Thursday, December 25, 2008

A Very Merry Christmas Photo Shoot

Having a new baby at Christmas was really fun. On Christmas Eve, Jeremy, Autumn and I celebrated our little family Christmas at home where we exchanged our gifts. Autumn really raked it in! Here is a pic of her with all of the loot:
While we still have a couple of weeks before we can go out in to the world, we did get to go over to Aunt Kate and Uncle Ron's for a wonderful dinner of turkey and dressing on Christmas Day. I must say, having a sister that is a photographer is definitely a plus! Here are some of our favorites from our Christmas Day Photo Shoot.

Thank you Jennifer Montgomery for the Canadian baby hat!

Jeremy and I dressed up purty so we thought we'd get a picture of us as well.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Family Pictures

This past weekend, Auntie Elizabeth came to see little Autumn and to visit. On Friday night, she was gracious enough to offer her babysitting services so Jeremy and I could have our first night out since Autumn was born. I put on makeup for the first time in a while and decided that it would be best to take our first round of family portraits! Here are the results, and I think that they turned out pretty good :)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

2 Week Pediatritian Appointment

Today was Autumn's 2 week checkup (even though she is technically only 1 week and 4 days old). I am very pleased to announce that Autumn has officially surpassed her birth weight! She is now 6lb 8 oz (5th percentile) and 19 1/2 inches long (40th percentile). While all this percentile business is completely confusing to me, I'm told that this basically means that she is tall and skinny. I told Autumn to enjoy this time when she is tall and skinny, because the odds in this department are seriously stacked against her, my poor little dear.

The doctor is so pleased with Autumn's growth that she told me that I no longer have to wake her up in the middle of the night to feed her every 4 hours! This is a huge relief to me. Last night, I named myself the worst mother in the world because the 1am alarm that attempted to wake me up to feed my daughter didn't wake me up! I woke up at 3:30am to Autumn's hunger cries and felt so horrible about it. While I'm certain she won't sleep through the night, a longer-than-4-hour stretch of sleep tonight will be welcome.

The final thing to note about our appointment this morning was the 2 week newborn screening that Autumn was subjected to. I have been warned what was going to happen and that it would more than likely be completely traumatizing for me, but I really thought I could handle it. While my little naked daughter was held down on the examining table, she was pricked in the heel with a needle and squeezed until 5 little circles of blood were filled. She was lying there very peacefully and sucking on her pacifier and minding her own business and when the needle stuck her, I saw her eyes widen and she let out the most pitiful scream. I could practically her her saying "What the hell did you just do to me??"! Well, it turns out that I am not as strong as I thought I was, because I started bawling and didn't stop until about 5 minutes after the test was complete.

OK, enough of the small talk... it's picture time! Here is Autumn on Tuesday with her now famous after-bath hair...

Autumn with her friend, Abby...

Yesterday, Autumn got a visit from my Godmother, Jan, her Aunt Kate, and her Granny Nell.

And finally, here is my sweet little girl after her traumatic doctor's appointment today. She loves her lamb swing and the new pants that her Auntie E got her!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Photo Shoot #2

Aunt Kate came over to visit today and below are some of the pictures from Autumn's second ever photo shoot. I'm pretty sure that 2 things are now confirmed:
1) I have the most beautiful baby in the world, and
2) My sister Kate is the most talented photographer in the world!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

1 Week Old

Autumn Leigh, you are one week old today! You are the most amazing little girl and I have no idea what I did without you. We are both learning lots and I love every second of it. I love to watch you eat, sleep, and explore the world around you. I cannot believe that you are little pieces of your daddy and me and that you lived inside of my belly for 9 months! I am having so much fun being your mommy and I am so blessed to have you. Watching you grow is something that I am absolutely looking forward to, although I wish you could stay this little forever. Your Daddy and I love you with all of our hearts, our little precious!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Follow-Up Pediatritian Appointment

I am so proud of my little girl. We went to the Pediatritian today and were pleased to find that she has gained 4 ounces since yesterday. My mom made the comment that if she keeps up this trend, she will weigh about 50lbs when she's a year old! I'm sure it will all even out over time, but we're pleased to now see that she's a healthy eater, just like mommy and daddy.

Everything is going really well here at home. My mom is leaving today, and Jeremy's parents are coming to stay over the weekend to cuddle with their new grandbaby and help out around the house.

Ironically, with all of the clothes in her closet, not one thing fits. My mom and I went to Babies R Us to buy some clothes for her the other day. We bought a couple of preemie outfits, but unfortunately they're too short for her. Thankfully, we did pick up some newborn long-sleeved onesies and I do have one pair of pants from Gymboree (sized up to 7lbs) that I never in a million years imagined that she'd wear. It's so funny. I honestly imagined that with Jeremy's mom telling me for the last 9 months that Jeremy was a 10lb baby, that Autumn would be a big baby too. With a million things that she'll eventually be able to wear, all we have right now are 2 white long-sleeved onesies and a pair of reversible pants. Needless to say, there's a lot of laundry being done in this household right now. Hopefully Jeremy's mom and I will be able to get away and go to the store this weekend to pick up a couple more things for her to wear.

Autumn is such a laid back little baby. She is still eating really well and is really a pleasure to have around. She's not fussy and is starting to open her eyes a little more each day. It's so fun to see her checking out her surroundings. It is also so incredibly amazing to realize that this is the little person who was inside my belly for the last 9 months. I love her so much and absolutely cannot imagine my life without her.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

First Doctor Appointment

I forgot to tell the story about leaving the hospital! On Monday morning, I was MORE than ready to go home. I got close to no sleep while there. There were constantly people in and out of the room, and just not being at my own home in my own bed did not help. We were waiting around to see the pediatritian before we could get released, and a woman came in the room. She explained to me that she was the Marketing Director for the hospital and explained to me that they had a film crew on site and were making a commercial for the hospital. They were looking for a new mom and baby to interview and I happened to be the lucky candidate. They were also willing to compensate me for my time. After I explained that I had not slept for 3 days and was really not in the mood for an on-camera interview, she told me that they had a hair and makeup artist on standby. I told her that I would think about it and she gave me her contact info. In all honesty, there was no way in hell that I would have given an interview after what I had just been through, but it was still nice to be asked. I wanted to go home so bad and the thought of staying at the hospital to have my hair and makeup done was not appealing. I kept the paper with her info and plan on putting it in Autumn's baby book to commemerate her first commercial. She is destined for stardom, it is a sign! As I was being wheeled out of the hospital, I did see the camera crew and in no way felt guilty for turning them down.

Autumn's very first doctor appointment was today! When she left the hospital on Monday, she was down to 6lb 1oz and today she was 5lb 11oz. We're going in the wrong direction!! The other number to note was that she measured 19 inches. It is important to remember that at birth, she was 20 1/2 inches long. After measuring her twice, the nurse decided that she shrunk because her head is no longer pointy :) Everything else looked good. She is perfectly healthy, but the doctor was just concerned about her weight. She has lost 11% of her body weight, so now it's time to start packing on the pounds. I was advised to see a lactation consultant, and made the appointment for the LC to come over to my house later that afternoon. I also was advised that we have to come back to the doctor's tomorrow and that Autumn has to gain one whole ounce. Autumn is also not allowed to go anywhere in public for the next 8 weeks because we're right in the middle of flu season.

The appointment with the LC was very helpful. She showed me what I was doing wrong, and gave me a couple of different feeding positions to try. I feel really confident after our appointment and am ready to go full force with the breast feeding. Our prescription is to feed every 2-3 hours and then to supplement with 1-2oz of pumped breast milk.

A funny side note is that while the LC was here, I explained to her that I requested to see one multiple times while I was still in the hospital. While the nurses were helpful, I did want someone with actual expertise. The nurses kept telling me that if she showed up, they would tell her that I wanted to see her. Well, as luck would have it, the staffed Lactation Consultant never showed up while I was there, and I just figured that it was because I was there over the weekend. She smiled after I told her the story, and then proceeded to tell me that she was the LC that is on staff at the hospital. While I was tempted to ask for a discount because I should have seen her for free at the hospital rather than for $120 at my house, I held back. Oh well, the appointment at the hospital would not have been as helpful as the one at my house in my own element. I realize this, I just feel a little jipped because I didn't get the benefit of a free LC that was one of the reasons that I chose our hospital.

Very First Photo Shoot

Aunt Kate came over yesterday to do Autumn's very first photo shoot. I think that she is an exceptional model!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Big Surprise :)

So I haven't posted in a while for a very good reason. We were surprised last Saturday with the arrival of our new little girl! My original intentions for last weekend was to update the blog with my 37 week doctor appointment and what had been going on that last week after Thanksgiving. I got up Saturday morning and was shocked when my plans changed after my doctor suggested I head up to the hospital because there was a possibility that I was in labor!

Autumn Leigh Wallace was born December 6, 2008 at 8:17pm. I was 37weeks and 4 days along. She weighed 6lb 7.5oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. We are truly blessed.

We are all home and doing well. While this is a learning time, it's the most fun I've ever had. I am so in love with this little girl and can't wait to see her grow up.