My 1st Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!

We threw together a very last minute costume this year. Because we didn't know what we were having, and not having much time to get out and shop right after she was born, we were behind in the costume category. We purchased the tutu-tights on Thursday (4 days before the day) and were given the Frankenstein kiss? onesie and witch bib as gifts. It was the perfect costume of thrown together items! Whatever, she looks cute in whatever she puts on! (Can you tell I'm the parent?!)

We had a fun evening visiting family and friends (before we had an over-tired crying meltdown). It was great for her first Halloween!

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A few weeks prior, we visited Grandpa's farm and pumpkin patch. It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Michigan, and we took advantage of getting outside in the sun and soaking up the rays.

Here are a few pictures we captured that day:

1 month

Today I am 1 month old!

(well on the 16th) I'm a little behind in my blogging. This is the one good picture I took on the 16th while visiting family in Alpena/Roger's City.

My One Month Stats:

-Height: 21 inches (42%)

-Weight: 9 lbs, 4 oz (48%)

-Head Circumference: 37.0 cm (43%)

She did really well at the Doctor's. Minus a little bit of baby acne and the gas pains, she checked out perfectly. Our next visit will be the oh-so-fun SHOTS visit. How fun, I can't wait!

So much has been going on in the past few weeks! It is truly amazing how time consuming having a baby is, but it is worth every moment. I find it is incredibly hard to shower, eat, let alone brush my teeth on some days.

We has our first real out of the house experience the weekend of Hannah's 1 month (therefore no official 1-month photo. I will be on that for month 2)

I was matron-of-honor at a very dear, best friend's wedding in Alpena, MI. We survived the 4 hour car ride there and back without any difficulties. The wedding was simply beautiful (a tad on the cold side) but the day turned out perfectly! Bobbi Jo was a beautiful, blushing bride. I am so thankful to have her in my life, such a caring, genuine friend.

Hannah also met her great grandmother (John's side), aunt Mimi, Uncle Kevin, Erin, and Natalie Jo. It was very nice to spend some time with family. We certainly hope to see you all again soon!

1 week

I am 1 week old today!!

I can't believe that one week has already flown by! It seems like yesterday we were headed to the hospital to begin this wonderful journey into parenthood.

Eventful activities this week:

-Hannah slept in her crib on night 1 (much to my nervousness and getting up with every peep she made). At one point I even slept in the rocker just to be a little closer to her.

-We have had a few visitors stop by to meet Hannah. It has been very nice that family and friends have respected our adjustment time and not pushed to come over and visit instantly. It certainly has been an adjustment for all 3 of us.

-We had our first pediatrician appointment on Tuesday. It is rather ironic that we are seeing the same pedi that John went to for his entire childhood. But at the same time, rather reassuring that he knows his stuff and knows John (for the most part).

Hannah did great! She checked out "perfectly" by Dr. Israel. Her weight was only down 1 oz from her birth weight!! When we were discharged from the hospital, she was 6lbs, 8oz. and in only 2 days, jumped up to 6 lbs, 13oz. We were very pleased with this! Although, not surprised because she is a great nurser!

Her 4-day-old stats:

-Height: 20 inches (64%)

-Weight: 6 lbs, 13 oz (23%)

-Head circumference: 33.3 (15%)

She did so good for her first car ride. She slept the entire time and didn't make a peep! We even ran a couple errands with her after the appointment. She started to stir and wake as we were on our way home from the last stop, getting the breastpump!

-Thursday night we gave Hannah her first bath at home. She did rather well. She seemed to enjoy being naked the best, and wasn't very fond of the water. She did enjoy her warm ducky blanket and snuggling with her daddy when bath time was over. She is such a trooper :)

Friday, September 16th, 2011

Welcome to the world Ms. Hannah Elizabeth LaMacchia

-Sept 16, 2011 at 8:32pm

-6 lbs, 14 oz

-20.4 inches long

The Story:

On Thursday night I worked my normal 12 hour shift. The girls on my floor threw a pot luck-baby shower for me. They all joked that I would be going into labor in the next day or so because of a fortune cookie I received on Wednesday night. (and at my Wed Dr appt, I was informed by my doctor that I was already 3cm (no biggie) but she didn't think I'd make it through the weekend).

What a remarkable fortune cookie indeed!!

On Friday, as I was sleeping during the day (as I normally do) to prepare to work that evening, I woke up to go to the bathroom. (just one of the frequent visits during my sleep) Well, I thought I was done going, but when I looked down, there was still some coming. I thought, "maybe my water just broke, but I'm not sure". I walked to our other bathroom to get a pad in hopes that I could just go back to sleep for a little while. Well, not so much. When I stood up, it was flowing rather good at this point. So I called John at work and shared the news. Me: "Hey honey, I think my water just broke" John: "Okay, do you want me to leave work now" Me: "Take your time, I'm gonna shower and get myself ready" John: "Alright, well see you in a little bit". The time: 3:05pm (per John's phone record)

So John comes home around 3:45pm. I was throwing a load of laundry into the wash, washing the dishes in the kitchen sink, walking around the house. At this point, I wasn't feeling anything, so I just figured, why not stay home as long as possible! John was also doing some work, sweeping out the garage, cleaning a cooler, loading up the car with the necessary goods. When he finished his stuff, he took a shower too. The time: 5pm

We took one final picture of just the 2 of us in our house before we left

Around 5:15pm we decided it was probably best to get to the hospital. I needed some pre-delivery antibiotics started, and only for the sake of the antibiotics, we headed in. We arrived in triage around 5:30, rather quickly being whisked away into the final open triage room. The nurse checked to see if my water had indeed been broken, yes it had. And she also checked to see how far and if I was dilated. She let me know that I was already 5-6cm and fully effaced. Time: 6:00pm.

At 6pm, the contractions began. They were occurring every 5 minutes and each one was lasting roughly 45-90 seconds. The pain was rather tolerable and I turned down the epidural at this point. I said to John, we'll see how they feel in a little bit, but for now, they are about a 3-4 on the pain scale. No biggie....

At 6:30pm, rather swiftly being moved into the labor and delivery room. They actually moved a patient who had delivered into a recovery room to make room for me. (L&D was packed!)

Time: 7pm. I continued to apologize to the staff because I knew it was their change of shift, and I know how big of a pain in the butt it can be when you are trying to give report off and get outta there! The day nurse tried to tuck me into bed to rest and "take it easy". Before she was done, I asked to get up to go to the bathroom first. She helped me and once I was sitting, I felt the very strong urge to have a bowel movement. I told the nurse this who promptly said, "No way, you need to get back into bed now! If you are feeling that, you are probably ready to go." So back into bed I went. (as the contractions continued to get a little stronger and closer together) She was ready to leave the room and I asked if she could just check me before she left. She obliged, and informed me that I was 10cm dilated and ready to start pushing! Time: 7:15pm.

An extra day nurse came in to quickly set up the room. My doctor came in to check on me and did confirm that we were ready to go! The first day nurse was assisting me to begin pushing when I felt the urge. Soon after, my night nurse came in, and took over.

By now the contractions were lasting at least 90 seconds and coming every minute to minute and a half. They were getting stronger, but to me, the pain was still tolerable, as long as I kept breathing and talking to myself. Only once did I tell John to very nicely leave me alone. He was trying to move some hair off my face. For some reason, I kept apologizing to everyone, John, the nurse, the doctor, etc.

Fast forward 1 hour of pushing to about 8:15pm: Baby's head is crowning now. As the doctor is feeling around, she notices little fingers trying to poke out with the head. NOT COOL baby L! So not only am I trying to push out a head, but also a hand and arm. My baby's favorite position, hands up over the head! This cost me an extra 20 minutes of pushing to just free the head. At this point is when the pain became a 9/10. I actually asked the doc if she could just reach in there and yank her out! (she said No, hey I tried!) Now is where that epidural could have possibly come in handy!!

8:32pm: Baby L is born! Baby comes out with a little screeching cry, and an arm that shoots out right as the head is clear. The doctor asks John to reveal the sex, he can't see "down there", I can't see because the cord is right down the center. Finally, he says, "Its a girl!" SHE had finally arrived! John cuts the umbilical cord saying "it was much easier than I thought it would be." Then my sweet little baby is placed in my arms, what a sight! Words can't describe the emotion and joy felt. She was and is simply perfect!

First family photo!

More pictures and posts coming soon!!

Baby L's Nursery

Its probably about time to reveal all the changes we made to Baby L's room. It has been a labor of love and we were so pleased with how the room turned out. I hope our little one will enjoy it as much as we do already!

The nursery started out as our office... blue walls on the bottom, our MSU diplomas hanging proudly, a Van Gogh "Starry Night" picture on another wall, and lots of books in the bookcase.

I never took any pictures of the office when everything was still in it. Here is the bookcase (imagine it full of books!) and desk (with our computer and stuff on the shelves) after I packed it all up and we placed the furniture on Craig's List to sell.

We changed the blue paint along the bottom of the room to a warm, cappuccino color which matches the colors in the bedding. John prepped and painted while I was home in PA in June.

John put together the crib and added the dresser to the room.

We added the bedding, mobile, laundry basket, and rocking chair/recliner and ottoman to the room.

The bedding is a mix of browns, yellows, tans, and cream colors. It's perfectly neutral and we just love it!

My in-laws gave us the wonderful gift of the rocker/recliner and ottoman. It is soo comfy, matches the room perfectly, and will be so handy for the late night feeding and cuddling sessions. John added an additional bar in the closet to hang up clothes (clearly we have so much to put on the hanging bar!). We bought the organizer shelves on the bottom and added a little brown touch with the baskets. They are filled with medicines, toys, bath blankets, receiving blankets, etc. We'll see how organized that area stays...

We're all ready for you Baby L!! We can't wait to see you and bring you home to your beautiful, new room!

36 Weeks

We've made it to 36 weeks! How crazy/scary is that?! I'm just amazed at how quickly we've gotten to this point. Everyone keeps telling me that time will start to slow down, but I'm still waiting for that part.

I've begun to experience some Braxton Hicks every now and then. The first time it happened, it caught me off guard, a little scary! But now when they occur, I feel like a pro... sort of. Having those contractions brings the reality of this baby arriving at any point now.

Speaking of arriving at any point, we recently installed the car seat bases into our vehicles. It seems so strange seeing that in my backseat when I (slowly) get into my car. I can't believe I'll be putting a baby in there so soon! We need to work on packing our hospital bag as well. And we also have to shop and find our 'bring-home-outfit'. John is really wanting this to be an MSU outfit, so we will be hitting up campus before next weekends' first football game to find something.

This past weekend we were able to escape away to my in-laws cottage. Its nice because its only 45 mins away, still close enough to Lansing just in case we would need to head back quickly. The weather was gorgeous, it was so relaxing and sunny! (Unlike the hurricane winds and rain my family endured on the east coast) Needless to say, both John and I will be soaking up our last weekend at the cottage over Labor Day. Here's hoping for another beautiful weekend to come!

36 Week Belly Shots:

36 Week Stats: Baby is the size of a crenshaw melon. (Once again, I had to look this one up because I had no idea what it was. Its a hybrid melon, very sweet, most popular between July and September. Maybe I'll have to give this one a try!)

-Length: 18.5 inches

-Weight: almost 6 lbs.

-Major Milestones: Baby L is still packing on the pounds, about 1 ounce every day. Most of the bones (except skull) have almost completely hardened providing a solid structure for the baby. Also muscle tone is improving, getting it ready for its grand debut! At the end of week 36, we are considered full term, but I'm hoping baby can stick it out in there just a wee bit longer!

32 Weeks

As I was recently transferring pictures off my camera, it dawned on me that I never posted our 32 week/8 month info and pictures! It's been a busy few weeks since then and my baby brain certainly didn't help with remembering, or not remembering as was the case.

As I recall, the 32 week appointment was rather uneventful. We have moved onto appointments every 2 weeks now. That's when you know its getting closer! They keep asking if we'd like to do any pre-natal classes and we are torn. Even though I work on the mother/baby floor and am around newborn babies 24/7 at work, I still don't believe I'm an expert by any means. I'm just wondering what additional information the classes might provide me. I know they will be helpful for John, but I'll tell you what, he's been reading the What to Expect when Expecting and What to Expect the First Year pretty religiously. (and asking a billion questions) What do you think we should do?

PS. I passed the glucose test! Thankfully!

Besides the continually heartburn, I have been feeling really good. Still working, still walking, still keeping myself rather busy (as I like it). I can't say I have any real complaints I guess. We'll just keep truckin' along for a few more weeks!

32 Week Belly Shots:

I can tell its getting bigger when looking at each month's picture.

32 Week Stats: Baby L is the size of a large jimica- I've never heard of this veggie before. Apparently its good on salads... I'm gonna take someone else's word on that.

-Length: 17 inches. I have no idea where it could be fitting in my belly! I hardly feel like there is any room left.

-Weight: 4 lbs

-Major Milestones: Baby L has toenails, fingernails, and REAL hair! (which I'm sure there is a lot of if its any reflection on the heartburn I've been having) Also baby's skin is becoming more soft and smooth as it continues to pack on the pounds.