool to us but for her the breeze seemed to be too much. We stayed long enough for a few pictures and then back to the condo.



We tried to have dinner out that night but it wasn't agreeing with Mia so we ended up having to get it to go...which was fine. I was with my 2 favorite people so not much else mattered. The last day was very relaxing. She woke up in the morning and nursed and then slept on her daddy for a couple of hours. Long enough for him to watch an entire movie. LOL! She woke up and nursed again and instead of breakfast, we ended up going out for lunch. The last time we were in HH (2 months ago to be exact), we found a Mediterranean restaurant we like to eat at. They have an outside patio which is where we like to sit. Mia slept through lunch but woke up just as we were getting ready to leave. We left for home shortly after lunch. Swaddled her up and she slept the entire ride home.



It was a very nice weekend.

2 Months Old

Miss Mia is now 2 months old! Wow, she's really growing up so fast. I hear people say all the time, "They grow up so fast. Enjoy this time now!" You never truly know what they mean until you're there. It really does FLY by!

She is doing so well. She has been sleeping through the night for the most part. Some nights she will do 5-hour stretches and other nights she will do 7-hour stretches. I'm not picky. I like the 7-hour stretches the best but enjoy the 5-hour ones, too! She is such a big girl and can put herself to sleep. Her neck is getting so much stronger as are her legs. I swear she would get up and walk off if she could when we are holding her and she stretches those legs out and "stands".

This was my last week of maternity leave. I have been trying to savor every single moment. It went by so fast. We are going to Hilton Head this weekend. It will be a nice ending to my maternity leave and hopefully help keep my mind off the fact that I will be returning to work in a few days. It will be Mia's first time out of town, sleeping away from home and first visit to the ocean. I'm looking forward to it.

Mia has also discovered the television. She is quite intrigued with it right now. I really want to get some of the Baby Einstein DVDs now. I guess HGTV and the Food Network could sort of be considered "educational". :)

First Boat Ride

Mia went on her very first boat ride yesterday afternoon on Papa's boat. With the exception of this one photo with her eyes open, she slept through the entire ride. Although, we suspect she was just "playing possum". :)



She was perfect and seemed to be enjoying it. We bought a special infant life jacket just for the occasion. She sorta looks like a little turtle in it. The life jacket is almost as big as she is but she'll grow into it and get plenty of use out of it, I'm sure!

Weekend Update

I think Mia is really getting into a pattern of sleeping through the night. Friday night I put her down around 10:45 and she didn't wake up again until 3:45 a.m. I put her back in the crib around 4:30 a.m. and she slept until 9:15 Saturday morning. Last night I put her down about 11:30 and she slept until 6:45 this morning!!! Again, I woke up before she did because my boobs were engorged. My little baby girl is growing up!

8 Weeks Old

Yes, our little angel is 8 weeks old now. It really does feel like just yesterday that we were coming home from the hospital. Thank goodness we are not, though. I don't want her growing up so fast but I really do not want to do those first 2 weeks over. We have all come such a long way since then.

Mia really is growing fast. When she is lying in her crib or laying across me nursing it is so obvious how long she is getting. I think they will probably measure her length at her 2 month appointment on October 2.

Mia is doing great. Her left eye is so much better so that tear duct must have opened up. We are still have to clean out the gook in the right eye every day but it is getting much better slowly but surely. She slept for a 5 hour stretch last night from about 10:45 to 3:45. We just might be on our way to sleeping through the night pretty soon. Woohoo!



She had a pretty busy week for a baby. We took her on Wednesday to get her picture taken at the Picture People. We had a coupon for a free portrait. We weren't going to buy anything but I had a moment of weakness and bought a small package. If I can get one of the pictures scanned in I'll post it. I don't really think I need to even say that she was a perfect model and looks absolutely adorable in the pictures but she was. We have another coupon from Olan Mills for a free picture package that will be using on October 8th. Yay, free stuff! She also had a visit from her Aunt Elissa and her Grandpa and Grandma Janice this week.

As for me, I have lost another 2 1/2 pounds for a total of 35 1/2 now. I really wasn't expecting any loss this week when I jumped on the scale, especially after tailgating last weekend and the cheesecake I made this week, so that was a nice surprise to start my weekend. We have been taking advantage of the beautiful fall weather and walking this week. I'm so glad I started doing that with her. It's so relaxing.

Clay and I are going to the football game tomorrow and Miss Mia will be staying with her GranE. I know they are both looking forward to it. :) I am also getting my hair done tomorrow and I cannot wait! I haven't had it cut since right before Mia was born and it is in dire need of some coloring help as well! I'm excited to say the least!

Have a great weekend and enjoy this picture. Clay took this picture the other night. If she looks a little scared it's because she was tired of that flash in her face. LOL!

Mia Fairy

This is Mia Fairy.



She hangs on the shelf on the wall over Mia's changing dresser. Mia LOVES this fairy. Whenever she is there for a diaper changing they have many conversations, laughs, and smiles. It is so cute to see Mia laughing at her fairy. My sister-in-law, Toni, made this for Mia before she was even born. I just fell in love with it and as it turns out so has Mia. You can check out Toni's other fairies at her website Sugar Cookies. She's very talented. I actually get excited about changing a diaper just to see Mia smiling and laughing and talking to her fairy. :)

Here is actual video of it. Enjoy!

Edit video online at onetruemedia.com

Sweet dreams

I didn't sleep very well Friday night. When I got up the first time in the middle of the night to nurse Mia, I looked down at her and it just hit me all of a sudden that there is NO WAY I can leave my baby and go back to work. It was a horribly sad feeling. I didn't sleep well the rest of the night. By the end of Saturday night, I was just exhausted. Clay and I had gone to a USC game and I had fun but by halftime I was ready to hit the hay. I guess little Mia could tell that mommy was so tired because she slept from midnight until 6 am Sunday morning! I woke up before she did and the only reason I did was because I rolled over and realized my boobs felt "weird". They were completely engorged because I had not nursed the baby in over 6 hours. I can't even begin to explain how good it felt to sleep for 6 straight hours. I hadn't slept like that since before I was pregnant! I'm not sure if we are on our way to sleeping through the night yet or not. She did not repeat it last night. The 6-hour sleeping stretch could have been a result of a growth spurt. No matter...it was a nice surprise!

It seems that her tear ducts are slowly starting to open up. Her left eye seems completely "cured" because it is no longer draining. The right eye is getting much better and is less gooky in the mornings. Yay! She has the prettiest eyes, too. They are so bright and deep blue and her eye lashes are SO long. She's my little sweetie-pie!

7 Weeks Old

This picture is out of focus but isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen? :)

Not much to report this week. Mia is growing and developing so fast. She is a little morning person and is such a delight with all of her little smiles and laughs first thing in the morning. We started our walking again this week. I am still at the same weight so I hope the walking gets that moving in the right direction again.



We had ANOTHER failed doctor's appointment with the orthopedist earlier this week so we will not be returning to that office again. Our pediatrician referred us to a different practice and that appointment is October 3rd. Which happens to be the day after her 2-month appointment with the pediatrician. The 2-month appointment involves shots and I am not looking forward to that!

6 Weeks Old

One look at this picture and it's very obvious why Clay sometimes calls Mia "Cindy Jr." I took this picture this morning to mark her 6 week birthday. She is growing up so fast. I was holding her this morning and she became a little squirmy. I had just nursed her, burped her and changed her diaper so I knew she wasn't hungry, gassy or in need of a clean diaper. I put her down in her crib so she could "talk" to her buddies on the bumper pads and her Cocky mobile. She was quite content there for about 40 minutes. I realized as I was making myself a cup of coffee that one day I am going to miss holding her tiny body and gazing into her beautiful eyes. One day she will be way too independent to allow me to just hold her. I will miss that.

I took her to the doctor on Wednesday regarding the drainage in her eyes. Turns out her tear ducts are indeed blocked but they are not infected. The doctor just instructed me to continue to massage the inside corners of her eyes and they should clear up on their own. I was happy to hear that eye drops were not necessary. I was dreading the possibility of having to administer those every day. He also looked at the mark on her arm. She has a birthmark called a hemangiomas which is also known as a strawberry mark. It was not present at birth but appeared a couple of weeks afterwards. He said it would probably get a little bigger over the next 4 to 6 months and could even become raised but would then begin to fade and will eventually disappear altogether. Again, something that will clear up on its own and nothing for us to worry about. Mia is now up to 11 pounds and 8 ounces! We were pretty sure she was in the 10 pound range but I don't think either one of us expected her to be 11 1/2 pounds!



I think I am finally getting more at ease with being a mother. I took Mia to the doctor all by myself and we both did just fine. We took her out with us last night to get Mexican and I didn't get stressed one single time. During out walk this morning she started to cry halfway home and was not comforted by my voice alone. I picked her up and carried her the rest of the way while pushing the stroller. I was completely calm. It was the first time she cried during one of our walks. Usually, she is either sleeping or looking around. I think her crying always stressed me out because I was always so afraid I would not be able to make her feel better. I think that is a big fear of mine, not being able to make it all better for her. I don't like the thought of my baby being upset. It hurts my heart.

We have also discovered over the past week that she is much happier with the car rides when we swaddle her and then strap her in the car seat. She seems to be just as content as can be. We wondered if we were breaking any laws by doing so but we figured she's just as snug and secure as she would be without the blanket so that's what we're doing! The car rides have been much more peaceful. I lost another pound this week for a grand total of 33 so far. I am definitely satisfied with a one to two pound loss every week. I think that's a nice steady loss. As long as it's coming off...that's all I care about!

I will leave you with a picture that Clay took last week while some friends were over for dinner and Gamecock football with their 3-month old son, Jake. Have a great weekend!

Five weeks old

This picture is a few weeks old, but I just love it and wanted to share. :)

This past week has been busy with doctor's appointments, dinner with family, dinner with friends, a rehearsal dinner tonight and wedding tomorrow. Mia and I were only able to get out for one 20-minute walk this week so I'm still at the 32 pounds weight loss mark. It's been rainy too so that kept us inside as well.

Mia had an appointment on Wednesday with a pediatric orthopedist. It takes a while to get ready to go anywhere and some careful planning on my part. I'm still getting the hang of going out with her. Our appointment was at 3:10 and we were there 15 minutes early as they requested only to find that the doctor was in surgery. The receptionist said he was expected to be in around 3:30 and there were a lot of patients before us so we rescheduled for September 11th. Don't even get me started on how I feel they could have picked up the phone any time during the day and called to let us know that before we drove all the way downtown for NOTHING! I guess it wasn't all for nothing. GranE happens to work in the same building so we just went to visit her.

Mia is starting to smile more, when she's not sleeping, and interacting. I was standing in the bathroom yesterday warming a wash cloth to clean her eyes. I wasn't looking at her but I was talking to her the entire time and when I looked back down at her she was just smiling so big and had her mouth open wide like she wanted to laugh and nothing was coming out. It absolutely made my day and I got all teary eyed. She is such a precious child and I couldn't be more thankful!

She is still not liking the car rides. She screams practically the entire time we are in the car. I really think it has a lot to do with nursing and when she does the screaming it is usually right around the time she needs to be nursed and we just can't seem to get home fast enough for her. Breastfeeding poses all sorts of challenges but it truly is worth it.

I would like to take a moment to offer up some advice for anyone who has not had children yet. I HIGHLY recommend reading The Happiest Baby on the Block. I suggest reading it BEFORE you give birth so that you will already have one of the most valuable pieces of knowledge that I have found so far. I am only halfway through the book so I can only comment on what I've read so far.

The book focuses on colicky babies and getting your baby to sleep through the night. Mia is not colicky but I bought the book for advice on getting her to sleep through the night. I am so looking forward to that! The first part of the book discusses theories on colic and why the author feels each theory cannot be supported. Anyway, he explains his method on triggering an infant's calming reflex. When I started reading the book, I seriously never thought I would need to use that for Mia because all I needed to do was pick her up and hold her to calm her and quiet her crying.

Well, the other night she was testing us to be sure we were on our toes! The child was inconsolible. She cried for over an hour and nothing was working. She didn't want the breast, she didn't want her daddy or her mommy, she didn't want a pacifer, or to be rocked or swayed, nothing! She just got more upset and angrier by the minute. I finally picked up that book to refer to the first of the 5 steps to trigger this so called calming reflex.

The first step is swaddling. Now, Clay and I learned in the hospital that Mia didn't care for being swaddled. It appeared to us that she did not like being confined even though she seemed quite contend when the nurses from the nursery swaddled her. We incorrectly assumed that she didn't like being swaddled when in fact we were just doing it ALL WRONG. I followed the instructions in this book on swaddling and within a minute of swaddling her and swaying and bouncing her (another step in his method) she was calm enough for me to sit down in the glider. Within 10 minutes of that, she was ready to nurse.

I had to use the swaddling again last night when nothing else seemed to be working and it worked again. I even used the swaddling to get her down for a nap yesterday after she woke up several times in a row when I tried to put her down. There really is something to it and is well worth the read. It will be the BEST $14 your EVER spent and it could prove to be your bestest friend. :) I also recommend using a thermal receiving blanket because it's stretchy and is easier to maneuver than a regular cotton receiving blanket.

I had my 4 week check-up with my doctor on Monday and was given the go ahead to return to normal activities. We also had to get a picture of Mia with Dr. E. I don't think my mom will ever forgive him for knicking her tiny little butt with the scalpel during my C-section.



After the check up, we walked over to my department so my co-workers could meet Mia. It really made me realize how much I am not looking forward to going back to work. The visit wasn't all that long. Mia's tummy wasn't feeling good and she was starting to cry so we just went home.

Mia had an ultrasound last week to check out her hips. Her pediatrician wanted to be sure that her hips were okay since she was a breech presentation at birth. The doctor that did the ultrasound felt that her right hip was "a little more loose" than they like. After her pediatrician read his results she wanted Mia to be seen my an pediatric orthopedists. We are going for that appointment tomorrow. Clay and I really are not that concerned with it because it doesn't cause Mia any pain and the pediatrician doesn't seem to be that concerned with it either. I supposed the ultrasound and the orthopedist are just precautions.

I have lost 2 more pounds for a total of 32. Guess those daily walks are really doing some good! My mental state is much better now too. If I could only stop being so uptight and tense when we leave the house!

Last Saturday, Mia stayed with her GranE for a few hours so that Clay and I could attend a bridal shower. I was so anxiously about leaving her even though I knew she was in great hands. I managed to wait 2 whole hours before calling and I was anxious for nothing. Mom said they played for a while, then she took part of a bottle, then was fast asleep. She was still asleep when we picked her up. Then she cried all the way home. She has an aversion to car rides lately for some reason. GranE is going to watch her again this Saturday while we attend the wedding. Well, I'm attending the wedding, Clay is doing the photography for it. This time, I won't feel so anxious about leaving her....I hope. :)

I know I have already posted bath pictures but this pic is from her bath the other night. I just love it...my husband is so talented.



Must go now. I can hear Mia cooing on the baby monitor which means she is "talking" to her bumper pads again and will be ready to get out of her crib soon. Time for our walk! :)

4 weeks old

I can't believe she is already 4 weeks old. Which also means my maternity leave is half over. That makes me so sad. The first two weeks really did seem to last an eternity but then I started to get the hang of things and Mia got her days and nights straight and we are both sleeping better at night. Now that we are approaching her 4 week birthday I have gone from actually wanting to go back to work, to feel somewhat normal again, to not EVER wanting to go back to work - at least not for several more months. Seriously, the thought of leaving her with someone else, even for only 2 and half days a week, hurts my heart.

One of my favorite times now is when she wakes up in the morning around 8ish or so. She has always been so dramatic in waking up with her grunts and squeaks and her arms flying around. It takes her about 30 minutes to actually open her eyes. It's quite funny to watch and Clay and I have had some good laughs watching her! I can hear her making all her noises on the baby monitor and then she's quiet again. When I peek in on her to see how she's doing she is wide awake and intently studying her bumper pads. She's smiling and cooing and making little baby sighs. Her little personality is really starting to come out. I hate to sound selfish but I really don't want anyone else experiencing things before me or Clay. It's going to be very hard to go back to work and I only have 4 more precious weeks left.

I have been taking Mia on daily walks around the neighborhood. She usually sleeps through them but they are doing me a world of good. It's still very hot and we were only able to stay out for about 30 minutes at the most. Today, we were out for about an hour. She was actually awake for the first part of today's walk but soon dozed off. She's such a little cutie-pie.

I got on the scale this morning and have lost a total of 30 pounds. I don't really get an over abundance of "wow, you look great" comments but I certainly feel a lot skinnier than I used to. Still have 28 pounds to go until I am back to my wedding day weight. Since I was trying to lose weight then as well I will continue to try to lose more than 28 pounds, but right now my goal is just 28 pounds. Baby steps. :)

Splish splash

Mia's first bath! Her stump fell off last week but we have been so busy and tired that we never got around to giving her a real bath in the evenings. We were finally able to the other night. I really wasn't sure how she was going to react because she really wasn't into the "sponge" baths from me at all. I think they mostly irritated her.



I put her in her little tub and she didn't cry or making any sort of faces indicating any sort of protests. Guess she's just a little water-baby at heart.

Three weeks old

Mia will be 3 weeks old tomorrow but her appointment with the doctor today was for her 2 week check-up. She's doing great. She now weighs 9 pounds 6 ounces and has grown 2 whole inches for a total of 21 1/4. Her temper was showing through because I had to stop breastfeeding her so the doctor could check her out. The doctor made her mad too with the poking and prodding. The girl does not like to have her meals interrupted. She gets that from her mommy. :D

We've been doing good this week. Her "stump" fell off and she has the cutest belly button. Clay and I were happy to see that thing go. It was getting pretty gross looking. We were going to give her her very first bath tonight but we are both too tired for it. Probably tomorrow night. Another milestone for her this week was sleeping in her crib at night. I really couldn't take sleeping on the couch anymore and so we took the big plunge Monday night and put her to sleep in her room in her own bed. She did okay the first night and even better last night. She's growing up so fast.

I am still pretty tired but I'm dealing with it. Even though I only get to sleep about 2 hours or so at a time, I am sleeping better now that I'm back in my own bed. I have also been trying to nap more which helps a little. We are going to attempt to do more bottle feeding so that Clay can help out with the feeding more. She'll still be getting breast milk, just not always from the breast. She should be waking up soon for a feeding which is why I am upstairs and on the computer at the moment. Her pediatrician recommended to go ahead and start introducing the bottle now because she'll adjust to it more smoothly. I just can't be in the same room or she's more likely to refuse the bottle from Clay. I really want him to be able to have that time with her.

On a more positive note...

I realized after I created the previous post that it was nothing but negative and rather depressing. I thought I would update with all the positive and good things to do with motherhood.

Mia is a "noisy" sleeper. She grunts and squeaks A LOT and it makes me and Clay just laugh at her. She looks so peaceful when she sleeps and I love to catch a glimpse of a smile from her. It makes me wonder what she's dreaming about. She also makes some of the funniest faces I have ever seen. And she has the whole "talk-to-the-hand" thing down pat. She truly is the sweetest baby on the planet.

I've already lost about 25 pounds and my feet look normal again. It really is amazing how much fluid a body can retain! I think the breastfeeding has a lot to do with the weight loss. As it turns out, I gained about 58 pounds during the pregnancy. I'm hoping to start walking a little bit this week. I think the doctor told me I could start walking some when my incision was feeling better.

Breastfeeding is going VERY well. We bought a pump so that Clay can feed her some and so that we will be able to eventually leave her with someone else while we go out and when I go back to work. She is slowly starting to take a bottle of pumped breastmilk from her daddy.

Mia actually slept through the night last night. She slept from 11:30 to 5:00 this morning. I woke up at 3am wondering why she hadn't woken me up to nurse. Each day gets a little easier and being a little more rested helps even more!

We finally got a great picture of Mia, with her eyes open, for the birth announcement. Hopefully, we can get those out pretty soon. She is the most beautiful baby in the world. Clay and I have been so blessed. :)

Two weeks old

Our baby girl is already 2 weeks old. While at times that seems to have gone by so quickly, there are also times where it seems like twice as long!

I will not sugar-coat this but will just come right out and say this has been HARD! I love that little girl with all my being but it has been quite an adjustment for me. I will be the first to admit that this has not come to me as naturally as I thought it would. While I was pregnant, so many people tried to warn me about the sleep deprivation. I tried to imagine what that would be like and prepare myself but there is not preparing for that. Handling one night of sleep deprivation is one thing, but several in a row takes its toll on a person.



I guess I have had some "baby blues". The first few days after being home I couldn't make it through a meal without crying. I would just start crying for no reason. Or I would look at that perfect little person that we created and just start bawling from the overwhelming emotions I felt just looking at her. I have gotten better with the crying. Now, when I cry I usually have a reason and it's usually frustration.



I have been having lots of doubts about my abilities as a mother. She is such a sweet, undemanding little sweetie pie and I sometimes still feel like I can't make her happy at times. I find myself thinking that I can't wait until she can walk and talk. I know that one day I will regret wishing her infancy away. So, I try to stop myself when I feel that way. I've been feeling a lot of guilt lately and trying to stop those feelings as well.



Breastfeeding was very hard at first. She latched on very well and all the nurses at the hospital told me how "lucky" I was for it to be going so well. I soldiered through the sore nipples but seriously considered giving it up many times. Clay and I bought a breast pump last weekend so that I could start pumping and he could help with the feedings. She has taken a bottle a couple of times but didn't seem to enthused about it this morning. Then, I start to worry that I will never been able to leave her with anyone and I will be confined to this house forever! It's been two weeks and the time I've spend at this computer this morning is the only alone time I've had so far. I never realized how much I needed my "me time" before.



Please don't get me wrong, I love Mia very much but this is a huge adjustment. I am so happy that I have Clay here to help me through this. He has truly been wonderful and I love him even more for it. He is such a wonderful father and is so involved in Mia. He jumps at any opportunity to help me out, to hold her, and to even change her diapers!

I have been telling myself this morning that she is just 2 weeks old and we won't always be in this "adjustment" period. She will eventually take a bottle and Clay and I will eventually get some time to ourselves again. I do miss that. I miss little things like sitting on the couch with just him and his arm around me. Speaking of which, I am wasting valuable time with him by being on this computer. Enjoy the pictures and I will update again soon...hopefully. :)

Welcome to the world, Mia!

Born July 28, 2006 at 8:43am weighing 7 pounds 13 ounces and measuring 19 1/4 inches long.

Well, after 9 months of a great pregnancy and quite the unexpected labor and delivery, Miss Mia is finally here with us and we could not be happier. She is truly a little joy and we love her more than anything in the world. I really don't think either one of us expected to feel SO much love. I could sort of imagine what it was going to be like because I loved her for 9 months before she was even born. It's just so hard to describe.



Clay and I are still surprised that she was born on her due date. I think that only happens in about 5% of births. My water broke Friday morning at 12:45 after I had been having mild, but steady, contractions for an hour or so. I wasn't even completely sure it was my water when it happened. The contractions started to get a tad stronger and we started timing them for about an hour and then called the doctor. As I was on the phone with him, I could feel more "water" gushing out and had no doubts then what it was. We packed up everything we needed and headed to the hospital.



We arrived about 3:00am and got settled into a delivery room. We got hooked up to a fetal heartbeat monitor and another monitor for the contractions, neither of which I could really get to stay in place after a while. The contractions were uncomfortable but I managed to breath through them okay. Then the doctor didn't feel like I was making any progress with dilation so they started a little pitocin. I didn't want it and I found out it was for a good reason. That stuff is truly the devil. It made the contractions come on faster and harder and more frequent. I got to the point that I couldn't breath through them even with 3 people reminding me to breath. It was rough.



The doctor was going to insert an internal monitor to monitor the contractions but he discovered that what he was feeling on the baby wasn't "hard" like a head should be but "soft" like a butt would be. They pulled in a ultrasound machine. I learned later that they actually had 2 machines in there before they found one that worked properly. I was in that much pain that I didn't even notice. They discovered our little sweet pea was breach. I think we were both a little shocked by that at first. We also feel like my contractions would have been more manageable and the dilation would have occurred properly had she not been breach. It just would have been nice had they done the ultrasound before giving me the pitocin. It seems like I went through a lot of unnecessary pain.



After discussing the options, it seemed that a C-section was the best way to go for me and Mia. It all happened so fast that I didn't even have a chance to really be scared about it. Clay called our parents to let them know and to get into scrubs while they wheeled me off to the OR for preparation. Yes, I was still going through those God-awful contractions while being wheeled down the hall and prepped. I received a spinal block and it was almost instant and the difference was just amazing. Clay came in and they began.



We couldn't really see what was going on but Clay could tell my body was being pulled and tugged at in all sorts of directions. I couldn't even tell they'd made an incision yet and they'd already begun. Minutes later, we could hear Dr. E say, "Happy Birthday, Mia!" Clay stood up to take a look at her and Dr. E held her up over the curtain so I could get a quick glimpse. It was quick, too. With her first cry, I was crying. It was the most beautiful sound in the world and I instantly thought was a sweet little cry it was.



Clay went over to the side of the room while they cleaned her up and I just laid there crying at her sounds and could not wait to see her. After what seemed like forever, Clay brought her over and I got the very first kiss that I had been waiting for months to get. She was so sweet and I think she instantly recognized my voice. It was quite an emotional and happy experience. I still look at her or a picture from that day and the water works are instantly on. She's completely perfect and we love her so much.



After getting all stitched up, I was wheeled to recovery while she was taken to the nursery with Clay to get a more thorough check up. I tried to rest but all I could think about was seeing her again and holding her. Clay came in with her and a lactation nurse and we tried nursing. She latched right on and has been such a good little eater ever since.



We were discharged on Monday and we've been adjusting pretty well to being home. I think Mia likes it here pretty well. She spends a lot of time just eating and sleeping right now but we are enjoying every minute of her. We are getting ready to take her to her doctor's check up today so I must go and get back to my daughter. Wow, it sounds so cool to say that, "my daughter".

Update on the pediatrician appointment: Her weight is already up to 8 pounds 1 ounce and she is doing great! :)