Mia Ann, Day 4

What is day four like with baby Mia? Hmmm...in one word, I would say tiresome. Last night, Mia was awake more than she was asleep. I'm not quite sure what was going on, but between dirty diapers, hiccups, and being hungry, we got very little sleep.

While we were in the hospital, we were lucky enough to have Mia's pediatrician be the on-call doc. Dr. Schaffer was able to visit Mia three times over the weekend. She was a little concerned about her weight and jaundis so we were to see her today. Good news - Mia is not jaundis at all, and she gained weight. Are you ready? Mia weighs 5 lbs. and 14 ounces right now. Dr. Schaffer also talked to us about feeding and gave us some great tips/advice. I think we're well on our way to plumping up our little peanut.

I have to say that Brett is and has been amazing through it all. He does not hesitate to get up with Mia, change diapers, feed her (we supplement with formula), burp her, etc. His favorite thing? My opinion is that he really enjoys sitting with her on his lap when she is awake. What an amazing dad!

Here they are at the hospital taking a little snoozer.

Check out Mia's little shirt. I caught them at a bad time, but it was too cute to pass up.

Mia's first bout with hiccups

Nichole and I have been blessed to see so many firsts over the first days. We have seen her first breath, first diaper change (By the way, I did it. I have a picture of it, but I didn't want to put any X-rated pictures of my daughter on the internet), yawn, scratches on her face, and sneezes. So, I thought that we could share her first hiccups. She sneezed just before I took this video, but I missed it. Babies are so cute when they sneeze. Turn your volume up and you can hear her.

Pictures of Mia

This is Mia Saturday morning perfectly content laying with Mom

This is Mia's first good cry. It was right after her first bath. She was not a happy camper. I hope this was also her last good cry.

Mia and Mom about 15 minutes after delivery.

New Family Member

After 39 weeks of pregnancy, Nichole was set to be induced on Friday. So on our last night as "just" a couple we took it upon ourselves to go to Taco John's (really you can't beat it). When we got back we watched the Twins lose again. Toward the end of the game Nichole started getting some stronger contractions that were about 5-6 minutes apart. As the evening progressed the contractions continued to get stronger. By 2:00 am there was no more sleeping, except maybe the 4-5 minutes between contractions. When 7:00 rolled around Nichole was feeling quite a bit of pain. They got the epidural in at about 8:00 with Nichole dilated about 2 cm. Things settled down very quickly after that (at least that is what I remember, I fell asleep at about 9:30). I woke up at 11:00 surprised to hear that she was fully dilated and about ready to started pushing. After about 45 min to an hour we had a baby girl, Mia Ann Walker. Born on 7/24/09 at 12:22, weighing 6lbs 3oz, with a length of 19 inches. Sorry I can't compete with Nichole's posts I am not quite as creative with my writing. Unlike my sisters' I was never able to get an A in Mr. Hotchkiss's class. Now you see why.

Gardening

The good news is that Brett is an awesome gardener! He planted two peach trees in the front yard a couple of weeks ago. I've been trying to upload pictures, but it won't work for some reason. A couple of days ago, we got three jalapeno peppers from the back yard! Again, the pictures won't upload. But here's what they would look like. (There may be fewer peaches on our trees, but you get the idea!

Web Cam Mania

So, we may be the near the bottom of the list when it comes to web cams, but we're okay with that. Brett's parents bought us a web cam when they were here so they could see the little one when she's born. What a great idea! Unfortunately, it has taken me a little while to get it working. I know it's not rocket science, but there were a few technical difficulties to contend with. Anyway, it's so much fun! I love the idea of being able to see my friends and family from so far away.

37-Week Update

Before I tell you about this morning's appointment, I feel the need to tell you about Saturday. I was sitting on the couch, Brett was at frisbee, and wasn't quite sure if my water had broken or not. I mean, really, how are you supposed to know if you've never experienced it before? After making some phone calls to friends and family unsuccessfully, I phoned my doctor's office. Long story short, I went to the hospital and it was not my water breaking. It sure did make me rather anxious though! On a positive note though, Brett and I both know where to go now, I know what it's like to be in L&D triage, we heard the baby's heart beat for a whole hour, and I got to see all my contractions on the monitor!

Now, on to this morning. This morning I had my 37-week check-up. I am dilated one whole centimeter. I hope you can sense the sarcasm in that statement. It's not much, but more than last week so I'll take it. My physician also stripped my membranes in hopes of speeding things up. Hey, did you look at that little ticker to the left? We're almost in single digits!!

Ultimate Frisbee - Summer League

Over the weekend, Brett played in their summer league's ultimate frisbee tournament. By the way, they WON!! I know I may be a little biased, but Brett was awesome!

36 Weeks

This morning, I had my 36-week check-up. The good news is that everything was fine and the baby's heart beat sounded good. And, despite the movement on my sides, she is head down. The not-as-good-as-I-was-hoping news is that I am hardly dilated. Dr. Rice's advice was to continue walking since that seems to be what triggers my Braxton-Hicks contractions. And, so we did. Brett and Puckett were nice enough to accompany me on another 35 minute walk through our neighborhood. We sure don't go fast, but the scenery is nice and there are some challenging (for me) hills. Have no fear - the bag is packed and the car seat is in the back of the car. But don't get too antsy, we still have three weeks.

Blueberries

This picture doesn't exactly do the blueberries any justice; however, you'll just have to look closely. There is a row of blueberry plants along the driveway...seven of them to be exact!



And here's a closer look at one of them. Good job, Brett!

Blueberries

Alright, enough baby stuff already! As I'm sure you have read, the yard at our new house has been quite the project. Yesterday, Brett bought some blueberries to plant in the front yard. The goal is that the seven plants will make a blueberry hedge on the side of our driveway. Sounds easy, right?

In order to get all seven of the plants in, we had to do some raking. There is a pine tree that has been dropping needles for years out there. The raking led to having to tear out a low-growing juniper. Did I mention that we now HATE junipers?! Trying to tear that out led to Brett hooking a tow rope to his pick-up and yanking it out of the ground. Surprisingly, it all went really well. Of course, I say this knowing that all I did was rake and watch. Oh, you want a picture? Currently, it's hot and my feet are enormous, but I'll get one this week. Trust me, it looks great and even has water going to it! Good job, Brett!

Bassinet

I think the story goes like this: My maternal grandmother gave each of her kids a bassinet so the grandchildren had something to sleep in. I believe she also put on the ribbons and other fabric. Recently, my mom and Greg took the same bassinet and basically did the same thing - new material, ribbons (the perfect color), paint, etc. Well, we've had the bassinet here for a couple of weeks, but finally got the stand out and put it together. Now, our little darlin' will have a special bassinet to sleep in as well. I guess we'll just hope that she actually sleeps, right? We're excited to use it to say the least. Plus, my mom was finally able to offload it and get some more space in the house! Thanks, Mom and Greg!

Our Own Travel System

Awhile back, I blogged about the BOB stroller we were so excited to get. Well, today, we finally got it all ready to go. First, I hosed it down and cleaned it off a bit with some Oxyclean. When we bought the stroller, the previous owners told us we would need a new tire. Not so fast! A couple of patches and slime go a long way! Good job, Brett! So, the third thing we did was buy this handy silver attachment that makes it possible to carry the car seat on the stroller. I'm sure you've seen it a million times with other strollers, but we really didn't want three strollers around the house. This way, we have two: The BOB stroller and our umbrella stroller. Here's our new set up!

34 Weeks

That's right! Today, the baby turned 34 weeks. Yes, as in six more weeks until our due date. Pregnancy.com says this about 34 weeks:

"By the end of this week, your baby may weigh as much as four pounds and measure 16 inches. As the uterine and abdominal walls stretch and thin, more light reaches the womb, causing her to open and close her eyes in response. It also helps her know day from night so she can cycle between activity and rest."

What's really going on? We're just about done painting the nursery (it still needs a couple of touch-ups here and there), the car seat is actually in the very back of the 4Runner already, my bag is in the early stages of being packed, and the baby has clothes that are washed and ready to be spit up on.

How am I feeling? The word uncomfortable pretty much sums it up. Sitting is not the best position for me, but I can't stand that long either. I enjoy drinking a lot of water right now, eating small portions, and milk shakes taste extremely delicious! Other than that, I'm emotional (I explained my dentist issue already), tired at times, and am determined to avoid waddling.

How is Brett feeling? My guess is that he thinks I'm crazy, and he's right. However, he continues to be supporting, motivating, and nice. That's why I love him!

Last night, we wrote down our predictions for Baby Walker. Brett predicted she would arrive July 29 and be 7lbs, 2oz. I predicted July 14 and 6lbs, 2oz. Do you have a prediction yet?

Boise 70.3 Mile Triathlon

While we were in Seattle, we were able to meet up with one of Brett's former classmates, Jason. Jason and Brett played high school football together and went to PT school together as well. Anyway, this weekend, Jason was actually in Boise to compete in a triathlon. It was a total of 70.3 miles! Not exactly my cup of tea, but I was amazed at the athletes (of all ages) that were competing.

We didn't exactly know how long it would take Jason to finish each section (I'm sure there is a more technical term), so we waited patiently by the transition between bike and run...in the pouring rain. As he went by, we cheered and ran down the street to snap some pictures of him starting to run. While Jason ran his 13.1 miles, we ate dinner. Then, we braved the elements for the photo finish. Here are a couple of photos that we snapped. (Jason is wearing all black and is on the right-hand side.)