3:47am

3:47am.  This is what time Alice just woke up to eat - How amazing.   You heard me right - amazing!!!!  No, this isn't a 'grr my baby woke up in the middle of the night' post.  But why is this amazing you might ask . . . because she went to sleep around 10:30! Don't bother counting on your fingers - I'll do the math for you - that's like a 5+ hour sleep?

What?!

Yes - 5+ hours.  And no, I don't wonder if I should have woken her up or if she slept too long.  Instead, I'm trying to figure out what went right :-).  She seemed to have a lot of awake time during the day yesterday.  We played together a lot of the morning (she was awake with me while I folded some laundry, got ready, etc.) and she had a good nap time during the afternoon while I was out running errands.  Then in the evening she had some solid awake time too in between what seemed like every 30 minute feeding sessions.  I wondered at the time if she would keep it up all night (which would not have been fun at all) but instead, she ate around 10/10:30 and I remember thinking "ok, maybe just 2 feeds overnight . . . i can psych myself up for a 1:30am and then a 4:30am , , , that's not so bad".  So, imagine my surprise when she wakes up and I have this feeling that I've actually been asleep for a wee bit, only to look at the clock and see it read 3:47!!  It's a christmas miracle I tell you!

So now I'm scheming to figure out how I can repeat this sacred event.  If I repeat everything perfectly from yesterday then we'll have a fun morning together at the house and maybe get a load of laundry actually put away (since we about got half a load done yesterday morning) and I'll stop doing laundry when I realize you're awake and alert - and I should take advantage of this prescious time. Then we'll meet Daddy for lunch at Skyline where I won't be able to decide what I want to eat (seriously - I need to look at a menu every time I go to Skyline which is slightly embarassing since their menu hasn't changed in about 35 years.  I'm the only Cincinnatian I know that doesn't know exactly what I want to order there and practically walk through the door chanting my order - I digress - maybe a side effect of too much sleep).  Then we'll run errands all afternoon while you sleep.  Finally, we'll end the night with a fun last minute visit to nana and papa's house to watch the bearcats and eat pizza.  You'll have some more fabulous awake time there in between eating every 30 minutes. 

So, that's the recipe for sleeping over 3 hours at night. Let's hope this is a trend starting to develop. I can definitely handle this  - and would have no problem eating Skyline for lunch everyday for the rest of my life!

Week 2

Even though this is week 2 it was technically your first week home so everything still feels like the beginning. You didn't like sleeping in your pack & play upstairs in our room so mommy is spending the nights with you downstairs and letting daddy get a good night's sleep upstairs. I think I'm doing ok with the whole lack of sleep thing so far but we'll probably need to try you sleeping back upstairs here sometime soon.

You had another doctor's appt this week and your weight was back up to 7lbs 12oz which they said was really good. You're definitely going through a lot of diapers so I kind of expected you to get a passing grade!

You had your first trip to Frisch's for lunch this week. We met nana there for lunch after running a few errands to TJ Maxx, etc. It was so nice to get out of the house!

You seem to like taking a bath which is super cute and you really love having your hair brushed after we're done. I wonder if you'll grow up to be a girls-girl then?

You also don't seem to mind all the chocolate and graeter's and other junk food that mommy's been chowing down on. Daddy's been super nice about getting me anything I want from the grocery and you seen to be eating more yourself this week too, but I think I need to back off on the junk food - I'm supposed to be losing weight breast feeding, not gaining it!

Congrats on a successful first 2 weeks of life. Your daddy & I still stare at you in awe and say what a perfect and beautiful baby you are. Thanks for all the awesomeness you've already brought to us Alice. I think I need go give you some kisses now and breathe in your fabulous baby smell.

Week 1

Hard to believe that week 1 is over already but in reality this week was mostly the time spent in the hospital. You had quite a few visitors this week - even your grandparents and aunt Kate from Kalamazoo.

We also learned all about bilirubin this week and got our fill of Jaundice treatments but you made it over that hump and don't have to worry about any more testing or treatments there. Our first pediatrician's appt. was on Monday and you passed with flying colors. Your weight went down a little bit to 7lbs 7oz. but they said that was totally normal - and given all you went thru was really good.

We've been working though some feeding challenges and everyone says they'll get better with time but I'm just hoping it's not too much time. I'm planning to go to the La Leche League mtg this week so maybe we can get some help there too.

I don't think you look too much different this week but I wonder what everyone else thinks who doesn't see you all the time.

Daddy went back to work this week so we'll be trying to find a new normal at home - just the two of us. I'll be excited when we can leave the house a bit more and run errands together. Maybe we can venture there week 2!

Home Sweet Home

What a great New Year's Eve present.  After an extended stay at the "Bethesda Inn" (seriously, that's what they call it for parents who get discharged before their newborn but stay over in the room waiting for the little one to get released) we finally headed home late Saturday (New Year's Eve) night.  All day Saturday they were telling us that you might get to go home if your bilirubin levels dropped enough, but all day long it also seemed like they wanted you to get one more lab drawn or to make it through one more treatment.  Mommy was having a rough go of it, but thankfully nana and papa came up to the hospital to just hang out.  It was so nice to have someone there and to get a little distraction from the fact that Daddy & I were basically staring at you and trying to decide if you looked any less yellow!  So, we ate pizza Saturday afternoon, and watched football (Daddy was happy the UC game was on and at least we had cable at the hospital!) and waited.  You were snuggled with your bilirubin blanket (I think that's what they called it) and looked a bit like a glow worm or ET - hehe.

Then later Saturday eve we got the "all clear" from the nurses that you were allowed to come home.  This is the news we'd been hoping for all day and we had tried to pack things up in advance - but boy we had a lot of stuff at the hospital! I'll never forget how excited I was when the nurses gave us the green light though.  Nana and papa were still at the hospital keeping us company and we all jumped out of our seats and snapped into action.  Daddy and papa made a trip to the car to carry down all of our stuff then we got you ready to go.  It was kind of surreal getting you dressed in real clothes (you had a cute outfit from Grandma Jayne).  I don't think you had any idea what was going on but Daddy and I sure were excited.

So we started the ride home (Daddy drive extra slow) and rang in the new year somewhere between a midnight feeding and napping. 

Definitely not the most traditional new years eve celebration we've ever had, but boy was it special for us.  We're so glad you're finally home Alice and we can't wait to start our new life as a family.

Welcome Alice Jayne

 . . . here's what I would have written if I had this blog set up two weeks ago . . .

Wednesday December 28, 2011. Welcome to the world Alice Jayne.  You joined us bright and early this morning at 4:58am.  You weighed 7lbs 14.2 oz and measured 21 inches long. welcome, welcome, welcome - we're just so unbelievably happy you're here with us.

Even though people had been asking me if I thought you were a boy or girl before the birth & I always said I didn't have a hunch - I REALLY didn't think you'd be a girl.  Not sure why.  Maybe it's just the name thing because we had your name picked out for so lomg and couldnt come up with any boy names we liked.  Anyway, now that you're here with your gorgeous blue eyes and head full of luxurious dark hair I can't imagine you any different.  I know I'm a bit biased, but I think you're just perfect :-)

You've had an eventful start already to this thing called life.  You were a little too relaxed right after you were born & didn't want to breath 100% on your own so you headed to the Special Care nursery and got some extra attention.  Daddy went with you to keep you company and I joined you as soon as they'd let me.  We kept you company for a few hours but then had to head downstairs to the maternity wing for mommy to check in, but not before we got to snap our first family photo.

Later that day you had your first out of town visitors.  Your Grandma Jayne and aunt Kate drove down from Kalamazoo to visit and Grandpa Craig came down with Susan too. Nana and Papa came up in the afternoon also.  They were so excited to meet you - probably because we wouldn't tell them you were a girl over the phone.  We made them come up and meet you to find out!  So your first day was spent mostly with mom & dad in the special care nursery and with some very excited visitors who couldn't wait to meet you too. 

I'll try to write some more about your birth story sometime soon.  Until then, I hope you're having fun so far - I know your daddy & I are so excited to get to know you!