4 months later... 31 Weeks

I've greatly neglected my blog. Although, I'm not too heart broken. Things change a lot when you have a husband, a baby, and a new job. That's an obvious statement, but what I mean has changed is my outlook on social media/networking that has changed as well. Yes, I still check Facebook and play silly games on my Iphone, but as time goes on I'm feeling more guilty and uninterested in wasting my time with technology and socializing via internet. Being a mommy has greatly changed me, and I love it. I think about my students and other children, how they are so wrapped around their technology at every second of the day. How available we make ourselves to technology and others by having a phone in our pocket, as well as allowing GPS to know where we are. It's a scary world. And Justin and I have to raise our sweet, precious little girl in this scary world. 

One of the most valuable lessons I've learned while growing up is that you need to be a positive influence to your children, because your always going to be their role model, but it's up to you to chose to be a good one. Seeing how children are attached to technology, and even myself from time to time, I worry that this will happen to our little girl. I want her to be active, to have conversations with people face-to-face, to play outside in the yard, go sledding or swimming, read a book, go on dates in person, write notes to pass to friends in class on paper, go to school events, and know how to turn off the technology and not have it run her life. Therefore, we (Justin and I) must lead by example. We can't be our daughter's friend. We'll have time to connect with her on an adult level when she is much older, but for now, she is our child and we must do what is best for her. She may only be 7 months now, but she is already observing what we do and say. Babies learn fast, therefore, we need to learn how to put down the technology ourselves.

I've just lost interest in being a part of the online/social networking world. Which is a good thing, I believe. I have more time for God, my husband, my daughter, myself, my job, and all other things that are important in life. I have no issue occasionally updating my blog, or to share my experiences with mother-to-be online, but it will be very limited... so without further ado, 4 months later... here is Zoey:

14 Weeks

Zoey is 14 weeks old!!

She was a little crabby after her night time bath, and the only time I could take a picture without her complaining was when she finally went down for night nights.

She's growing up so fast- she is already in a size 2 diaper!! As of her last Dr. appt, Zoey weighs 12 lbs. 8 oz. and is 25 inches tall!

During one of her naps, she fell asleep holding Mr. Sheep's foot.

She's grasping her toys more each day, as well as trying to put them in her mouth.

She likes her green owl Daddy got her :)

She also thinks her purse is a phone!

And she was just hanging out with her friends in the swing. Love her sooo much!

13 Weeks/3 Months

Two days ago, Zoey turned 13 weeks old!

And yesterday she turned 3 months old!

11 & 12 Weeks

Last week's photos:

Love her smiling face! She was having fun during this photo shoot!

This week, Zoey is 12 weeks old!

 She was a little wiggle worm during this photo shoot, so she was blocking the chalkboard! 

 She has the cutest scowl! Looks just like her daddy did! She's still trying to figure out what exactly the camera is.

And here she is eating her fingers. Still cute as a button. My guess is that she is starting to teeth since she does this and also drools a lot more now.

She's talking (babbling) even more, and sometimes you can get a good laugh out of her by being silly. She particularly likes it when I stick my tongue out at her, and she is starting to fancy whistling sounds! At her last check-up on August 9th, she weighed 11 lbs. 10 oz. and was about 23 in. long. 

It is truly wonderful to watch this little peanut grow!

9 & 10 Weeks Old

Zoey's 9 week old picture:
(She wiggles and throws her arms around so much that she smudged the chalkboard!)

Zoey is beginning to babble/coo more, play/interact with her toys and mirror, and is giving really big smiles! She may even start rolling over very soon. Almost every time I get her from the crib after a nap, she is laying in a different spot/position than what I put her. It's exciting, yet a little scary since we won't be able to leave her laying places without barriers.

Since I have procrastinated on the blog (sorry!) I'l have to update with Zoey's 10 week old picture as well. Although I haven't been consistent with posting, I am still taking her photos. 

She's getting so big and growing so fast! It truly is a blessing to be able to watch your children grow. 

8 Weeks Old

Our little Zo-Bug is 8 weeks old!

She wasn't very interested in being awake for this photo shoot! 

It really is amazing/shocking/tiring at how fast/much a baby's schedule can change... and how much they grow!

From dealing with number 2 issues, to gunky eyes, and cranky nights, sometimes it feel like we take one step forward into a great routine and then the next minute two steps back. Regardless, she is still WONDERFUL. But after having some stomach issues, her eating and sleeping habits got out of a good routine... or just one where I preferred where I was getting sleep at night. However, with pumping and constant comforting, we will get back on track!

She continues to surprise us everyday by doing something new! She's cooing a lot, trying to swing or kick at her toys (especially Mr. Monkey and Mr. Elephant), and she also tries to mimic you when sticking your tongue out!  

I've been meaning to post about breastfeeding and pumping and my experience with it all. The information that I've found when I had worries and struggles was really mixed and didn't help me much, but I hope for it to be beneficial to another new nursing mother who needs advice and is looking for a positive outlook on breastfeeding.

That will be my next post... but for now, here is a picture of Daddy and Zoey during the late night shifts.

7 Weeks OId

Zoey is 7 weeks old.

It has been a tough couple of days for this little girl.  Right now we are battling tummy aches and sleep deprivation. It was even difficult to get a picture of her not crying, hence the next photo that required her paci to keep her calm. 

Some new things this cutie is doing: smiling a lot while awake (especially when you make fart noises with your mouth, of course), giggling at Mr. Elephant and Mr. Monkey, and sleeping almost 5 hours at night, waking up once to be fed/changed, then sleeping almost another 5 hours (with the exception of the past three nights due to belly aches). Hopefully our little angel will feel better soon. 

Until then, we will just hold and comfort her as much as possible. Which I've gotten great at doing things one handed when she allows. 

Here's her and daddy in their Sunday best relaxing on the couch. They are my whole world <3

6 Weeks Old

Zoey is 6 weeks old!

She is so amazing. She has already started smiling, and every once in a while she will let out a little giggle!

She has been getting stronger and can hold her head up pretty well. 

Since settling back home in Michigan, we've been spending a lot of our time relaxing and visiting with friends and family. 

It's unbelievable that she has already outgrown all of her newborn outfits and newborn diapers! Sadly, there were a few outfits she never got a chance to wear. 

It's hard to think back at how small she was; it seems like so long ago. But it really is amazing how big she is getting, and how fast she is developing in so many ways. Her personality is showing so much more, and is stealing our hearts everyday. 

5 Weeks Old

Our little sweetie is 5 weeks old!

Zoey is 4 weeks old!

3 Weeks

Little Zoey is 3 weeks! (as of yesterday)

It has become quite tricky getting things done when you have a newborn. Something as simple as getting a picture when she's not sleeping or crying can be difficult, but we got one!
Our cute little strawberry.

Delivery Story

As promised, here is our delivery story!

At my last prenatal appointment on May 22, my doctor scheduled for me to be induced on Tuesday May 28 at 5:30am. There weren't any complications or a major reason why, it was only that It would be 40 weeks and with how big my belly got and how tiny I am, I was just miserable and ready for our little girl to be here! 

The weekend prior to the 28th I cleaned like a maniac! I'm not sure if it was the nesting feeling I had, the packing we had to get done to move, or a just a combination of both. But I spent a good day packing, organizing and getting things ready for Tuesday. 

Since the school year had just ended that previous Friday, we had a going away party to attend on the Monday the 27th for a friend. As usual, I barely got any sleep and decided to start the day early with more cleaning. As I was in the kitchen getting my breakfast ready around 10am, I thought I had peed my pants! I thought maybe my water could have broken, but with being that far along and peeing your pants almost on a daily basis (no joke!) I just figured it wasn't time because there were no contractions, and hopped on the shower. 

Throughout the day there were still no signs of contractions or any slight cramping, I only had to deal with the very annoying (and gross) slight leakage I had going on. With this being my first pregnancy, I didn't want to be one of those women who go into the hospital multiple times with false labor and sent home, since I've never experienced these things before. So I ignored it the best I could. As we were about the get ready for our friends going away party, I finally decided I had enough with the leakage and called the hospital around 3:30pm to get some suggestions. When I got to a certain point of the pregnancy, I gave up on being embarrassed about how often I had accidents, so I had no problem telling the nurses "I'm not sure if I peed myself or if I'm in labor". I'm sure they have gotten that before anyway! They told me to just come in and they will check. To avoid having Justin make multiple trips back home to get our bags if I had to stay at the hospital, we just go everything together and headed to the hospital around 4:30pm. 

Right when we got there, they said they hoped I had already eaten because it could be a long night. That wasn't something that crossed my mind, but I really didn't worry an think we would have to stay since I still didn't have any contractions. They got us into our nice, big room and checked me while getting things ready in case I was staying. Around 6:00pm they finally came back on and told me my membranes did rupture, and that we were definitely staying! I was still not convinced it was really happening, so I stayed pretty calm, and then I started thinking about how hungry I was and how it would be a long night...

So we began our long night of waiting and excitement while we called family and friends. At this point I did start to worry about my doctor not being there the deliver Zoey because she had went out of town that weekend and was coming back sometime that night. Since I was progressing slowly, it actually ended up working itself out! From about 6:00 to 9:00pm I was only dilated to just under 3cm, still with no contractions, and the doctor that was on call had only given me Pitocin around 8:00pm. Finally, between 9:00 and 9:30pm I started to have some slight cramping, and thankfully they allowed me to eat something after 6.5 hours, so Justin being the amazing husband he is got me food. 

For the next 5/6 hour it was spent having visitors, watching tv, playing with the barf bags while taking pictures, which then progressed into my contractions being very close together (about every minutes and a half to less than a minute), sitting on the ball, walking the hall, and getting very uncomfortable/irritated. Thank goodness for Justin being there and helping me through the contractions! After about 1:30am I gave in and started asking about when I could get an epidural. However, I was only dilated to about 3.5cm, and they wanted me to wait until I was at about a 4 or 5. With both Justin and I very cranky and beyond tired, I didn't worry about the pain of getting an epidural, and around 3:00am I had finally gotten it! The only difficult part about that process was remaining completely still while having a contraction and getting the epidural. But after 10 minutes, I was already starting to feel so much more comfortable, and sleep finally looked like it was going to happen. 

From all the excitement and being constantly checked by the nurses, I may have only gotten about 2 hours of sleep. At about 6:30am I was dilated to 8cm! I was finally progressing a lot faster than the previous 10 hours, and by 8am I was fully dilated. We also got the great news that my doctor was ready and would be there for the delivery! Such a relief! The nurses prepared the room with everything to check Zoey when she arrived, and got me ready to start pushing around 9:00am. There were about 5 nurses/staff in the room during this part, and it was really relaxed and just getting ready to call my doctor in for the real hard pushing. In total, I pushed about 25 minutes with the nurses, then another 20 with my doctor there. It was such a great experience because we were all relaxed, comfortable, and making tons of jokes. I don't mind that at this point there as about 8/9 different staff in the room! 

Zoey arrived at 9:51am and was placed right on me for Justin and I to meet our little girl! The doctor asked of either of us wanted to cut umbilical cord, but we gladly left that to her. Zoey was 7 lbs. and 1.4 oz. and 19 3/4 in. long. Surprisingly, I fed her as soon as the nurses were done checking her and she latched on almost perfectly! Now breastfeeding hasn't been perfectly easy or pain free, but it has certainly gotten better as both Zoey and I learn from each other. 

We spent that night in the hospital to be monitored, but everything was great and we were ready to go that next morning! We (or mostly just me) panicked and had a hard time because she didn't pass two hearing tests (that made for a long few days) but that next week we took her back and she passed her third hearing test! These past almost three weeks we have spent with her by ourselves (as in without family) has provided great bonding time for us three as a family, and we couldn't be happier with our sweet little girl, even considering the la k of sleep. It has all been worth it. 

2 Weeks Old

Our little Zoey is 2 weeks old!

She is just so wonderful. She is starting to smile and look directly at us when we hold her and talk to her. She even has laughed once (while she was sleeping)!

I've been meaning to post about our hospital experience, but between feedings and trying to get sleep and get things done around the house,  updating the blog has been the last thing on my mind. Soon, I will share our story though! 

For now, here is a cute picture of our little peanut at two weeks! 

Introducing...

Zoey Kathryn

Born on May 28th 2013 at 9:51 am

7 lbs 1.4 oz. & 19 3/4 in. 

Our wonderful little girl is finally here!... As of a week ago today. We are just beyond happy and in love with her; she is so perfect.

Week 39

Our sweet little girl. 

You will be here in our arms in less than 4 days. Your daddy and I already love you so much; you're our whole world. I couldn't imagine not having you come into our lives. It has been so amazingly wonderful to watch and feel you grow in my belly, and we are so blessed to be your parents and get to watch you grow for the rest of our lives. 

You make our family that much more complete, and we promise to love you forever.

Week 38+

We haven't had much new going on this past week. At the doctor's appointment last Wednesday we found out I was dilated to 2 cm, and I am progressing at a good pace. We were really hoping to get news to just head right to the hospital, BUT it might be a little while until then. Every day is just waiting around, going for walks, timing the very few contractions I have, packing, and resting. I usually just have contractions at night but they are inconsistent and not intense. I feel like this is going so slow, but I'm actually at a really good spot considering my due date is next Thursday/Friday. We are just so anxious and ready for her to be here!

On another note, we've gotten more stuff for baby this past week! 

The new nursing cover:

Purchased from Lilacs & Lollipops on Etsy

A new boppy pillow cover that matches baby G's blanket! I occasionally like to use this at night as I'm shifting to get comfortable with the 4 other pillows I use.

Purchased from Brownies N Butterflies on Etsy

And our lovely friend, Erin, sent us this Eddie Bauer high chair:

 from Target

And the Mei Tai Carrier that Justin is soooo excited to use! :)

Also from Target

I love the designs on them and can't wait to put them to use!!

The carrier will be of great help to us especially while we are down in Kansas since we don't have her stroller here. 

We've already received so many wonderful gifts from friends and family, and are so thankful! Baby G isn't here yet and already she is spoiled, but we are just so happy that we have all these wonderful people in our lives that already love her. We are truly blessed.