Lots of firsts!

I have a few free minutes (rare!) as the Big Lady is currently snuggling with her Daddy on the couch, so I thought I'd give an update. Miss Brooke is still doing great! She sucks away my time like you wouldn't believe; she's in a needy stage right now. She can't see very well just yet, so she gets bored (and angry) quickly. I've become a feeding machine as this girl is hungry ALL. THE. TIME. I swear, by the time we finish one feeding, she's ready to start all over again. Luckily, she's got her days and nights in line and sleeps for long stretches at night (last night she went 6 hours between feedings, then another 3 for the next one - success!)

Brooke's had so many firsts this week, we thought we'd share a few with you (yes, we document all of them...I have a very large memory card on my camera.) She made her very first trip to The Mart, a pretty big deal. Grandma's on her cruise so we didn't get to see her there - maybe next time.
She also went to her first UD basketball game. It happened to be the big Xavier game at the Cintas Center. Grandpa got us box seats again, so we had plenty of room for all of the stuff that you need when you leave the house with a baby. She clearly enjoyed the game (see below, haha); she slept through the first half and then was happily awake for the 2nd half.
And we also had our first real bath in the sink. She likes this much more than the sponge baths, I think because she stays warmer. By the way, have you ever tried to hold a squirmy child in a slippery sink? An almost-10-pounder? Not the easiest task.

Two Weeks.

First, let me say God Bless the Boppy. This has become my best friend since Brooke came home from the hospital. Not only do I use it almost every time I feed her, it provides me with anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes of freedom to get a few things done if she's awake. This morning, I was able to put cream cheese on a bagel and eat my entire breakfast with 2 hands :)

Anyway, we've made it to 2 weeks! The Big Lady is doing wonderfully, and Mommy & Daddy aren't doing so bad either. She sleeps anywhere from 3-5 hours at a time at night (and the 5 could possibly be a little longer if I let her go, but I've been unable to bring myself to not wake her after 5 hours....she needs to eat, right?) She's gotten herself on a bit of a schedule, usually waking around 3 a.m. to eat and then not again until 7 (we see the start of the Today Show almost daily.) Throughout the day is random; she has sleepy days and very alert days. Feedings are going really well. She's still only eating a total of 20 minutes at a feeding, but she's reached a growth spurt that is making her hungrier more often. It's so much easier to feed a hungry baby than a sleepy one that you have to wake up to even get started!

I'm doing pretty well; I'm completely off my pain medicine, just taking a few Motrin here and there. I'm bordering on sleep-deprived, but no more than any other new parent I guess. I have no appetite these days (which I've read is common in the weeks after giving birth) and have to force myself to eat so the Big Lady gets enough nutrition. But this does wonders for the baby weight, which has happily disappeared - I've actually dipped below my pre-pregnancy weight already :)

Daddy seems to be getting along quite well. He's gotten a bit more sleep than I have, as he's been back at work since Brooke was only a few days old - no paternity leave for this house! So I've tried to let him sleep as much as possible during the work week. He did have his first middle of the night shift this weekend, letting me get a straight 4 hours of sleep between feedings :) He's getting the hang of what she wants/needs when she cries and can quickly console her now.

Our little family is happy and healthy. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful little munchkin and can't believe she's been here for 2 weeks!

p.s. The 2nd picture included is the face we get quite frequently - it's her curious "what are you looking at?" face.

Not so newborn...

Our newborn is not a newborn. Not according to Carter's, Gerber, Pampers, Ralph Lauren, etc. In fact, Ralph Lauren is convinced my infant is older than 3 months (the 3M sleepers just fit.) Yep, my little girl (or big lady, as I often refer to her) doesn't come close to fitting in any newborn-sized products. She never fit in newborn sleepers; she wore her coming-home-from-the-hospital outfit for a total of about an hour - just long enough to get from the hospital to our house and to take a few pictures. She quickly outgrew the newborn onesies we had for her. In fact, she's too big for some of the 0-3 mo. onesies... Today, she graduated from newborn diapers to size 1's. This decision was made when we had the 2nd blowout diaper in under 24 hours, each resulting in a complete outfit change and 1 even requiring a bath. The tiny newborn diapers can't handle our little one's digestive system.

This shouldn't really surprise me. Brooke's birth weight and length put her in the 97th percentile for each. And her head size puts her in the 96th percentile. An overachiever like Mommy & Daddy, for sure.

(This picture has nothing to do with this post. I just think it's cute. Plus, if I throw one or 2 in with each post, maybe it'll make up for my lack of consistent blogging.)

Mommyhood.

Brooke is 10 days old today. In honor of this momentous occasion, I'm going to count down the top 10 things (in no particular order) I love about being a Mommy so far.

1. Headbands and dresses and pink boots (And can we talk about how grown up she looks in pants? Beyond adorable.) What fun it is to dress up my own little fashionista :)
2. Cuddling on the couch with a beautiful sleeping infant.
3. Knowing that the husband and I have the final say in decisions about her life. The big ones and the little ones.
4. Those moments in the morning when she first wakes up. It takes a lot of blinking to get her eyes adjusted to the light, just like the rest of us. And she stretches every little limb while making the cutest grunting noises.
5. Figuring out which of her traits she gets from me and which she gets from her daddy.
6. This face:7. Introducing her to all of our family and friends. Our little girl has brought so much joy to so many people already. I'm a very proud mama when I see the smiles on others' faces because of something cute she does.
8. Learning what she likes and dislikes. I can sometimes tell just by listening to her cry and looking at her body language what she wants or needs.
9. Watching the husband as a daddy. He's so adoring and gentle. My heart melts as I watch him with her, talking to her and playing with her. I'm even more in love with him now.
10. I still can't believe that I am the one with the ability to calm a child just by my smell or at the sound of my voice. For years, I've watched mothers instantly console their baby after several others had tried unsuccessfully. That's me now, and it's very surreal. I'm not gonna lie, it's a lovely feeling. It makes me feel like I have a real purpose in life.

One Week.

Our pretty lady is one week old today. This is how excited she is about it: Bet you weren't prepared to be smacked in the face by all the cuteness, huh? We're talking baby-beauty-pageant cute. (No, I'm not considering becoming a Toddlers & Tiaras pageant mom, just think she's that gorgeous.) The memory card on my camera is filling up!

p.s. I promise better blogging to come. Things have been a bit on the crazy side with my little princess, as is to be expected.

Birth Story.

Little Miss Brooke is a procrastinator just like her Mommy. She took her sweet time coming out, stubbornly making us wait almost 2 days for her.

We were admitted to Labor & Delivery at 6 p.m. on Tuesday the 29th. I was immediately hooked up to an IV, fetal heart monitor, and contraction monitor. I was contracting when we got there, what we thought was a sign things would move right along. Not so much. After 12 hours of Cervadil, I was only 1 cm dilated as of 8 a.m. the next morning. So, round 2 of Cervadil began. Contractions got increasingly stronger, and by lunchtime on Wed. they were becoming unbearable. That afternoon was pretty rough, as I was experiencing the joys of back labor. But they finally gave me some pain meds that provided quite a bit of relief around 7 p.m.

I was started on Pitocin about 10 p.m. to really get my contractions going and boy did it work! That night was very difficult for me. I got almost no sleep, just breathing through each contraction in somewhat of a zen-like state. I surprised myself with how well I handled the pain. I just got in a zone and did some deep breathing (shocking that I knew how to do it since I never attended those childbirth classes, right?)

The next morning brought my new best friend: the epidural. The doctor checked me around 10 a.m. Friday and was pretty much convinced that this whole process would result in a c-section. They broke my water in an attempt to jump start things. After they broke my water, my contractions got strong enough that I was begging to be stabbed in the back. I was still only at 1 cm, but they decided to be kind to me since I'd been there 38 hours. There was a slight issue with my blood pressure (dropped to 74/50 at one point, yikes!) so I was on oxygen for a while. But almost instantly, the contractions were painless and I could finally relax.

This relaxation must have been all she needed because when I was checked a few hours later, we had jumped to 8 cm and she was dropping. An hour later, she was in position and I was at 10 cm. My nerves really kicked in then and I was on & off the oxygen. We started pushing right at 4:00 and she was out at 4:28 p.m. It was absolutely love at first sight for both me & the husband. She was huge but mostly calm and reserved. Our perfect little angel scored 9's on both of her Apgar scores, an indication that she's already striving to be above average :) At 9 lbs 9 oz and 22.5 inches long, she far exceeded our expectations on her size. It's incredible to me to think about how she fit inside my belly. No wonder I couldn't breathe!
Our little princess has stolen our hearts. We're all still getting the hang of things, but we're making progress each day. I'm feeling great now, which is making it easier to move about to take care of my girl. We've had a lot of help, but are finally starting to feel confident in our parenting skills. Brooke's future is in our hands; we're going to spend every waking hour making sure its bright and beautiful.

Introducing...

Brooke Mary Reeder made her debut on New Year's Eve, after almost 48 hours of labor. She's perfect and we're absolutely in love already. More pictures and her birth story to come!