Due Date Day

Well, February 24th, 2011 has come and gone. 3 and 1/2 weeks ago I never would have expected it to be such a normal, boring, routine day - but I am so thankful that it was. Not that any day is really routine anymore - and definitely no day is boring. But it was boring in the sense that I wasn't pregnant, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Aurora. I wasn't wondering if my contractions were close enough to go to the hospital. I wasn't wondering what she was going to look like. I wasn't wondering if Feb. 24th was the day that my life was forever going to change. I wasn't wondering if I had another week to go.

It was a good boring day from that perspective :) And I am so happy it was. Though I didn't feel "ready" when Aurora came on Januray 30, everything has worked out great and I have no complaints.

I know I've been a bit of a blog slacker lately - I've had my hands full (literally) :) but I wanted to share a few pictures. Also - teaser for a future post - I got the baby announcements in the mail today - funny story... Check back :) But in the meantime, my advertisement for Saguaro Shadows Photography :) (http://www.saguaroshadowsphoto.com/):

That's What You Get...

I know I have mentioned before that Aurora hates baths. Is there a stronger word than hate? Despise? Whatever it is - that's how she feels about baths. Consequently, that's how I feel about giving her baths. It is torture. And today was no exception. She screamed her head off again. You'd think I was doing something horrible to her. But she seriously stops screaming the second she's done with the bath. I don't understand it. I keep hoping it is going to get better, but so far the last 3 there has been no improvement. Really, it got a little bit worse today. I got her undressed at her changing table and wrapped her in a blanket to carry her to the kitchen where she's been getting her baths. It's like, 10 steps maybe between the two. Well, in that 10 steps she decided to pee ALL over me. We aren't talking a little tinkle. We are talking I had to completely change my clothes peed everywhere. So that was her little gift to me. It's like she knew the bath was coming and said, "here, this is what you get."

Fun stuff.

She's been awake more and more it seems. We've been having "tummy time" every day and she seems to really like it. Her neck seems pretty strong so far which makes me happy because then I don't feel like I am going to break her. Here is a picture from tummy time with her lifting her head:



I feel like she is growing fast. I think she gets more pudgy every day. It's adorable! I love little rolls on babies :) She has a doctor appointment tomorrow so we will see how big she's gotten in the last week...

My Overachiever

Well, as you all know Aurora is a bit of an overachiever :) Coming 3 1/2 weeks early - that's a go getter! I'm such a Mom already - listen to me brag :) But we have a new category to add to that list of which she goes above and beyond - On Thursday she had her weight check appointment. The doctor wanted her to be 5lb 6oz. She was 5lb 12oz!!!!!! Our little rolly polly! She is definitely getting enough to eat - I no longer have to worry about that!

Other random little updates (partly for myself, because if I don't write them down I will forget and they are things I want to keep track of)- Thursday she also discovered how to pull my hair. She hasn't make it a habit, but she definitely grabs for it sometimes.

She absolutely HATES baths. She's had 4 now and though the screaming has decreased each time, she still vocalizes extrememly well.

She also hates having her diaper changed. I don't understand it - she had her little foot poked and blood drawn for her second genetic screening test and didn't make a peep - but a diaper change - that's something to scream about.

Her umbilical cord fell off Wednesday - yea!!!!! That was a little icky not to mention annoying when it came to diapers.

She has started to scoot. We've had tummy time each day this week and if you put your hands by her feet she will push off of them and scoot herself along the floor. She loves it. We don't let her do it too much because I'm afraid that she's going to wear the skin off her face :) But she really enjoys moving around.

She's still not a great sleeper. Every night is different. And the daytime is no indication of what the night is going to be. I typically think that if she's been awake all day she will sleep well. Definitely not the case. She's totally undpredictable :) Fun stuff :)

It's Midnight and you want me to do WHAT?

Well, the nights with Aurora have been interesting. They are always eventful. I'm not sure if they are getting easier or not. The first few in the hospital were AWFUL. All she wanted to do was sleep but we were supposed to wake her up to feed her at least every 3 hours. It is not easy to wake a sleeping baby - and who wants to!?!?! It took about an hour to wake her up, and hour to try to get her to eat, and then an hour to get her back to sleep. And then the cycle started all over again! Once we got home things got easier, but she wanted to stay up until 4AM and then sleep all day - takes after her daddy I guess. Then a miracle happened 2 nights ago she went to bed at 6PM, and got up every 3 hours, but slept like an angel otherwise. But I will say - when midnight rolls around and I have to wake a sleeping baby I am not happy!!!!!

And then there was last night. Someone's appetite is kicking in because she woke up on her own AT LEAST every 2 hours. Little piggie. And then when she did sleep she just wanted to be held the whole time. I think I am going to blame that on how spoiled she has gotten by the attention from family and friends - she has probably done way more sleeping in people's arms than she has in her crib. And she has made it pretty clear that is the way she likes it.

She's had 2 baths since we've been home. Neither one was enjoyable, but the first one was definitely the worst. She screamed like nobody's business. She cried the second time, but nowhere near as bad. The one good thing though is that no matter how bad Aurora screams, she is pretty easy to calm down. Once you stop doing whatever is upsetting her (bathing, changing her diaper/clothes) she shuts off the sirens pretty quick. So I have that to be thankful for.

I believe Nick and I have both earned one of the merit badges of being a parent - we have both been projectile poopied on. That was pretty shocking the first time it happened. And although it made a mess it really was pretty funny. It happened to me first so I had warned Nick and tried to show him how to prevent a mess, but he was caught off guard and having a sensitive gag reflex moment, so she got him pretty good. Hopefully we can both be prepared to do some better catching in the future...

That's another thing - we really never have to wonder when she poops because I'm pretty sure our neighbors can hear it. The first night it happened it scared me so bad! It woke me up and I thought she was choking! Nope - she was sitting there smiling, leaving a present for us :)

So other than our little adventures we have just been trying to adjust to our new life. I'm feeling overwhelmed by all the things that didn't get done before she was born and I'm trying to stay on top of all the new stuff that keeps coming up. I'm not really sure where to start on everything and I'm feeling like I am forgetting stuff. Hopefully not...

Anyway, here are some pictures. We've taken a million so it was hard to narrow down my favorites.

Home Sweet Home

Just wanted to let everyone know that they released us from the hospital yesterday and we are home and doing well!

Aurora is a little snuggler that does not like to be put down, so Nick and I did not get a ton of sleep last night, but she's so cute it doesn't even matter. Nick said in the hospital that she is the definition of precious and I couldn't agree more. She is so amazing. We are SO lucky.

I have so many favorite things about her, but I just had to share these before the list grows too long.

I love...
1. The way she smells
2. Her little wimper/almost cry before she starts screaming (which we have been fortunate she doesn't do a ton of screaming... yet)
3. That she sneezes in 2's. Never single sneezes - always in pairs
4. Her dark eyes. And the way she looks at things. I know she's thinking something - I wonder what...
5. That her favortie sleeping spots are on Nick and I. She is so relaxed and peaceful just laying on our chests and I love hearing and feeling her breathe. Its the best.

I LOVE being a mommy!!!!!! Of course Aurora makes that easy :)

February

Wow, a few days ago I was thinking February was going to feel very different to me. I was looking at it as the end of something - the end of my pregnancy. Now, it is the beginning of Aurora's life, the beginning of our adventures together as a family, and the beginning to a lot of sleepless nights :)

We are all doing well. We are still at the hospital. Aurora is sleeping for now, but from the sounds I'm hearing it doesn't sound like that will last. The peditritian saw her this morning and we are waiting to hear what they have to say. I am hoping its good... Apparently she is a little jaundice, so I don't know if they are going to let her come home today. I hope so!!!!! Otherwise she is doing really great - she's passed all the other tests, shes peeing/pooping well and she's a hungry little girl when she's awake!

Welcome, Princess Aurora

Wow. I never in a million years would have imagined that Aurora would come 3 weeks early. I have always been convinced that I was going to be late - following in my Mom's pattern. Apparently our little girl is just full of surprises :)

Well as you all know my water broke at 2:30AM. I was in total shock and not even sure I believed it considering that supposedly only 12% of women have their water break naturally. But after serious leakage and 4 wet pairs of shorts/pants I decided that there was no way it was bad bladder control and off to the hospital we went.

Since Nick was in Flagstaff Mom and Dad came over to drive me. I called Nick right away and he left - I don't even want to know how fast he drove because it seemed like he got there in record time.

Once we got to the hospital (thanks to my putzing around it was about 5:45AM) they checked to make sure that my water had broken (it had) and they checked for dialation. I was only 1.5 cm and 80% efaced and they said they could feel her head. Still no contractions.

I had my group B strep test done on Friday at the doctor appoiontment so the results weren't even in yet. We had to wait for the results to come in (they had to do an "express" test) before they could start the pitocin - something I was not looking forward too.

They moved me from triage to labor and delivery sometime around 7:30 (I think) which is about when Nick got there. So I was still doing good - no pain at all. We started the pitocin around 9AM (again, I think - my timeline is a little fuzzy since I was still in shock). I was totally fine until around 11AM. I kicked everyone out of the room just because it was starting to get uncomfortable and I really didn't want anyone to have to watch that.

I would say that I was in pain/uncomfortable for about another 1.5-ish hours. I really was OK. Definitely tolerable. When they started the pitocin it was at 2 (I don't know what the units are) and they got me up to a 10. By the time the 10 kicked in I wanted to die. Sorry - no sugar coating. That was by far the worst pain of my life and there is no way to describe how awful it is - you just have to go through it to know. I was in I-want-to-die pain for probably 40-ish minutes at which point I was like, I can't take it anymore. I told Nick I wanted the drugs. But he said he thought I was close. In my mind - I had hours to go. When we had gotten there the nurse told me I "probably" would have the baby at midnight, so I thought I was looking at another 12 hours of that. I like to think I am tough, but there was NO WAY. But when the nurse came in to check me, she said I was ready to push! They were all in shock - no one thought I wold have her that fast, but it took 3 good contractions of pushing, and our little princess was born at 12:53PM. She weighs 5 lbs, 8 oz and is 19 inches long. She is perfect in every way.

And I can proudly say no drugs for me :)



It has taken me hours to write this post as I am trying to fit it in between baby stuff. I know I have so much more to say, but I wanted to share this part ASAP.