5 weeks

It is only Wednesday and Delaney has had a busy week. Monday she participated in her second girl's night and got her pictures taken. Tuesday she had a short but nice visit with Grandma Mary and took a trip to the doctor and to Target. Today, she visited a Day Care Center, went to lunch with the work girls who passed her around the table, and visited the Dentist with mom. She was great at every stop.

Good news at the one month Doctor check up. She is now 9 pounds and 6 ounces. She gained 26 ounces over 21 days. First two weeks were rough, she just wanted to sleep, but then it is as if a switch flipped and she turned into an eating and growing machine. Her slow start just continues the idea that she just wasn't ready to join the outside world... but she is definitely ready now, enjoying all her new experiences.

Both Greg and I have seen smiles this week. She can't do them on command yet but they are definitely more than "just gas." I thought I was going to melt the other day when she smiled at me, I smiled back, she smiled back and so on. It was the best feeling in the world. Hopefully, these smiles will show up in pictures and video soon.

We have been working on development activities during play time. The cats either want to join in or watch while we work with Delaney on the floor. I have attached videos of some of our time together.

4 weeks

We have survived a month!!! Getting more sleep each day and starting to really enjoy our little girl who is growing so fast. She has moved into the bigger diaper and started to grow out of some of her clothes. Don't know her weight yet, Dr. Appt is next week. She loves staring into our eyes and can follow objects really well. She just also started pushing off with her legs when we lift her off the swing.

We have yet to establish a bed time routine that works well. That is probably the hardest part right now. Nearly every night for the last two weeks Ms. Delaney has been very cranky for a while between 6:00 and 8:00 at night. Usually she is just tired and wants to sleep but then eats at 9:00 and wants to stay awake. I need to work on her getting better quality naps during the day, this might help.

The cats are getting more used to her but can tell she is the cause of them getting less attention. Both of them love to hang out with us in her room. Rigby loves to sleep in her crib. At first, this freaked us out and we chased her out but then realized that it was a lost cause. We just now make sure the cats aren't in the room with her alone or stuck in there with the door closed.

The pictures below include Greg trying to get Delaney to sleep for the night. So cute! Then there is Delaney posing in her cute pink pants. I have more than one because I can't decide which one I like best. She makes the funniest faces. I also have the cats watching her from the stairs. Notice how Rigby (on the left) doesn't look happy. She has taken the loss of Greg's full attention pretty hard. Shilo just looks clueless like usual. The videos are of Delaney waking in the morning. She cracks me up with her noises and stretching routine. She definitely has her mom's lack of enthusiasm about waking in the morning.

3 week pics

First bath


First bath



All Star Day in St. Louis

Delaney Clare Arrives 6/23/09

The due date was June 14, but our little Kiwi wasn't interested in leaving the comfort and safety of the womb. We went into Missouri Baptist Hospital on Monday, June 22 and the pitocin induction started about 2:30. Greg and I settled in with some DVDs to watch which was a good thing since the painful contractions didn't start until about 9:00 that night. I wasn't really progressing on dilation and station so we wanted to go as long as possible without the epidural so I could continue to walk around and try to help progress things along. By about 10:30 I was ready for the drug and by 11:15 I was pain free.

Pain free - yes, worry free - no. About 9:00, one of the nurses came in and asked me to lie on my side for a while because the heart monitor wasn't picking up a regular heart beat. I did it and all was fine. I was up again moving around and a short time later they came back and informed us they wanted to break my water so they could insert an internal heart monitor to watch it more closely. Throughout the night, Greg and I tried to get some sleep and the heart rate continued to worry them. Around 5:00 a.m. they called my doctor and asked him to come in and make a decision on what to do next. By the time he arrived, I was on all fours in bed because this was the only position where they could get a steady heart rate. The baby had still not descended down so they flipped me around and ask me to start pushing. I went through one round of this when the doctor decided to take me in for a C-section.

Things had already started getting a little crazy in the room but it was then that it became a fuzzy whirlwind. We had been keeping a log of the night's activities. Greg entered a note that they made the C-section decision at 5:45 and Delaney was born at 6:01. Amazing how fast they worked. Greg watched as they weighed and measured her (more on this to come) and even got to cut part of the cord. Someone video taped it for him and I hope we can post this soon. We were back in our Labor room by 6:45 and started calling family immediately.

Our stay in the hospital lasted until Saturday. Seemed like forever but I am grateful for it because the nurses and staff offer so much great assistance and advice. Greg didn't want it to end so soon. We spent most of the day Friday working with a lactation consultant and made a ton of progress with Delaney. She had lost over 10% of her body weight which is a point of concern. Frankly, it stressed us out tremendously trying to feed her often enough to get her weight up. It wasn't until we went to the Pediatrician on Tuesday morning that we learned she had gained 5 oz and we didn't have to be so strict with her schedule. Tremendous relief. Oh, we also learned that she is 20 3/4" long, not 22" long as they told us in the hospital. We watched the nurses do it twice just to be sure. 22" is long for any baby but especially for us both being about 5'5" to 5'6" tall.

Now she is home and we are getting used to our new life. Grandma Joan has been here helping to cook and clean but she leaves soon and we will be on our home. Greg starts back at work tomorrow telecommuting from home but then heads to the Base on Thursday and Friday so I am eager to see how I do on my own. I have attached a few pictures but I am hoping for some video soon.

So close

Only 2 more weeks (give or take). We are feeling prepared around the house but don't know how mentally prepared we are. Sleeping has become incredibly difficult these days. I have to move from side to side often to prevent the circulation being cut off in my arms and hands.. but to roll over takes a lot of work. No surprise that Greg spends some nights on the couch so he can get better sleep. Still doing my water aerobics as of last week, still feeling pretty good in the water any way.

I attached a couple pictures. Nursery isn't quite ready for a full photo shoot but I do have one of the crib with the bedding my mom bought us and the painting we bought by Charles Houska. We don't have all our decorations for the room yet but that is ok because we don't want to just fill it with anything. We would rather look out for special animal items when we are out and about. The other picture is of Greg installing the car seat base in my car. He made me laugh.

And it starts

And it starts…… So I have been hearing all these stories about the trials and tribulations of pregnancy and I figured it would come in time… well it has arrived. My feet have been slowly getting a little bigger on busy days but last Friday they were almost unrecognizable. Yuck. When we’ve been out, Greg has been offering to drop me off and pick me up at the front doors and that was the first day I took him up on the offer. I had been hoping to last longer on the door service but with only 5 more weeks left, I might as well just give in. I have also had to stop wearing my wedding ring most days. Traded it out for a ring from my trip to Ireland.

The Braxton Hicks (pre-labor) contractions have been increasing. This week, I have had to teach two full, back-to-back days of classes. I got hooked up with good chairs so I was able to sit the majority of the time but it still wore me out. The second day included sharp back pain that has now turned to stiffness. Feels like Kiwi is growing every day and running out of room.

Tums have also become my friend. Need about 3 times a week. Cravings have started too. Really didn’t have much early on with the exception of baked potatoes (weird) but now I am craving sweets, any kind: chocolate, sugary, ice cream, cookies. You name it, I want it. I have slowed down quite a bit but I am still doing water aerobics and just finished up my pre-natal yoga class. Activity has really helped me keep stress down and hopefully manage my weight.

31+/- more days!

April Showers

April brought lots of rain in St. Louis and two baby showers. My coworkers threw a surprise shower for me at a local restaurant on Tuesday, April 14 and the planned shower with friends and family was on Sunday, April 19 at Dave and Deborah O'Brien's house. Both were wonderful.



Many coworkers chipped in and together they gave us our car seat and stroller combo along with other goodies including a Cardinal's onesie. It was a great surprise and a huge load off of us. The Sunday shower was really nice as well and brought lots of goodies. Greg and I are feeling much more prepared for baby. Stay tuned for pictures of the nursery. It is almost ready.


Picture from the work shower:



















Picture of the baby room as I go through all the good stuff:

Home Stretch

Only 9 more weeks - more or less. Starting to get a bit nervous as the due date looms closer. I attached a picture of my favorite muppet Beaker. He symbolizes how I feel some days with my pregnancy brain, crazy work situation, and getting ready for baby. I would rather add an ultrasound picture but the ones we have been getting lately from the doctor's visits aren't too clear especially after scanning.



Since my last post Kiwi has been moving a bunch on a regular basis. We can't see hands or feet yet but baby isn't shy to explore his or her world. I am looking forward to the day that one of the cats is laying close and the baby gives a swift kick.

In late March we attended a childbirth class at Missouri Baptist Hospital. After all of our reading, about 50% or less was new information for us but I am glad we did it. Felt like a "rite of passage." We watched plenty of video of woman going through the pains of labor and trying to cope naturally. Greg couldn't help but laugh (a little too hard at times) as he imagined facing that with me. I haven't decided on the naturally part yet but I am sure that his coaching skills (and patience) will be put to the test. I think he will be a great coach. Next round of classes are in May. We are doing both a Breastfeeding class and Infant CPR. I think the more we both educate ourselves, the better we are with the unknown.

I am already looking forward to my time off of work. I am taking 12 weeks so I will end up returning some time close to Labor Day. I plan to take it easy in July but then go visiting family in August. I just know the time is going to fly.