Grandma's Visit!

Grandma came out for a week long visit to meet and visit with Arabella. Of course Dakota thought she came to visit him. Needless to say that over the past week she usually has Arabella and Dakota trying to  get her attention.

 Every night when my mom goes to bed - Dakota gets all upset that he can't sleep with her and he sleeps right outside her bedroom door - so sad that he can't be in there with her!

 We stopped in at Kohls to do some shopping the other day. Arabella decided that she would rather have her daddy hold her while shopping. She only likes the carseat if she is sleeping. She was making such funny faces.

 

 Here is a picture from right after her shower, a clean little girl! She enjoys the warm water.

 

All that hard work getting clean, wore her out. I think she took a 4 hour nap after that. Always looking cute doing one of her favorite things - sleeping.

 

 

 Mom took a few pictures of the animals while Arabella was taking one of her many naps. 

Georgia is up on the beam - safe from Dakota, and Cali lounging on the chair. 

 

 

 Mom has been doing lots of this since she arrived - holding Arabella - look at that funny face, she is so alert in this one.

 She also likes to sit in her bouncy seat. She will usually like it for 10-30 minutes a day. Dakota wanted to be right with her today, he likes to cuddle to her and  the seat. 

 

 

 Happy in her seat! 

Dakota sitting on the stairs - he always sits like this - it is so funny. 

 

 Well since Mom's been here she's had her hands full. Dakota thinks she should play with him while she is holding Arabella. They have both enjoyed having grandma here and will be sad to see her go. 

Sunny Days!

We have had gorgeous weather over the past week - it is almost like summer. I'm sure glad I don't have to be at school because when you have a nice spring it always sucks to be teaching.. no one wants to be in class. This past weekend we were able to get out into the yard and get some yard work done - Will mostly did the yard work and I sat on the deck with Arabella and we watched him. Although I did get some of my planters planted when she went down for a early evening nap.
Arabella tried out the moby wrap today as well - she loved it! Slept through the entire experience, so that must mean it was good. It was so nice to be able to have her but also have my hands free at the same time. I was able to get a lot more done around the yard and house while wearing her. 

Will was busy planting the Peach trees we got for Arabella. We got 2 of them and wanted to plant them when she was born. They look small now but they are supposed to produce fruit within 2-3 years and we have heard that the peaches are delicious. Not many peaches can grow this far north but this is one of the few varieties that does well here. 

Arabella enjoyed some time in her bouncy chair on the deck while we worked in the yard.

Today I found her sleeping in her crib and I just had to take a picture of her. So cute, she had her hands up behind her head - she looked so relaxed. She does this a lot. 

We finally had to go out and buy her some newborn clothes - everything we had in 0-3 months is so BIG on her. Even the newborn stuff is a little big on her, but she is putting some weight back on. I weighed her today and she was 6.0 lb, so she is almost back up to her birth weight. I'm sure by next week she will have surpassed it.

First Walk

The last few days have been gorgeous here - 70's, sunny and everything is green! Today we were finally able to get out and take advantage of the weather by taking a nice walk. Arabella tried out her new stroller and she slept through most of the ride. 

It was nice to get outside and get some walking in, although I'm tired now!

We had our second DR appt today and we got some good news - her weight has gone back up to 5.12 and her belly rueben (spelling?) levels are down! Yippee! So that means that she is eating well and her jaundice is subsiding. 

Here are a few more pictures of her pooped out and sleeping - after eating a big meal. 

She loves the bobby pillow and usually conks out on it after nursing. You have to watch her through if she is not propped on the pillow because she is always trying to roll onto her side - she would rather be on her side than her back ... 

For this next one I got too close and she heard the camera making noise and opened up and looked at me and seemed to say what are you doing?  Let me sleep momma!

More Pictures of Arabella!

Well I finally got a minute to post a few more pictures of Arabella, they range from Monday morning at the hospital through this afternoon. She is such a cutey and we love her to death!

These first ones are of her first bath before we left the hospital, she didn't like it too much. I think it had to do with the fact that she got woke up to have the bath and then stripped down... it was all rather shocking to her at the time. 

This was her coming home from the hospital outfit - although it was huge! We brought 3 different things and they were all big on her. You can see that the hat does not even form to her little head yet and the sleeves has so much room in them. She still looked cute though. We ended up putting the hat the hospital gave her back on since it fit better and we wanted to keep her head warm.

This is our first night at home - going to bed. You can barely see her curled up next to me in my arms... but Dakota couldn't be left out and after pacing around the bed for a bit he finally jumped up and curled up at my feet. He is so good with her. He is very protective but also keeps a distance so he isn't in her face or too close.

This next one is funny ... you can see how Dakota's head looks about the same size as Arabella is. He is always checking up on her. When we came home today from the DR, he first ran over to her car seat to say hello - totally bypassed Will and I until after he checked in on her. 

This is her curled up after a feeding, she just conked right out on the bobby pillow and me. Its so tiring being a baby!

We had our first DR appt today. She was wide awake and ready to go! The little hat and sweater are part of the set that the Mercy Hospital Knitters gave us. We also have matching booties. It was a rainy day today so perfect weather to wear them out and about. I'll have to take a picture of the little sweater on her (without the seat) so that you can get a better look at it.

This is waiting for her blood test/heal prick. Once again wide awake - even looks a little grumpy although she wasn't - its just the cute little face she makes.

We took this next one so you could see how tiny she is in the car seat. She has lots of room to grow, thats for sure. She lost some weight since birth and came in at 5.7 today. We go back on Friday for another weight check, we're hoping she gains some back over the next few days. She is doing really good at eating now and is becoming a little piggy so hopefully she will gain some weight by then. 

And finally some cuddling time with dad after the exciting day out and about.

Arabella Jane Smith has Arrived!

On Saturday May 15th at 9:55 PM Arabella Jane Smith made her debut appearance weighing in at 6.1 lbs and 20 inches in length - a tiny little thing with tons of hair! This was her very first picture when she was cuddling with mom!

Everything went very fast (now that I look back of course). I woke up Friday morning with contractions coming every 15 minutes and that went on for several hours but as time wore on they lessened and by later that day they were only periodic. On saturday morning I woke up once again with contractions at 5:30 AM but they were only coming every 30-45 minutes and sometimes even farther apart - but they were strong when they did come. By 11 AM they had settled into a pattern of every 15-20 minutes. We took a walk, had an ice cream. tried to do things around the house. Will decided NOT to go into work - great decision... considering what happened next. At 6:35 my water suddenly broke, we called the doctor and they said we could head into the hospital now even though our contractions were still far apart - they said that they would probably speed up now since my water broke. We figured since we are 45 minutes from the hospital it would be a good idea to get ready to go. By the time I changed, we got everything together, fed the dog/cats and got in the car is was 7:20. On the drive in my contractions went down to every 5-7 minutes, we arrived at the hospital just after 8 PM and got into our room and checked out by 8:30. When they checked me I was already 8 cm and well into active labor! She was coming fast, contractions were fast/hard and there was tons of energy. Finally around 9 PM I was able to get into the tub - the warm water really helped me to relax and deal with the contractions better. She was born at 9:55 PM - it all happened so quick. I think I only had to push 3 times after she crowned! The nurses were shocked that it was my first birth since it went so fast. I'm glad it went fast since I can't imagine what it would of been like it had gone on for hours more.. ugh.   I did it without any drugs as well - good for me. I think that things were happening so fast that I didn't even have time to think about that sort of stuff. Here are a few pictures from right after her birth and later that evening... 

Our first family shot... 

A VERY proud dad!

Getting all weighed and measured - she didn't really like this part too much!

She has A LOT of hair as you can see. I hope she doesn't loose it all, she is so cute! Although the labor went fast and overall her delivery was great the delivery of the placenta did cause some problems. For some reason it did not want to come out on its own so they tried a few different things to help it along the way... 

First -  They gave me a pitocin shot to stimulate more contractions so that it would come out on its own - this did not work

Second - . They had to call a DR in and she had to manually try to remove it herself (very painful, worse than the labor part - imagine the DR sticking her entire hand up there to try to get it out - not once but twice!) - unfortunately it still did not all come out... there was some pieces left behind that they still needed to remove

Third - So finally they decided that I would go into a mini surgery... so they basically knocked me out and then were able to go back in and have her manually remove it - way better in my opinion since I did not have to be awake for this time and hence it was not as painful, etc. They also had to put in a few stitches so they did it while I was under as well. So from my perspective it was not bad, I went to sleep and woke up 1 hour later and all was done. Will got some early solo bonding time with Arabella as well. They did not take me right into surgery so I had some bonding time with her before I went it and then again when I got out. 

Today I am feeling much better - tired, sore and achy but overall better and it is easier to get around and do things that it was when she was in my belly! I'm sure everyday will get better as I heal up. They have a photographer at the hosptial and they came by this morning and got some great shots of Arabella, we bought the CD and put in a few below. She is such a cutey, we can't wait to learn and grow with her over the coming days, weeks, months and years! We love her so much already and can't wait for you all to meet her!

Here is a collage I made of some of the pictures they took - (thanks to Lauren for the hint on how to do this).