One week old

It's amazing that Natalie has been here one week and at this time last week we were still in the hospital. We can't imagine our lives without her. Happy one week birthday Natalie!

Natalie saw her doctor today and everything checked out great. She weighs 7 lbs 8 oz and is 20" long. We are going in again next week to keep an eye on her weight gain. Also, we are happy to point out that we made it on time to her 8:50 appointment.

Hospital Photos are Up (and they are too cute!!)

Just wanted to let you know that Natalie's hospital photos have posted to the hospital website. If you can't find them send Jeff an e-mail and we will send you the link!

First days home

Natalie looking excited to go home

Mom and baby ready to go home

Hey everyone! We made it home late Sunday night and have been trying to adjust and get into the swing of things. It was been so much fun getting to know Natalie. We just can't believe she is finally here! We went back to the hospital yesterday to meet with the lactation specialist and finally think we have breastfeeding established. They weighed her and she weighed 7.9 - which is great - not far from her birth weight of 8.09. Natalie has her one week check up tomorrow. I can't believe she is almost a week old! Jeff and I were talking today that a week ago we were praying she would come soon - and she did!! We will try and post after her appointment tomorrow - it is at 8:30 - it will be interesting to see if we can make it there that early!

All systems are go!

The doctor came in this morning and reported that the sonogram was good and her kidney is functioning fine. There is no need to put her on antibiotics since she does not have the problem with her kidney that I can not spell. Everything else is looking good.

Natalie also had her hearing test and PKU this morning, and passed the hearing test with flying colors. We have to wait on the PKU.

Mommy is still uncomfortable due to the c-section but is making progress with walking. Mommy and baby are making slow, steady progress at breast feeding, and things are looking up.

Daddy is standing by to help where he can; swaddling, holding or diaper changing. We all get sleep where we can.

One Day Old

Well it has been a full day now since Natalie Ann was born on Oct. 18th at 8:30 pm. We celebrated her one day birthday by sleeping. Natalie is doing a great job at her three duties; sleeping, pottying and eating. We are still working on the breastfeeding, and making steady progress. She had her sonogram yesterday and we are waiting on our doctor to stop by to tell us how that went. We also had our professional photos done yesterday and those will be available on the hospital website in 4-5 days.

Mommy is recovering slowly from her c-section and can't wait until she is fully herself again. Daddy has had a crash course in baby care 101, but after some mishaps with swaddling and diaper changing he is starting to pick it up pretty well (to the surprise of his sister).

We will all be in the hospital until Sunday and then trying to figure things out at home with our whole family (Riley included).

OB/GYN Appointment Week 40

Today's appointment was uneventful! I wish the doc would have said she is so close to coming, but there really wasn't much change since last week. Here are the details:

I gained 4 pounds - but I just had a huge lunch at Panara :)
My blood pressure was 110/60
Natalie's heart rate was 152
I am dilated to 2.5 centimeters (you deliver at 10)
I am 90% effaced and "soft" (you are fully effaced at 100%)
I measured at 40 weeks (I will be 40 weeks on Saturday)
Natalie is at station -2. She moved back up a little bit - what a stinker! (Babies start at station -4 and are ready to be born at +4).

A Father's Intuition?

It is ten minutes before October 14 - the day Jeff thinks Natalie is going to be born. I have to admit that it is a strange feeling, sitting here just waiting to meet her. I know we are not even to our due date yet, but we are just so excited. If you don't know, I was born on Jan 14 and Jeff was born on Nov. 14, so an Oct. 14 baby would be perfect! Here's to another day of waiting.....

OB/GYN Appointment Week 39

Today's appointment went great! Here are the details:

I gained 2 pounds. Ugg.
Even with a super stressful morning my blood pressure was 100/64
Natalie's heart rate was 156
I am dilated to 2.5 centimeters (you deliver at 10)
I am 90% effaced and "soft" (you are fully effaced at 100%)
I measured at 39 weeks (I will be 39 weeks on Saturday)
Natalie is at station -1 (Babies start at station -4 and are ready to be born at +4)

The doctor said things looked good and he still expected me to have her a little early. His prediction now is the 16th. Jeff is predicting the 14th, can that really be THIS Sunday?!? It is so amazing how the time flies and crawls at the same time. Soon we will be holding our little Natalie!

10/4/2007 Perinatologist 38 Week Appointment

Good news...Natalie is doing just great!

Today she weighed in at 6.7lbs
Her amniotic fluid was at 15 (it has to be between 5 and 25)
Her kidney looked like it was functioning. Yea!
Her heart rate was 141

That was our last appointment with the Perinatologist, she said we looked like we were doing just great. She thinks Natalie will come on the 18th. I love to hear every one's predictions...it is so much fun!

I'm in labor!!! Now what??

No, I am not in labor yet, but thought I would let you all know what Jeff and I plan to do once the big day comes.

We are not planning on contacting everyone once I go into labor. Jeff and I would like to keep Natalie's birth an intimate affair.

Because of the need for Natalie to be seen after she is born to check on her kidney and kidney function and because the pediatrician has asked that she not come into contact with any ill people, as a virus could harm her kidney, we are not sure of what kind of visitation she will have.

We plan on sending out an e-mail when Natalie is born to all of our family and friends. If we have any updates on her kidney we will also include that.

Jeff and I would ask that after we send out her birth announcement e-mail that you check the blog for updates on her/our progress and when visitation has been approved.

We are going to be very excited to share her with all of you, but we also understand that it may not be as soon as we want.

Again, thank you for all of your well wishes and prayers, we are in the home stretch now!

OB/GYN Appointment Week 38

Today's appointment went really good! Things are just going really smoothly. Here are the details:

I didn't gain any weight
My blood pressure was 120/70 - I have a little puffiness in my feet
Natalie's heart rate was 140
I am dilated to 2 centimeters (you deliver at 10)
I am 85% effaced and "soft" (you are fully effaced at 100%)
I measured at 38 weeks (I will be 38 weeks on Saturday)
Natalie is at station -1/-2 (Babies start at station -4 and are ready to be born at +4)
My group strep b was negative

The doctor said I was right on track with where I was in my pregnancy. We asked for a birth prediction and he said 3-4 days early, that would be the 15/16. We will see how right he is! We see the Perinatologist tomorrow and will get to see Natalie on a sonogram. I will update as soon as I can!