2 Months

Blakelyn had her 2 month appointment yesterday.  She did great (and so did I).  I dreaded having to take her since she would be getting her first round of vaccines (aside from the HepB she got in the hospital) and I didn't know how she would react.  She actually got really upset at having to be half naked (not to mention tired and hungry) so her wailing began well before any needles showed up.  As soon as she was dressed, fed, and got in the car (fell asleep) she was good.  I don't think the shots even phased her.

Stats as of 2 months:

Head circumference: 15 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 10 lbs (40th percentile)

Height: 23 3/4 inches (95th percentile)

We've got a long skinny girl!!  

Pictures to come later...

Natural Personality

*So apparently I can write a post from an iPad, but I can't upload pictures or space out paragraphs... boo!*  Round 2...

Our little girl is beginning to show her personality. We are adapting to her various cries and characteristics. It's fun to get to know someone's true and raw emotions! 

So far Blakelyn has five types of cries: distress (change me/ feed me), pitiful (what do you mean I can't keep nursing after 30 minutes even though I fell asleep and unlatched), tired (no I'm not tired, yes I am, no I'm not...), just plain fussiness (I don't like the evenings/ I'm bored/ I need a change of scenery/ I'm only going to be content if you walk me around while I'm strapped into the carseat, etc.) and what we think are growing pains (the kind that are the worst). 

I never get to see her cry, just hear her, doesn't she look so cute!

Blakelyn is happier in the mornings and afternoons than she is in the evenings and nights. I have learned to enjoy her in the mornings and run errands later in the day, since she calms down when we are out and about. If I don't have errands to run, we go for a walk as our outing. Although getting out and about is great for Blakelyn (and my sanity),, she does not like getting into her car seat (especially the first few minutes). She will fuss and wail for a good 10 minutes before she finally decides that she does indeed enjoy it (if only she could remember for the next time). Unfortunately Blakelyn doesn't like the evenings and begins to fuss around the time to start cooking dinner... Guess we will be doing crockpot dinners for a while. 

Cooing and smiling when we interact with her are beginning to occur more on demand, not just randomly. She does still like to laugh at random things for whatever reason. Her favorite spot in the house is her changing table. We get the most laughs and coos while she is laying there. If I had to guess her favorite color, I would say it is green because the walls in her nursery can calm her down almost instantly and she will stare and laugh at the walls for hours (well seconds and minutes). When Bryan and I wear the color green, she tends to become fascinated staring at our shirts. 

Staring at the wall:

Blakelyn has a variety of sounds and faces that she makes. We had her sleep in our room a few times before we decided that she is a loud sleeper and put her in her own room. I guess you could say that Blakelyn talks in her sleep. She will coo, laugh, cry, fuss, and grunt. As she begins to wake up, she will begin grunting and alternate between grunting and crying. We have learned that unless the cry is whaling, not to bother her. When she naps during the day, you can see and hear her coo, smile, laugh, and cry... I suppose she has some crazy dreams! Blakelyn also grunts when she is passing something through her system... She works hard for those poops! 

A video of her cooing (sorry it's sideways):

"I give in to the sleepiness:"

Hungry skinny girl preparing to eat:

As my mother-in-law has said, "I could watch Blakelyn's facial expressions all day long." I agree! Blakelyn makes all kinds of funny faces. She has Bryan's furrowed brow that she makes the most, especially when she is "studying" something. Our next door neighbor commented that Blakelyn looked angry when she first met her... I corrected her and said "nope that's just her face." Blakelyn has the ability to use her eyebrows to enhanced her facial expressions... I do believe she gets that from me and will be able to really exaggerate that as her muscle tone improves.

Speaking of muscle tone... this is how we find her in the mornings:

She somehow manages to wiggle her way to the other side of the crib and rotates 90 degrees!

More pictures:

I love seeing her neck:

And a video showing off her tongue skills: 

Blakelyn's First Month

Time flies with a new baby, and yet the days feel sooo long.  It's hard to believe that Blakelyn will be 6 weeks old on Thursday, she still seems so new.  I only say this because she has already outgrown many of her clothing, sad times.  She obviously got my length since I was a long baby and Bryan was short (can't believe that can you!!).  Blakelyn did get Bryan's thinness which makes her clothing look funny, she swims in them width wise, but can't straighten her legs all the way.

Not much is interesting to tell about Blakelyn's little life so far... she is your typical newborn: eat, sleep, fuss, poop (and in that exact order).  Digestion is very uncomfortable for her so she usually fusses during that process, but as soon as it all comes out... she smiles wide!! 

We introduced pacifiers and bottles around 2 weeks.  She doesn't seem to care where the food comes from (just as long as she gets it) and can enjoy a nice pacifier for comfort (although she doesn't always need or want it).  

Blakelyn is very much our child: she enjoys sleep.  We can put her down around 8-9 pm and she will sleep in 4-5 hour increments.  Of course she has her nights of fussiness and being wide awake. I usually don't mind the wide awake nights, especially when it's welcomed with a big gummy smile and happy coos:

Now for pictures:

Blakelyn has the tendency to poke her eyes out with her fingers... Bryan loves the built in mittens.

Celebrating her first holiday, Thanksgiving.

One of Bryan's co-workers' mom crocheted this adorable bee hat and bottom.  Blakelyn wore it to cheer on the Yellow Jackets during the Georgia vs Georgia Tech game... it didn't help the Jackets, so it must be a good luck charm for the Bulldawgs!!

She must be a side sleeper (like Bryan). When we put her on the boppy on her back, she scoots and wiggles to one of her sides to snooze.

One Month Photo shoot:

The look that is usually on her face:

A big yawn:

My favorite!  

It took about 18 shots to finally get this one! I suppose you could say Blakelyn's big accomplish this first month is her tongue reflex!

Blakelyn Anne

To say the least our November has started off a little busy! Our daughter, Blakelyn Anne, was born Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 1:05pm! Without going into too much detail and making the blog super long, I'll recap our labor and delivery:

Blakelyn's original due date was November 7, which coincidentally, is also my father's birthday! However, she did not make an appearance that day. I had a regular doctor's appointment scheduled for November 9. When I showed up, the doctor said, "oh, you're still pregnant!" We went ahead and scheduled an induction for November 14, assuming (and hoping) she would come on her own.

That night I felt my usual contractions, but these contractions were more rhythmic, stronger, timely, and no matter what position I maneuvered into, they would not let up. At 12:30 am we decided to head to the hospital. Since I had been 3cm and 80% effaced for a few weeks, I knew that even if I was experiencing false labor, the hospital would keep me since I was overdue.

I labored at the hospital until 2:30 am when the nurses and doctor said that if there wasn't any change (and there wasn't any) by 6am they would either: let me go home and labor on my own, or keep me and go ahead and induce. I decided to get some sleep and let them induce me!

At 7am the nurse started the pitocin drip and dilation began! At 8am the doctor broke my water (ha and I was worried that I wouldn't know if my water broke!). By then I was 5cm and 90% effaced! I labored a few more hours without any pain medicine until I was 7cm and 100% effaced. I decided to get the epidural instead of the medicine they put in the IV, since the epidural doesn't cross the placenta. The other medicine would make me drowsy and cross the placenta to make the baby drowsy too.

The anesthesiologist said that I was "the patient of the day" for my animation while getting the epidural put in. Simply put, I watched too many videos that scared me. Luckily, the epidural worked perfectly and no complications occurred. I asked the anesthesiologist about the spinal headache that could result, and he said that as soon as he put the epidural in, he could tell if I would have complications or not. Good to know for the future!

The epidural slowed down my progression, but I didn't mind. I enjoyed just chillin'. Around 12:30pm the baby began to do into distress because I wasn't getting enough oxygen. The nurse put an oxygen mask on me and everything resumed as normal. Around 12:45pm the doctor arrived, all systems were ready, and I began pushing. Five contractions and 15 pushes later, out Blakelyn came...

Not crying.

Some merconium was present in the fluid and Blakelyn hadn't taken a big breath as most newborns do. The doctor said it was Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN). Her breathing was very labored, Bryan describes it as having an asthma attack. We got to see her for a few seconds before the nurses whisked her to the bassinet to take stats and figured out her breathing problem. To say the least, Blakelyn was taken to NICU for further observation for a few hours... We didn't get to officially meet her until 6pm that night.

The whole delivery was surreal. Everything happened so quickly at the end and then all of a sudden it's just the two of us again... but with an empty infant cap and a flat stomach. The experience definitely makes me respect those who put children up for adoption or for those who are surrogates. I can only imagine their deliveries to be similar or worse.

On to stats:

Name:

Blakelyn Anne

Weight:

7lbs 14oz

Length:

20.5in

Eyes:

blue/grey

Hair:

RED!?

Yep, we produced a red head! It's more of a strawberry, but still it's red.

And of course a picture:

Happy Halloween

We weren't sure if we would make it to Halloween or not... we did.  So we quickly set up our Halloween decor and waited for all the Trick-or-Treaters!  A lot of ladybugs, angry birds, and super mario brothers this year... and most of them actually said "Trick-or-Treat" this year! 

Cauldron with a mist maker near the door.  Everyone wants to touch the "dry ice" as they stick their hands into the cauldron... perhaps we should put a sign next year. 

I decided to dress the baby up whether she was physically here or not.  I made the shirt two days before hand hoping it would jinx me and I wouldn't be able to wear it... didn't work, but at least Lady Novack got to participate in her "quasi first" Halloween!!

Nursery

Finally a post that begins with an N!  I wanted to write a post involving all the sewing I have done for the Lady, but I have already packed some of it up for the hospital.  So I'll just point them out when I come across something in a picture.

We started with the nursery around the time my pelvis gave out.  The Physical Therapist said that the second trimester would be the best time physically to get things done, so we seized the opportunity!

View as you walk into the nursery: 

Curtains sewn by JJ (Bryan's mom) and me.

 

Up close:

changing table area:

Nap zone: the glider is quite soothing.

I "sewed" the quilting hoops with fabric, since this used to be my craft room.

crib:

You can't really see it in the picture, but the bed skirt was sewed by JJ and me.

Yes, that is a bumper, but it is the breathable bumper, we'll see what the pediatrician says.

Full view of this side.

Paintings done by Grandma Homlar.

 I took all the ribbons from presents and tied them around a quilting hoop.  My intention was to do a mobile, but I can't figure out how to hang it without hanging it from the ceiling.

Closet: 

Cravings, Aversions, and Quirks

Everyone always asks if I'm having cravings, when in reality it's not a craving I got, but aversions during pregnancy.  During the first trimester I noticed aversions towards anything that would give me heartburn, especially mustard! I have dealt with a lot of heartburn throughout the entire pregnancy and have been able to deal with most foods that are prone to give you heartburn, but mustard and hot drinks, forget it!  Of course the first trimester is usually the hardest in regards to "morning sickness." I can't say I really had morning sickness, so the aversions didn't really affect me in that regard.

I have noticed some quirks in my eating and drinking habits.  I now have a necessity for ICE COLD drinks!  Water must be served with a full glass of ice, water, and preferably with a straw too!  I also prefer all fruit, fruit cups, and drinks to be refrigerated and cold before consuming. Usually I could eat and drink those at room temperature.  Perhaps it's the heartburn.  Another quirk I have noticed is that when I am hungry, I become starving very soon after.  So I have to keep a snack with me at all times.  Speaking of snacks, I have had a few episodes when I'm driving and I get a hunger strike for something specific, such as artichoke dip, that I must go to the grocery store, buy the ingredients, and cook it asap. Does that count as a craving?  The cravings I did have occurred from week to week.  A better question to ask me is, "what are you craving this week?" Usually it was something sweet and candy related: air heads, blow pops, jolly ranchers, and now and laters.  Good thing cravings didn't occur often!