6 week check-up and newborn photos

Samantha went in for her 6 week check-up on Tuesday (since Thanksgiving was the end of last week, we had to wait until this week, so technically it was her 7 week check-up).

Weight: 8.2 oz (5%)

Height: 22in (70%)

Head circumference: 15in (85%)

 

I have been concerned about her weight gain, but luckily they didn't seem to think that it was anything to worry about. She is definitely long and skinny! There is no sign of her jaundice but the colic is still in full force. We have tried pretty much everything that people have recommended and suggested to calm and relax her, but no luck, it looks like we just have to wait it out. The doctor swears that she WILL grow out of the screaming. Not that we wait our baby to grow up, but during her screaming fits, twelve weeks can't get here fast enough :)

 

So we finally took the plunge and moved Samantha into her nursery. She has been sleeping in the rock n' play next to our bed since she came home, but it was time to begin the transition. I had been trying to put her in her crib for at least one nap a day just to get her used to her room more, but she would only last about 20 minutes before she had enough, so I knew that it would take some time. This whole week we just brought the rock n' play into her nursery and let her sleep in that, which seemed to work pretty well. Last night we made the transition to the crib; not so easy. From about 9pm - 4am it was a struggle and a fight, but finally around 4:00 she fell asleep and slept until almost 9am! Wahoo! We shall see what tonight brings... 

 

Aunt Jennifer was nice enough to take some newborn pictures for us during the second week. For how much Samantha was crying, they turned out pretty well! Jennifer was patient and waited until she calmed down, and even came back a second time in hopes of a happier Samantha. (no luck)

 

Samantha: 1 Month Old

Samantha turned 1 month old last week, it is really so crazy to think about! I am not going to lie, this first month has been pretty tough at moments, but luckily Samantha makes all of the hard moments more than worth it. She is so sweet and loving and snugly when she is feeling well. She definitely is the definition of a 'colic baby', aka FUSSY. The funny thing is that she is so well behaved for others- its like she shows off when we are out in public or at somebody's house! I don't think people believe me when I tell them how much she cries.

She is starting to sleep longer periods during the night, we have even gotten one 6 hour stretch, wahoo! She doesn't like naps yet, unless she is on your chest, the second you lay her down, she is wide awake and crying. Everybody tells us that we need to take advantage of this snugly time because it won't last, so I try to keep that in mind when I want to get a few things done around the house :) She is starting to smile at us and make cooing sounds which melts our hearts, and I cant wait until she starts interacting more with us and her toys/books! 

A few of her firsts:
First outing: The doctor's office for her 1 week check up (and then back to the hospital for blood work)
First Restaurant: Qdoba with Molly, Stephen and I after church
First Errand: Kohl's for a birthday present

First babysitter: Aunt Jennifer - Stephen and I went out to dinner with some of our friends - luckily they all have kids too so I was able to talk about Samantha the whole time and not feel bad :) 

First long car trip: We took Samantha to meet Stephens Grandma Helen and then Grandpa Wiley. They live about an hour away and of course Samantha was a little angel when we went to visit.

One month photo shoot: First try

One month photo shoot: Second try

 Not her first smile, but the first one we could capture on film :)  

 

While we are talking about firsts... her first blowout! Needless to say, we threw this onsie away, not worth our time or effort! It's a good thing we love her so much... 

 

Samantha has her 6 week check up next week (including shots) and all sorts of family time - our first holiday, Thanksgiving, we will keep you posted!  

Samantha Alice Wiley arrived October 17, 2013!

What a whirlwind these past 4 weeks have been! I can't believe that Samantha is almost a month old, it truly is crazy to think how fast these past few weeks have gone!

Samantha's birth story:
We went into the hospital Wednesday evening to start the induction process as Samantha still hadn't come on her own. It took a while to get checked in, get the IV placed, my stats taken, etc. I would say that it was about midnight before I received the cervix softener. I was to get another dose every 4 hours until noon on Thursday.  I of course didn't sleep a wink between the nurses checking on us every few minutes (or so it seemed), the noise of the IV, and mostly the anticipation! By noon on Thursday, I was still only 1.5 cm dilated, so they went ahead and gave me the Pitocin. Our nurse pretty much told us that we were in for the long haul seeing that I hadn't progressed much in the previous 12 hours. Much to our pleasant surprise, when the doctor came in to check my progress around 1:30, I was already 4.5 cm! Since I wasn't in too much pain yet, we decided to wait a little while before I got the epidural. By 3:00 or so, I was really starting to feel strong contractions, as I was about 6 cm by this time. I gave the OK for the epidural (which was painless by the way) and by 5:00 we were ready to push... holy cow, I was not expecting that! Well so much for the short early labor, the active labor lasted 2 LONG hours. Stephen was such a trooper and was right there with me the entire time, he kept me calm and focused and saw a lot more than he probably ever wanted to, but didn't say a word.
At exactly 7:00 PM our entire world changed - Samantha was born!! All 7lbs and 20.5in of her wonderful little self. She came out with her arm up around her head and the cord wrapped around her neck and arm (I didn't know this, but Stephen saw when he was cutting it). After she was out, it was a blur; a lot of nurses rushed in, Samantha was taken to be cleaned up and checked and Stephen went out to let our families know the good news. I really just sat there in awe of everything that just happened, I had given birth to our baby girl!
The next two days in the hospital went very quickly - we had plenty of friends and family that came to meet Samantha and between the nurses check-ups and trying to get breast feeding down, Saturday, the day we would get to go home, was here before we knew it. Unfortunately Saturday morning they tested Samantha for jaundice and her bilirubin levels were too high. She was put on a biliblanket for the day and retested that evening before they would release us. No go, we had to stay overnight and Samantha was going to be put under a bililamp up in the NICU because there was no room in the regular nursery for her. They retested her in the morning and her levels were still too high. This went on until Monday evening and they finally let us go home! I can tell you that 5 nights in the hospital is like an eternity!
Tuesday morning we had to go to the doctors for Samantha's one week check up and he decided that she still looked pretty jaundice and we had to go back to the hospital to recheck her levels again. They came back too high and we had to have a biliblanket delivered to our house that night. Through the next 5 days poor Samantha had to be on the blanket 24 hours a day and go to the hospital to check her levels each day, her poor heals had so many prick marks and she had gotten so used to the prick that she didn't even cry anymore :(
The following Monday we went back for Samantha's 2 week check up and she finally had good levels and her skin looked much better. She was free from the blanket!!
My mom was kind enough to come down and stay with me for the first two weeks after we got home from the hospital. I can't say enough how much of a life saver she was. I was exhausted, and constantly second guessing myself about everything. Samantha was quite the crier and we weren't sure if she had colic, if she had a lactose allergy, or if she was just a screamer. My mom was there to take shifts with me, let me sleep and give me a mental break when I needed it. She even cooked and cleaned!
Stephen stayed home last week and once again, he was such a life saver! I have no idea how moms do it on their own in the first few weeks!  It was a rough week for poor Samantha. We spend the majority of the week trying to calm her, and hold and rock her. We took turns with the night shift and getting comfortable being parents.
We are now getting into the swing of things and I can't even explain how much we love being parents. Samantha is the sweetest, most beautiful little baby (when she isn't crying :). We can't get enough of her, and we are so thankful for our little blessing. Below are just a few pictures from the past few weeks. I posted most of them on Facebook but want to capture them here as well.

 

 

What a great sport, changing her diaper for the first time!

 

You can kind of see the bililamp behind her head 

 

The bililamp that Samantha had to be under for 48 hours

 

Her first car ride, going home from the hospital

 

A video of Samantha coming home for the first time:

 

Look at that little peanut!

 

Taking after mommy, already a thumb sucker!

 

None of her ND onsies fit yet(she is still in newborn),

but luckily the booties fit for her first ND game.

 

Uncle Shannon, Aunt Amie, Dominic and Miranda came to visit

 

Dominic being a proud cousin. You can see the cord of Samantha's lamp coming out from her back

 

Our first walk. It lasted all of 10 minutes, but you have to start somewhere!

 

A proud Grandma Chris

 

Stephen was called Steve-O on the ski team in college, so our friends Tom and Britney thought it would be cute to make a burp rag in his honor :)

 

Samantha's first bottle, thanks Grandma!

 

Her hands are always up in the air, she is most comfortable that way. We can't swaddle her hands or she will scream.

 

Our friend Lori and her mom Beth stopped by and we had a triple diaper change session with her two little girls:)

 

Uncle Adam and Aunt Sarah came down with Lucas and Eli - being sweet cousins!

 

Aunt Amy and Uncle Michael came the next day for a visit. Luke LOVES babies, and couldn't wait to hold Samantha!

 

Our first attempt at placing Samantha in her crib. She still sleeps in the bassinet in our room, but I have started naps in her room so she feels comfortable in the crib. She looks so tiny!

Oh you know, just posing as she sleeps :)

"Oh, is that a boob I see!?"

 

Neither look pleased to be by each other. They better get used to it!

The end of 'before'

This is it; a day I thought would never come. Today is the last day that we will be able to do as we please, when we please, of sleeping in on the weekends, of eating meals uninterrupted, or of going out and not worrying about bed times. The last time we will leave our house as DINKS (double-income, no kids) - We will return as parents! How strange/wonderful a feeling knowing that this truly is one of the most important days of our lives.

We really hoped that Samantha would come on her own, but here we stand, 40w4d and she is no more ready to enter the world today than she was 3 weeks ago. She is still only 1cm dilated and I have had no more progression or signs towards labor. Our doctor will not let us go past 41 weeks, and with this being my first, I really wanted her to deliver the baby. She is of course not scheduled this weekend when Samantha would officially be 41 weeks, so tonight we go to the hospital. I just got a call from the doctors office letting me know that my original check in time of 6:30 this evening has been pushed back to 10:00, which is kind of better, so we don't spend all evening at the hospital. I will get my first dose of cervidil once settled and they will give me two more doses over the following 12 hours - the ultimate goal is that once I get the cervidil, 'natural' labor will then occur, however if not, I will be given Pitocin in the morning to start the induction process. If all goes well, we will be able to meet baby Samantha by tomorrow evening!!

I never thought I would say this, but we are so ready for this next step in our lives. To share our love with our child and to raise a family together. Its such a wonderful/scary/exciting feeling and I can't wait! Here is hoping/praying that all goes well and that the doctors on staff know what they are doing :)

Lookout world, we are almost parents!!

Random events throughout my pregnany

 Below is quite the assortment of photos over the last few months with our families.  

 

Also a quick recap of who is who when it comes to photos of my nieces and nephews:

My oldest brother Shannon and his wife Amie have Dominic (2.5 yrs) and Miranda (4 months). My other brother Adam and his wife Sarah have Lucas (3 yrs) and Eli (3 months). Stephens older brother and his wife Amy have Luke (almost 4) and Lane (2). Stephens younger brother and his wife Lisa have Jainy (15 months). He also has a younger sister Jennifer and a step sister Amy that you will see in photos. And yes, for those of you confused - Samantha will think all boys are Uncle Adam (one on each side) and all girls are Aunt Amie/Amy (3 Amies!)

 

My very first baby purchase - Stephen and I went down to our friends Chase and Jen Blevin's, who live in Bedford, because Jen was so amazing and gave me all kinds of maternity clothes! We of course had to pick up Mother Bears pizza and stop at the Bookstore to see what we could find at the ol' Alma mater.

 

 

My brothers and SIL's came down for a visit one last time before the 2nd round of siblings were born. I wish I would have gotten a picture of all the DeVon girls hanging out sober and pregnant as all our friends/family cooked out and played card games all night!  Dominic and Lucas were testing out bath time in our tub. (This was in April)

 

 

Shannon and Amie had Miranda in May, so on our way to visit, we made a pit stop at Wrigley Field. Its hard to tell in the picture, but it was a 'first time at the park' certificate for Samantha.

 

 

Miranda's first outing! A diner close to where Shannon and Amie live in Lockport.

 

 

Eli came next, this was our first time meeting him in June. Dominic and Lucas already look like proud older brothers!

 

Our good friends Chad and Rachael got married at Purdue at the end of June and to say it was a PARTY was an understatement!

Jainy and Aunt Jennifer share the same birthday - July 13th - matching shirts for the birthday festivities.

 

All of the Wiley women at Jainy's birthday party

 

Lane's 2nd birthday in August. Amy and Michael had his birthday at the park and it was a great day!

 The 3 Wiley cousins at the party.

 

Stephen and I working on the nursery this summer.

 

 

Mac had to get in on the action too. She is not quite sure what to think about all of this.  

 

Yep, my pregnant swollen feet - awesome. Haven't worn anything other than flip flops in a month...

 

We went to South Bend for Lucas's 3rd birthday at the end of September. It was our last trip before Samantha is born and was quite busy. We went to the ND game, went apple picking and celebrated Lucas's birthday.

 

Lucas being a good big brother to Eli.

 

ND vs Michigan State - we must have been good luck charms, they won!

Dominic loved picking apples and eating them!

 

This past weekend Adam and Lisa came home from Pittsburgh and we had some of Stephen's family over Saturday night so everybody could be together to see Jainy. This was our prom picture of all of the Wiley children/spouses/grandchildren with Grandpa Glenn.

 

 

The best we could do trying to get a 1, 2 and 3 year old to cooperate and take a picture together :)

 

And finally, just because you all know I am a crazy cat lady and don't want my first babies to feel left out once Samantha comes, a few pictures of Mac and Louis.

PS - I added my 38 week photo to the Growing Baby Bump post.