The Ups and the Downs

Monday was a rough day.  Peter was at work so it was just me and Abby during the day.  She napped decently in the morning but the rest of the day she just wasn't too happy.  She fussed a lot and I went through the mental list of what it could be - diaper change, feeding, too hot, too cold, bored, too stimulated, gas pains, uncomfortable, etc.  Mix that in with a dog constantly licking her butt and a cat constantly scratching at walls and doors (food-obsessed) and I was pooped.  There were also some breastfeeding pains (literally, oy).  Plus I don't think I got to shower until 4pm (boy did that shower feel GOOD) and perhaps I did not brush my teeth til' then either.  Oh well, what can ya do? 

Monday evening we went to the General Lafayette Inn for Todd's 30th birthday.  I figured Abby was up most of the day carrying on and that she'd be good and sleep most of the night while there (plus I fed her right before leaving).  She was good for the first 10 minutes or so and then cried almost the whole rest of the time.  Ooops.  What a day!  I must say though, she slept well that night and didn't give us too hard of a time. 

Tuesday was a good day (and Peter was home with us). 

I was a lil' worried about today, with Peter being at work and wondered if it'd be like Monday all over again.  It was a great day though!  The weather was absolutely perfect.  I took Abby for a nice walk in the neighborhood, she napped well, she fed well, she had lots of smiles and silly faces to give me, I got to relax and eat my lunch, we hung out on the swing in the backyard and that was that.

Being a parent is quite a learning experience and there will be up days and down days and in-between days.  Abby learns from us and we learn from Abby - it's a wonderful family learning experience!! 

  

Sunday Funday

Abby likes sleeping on Daddy:

Since Abby is still so tiny and it's hot / summertime, she usually can only wear onesies at this point.  However, today we put her in a pretty summer dress:

Lastly, here is Missy Abby being held by Granma after being fed a bottle - she's in a milk coma:

The Godfather & Fairy Godmother

I am happy to introduce to you, Abigail's godparents - Chris and Jennifer Rhines.  :)

And here is Abby looking SO tiny in her swing that they had gotten for her!

This thing is the bomb - it swings on 6 settings, vibrates on 2 settings, has little owls that swirl overhead, has nature sounds, shushing "womb" sounds, and a whole bunch of musical song selections.  Plus it has a tray for use down the road... and Peter ordered one of those wobbly swing toys to attach on top of the tray for Abby to play with.  They need to make these in adult size!!!

Peter's First Father's Day

Yesterday was Peter's first Father's Day ever! 

It was a fairly low-key day, since he was pooped from the prior day's reenactment.  He received his card and beer growler from Abby and we pretty much just hung out all day long.  For lunch we went to Bob Evans and Abby slept the whole time and got a lot of "how adorable" comments.

In the evening, we had some visitors which included Groovy Grampy, Barbara, Uncle Alan, Rack-Rackle, and Aunt Julie.  We headed out to Brother Paul's for some noshy noshy and at the end, Abby started to fuss and get hungry so we headed home. 

On Father's Day I also captured this cute smile, which made us in turn, smile!

A Nice, Long Visit From Nana & Pop Pop

On Saturday, Peter was participating in a reenactment in Monmouth, NJ from early morning to late night (ie, ELF PANTS).  I was going to be home with Abby all by my lonesome but Nana and Pop Pop came to the rescue! 

Nana came down around 10am and Pop Pop came down around 3pm when he was done at work.  We had a really nice day and Nana helped out around the house (THANK YOU).  We went out for lunch and stopped by the King of Prussia mall to get Peter his first Father's Day card as well as a gift - a Rock Bottom growler filled with a new summer seasonal ale (Saison D'Ete, which was a belgian farmhouse ale).  Abby is already getting her daddy beer as gifts.  I had also wanted to get a new tree to plant to have it be Abby's tree, but we didn't see anything good at Home Depot, plus I think we'll wait until the fall when it'd be better to plant anyway (we're thinking Dogwood). 

Nana got to change Abby's diaper for the first time (wheeee, what fun!) and also fed her a bottle and burped her.  She got to push her around the mall in the stroller too.  In the evening when Pop Pop got to our house, he got to hold her for a long time and we took Sophie for a hot walk around the block.  We grabbed some Jimmy Johns for dinner and most of the evening consisted of Nana and Pop Pop staring at Abby for long periods of time.  Carter was also present and he was VERY intrigued with Abby.  His barks were a bit shrill though and sometimes startled Abby.  Hopefully he'll get used to her.  We'll be watching Carter for 2 weeks when they are away in Hawaii - it should be interesting!  I think it'll be fine though (fingers crossed).  2 dogs, a sometimes barfing cat, and a baby!

It was a nice visit by the grandparents and made my day a whole lot easier! 

Seven Pounds

Just a quick note to say that Abby is now officially 7lbs!  We took her to the hospital again yesterday for her weigh in.  Since she was 6lbs 9.5oz last week, she needed to be at least another 5oz this week and she surpassed that and was actually 7oz more.  We were happy to see that.  :)  She is doing well! 

After weighing her, I got her redressed but only after I wasted an extra diaper while trying to change her since she decided to pee all over herself as she was in mid-change.  Then, as the rest of the ladies sat around the table and had social breastfeeding time, I booked it on outta there.

In other Abby news, she is loving her swing which was a gift from Chris and Jennifer.  At first I thought she was too small for it but we've started to use it more and she really seems to like it and calms down in it.  I'll have to post a picture then.  She slept for a long time in it this morning.  

We also had dinner last night with Aunt Deedee (Aunt Julie) on her way back home from Philly so that was nice!  

Right now, Peter, Abby, and I are heading out to Doylestown for a nice little drive and to walk around town.  It's such a beautiful, sunny day! 

Boppy Fashionista

Jeff (Grandad) has found a new use for the Boppy pillow!

Here is skinny-minny sleeping in her pack n' play:

And here is the best present I ever, ever received:

Moooooo

Yesterday Abby got a visit from Granma, Ol' Grandad, and Uncle Alan!  She enjoyed seeing them and being held of course.  Her eyes are getting bigger and more alert and likes to focus on people more lately which is cute. 

It's been hot and humid lately.  We stay inside for the most part where it is cool.  The upstairs gets hot though if we don't have the AC turned on.  Today we did venture out to Valley Forge for a bit because Peter had some insurance papers to drop off and also wanted to pass out some birth announcements.  A couple of people including George, Dude, Mike, Anne, and Sara got to meet Abby for the first time.  She had a little bit of a crying fit so I had to keep pushing the stroller around and then she fell back asleep.  It was hot though so then we went home. 

Abby has been sleeping pretty well and I feel like we're getting into more of a pattern.  I'll feed her one last time before bed (anywhere from 9-12pm) and then she seems to go about 4-5 hours until wanting to be fed again (usually around 3am or so).  Then she'll wake up again around 8am and then we start our daily routine!

I also started pumping two nights ago.  What fun that is - it makes me feel like a cow hooked up to a machine at the farm.  Mooooo.  I'm starting some stock in the freezer and soon we'll introduce a bottle to Abby.  

We are still getting presents for Abby, it's crazy!  So many cute little outfits!  I remember looking at the newborn clothes I had in her closet before she was born and wondered if she'd even fit into them at all.  She's definitely getting use out of them though since she's so tiny and there is lots for her to grow into!  Some of the outfits are too cute and a bit more fashionable than what she's been wearing so I'm excited for her to grow into those.  For now, since it's hot and she's tiny she is mostly wearing basic onesies and simple clothes with snaps.

She looks so tiny here.  This was taken on a cooler day. 

  

   

Movin' On Up!

On Thursday we took Abigail down to Bryn Mawr Hospital for her weigh-in.  Since this is done during a breastfeeding / mommies group, I walked in to a room full of women feeding their younglings, some with their tops completely off and baring it all.  The lactation consultant came over to me and I explained that I was ONLY there to weigh my baby, haha.  It's interesting because she said that they at the hospital don't trust the pediatrician scales... and then it seems like our pediatrician was weary of what this "class" was, and how they weigh the babies, who weighs the babies, etc. 

None of that matters in the end though.  Abby weighed 6 lbs. 9.5oz.  She's slowly movin' on up!  We'll probably take her back next Thursday and Terry, the consultant said she should weigh about 5 more oz. by then.  In the meantime, it's feed, feed, feed!

Nana and Pop Pop were down for the day on Thursday as well.  We all went to lunch at Duffy's, then the hospital, and then we went for a ride in the car in the Mainline area, in awe of all the huge houses in the area.  Afterwards, "Nana" helped me sterilize and clean all the baby bottles and other pieces I have for when we start introducing bottle feeding.

On Friday Peter, Abigail and I went for lunch at Wholefoods and enjoyed a nice time on their rooftop deck.  Then we did some shopping at Ikea and in the evening we headed over to Gilbertsville to hang out with Bernie and Nora and see their new house.  Abby was good for the whole time as we went to dinner at a pizza joint, and then back at their house she needed to be fed.  I must say, she is so good in the car and just sleeps the whole time!  She slept the whole ride home and didn't have to wake up until 3:15am when she was hungry. 

Here is Abby enjoying the rooftop deck at Wholefoods:

And here she is in a milk-induced coma, just after a feeding:

Rainy Day

Today was a rainy, dreary day.  We stayed home most of the day except for a trip to Target to get some diapers and other baby-related supplies.  Peter also took Sophie to the vet and to pick up a cheesesteak from Pudge's.

We actually cancelled Abigail's pediatrician appointment this morning.  We cancelled it because we realized that every Thursday at Bryn Mawr Hospital, we have the opportunity to go and weigh our baby and/or ask the lactation consultant questions and/or meet with other nursing moms.  Since it's every Thursday from 2-3pm we will just go and do that for free rather than pay money to go to the pediatrician for something so quick and simple.  Then we'll just call the weight into Dr. Youssef and see what she says.  

Tonight we made some pasta with meat sauce for dinner, watched the Flyers, had tummy time on the mat, and Peter read Abigail a story ("With Zeal and Bayonets Only:  The British Army on Campaign in North America").  It put her to sleep and now she is in in her crib!  

Here is a pic of the day; Abby in her cute froggy outfit being held by Daddy:

 

Our Daughter

Thanks for visiting Abigail's blog! 

I'm going to maintain this blog for family and friends who would like to check in and see and hear about what Abigail is up to, and what we're all doing as a family.  I also wanted to keep this blog separate from my pregnancy blog, as that was one chapter and this is pretty much a whole other story.  And what a wonderful story it has been so far.  Peter and I have been enjoying being parents to Lil' Miss Abigail - she is so sweet and makes us so happy.  She's brought us even closer together.  

As of today, Abigail is 2 weeks/3 days old.  She has been enjoying meeting family and friends and is still receiving sweet gifts, cards, and flowers!  She's been to her pediatrician twice and goes again tomorrow.  Dr. Youssef was hoping she'd be back up to her birth weight last week but was 3oz. less than that.  Hopefully tomorrow she'll be there or past it.  She has been feeding a lot so I feel confident she'll have gained the weight back.  My fingers are crossed!  

I'm glad that I can function pretty well on little sleep.  The first week of having a baby at home is probably the hardest since you have a lot to quickly adjust to, and is so different from how it has been in the house pre-baby.  While it's true that babies just tend to eat, sleep, and poop, it still takes a lot out of you.  For one thing, as the mother, your body just went through A LOT (physically and emotionally) and you have to recover, rest, and adjust.  I think the component that is the hardest (at first) after giving birth is breastfeeding.  It's not something that just comes naturally, definitely takes some time and getting used to, and babies need to be fed a lot throughout the day and night.  It's painful too, when first starting out and getting things going can be quite frustrating.  Luckily though, at this point I can say I feel MUCH better about it and do think it has gotten easier.  It's very time consuming but so worth it.  I have just been feeding Abby directly by breastfeeding but soon I'll probably start pumping and getting some bottles going to introduce 1 time a day here and there.  Peter and I are also trying to plan some day trips and have been thinking about how to go about the breastfeeding thing since I am just not the type to do this in public (there's always the back of the car or somewhere remote I suppose).  

Some things that Abby likes are:  her bouncy vibrating seat, her pacifier, going for car rides, going for walks, being held, gliding/rocking, her Philly book and Baby Einstein mirror book, bunny stuffed animals, her hands, sleeping with her arms up, meeting all her new family members and friends, and much more.  

I hope you'll check back often on Abigail's blog to see what she's up to and how she's changing and growing... and for pictures of course!