One month!!

We did it! The three of us have survived the first month. I will say the last week has been a true test, but thanks to my wonderful family we get a lot of support from 1500 miles away! While it may be trying it is well worth it and I know that soon we will get over this first hill and move on to bigger and better things. Many things have changed over the last month. For instance Zoey has slept through the night and I mean straight through the night. She did scream for an hour and a half first but it is a step toward making it every night. I too have made a break through. I can now fit into a pair of regular pants! my goal is to be in all my shorts by the 6 week mark! What makes me really excited though is the fact that I haven't even had a chance to start working out yet so the rest "should" be taken care of pretty quickly once I can get to the gym.

 Now then, lets have a quick recap of the last month. One month ago I was in the hospital enjoying the fruits of my labor, literally. She was 7 lbs 2 oz 19 3/4 inches long. My parents were here to welcome us home and pick some crab before finishing off their very full month of traveling with a wedding in AZ. After a few days of recovering just the three of us we were graced with a visit from my loving in-laws. While here they gave us the wonderful gift of date night! (Be prepared any future visitors it's your turn next!) We have now been keeping the home fires burning for about two weeks just the three of us. The first day alone was a tough one but things began to settle down and I was able to get a routine started. Of course that was short lived. The last week or so has been rough but as I have been reassured we are in the midst of the toughest times and quickly making way toward brighter days. I believe them. Today, so far, has been a glimpse of those brighter days. She has been more of what they would call an "angel" baby. Not that she isn't an angel but let's face it how many people have a baby that doesn't cry? I was finally brave enough to get out on my own and go to the store where a side from a short crying bout at the register everything went smoothly. She doesn't like to wake up and not know where she is but who does?

Miss Zoey has made some other amazing breakthroughs in the last month as well, duh. After a slight "scare" about weight loss when leaving the hospital she has gained just over a lb and can technically start wearing the bigger girl diapers. Not that they really fit yet but now she weighs what the package says. Haha. She has decided she likes baths but not with a wash cloth. She is now a little ticklish and will even smile a little to let you know. We are still working on smiling at people. She loves to go to people's houses with a lot of noise and sleep straight through it. I will say I had not seen her that calm and go down for a nap so easily in at least a week like she did when we went to a girl's lunch at a friend's house. We will be doing that more for sure. As mentioned before she now knows she can sleep through the night we just have to get her to do it. Lastly, something I learned today, I do believe she would rather take her naps on her tummy than on her back. Don't worry she will still be on her back at night and in a swaddle. She doesn't mind it at night. Oh yes I forgot! She is sleeping in her bed room all night now so we don't have to worry about being ready for bed after putting her down and Wyatt can actually get ready for work in our bathroom instead of the guest room. It's the little things lol

I know there will be many more wonderful changes to come but I will miss some things from the early days. Here are a few photo reminders of those days.

Three weeks!

Well we have made it past the first doctors appointments. All three of them! Traditionally they do not have that many but as miss Zoey decided to lose 11% instead of 10% the doctor was nervous about her hydration. No matter the fact that they weighed her after I had only had a chance to feed her once after a 6 hour nap. Really I couldn't get her to eat for 6 hours she was a little tired. So as a result we had to see a doctor within 48 hours of leaving the hospital. By the time we saw the doctor she had already gained back a few ounces. The doctor still wanted to see us two days later to weigh her again and then for her two week appointment 1 week later. By the time she was 6 days old she had gained all her weight plus 1 ounce but the doctor still sounded concerned. I was surprised since most babies don't gain back all their weight until 14 days or more. By 13 days old she was eating great and we felt good about her check up. They weighed her on a different scale because the room we used before was in use. This scale said she had gained 2lbs in 1 week!! Needless to say we were shocked and the doctor was "pleased". Sorry to burst your bubble Ms. doctor but the lactation consultant weighted her yesterday, one week later, and she only weighed 7 lbs 13 oz. Don't worry though this is a good weight gained and more understandable than 2 lbs in one week! The point is she is growing and healthy no matter which scale you go by.

Things have obviously been busy the last three weeks. My parents were here to welcome us home, but sadly I don't feel like we really got to see them. I guess that's how it goes when recovering from our recent events. Next Wyatt's parents came to see their first grandbaby. While we still didn't get to go out and do much because Zoey decided to move into her more fussy stage they were able to go out and see the sights. They also gave us a huge gift of a "final" date night to the movies. I don't know when we will be able to easily get out and see a movie or have a date night. We did however venture out to the pool for the first time. I am glad I was able to find a newborn swimsuit for her. It have to say it is quite cute! Afterward she received her second sponge bath at home and was very unhappy.

This week has been a trying one for all of us. Wednesday was my first day home alone and it was rather overwhelming. Wyatt, poor guy, came home to two crying girls. Things have been better since then but we are still working on the little things. Like what time to start the day. This was the last week to watch our neighbors daughter in the morning so I can try to get her on a schedule that doesn't have me waking up at 5:30 AM and won't wake Wyatt up 30 min before he is suppose to get up for work. I'll let you know how this goes.

We have discovered that even though she may not like sponge baths Zoey does seem to like regular baths, or at least doesn't hate them. She sat very calmly in the warm water and let us wash her with out any problems. Another thing she has decided she doesn't mind. Taking naps in her own crib! She still sleeps in our room at night but she takes her naps in her room where I can close the door! This is also a big step to getting her use to sleeping in her crib at night. We aren't in a huge rush to get her in her room because in all honestly that is more work for me but by the time Wyatt starts training she will be in her room full time and hopefully close to sleeping through the night.

I will leave you now with a few more pictures and lots of love.

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy ever!

She's here!!!!!!!

So I know it has been a long time since I have written anything and I'm sure everyone would like to hear the story and see pictures so I will comply. However, I will not be putting in all details as the story can get long and specific so if you would like to hear more you can ask and I will tell.

To begin my mom flew in Tuesday the 24th (day before my due date). That same day I was told that they would not induce, if I needed it, until the 3rd. This posed a problem because my parents were to fly out on the 2nd and wouldn't be here to see her at all. Obviously though that did not become an issue. The next day was Wyatt's 24th birthday! I know he is not a big fan of his birthday and had really wanted to share it with his daughter so that people wouldn't pay attention to his birthday but his... riiight. We got him a new grill/smoker so that we can continue the Okie way of food any where we go.

The next couple of days mom and I went around Fredericksburg and took a walk down Government Island which is actually not an Island. But then Saturday morning rolled around.

I woke up to let the dogs out and use the bathroom, surprise surprise, when I started to have contractions. I began to time them and they were a consistent 5ish minutes apart and about 1 minute long. Now for most people this means go to the hospital but instead I laid down and they started spreading out and becoming shorter. We went through the morning trying to do things that were easy and needed to be done but always timing them. Finally we went and got lunch and then went to base quickly to get a phone number in case I was in the hospital that night. By the time we got home they were back to 5 minutes apart. I called the on call doctor and was told to come in so off we went.

The drive was not fun! By the time we got to the hospital they were 3 minutes apart and strong. I arrived at 4:00 and was admitted at around 5-6cm 20 minutes later when most paper work was done and I was very uncomfortable in bed I was at 8 cm and I knew there was no hope for an epidural. The nurse that checked me in told me I was doing so well but that didn't last once the next events began. Once things began to progress and I was ready to push the on call doctor quickly determined I needed a c-section. I was not happy about that and neither were the nurses. Zoey had decided to try and come out ear first. This however was avoided thanks to my fabulous nurses that talked the doctor into trying to let me turn her. It worked one c-section avoided. Next I was given an oxygen mask which I knew meant the heart rate was dropping even though no one told me but they let me continue. It was then determined that a vacuum was needed to help me along because I was not able to focus on pushing (my feelings about this will be answered if you ask). The deal with the vacuum however is that you get three chances and then you have to have a c-section. I was told this after the first pop off. Which by the way is NOT a comforting sound! So of course I tried to focus and do the best I could but then pop off number 2 and pop off number three. As soon as I heard the third one I kinda freaked out because I didn't want to be rushed to a c-section I knew I was getting close but before they could do anything else I had another contraction a set of pushes and now we have little miss Zoey! Born at 5:30 pm on 5/28/11 yes that means that in and hour and a half I was checked into the hospital and had a baby. We didn't even have enough time to tell my mom but thankfully she came back just after she was born and the nurses brought her straight in.

Many things followed this including a trip to the OR for an hour and a half of repairs and a poor husband who knew nothing of what was going on with me because he was with his daughter. Finally at 10:00 pm I was taken back to the room to see my daughter and really get to hold her. We spent just under two days at the hospital and came home to enjoy Memorial day with my parents and our neighbors.

Now here we are one week later with a beautiful baby girl! Emotions of course are a roller coaster but I am sure that will begin to resolve itself some once the three of us get a little more use to things. In any case regardless of and complications that may have come up we have a beautiful girl that I am so proud to call my own. She looks like her daddy but has my eyes!