We're Parents!

Finally two hands to type! I have been wanting to blog but facebook from my iphone has been easier, I have been nursing one handed and posting on facebook with the other! So here I am blogging and here are some of my ramblings. Not well written, but written, and to me that's all that matters. :)

In April 2010 I thought I would try to catch up on the months and months I had been behind on blogging so then I could make our big announcement... We're expecting! :) I never got caught up on my blog and now my big announcement is... We're parents!

On March 6th 2010 we found out we were expecting! I can still remember grinning ear to ear in excitement and waiting for Andy to get home from his hockey game so I could tell him the great news. I remember feeling filled with joy, I was now closer to what I had always wanted to be, a mother! My brother-in-law Josh just reminded me the other day about the first time that I had met him. He said he asked me what I had wanted to be when I grew up, my response was "a mom".

I had a fairly easy pregnancy, I had all the usual aches, pains and symptoms that come along with growing a baby inside of you, but nothing too severe. And I always knew that any discomfort I was having was for a great cause, afterall Andy and I were going to get a baby out of it! :) Metamucil became my lifesaver and pre-natal yoga was a wonderful way for me to take some time out of my weeks and focus on my body and my growing baby. I loved having that time to bond with my baby and to be in a room filled with other pregnant women. I am so thankful that I was able to find the time to do yoga, it helped me stay in decent shape which has definitely helped in the recovery.

So today my baby is 6 and a half weeks old! :) We have been enjoying our time together as a family of three. We love her so much! We have been spoiled by having a pretty easy first baby. Wow, there is so much I could say about her and the fun we have had with her over the past month and a half.

My favorite memory of our first night home from the hospital was when she started crying in the middle of the night.

Marissa: "Andy she's crying can you get her for me" (Dad was in the routine of getting her for me so I could get ready to feed her. He's back to work now so I no longer have this luxury).

Andy: (Gets out of bed and walks to the foot of the bed and starts frantically patting down the covers) "Baby, baby, where's the baby, where's the baby?!" (repeated over and over again).

Marissa: Laughing "Um, she's in her craddle".

Oh the joys of being new sleep deprived parents! :)

The first week and a half of being a mother I had this amazing burst of energy, what I called, "new mommy adrenaline", I tried not to count the hours of sleep I was getting because I knew it wasn't many and that if I counted them my mind would tell me I was exhausted... So instead I enjoyed feeling like an energizer bunny (the pain killers were probably helping with this as well). And then the week and a half mark hit, the adrenaline wore off and I realized I was exhausted! I felt as if I had been run over by a bus. The next few days I tried to sleep as much as I could during the day, I kept telling myself that when she napped I needed to nap.

At Adalyn's two week check up her doctor walked in the room and said, "so this is the room with the high octane breastmilk!" It is normal for babies to lose up to ten percent of their birth weight in their first two weeks, but Adalyn had kept and exceeded hers. When she was born she weighed 9lbs 9 ounces, at 2 days old she went down to 8lbs 13 ounces and at two weeks she weighed in at 10 lbs 5 ounces. At her two week appointment her doctor told me that I no longer needed to wake her up at night for feedings. (I had been in the routine of feeding her every 1 1/2-3 hours during the day and then waking her up every 5 hours at night to eat.) I was really excited to hear this news! That night I didn't set my alarm and she slept for 7.5 hours! I felt like the luckiest mom alive. From that point on she was a pretty good sleeper.

One thing that has helped me throughout my short weeks as a mother to an infant is to get rid of all expectations. I have found that if I have no expectations the things that can be unpleasant are not so unpleasant.

A great memory of Adalyn was when she was two weeks old, she was being fussy and kept wanting to be latched on, I was pretty sure there was no way she could eat that much without making herself sick. So that was the night we introduced her to the pacifier. She took the pacifier right away and I loved watching her suck on it for the next 30 min. I felt so happy that it was a pacifier and not me!

Now, I feel like I need to put a disclaimer in here: I am not writing this blog to make other parents hate me. :) I have been blessed with an easy baby, but she's just my first. Just because I have an easy baby now doesn't mean I won't have a difficult toddler, teenager, or a difficult baby the next time around. If it makes you despise me when you read my blog please don't read it. I write so that I will be able to remember my time with Adalyn as an infant. And I have sympathy for parents with colicky babies.

Adalyn's Stats and percentiles:

Birth:

11/25/10 Weight: 9lbs 9 oz, Height: 21.5 inches

2.5 weeks:

12/13/10 Weight: 10lbs 5 oz (94%), Height: 21.5 inches (84%)

6.5 weeks:

1/10/11 Weight: 12 lbs .5oz (94%), Height: 23 inches (89%)

We have Kaiser insurance, which I love and highly recommend! The care I have received has been outstanding! Adalyn goes to the campbell clinic for her check-ups. She sees Claudia Rimai NP who is fantastic. She is down to earth, personable, and really listens and responds to any and all questions with honesty. At Adalyn's appointment today she had her shots, Dad chose to leave for that part. Claudia told us that Adalyn was growing right on track and that her stats showed her that she was eating just the right amount, and that she was the size of an average 3 months old. I could have told you that, I have even pulled out some 3-6 month clothes!

More fun things:

-listening to her cute cooing and snoring sounds

-watching her stare at people and track them

-watching her be entertained by the stars on the ceiling from her lady bug nite lite

-watching Dad put her quickly to sleep in his "sleeper hold"

-her ear to ear smiles with her little dimple (new years eve)

-watching her suck her fist, her finger, she even found her thumb the other day

-being amazed at her strong neck (from day 2)

-watching her in her preferred head position with her head back and tilted to the side (makes me laugh because this is how she was trying to come out of the birth canal, it didn't work so well! Failed attempt! :))

-sticking her cute little tongue out to show me she's hungry

-giving her baths

-watching her discover things for the first time

-swaddling her up when it's time for bed

-her hair that has stuck out of the back of her beanie since day one

-watching Dad experience Adalyn's first blowout

-watching Andy be a Dad

-kissing, snuggling and talking to her

-putting her in her bed awake with a full tummy and having her be able to soothe herself to sleep

-watching her stretch as she's waking up

-ichatting with family

-watching her sweet cousin, Jonah (6yrs old), interact with her. Hearing him say,"oh, look at her cute back". Having him ask to see her "kind of walk", he demonstrated for us by getting down on the floor with his hands holding onto the couch (so cute!). He taught her how to do high fives (it worked out nice that when she was stretching out her hand it hit his). He wanted to hold her, be near her when she ate, teach her the ABC's, and teach her about Christmas and Rudolph.

Other Names She Goes By:

Baby, baby girl, my little love, squirrly girly, little girl, the kid

Where she's been in the first 6 weeks: (she started going on "outings" with mom at 1 week old)

To...

Kaisers newborn care club, Target, Trader Joes, Valley Fair, Los Gatos Baby, Buy Buy Baby, many walks around los gatos, out to dinners, Vasona park festival of lights, Families houses, Logitech Ice to watch her Dad play hockey, the movie "True Gritt", a utah Grizzlies hockey game, Centerville Utah, Church, The Olsen's home to make gingerbread houses, Liz Peters' home, Julie's Baby Shower for Gracelyn (Gracelyn is expected to be born in the end of Feb)... and other places I'm forgetting about.

Mom and Dad have even left Adalyn to go on a date to a Sharks game. Terilyn, Dana and Peter were great babysitters! Adalyn loved all the attention, took her bottle, and even gave Terilyn a big smile!

We love our little family and are enjoying watching our little sweetheart experience life.