3 months!

Today actually marks Baby Girls 14th week birth-iversary... Hard to believe time has gone so quickly! What amazes me the most is the plethora of changes in such a short amount of time...

The smiles... Especially first thing in the morning..

The new-found hands and intense concentration on bumblebee tuna...

Plus she gets distracted by Bruce or Daddy walking by. She looks huge in all her baby gear- the swing and rock n play she fills up, she no longer needs the extra head stabilizer in the car seat, and she's between 3 month and 6 month clothes. Crazy!

Every moment is a joy and I cannot wait to see what next month brings!

Easter and Dyngus day!

We had a big milestone this weekend- Vienna's first family holiday! Easter Sunday Tony and I took Vienna to church, family brunch at my parents, and family dinner with the Kurpiewskis. It was a beautiful day so it was outstanding to get some sun, relax, and eat lots of good food. Church was outstanding- it was Viennas first mass and she slept through most of it. Even when she woke up, she smiled a few times then went back to sleep. A successful outing! Brunch and Dinner were wonderful too of course- lots of family and food. Can't ask for anything better.

Here is Baby Girl with her Easter basket. No, I didn't really go all out with the Easter basket thing... I just put some items we already had in a basket. We didn't go see the Easter bunny, which I'm a little bummed about but it's probably for the best. Next year we will hit up our neighborhood Easter egg hunt which the Easter bunny attends. And we will certainly visit Santa this December!

Baby girl in her Easter finery.. Making a funny face...

And a collage of Baby Girl in some bunny ears, a few days before Easter... I couldn't resist!

With the excitement of Easter comes one of Tonys favorite holidays... Dyngus Day! You really cannot contemplate how Polish this holiday is... And by Polish I mean absolutely ridiculous and fun. We again were blessed with a gorgeous day, so we enjoyed some outside time and then went down to the parade. The parade is outstanding- polka music, floats, people squirting water off the floats, throwing kielbasa, butter lambs, golf balls, and people whipping others with pussy willow fronds. Absolutely nuts! Baby girl was great and enjoyed the hour + parade. She and daddy dressed in matching outfits- he the Polish prince and she the (Quarter Polish) Princess.

Hey y'all 

Happy Spring holidays!

Eight weeks!

Hard to believe that Baby Girl is EIGHT WEEKS OLD! She has already changed so much... she is more alert during the day, and she is getting so much bigger! She and I attended a pumping for work class two weeks ago and she weighed in there at 11lb even! So another two week later.. im sure were knocking on 12lb! Shes totally out of newborn clothes and officially into three month clothes. Another big development is that she started smiling! Our mornings are our least fussy and most alert times, so while she and I play on the play mat, sing to my Disney mix, and do tummy time, shes starting to make some great faces and smiles!

 Back to the pumping class... I had started pumping and it wasnt going great and I HATED it... but after the class Im feeling more confident and having much more success now. Dad got to give Baby Girl her first bottle last week- and she took it like a champ! And she stared at Tony the whole time... like "what the heck you dont usually feed me... what is going on!?" But its great that he can now have some special time to feed her and I am a little more free to do some Mom time activities.

 Everyone has also been asking about Bruce. He has been doing GREAT with Vienna. He loves to see what she is doing and follows us around. He even goes into her room during naps to check on her. Too cute! He still doesn't know his own strength, so we make sure if he gives her a lick its just one.. he can be a little aggressive with his lovin!

In sad news- I will be returning to work in 1 1/2 weeks... ug! Definitely NOT looking forward to being away from Baby Girl... I love work, but being at home as a Mom is so much better! Luckily summer is around the corner.

 Now... the 8 week update of Vienna's favorite things...

1) Weubbanubs! The pacifiers with the stuffed animal.. She loves to suck on the pacifier! And I love the stuffed animal because she can hold onto it and we can prop it up when shes sleeping so if she spits out the binky it doesnt fly far.

 2) The Carseat/stroller! Spring has finally begun to show its face around here so the four of us have been going on daily walks. She loves being in her carseat- she usually is out cold within a few minutes. (She loves motion when shes sleeping- which is a pain when we try to get her in her crib.... but as long as she sleeps somewhere for now I'm happy!) The stroller we got has the attachment for the carseat- so with a quick snap, we are ready to go! Its an amazing stroller- light weight, east to maneuver... awesome in general.

 3)Kick and Play Piano- We try to spend a little time here every day- she is quite the kicker and does a great job kicking the piano to make it play. Shes even starting to work her arms a little towards the hanging toys.. not a real reach, but you can tell its coming soon!

4) Dressing up to match Daddy. Self Explanatory.

 Finally.. a tid bit about me.... Last Monday I was CLEARED for all activity! So Tuesday morning I took a slow 1.25 mile jog with Bruce. It went really well and I felt great! Excited to get back into running, especially with this fabulous running weather. I signed up for an 8k in mid June- I feel confident I'll be able to scrape it together in time- and worst case scenario, I'll walk what I need to.

 More later, have a great day... next post ill be giving you a recap of my adventures with cloth diapering!

1 Month!!!

I cannot believe it is has been 1 month of mommy hood! Vienna has changed so much in one month- she's more alert, taking everything in, and she's put on almost two pounds! At her one moth appointment, she was 10lb 7oz, 84th percentile for weight, almost 22in long, 79th percentile for height. Clearly she gets that from her daddy! The best news of all was that we can stop waking her to eat, let her settle into her own routine of when she wants to eat, and then I can start putting her onto a schedule. Our nights have been great- Vienna usually has one long 4-7hr stretch to start the night off and then a couple 3-4 hour stretches after that. Fingers crossed were onto a good schedule for night sleeping! Mom and dad like to sleep!

Heres Vienna showing off her neck strength in tummy time!

Here she is in her 1 month photo shoot (that mom did);

This last one is posing with her huge teddy bear... We will do comparison pictures each month to see how she grows! Hard to believe that eventually she will be taller than the bear!

Baby Gear

We are entering our second month with Ms. Vienna! Cannot believe how much she has changed in such a short period of time! Its exciting but I'm already sad it's flying by so quickly.

A couple updates... For those who asked, Uncle Dave was correct with the baby prediction- 2/26 and a girl... And Nadine Ocasio was spot on for the birth weight- 8lb 11oz!

So the purpose of my post; most handy baby gear so far! Our first month been a whorl wind of eating, sleeping, and diaper changing. Here are what we've found most useful so far.

1. White Owl night light.  This was a Christmas gift from Aunt Kristen. We leave it on at night for changing  sand feelings- so helpful! Buying info Here

2. Fisher Price Snuggapuppy swing. Awesome gift from Katie and Michelle. We use it daily for alert time (she tracks the mobile- it's so impressive!) and if she's fussy she sometimes likes the swing motion.

3. Halo sleep sacks. Being a winter baby, sleep sacks are a warm swaddle dream come true. She stays warm and wrapped up right, and I dont have to worry about loose blankets and the crib dangers they pose.

4. Fisher Price Snuggapuppy rock n play sleeper. For the first two weeks Vienna slept in her crib. Then at two weeks we had a couple episodes of vomiting right before bed. So she doesn't like the flatness of the crib. Instead, weve have her sleeping in her room in the rock n play. Now we are working to transition her back to her crib.

5. Cloth diapers. Used for burp cloths- a must now that Vienna has begun spitting up!

6. Ergo baby carrier. I've been using this during mid day when Vienna wants to be held, but I want to be hands free. She seems to like it, and falls asleep.

7. Motorola video monitor. Thanks to the fabulous staff at GI... This is Self explanatory- used every night!

8. Wubbanub pacifiers. Vienna isn't totally gung-ho about the pacifier, but it does help here and there for soothing and satisfying sucking needs (when she isn't hungry and has eaten recently).

9. Disney lullaby CD. This has become a part of our night time routine- it's a very nice instrumental mix of lullaby and disney songs played mostly on the piano. This was one of my favorite gifts from my Grandma- Viennas great grandma.

10. Fisher Price Snuggapuppy bouncer. During our morning alert time Vienna likes to hand out in the bouncer and look around. This is my opportunity to jump in the shower and get myself ready for the day.

As of now, these are my highly recommended items! I'll probably have a whole different list by the end of this month!

Welcome Vienna!

Vienna is two weeks old... I cannot believe it! Her birth seems so far away now. I wanted to post her birth story before I forget any of the details.

My due date came and went, and Tony and I went to the doctors for a post due date decision appointment. Sadly, at my 38, 39, and 40 week appointments, Baby W wasn't making any progress toward labor. So at our February 22nd appointment, we decided to schedule an induction for February 25/26. I prayed that the labor gods would intervene and get my labor going before our induction... Tony and I walked the galleria mall, took multiple walks a day, ate spicy food... No dice. So on Tuesday 2/25, I called the hospital to check that we could head in, and we left for the hospital at 6:30 that night. It was very anti-climactic, my parents brought us dinner and everyone knew baby W would be arriving in the next day. I was emotional... It was a nerve wracking thought that the time had come and our lives were about the change forever!

When we arrived at the hospital, we had a lovely nurse, Eileen, who got me going with paperwork and settling down for the night. Oddly enough, once I was hooked up to the monitors, it said I was having minute long contractions two minutes apart. Despite this, I wasn't actually in labor because I still hadn't made any progress. My midwife, Kim, came in to place the cervidil, an induction medicine, and Tony and I settled in for the night. In retrospect, this was the worst part. I hated the belly monitors, couldn't get comfortable, barely slept, had to pee constantly, and then finally started to feel some contractions. Honestly, I think Tony had it worse... A tiny pull out chair bed. Poor guy!

In the morning I felt much better, the cervidil was out and I was able to take a nice long hot shower before starting the pitocin. Throughout the whole labor experience, Tony was a lifesaver- kept me laughing and focused. It was quite comical when I started flooding the delivery room during my shower. After the shower, I got my IV hooked up (ug) and they began the pitocin. Real contractions started then.

By 10:00 things started to pick up. Kim suggested we try a foley ball to get me to dilate. I had dilated 1cm over night, and the foley ball would get me at least to 4cm. This combined with the pitocin got
things moving, and I had a solid two hours of real good labor. The first hour wasn't bad at all- I spent most of it standing at my bedside rocking and trying to use gravity to my advantage. I was still smiling in between contractions!

After about an hour I opted to sit on a birthing ball. And within a half an hour I was ready to lay down again.

The contractions were becoming much stronger and I had to really focus my breathing on each one.
After two hours I was begging for a change... I could feel the foley moving down on every
contraction, I just wanted it out. I either wanted to get up or get some pain meds. Luckily my midwife came in to check me at this point and to take out the foley. When she took it out, it had already been dislodged, my water had broke, and I was measuring around 6cm. A successful two hours!!

So after the foley was out, I worked through few more contractions. I was in some wicked pain and there were no more smiles in between contractions. With the recommendation of the midwife I opted for an epidural, just so I could at least get some rest before the real work began. About an hour later the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. The hardest part was having the first few contractions while he was getting everything set up and administering the shot. My first three contractions while he was get the epidural going caused more of my water to break- I felt like I was sitting in a baby pool filled with water. At first I thought I had peed myself, but I hadn't. Finally, I was numb from the waist down and feeling much better. The nurse kept flipping me to try to get baby W to drop.

An hour later, Dr. F came in... And in the two hours since getting to 6cm, I had stalled. At that point with the strength of my contractions and the rate I was going, I should have been ready to push. After discussion, we decided to give it one more hour to see if anything magically snapped into place, or else we would do a c-section. This was NOT what I wanted, and there were definite tears involved, but I knew we had to do what was best. Lo and behold, an hour later, and the baby only started to cone... Her skin was pulling downward but her body wasn't moving into place. So c-section it was!

Another anesthesiologist came in to give me more numbing meds before moving to the OR. Tony suited up in a dashing bunny suit. He was looking good! Our parents and sisters had arrived and were in the waiting room at this point. It was nice that Tony could run out to talk to them and let them know what was going on.

Around 4:00 I was rolled into the OR, put on the table, meds in place, and a team of doctors got to work on me. Tony sat with me at my head, and I was grateful for the medication- I didn't feel a thing except for some tugging and pulling. Within minutes, 4:16 to be exact, baby W was out, Dr. F announced "it's a girl!!!" I was beyond shocked and elated and cried with joy. Tony and I both said "Vienna Marie!" Tony stepped out of the room with Vienna, and they weighed her- a whopping 8# 11oz!

She had a head full of hair- definitely a mini momma! While doing the weighing and everything, Vienna took her first poop. Tony gave me the play by play while the doctors stitched me up. I was bummed we didn't get it immediately do skin to skin time, but I was stuck in crucifix position for about 20-30 min. Tony did get to hold Vienna the entire time they stitched me up, and I got to touch her with one hand.

By 5:00 we were back to our recovery room. I was dying to hold Vienna, but I was still shaking from the surgery. It was surreal being numb from the shoulders down- I couldn't move a muscle! I did finally warm up enough to hold Vienna and feed her. She was a natural! Then, our parents and sisters came in for a quick visit. I was near falling asleep and crashing from all the excitement. The Weisels visited for a bit while my parents went to dinner. We moved to the maternity ward and then my parents came back to visit until visiting hours ended.

The next few days ran into a blur. A brief summary;

Thursday: Over night Wednesday-Thursday we opted to send Vienna to the nursery. It was a great decision because we got a decent amount of sleep to prepare us for the marathon that was the rest of the hospital stay. Nurses constantly coming and going, trying to feed on demand, it made the days a blur! In the morning, the nurse came to take out my catheter, and I was begging to have my IV out. I was sick of it being in my hand! Luckily it was all out by noon and I was feeling much more like myself- except for the crazy swollen feet! I even started to walk around.. It was tough to stand up straight but at least I was moving around. And the more I moved the better I felt! We had a few visitors throughout the day- but it was snowy and frigid...single digits again! What a crazy winter!

Friday: Thursday to Friday night we opted to keep Vienna in the room. Beast feeding had seemed to go well for the first 24 hrs, but took a turn for the worse over night. I was in a lot of pain trying to feed, and we luckily had a phenomenal lactation consultant come work with us Friday afternoon. Her name was Alaine and she was magnificent! She got us back on track, and we've been going strong ever since. Friday was another blur of feeding, diaper changes, visitors, and me trying to walk around and get recovered. I even got to take a shower so I was feeling more and more normal. One thing I was grateful for with the c-section was the recovery- my belly was sore and walking was a little difficult, but bathroom time was a breeze compared to what I was expecting with a natural birth.

Saturday: We were so ready to go home! Vienna and I each got seen by our doctors, got our discharge orders, and then all of a sudden it was go time! We got Vienna dressed, Tony went to load the car, and the wheel chair for mom showed up. We were so happy to go home... And truly embark on our I new adventure!

Just for funzies, 39 weeks of bumpday photos

Hello friends and fam,

Were 4 days from our due date, and many of you have lost the baby poll... Sorry guys! This kid is just too comfy in there. In the mean time, I thought it'd be fun to take a look back at all the weeks of bump pics... Growth of a human truly is  an amazing thing! Hopefully my next post will be a baby post!

Jennifer

Weeks 10/11

Weeks 12/13

Weeks 14/15

Week 17

Week 19

Week 20

Week 21

Week 22

Week 23

Week 24

Week 25

Week 26

Week 27

Week 28

Week 29

Week 30

Week 31

Week 32

Week 33

Week 34

Week 35

Week 36

Week 37

Week 38

Week 39