Drunk On Boob Juice

'Nuff Said...

Here are a few new pics...

This is Marley's "Taggies" sweatshirt that she got from her Auntie Erin...the pants that go with it are still just a little too big for her 8 lb 6 oz body...Yep that's right...at the pediatrician today she weighed in just 1 oz under her birthweight...Mommy was so relieved!!

A close up of the Angel face. Again, so peaceful when she sleeps
Daddy, Marley, Jasper and Rosie have been watching basketball for the last couple of nights...you can barely see the top of her head but she's laying on Jasper...Again...

We put her in her bouncer for the first time tonight...she really seemed to enjoy it!

This is one of the darling outfits Auntie Em sent for Little Miss...notice the hair bow (that didn't stay in because her hair is too thin) and the socks...the socks are flowers. And how cute is it that she has her legs crossed? Already the little lady!

So not much more to report. The pediatrician said she's looking really good, so good in fact that she doesn't have to go back again until mid April. She also made a comment that she's very active...signs of things to come??!!

Projectile Vomit??

No, not for our daughter...For our daughter it's projectile poop! Yes, you read right, projectile POOP! I kid you not...it all started with this video...

If you didn't catch it, she let out a big poop at the end of the video. That's what caused me to laugh so hard. Well then the poop leaked onto, and through, daddy's shirt and undershirt. That was the start of it all. So of course I'm changing her and while I'm putting some Desitin on her butt she sneezed and when she sneezed she farted but it wasn't just a fart...she projectile pooped while she sneezed and farted...it wasn't much but it was enough to spray my shirt and my arms and to get the new diaper dirty. So then we get another diaper and I'm cleaning her up yet again and what does she do? She pees all over another new diaper. One poop apparently equals 3 diapers for our little one. It was quite comical. I laughed over it for a while. I only wish I hadn't turned off the flip so soon!

In other news the little gem has redeemed herself on the sleep front. Hopefully I won't jinx it by saying so but the last two nights have been 100 times better than Saturday night. We've been pretty good about putting her down when she snoozes but since Saturday we've made an even bigger effort and I'm not entirely sure if that's what it is that's making it easier for her at night but whatever it is I'll take it. She's also been spending more and more time awake which I think also makes a big difference!

I've gotten a few of the pictures from Fancy's (GrandNan, the terms are used interchangably) camera to share. There are a few from the hospital that I wanted to make sure got posted and some from her visit this week.

Daddy ready for delivery

After Little Miss was brought to us in the room that we called home for 3 days

With Fancy/GrandNan...maybe we should take a vote on what she should be called...Grandma is not an option. GrandNan because she's Nancy and Fancy comes from all the Fancy Nancy books which we've been buying for her to share with her grandkids since they came out. What do you all think??
With Aunt SarahWith GrandDadWith MommaLock
With Daddy getting ready for the 2 day old photo shoot
With Mommy before the 2 day old photo shoot
With Cousin Scott...we think he's 1st cousin once removed...does anyone know? If he's mommy's cousin what does that make him to Marley?
During Diane's visit today...she was awake for the majority of it!
Fancy/GrandNan bought Marley a John Deere outfit cause daddy loves John Deere. The other onsie says "I Love John Deere" but she pooped through it before I could take a picture...the pants are pink and say "I love John Deere" all over them. Too cute!

Mommy HAD to buy this outfit when she saw it. It says Little Love Bug on it. Even though daddy doesn't like pink he was forced to admit how cute she looked in it!

Look how blue her eyes look in this pic! Even Fancy/GrandNan thinks they are lighter than they were in the hospital...maybe, just maybe, they WILL be blue like Daddy's
With her puppies...notice how she's holding on to Jasper's ear...he doesn't look like he's enjoying it too much...

Daddy said that this picture made him realize just how small she is because his hands really aren't that big.
That's all for now...we'll keep you posted if any other new talents emerge!

Poor Marley

Or more accurately...poor mommy and daddy. This little one can't seem to make up her mind. Do I want to sleep? "No I don't want to sleep." "Yes, I do want to sleep." "No I don't want to sleep." This is pretty much how our last couple of nights have gone, last night being the worst. I brought her upstairs around 11 PM and she didn't really get to sleep till about 6 AM. Short 15 minute catnaps in between but no solid sleep which equals no sleep for mommy and not good sleep for daddy. The first couple of nights we had her home she fooled us! Sleeping for at least 3-4 hours at a time. No longer...our Little Miss is demonstrating her independence..."I do what I want." But the poor little thing had some serious gas one night and then all she wanted last night was to be held. Isn't she peaceful looking when she sleeps?That's just an FYI (and my excuse for not answering my phone)...I don't want everyone to think we aren't enjoying our Little One. She is quite the joy. I love just watching her...while she eats, while she sleeps and especially when she's awake making all sorts of noises and facial expressions. And her daddy, well he's just smitten. It's fun to listen to him talk to her and watch him hold her. I don't want to ruin his rep but Marley and I think he's just the best daddy ever! I do hope though, that we get her sleeping schedule more established because daddy has to go back to work tomorrow and I worry about him missing out on his sleep and then having to go work on those big heavy machines.We also gave Marley her first bath today (another reason for the title "Poor Marley"). This did not go as we expected AT ALL. When she was in the nursery, right after she was born, and they were cleaning her up, Brett said she really enjoyed having her head under the running water. Well, the other day she peed everywhere so we were sponging her down and when it came time to rinser her hair we ran it under running water and she did love it. So, with those two previous experiences we just assumed that she would love her bath. Well, we were wrong. Now, to be fair, she had just had a really big poop and while daddy was changing her diaper she peed all over the place twice so she really wasn't in the best of moods to begin with. But, you'll see in the pictures that while I'm getting the water ready she's fairly content in my arms. Then it all changed...

Before

DuringAfter (the bath and lunch)We do think that she will eventually learn to enjoy it though. Both her parents are addicted to the water so naturally....

Other than that we've just been hanging out since we got home on Monday. Marley met Uncle Lee when he came to visit on Tuesday, Granny flew in from Texas on Wednesday and Marley got to meet her when she and Lee came down from D.C. on Friday morning to spend the weekend. It's been a blessing for daddy to be able to hand Marley off to Granny because mommy sometimes tries to sleep after Marley eats. I'm thankful for all the help! Travis also came to visit yesterday. It took awhile but he did hold her and he was a natural!

With Uncle LeeWith GrannyWith Travis

We also went to the pediatrician twice last week. Once on Tuesday and once on Friday. Tuesday she was up an oz from her discharge weight but she lost that oz again by the time we went back on Friday. I was not very happy about this because the child can eat and I was certain she had gained. So, we go back again this Friday to do another weight check. We'll see...here are a few more pics. You'll see Jasper and Rosie have taken to this little intrusion quite well, even if Jasper does occasionally seem a little resentful that he's lost his lap spot. Enjoy!

Home At Last!

It's the kind of post, Emily, that my computer shut down in the middle of :)

Anyhow, moving on...

So yes, we are home at last! We had decided to take advantage of the 3rd night insurance pays for when you have a c-section, thinking that we would be discharged in the morning, no later than noon. Well, Sunday night we came to the realization that that wasn't going to happen. Little Miss Marley's jaundice was a little to bad and she needed to be treated so we had to stay a little longer. Not much longer, and at least it wasn't another night, but we didn't get home last night till around 6.

Here's the story...

Things went great! I think that a lot of that has to do with the fact that this was all planned. Granted, it was a bit weird knowing, for certain, when she was going to arrive, but a planned c-section was, in the words of my doctor, "the right choice for a lot of reasons." Here I am right before going back. Not the most flattering picture but it's all in the name of detail right?I spoke at length with the anethesiologist about the spinal because of my previous back surgery. After checking out the scar and listening to the details of injury, yadda, yadda, yadda, she thought it would still work okay and...IT DID! YAY! This was something I was worried about because if it didn't take then they would have had to put me under general and Brett wouldn't have been able to be there. But, he was, and he seemed to thouroughly enjoy the experience! He stood up and watched the whole thing; what he could see anyway. I think his favorite part, except when they took her out of course, was when they used clamps and gauze to pull back the top of my stomach. I'll leave it at that...if you want further detail...call Brett. It took longer than I expected for them to actually pull her out but Brett said it wasn't really that long. They had to use the slightest bit of suction from the vaccuum to get a good hold on her head because she had so much hair she was really slippery, then, next thing you know, she was there. All 8lbs. 7 oz. and 21 inches of Marley, pretty much wailing from the start.

I was SHOCKED at how big she was but apparently I was the only one. I really had no idea that she would be that big. The doctor, as she was pulling her out, also said she had really big shoulders. Back surgery, big shoulders, big baby, first labor would have equaled LONG labor, which was exactly what we wanted to prevent so a good choice to go with the c-section. The doctor also marveled at how thick and long her umbilical cord was. She asked what I had been feeding her. I left out the pancakes and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs that I couldn't get enough of the last couple of weeks. They did have to give her just a little bit of oxygen, which is perfectly normal for c-section babies and they had to suction her mouth and nose more than they would have if it was a "regular" delivery. That was when we first noticed the little 'tude that Little Miss has. As they were sticking the tube down her throat her hands came up with a quickness and tried to shove it away. Here we are after they got her all cleaned up.

Then it was off to recovery for mommy (which was weird, waiting for all the feeling to come back to my legs) and off to the nursery for daddy and Marley. She was with me in recovery for a little while and then they brought her right in to the room after I was transferred. Then we started our stay. Daddy stayed at the hospital every night while we were there. He was smitten with his little girl from the start! All the nurses joked that he hated it when they had to take her to the nursery. Here's a pic after her first bath. Notice the mowhawk and her "Misplaced Texan" hat that GrandNan had made specially for Marley and Daddy.

GrandNan and Aunt Sarah were at the hospital with us all day Friday and GrandDad stopped in for the afternoon and evening but I don't have those pictures. Aunt Sarah and GrandNan have those...once I get them I'll post them.

Marley also had a slew of visitors on Saturday. Momma Lock, Kristin and Erin and Justin Porter came to visit in the morning. Russ, Mandy and their daughter Hayley came to visit in the afternoon and Dave and Reka came to visit that night. They chatted with us a little bit but Marley was DEFINITELY the center of attention (as to be expected) :)So, Marley did have to be treated for her jaundice. They noticed, when they did the test on Sunday morning at 3 AM that her levels had started to climb so they decided to retest her before treatment. They retested her at 4 PM and sure enough they had continued to climb so they decided to treat her with phototherapy. This was hard for me, first because I was certain that she was going to have to get the therapy in the nursery (which she didn't) and because once we started to treat her we couldn't hold her anymore because she had to stay on the light bed in the papoose. I got over it though when her levels started to come back down on Monday morning. They decided to leave her on the lights anway and retested her again around 3 PM on Monday afternoon which was when they decided we could go home (as long as we were able to make an appointment with her pediatrician for the next day). Here she is on the light bed.So we were discharged on Monday evening. Here I am with Marley all dressed to go home. This is the same dress that I came home from the hospital in 28 years ago. We had to get her a sweater and some tights because March is a little cooler than August, but the sentiment was there. The beautiful hat was knit especially for Marley by Hilary.In the car seat...we're getting closer to home...Finally home and in the cradle that Great Grandpa Endicott made 28 years ago for Daddy. Every baby in Daddy's family, from Daddy on, has slept in this cradle and each one has a nameplate with thier birthday engraved on it! Very, very special. Thanks Granny and Pop, for sending it all the way from Texas!!

So things are going GREAT! I had to wake her up last night to feed her. I think if we let her she would sleep all day and all night! We went to the pediatrician today and they said all looks good. We do have to go back on Friday because prior to leaving the hospital she had lost over 8% of her weight and though she gained back an ounce between yesterday morning and today at the doctors, they want to see her again soon to make sure she continues to put on weight.

I know that I've left out a ton...but I'll continue to post once I remember more...I'm a little tired right now.

Oh, we also had her picture taken at the hospital on Sunday. Not many kids have pictures this nice from when they were 2 days old. Here's the link to take a look...

http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=23c423dd-04d9-4e1e-8ed5-3f0ec5cd13d9

ENJOY!

She has Arrived

Little Miss Marley Christine joined us today, Friday the 13th, at 9:13 AM. She weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds 7 ounces and is 21 inches long. She has a head full of pitch black hair and lungs like a banshee. We're all doing great, tired but good. She's working on the breastfeeding.

Unfortunately I can't post a pic right now because we don't have internet at the hospital so I'm updating from my blackberry. We'll be sure to post pics as soon as we can!

Tomorrow...

...will it ever come? I'm just kidding, actually today flew by because I scheduled things in hopes to make it go by faster! It started with not really waking up until 10 AM. My first thought was "Wow, this time tomorrow Marley will be here!" The day goes by a lot faster when it doesn't start until 10 AM. I figured it was the last day I'll be able to do that for, let's say, FOREVER, so I took advantage.

Then I took the doggies to be groomed so they would be all beautified when their baby sister came home. That was hard, Rosie always has issues with going to the groomers but today neither one of them wanted to leave my side. Jasper's never been that way.

Then I met my mom for lunch, she came up today so she didn't have to drive as far tomorrow, and after lunch we went and had my nails done and eyebrows waxed. Again, I figured that today was the last time I'd be able to do that for a long while! Well, my mom, and everyone at the spa, spoiled me today and I was upgraded to a SPA manicure and pedicure...SO NICE! Plus, with the upgrade we ended up there for a lot longer than we had initially planned...around 2 hours...so that made the day go by faster as well. Then when we came home my mom got ready to head up to Momma Lock's in Woodbridge, my sister came home, changed then went up there as well so it's just me and Brett and the puppies tonight. Brett and I are going to take advantage of one last night baby free and go out to dinner (even though we went out on Monday night also). MargaritaGrill here we come...


All in all it was a great way to spend my last baby free day. I'm so glad the surgery is early tomorrow morning so I won't have to wait very long to meet Little Miss! Now all I have to do is get through tonight...will sleep come??



Per Marley's Granny's request here is a pic of me and Brett, just taken tonight...it will also serve as our last belly shot!
I will update the blog again as soon as I can...Brett's not really inclined as it's "my thing"...though probably not till we get home on Sunday or Monday...they do have access to the internet at the hospital, I'm just not sure I'm going to be on top of it while I'm there...who knows...I might surprise...

Marley's Eviction Date...

...is scheduled for this Friday, the 13th, per her Daddy's request! (I figured we could throw him a bone and the doc agreed) So, unless she decides on her own that she doesn't want Friday to be her Birthday and comes early, she will be joining us in 3 days via scheduled c-section, planned for 8:30 AM.

Holy cow, she'll be here in 3 days!!!!

Waiting for a Birthday...

Yep, it's been confirmed...we are going to have Little Miss via "primary" (or planned) c-section. I met with my doctor, who did return this week as we were told, yesterday and she has agreed that we have reason to deliver this way.

So what everyone wants to know is...WHEN IS SHE COMING?? Well, we still don't know yet. We were hoping that maybe we would hear back from the doctor's office yesterday before close of business but we didn't. So, we should hear back on Monday. They needed to check with the hospital and the OR schedule. My doc really rather not deliver her before 39 weeks, even at 38 1/2, so Daddy just may get his wish and we may have Marley on Friday the 13th...they said they'd see what they could do :) So it looks like, unless I go into labor on my own, that it will be scheduled for sometime between the 12th and my due date. We're just waiting to hear back.

Other than that all is going pretty well. My pain in my low back and my leg has decreased somewhat by not being up and on it all the time. Trust me...it's still there but we're talking instead of pain in the 9-10 range I'm currently in the 7-8 range. Truly much more bearable. I've been battling a significant headache all day today...this is actually the first I've been out of bed...but that's started to fade more to the background as well.

Doc said that she's thinking that Little Miss is anywhere from 7 1/2-8 1/2 pounds and that I'm two centimeters dilated already...

We'll keep you posted...