Oh, Christmas Tree

We started a new family tradition this year by going to a Christmas tree farm and selecting and cutting our own live tree.  Aubrey slept through the majority of the experience, but mommy and daddy had a good time thoroughly inspecting way too many trees until settling on the right one (note to the live tree selection virgins: we liked one, proceeded to look around for another hour, only to circle back to our original choice so our advice is to take the first one that speaks to you - you won't find a better tree).  Our only disappointment was the fact that the live trees don't give off that fresh pine scent until you saw them down, meaning that we didn't get to peruse the trees while sniffing that familiar christmas-y smell . . . otherwise, it was a lot of fun and we hope our family will enjoy this as a tradition from now on.

missing: snow

who gave this guy sharp tools?

trying to start a family tradition

aubrey is riveted 

sleepy and cute

standing by our first favorite tree, which would be the one we ultimately chose

cut it down!

there's that pine scent we've been missing

ready for the journey home for decorations

the finished product

the first 30 days are the hardest

ONE MONTH OLD!
(theory: if you can't get a photo without crying, then it's best to document what really happened)

"The first 30 days are the hardest..."  At least that's what everyone tells you.  Having had Aubrey in our lives for just over 30 days, it seems like this could be somewhat accurate, but it's hard to say whether they are really the "hardest," or whether that's precisely how long it takes to get accustomed to sleep deprivation and inconsolable crying.  It seems to me that maybe the first 30 days is just the breaking down process, wherein the new bundle of joy breaks down the parental figures through a rigorous process of laundry, diaper changes, bottle washings, nighttime feedings, post-spit up baths, and such, that after 30 days it's so routine, it just feels easier.  Or maybe it's a combination of that and the fact that once you've been in the trenches for 30 days, any silent, restful time is precious and if the parents can sleep more than 3-4 hours in a stretch, they feel like they've just been given the best Christmas gift ever.  Either way, we've made it through those first 30 days, and we've decided that we'd like to keep Aubrey around so I'd like to think we're doing a pretty good job.

This month has been full of "firsts" and exciting adventures for the little one, including: baths; walks; doctor visits; grandparents babysitting so parents can have date night; Target runs; coffee dates with mommy and daddy; Thanksgiving; visits from friends (including Erin and Alicia all the way from San Diego and Orange County!); tummy time; and starting a new family tradition of choosing and cutting a live Christmas tree.

Aubrey likes baths a lot more now than she did at first, and enjoys being held whenever possible.  The Moby wrap is great for this, because she can be held while mommy can still get stuff done around the house or running errands.  She is entertained for quite awhile on her play mat, and enjoys tummy time for 5-10 minute stretches (her neck is quite strong!).  She's a messy eater - even when hungry she's just a little lazy when it comes to eating and ends up with at least part of the bottle on her clothes.  She takes after her mommy and fights sleep because she doesn't want to miss out on anything exciting going on around her.  At almost five weeks old, she only has another week or two in newborn clothes, and will be graduating to 0-3 month sizes very soon - what a big girl!

Here are some photos from various activities throughout Aubrey's first month:

boo! tiny baby hanging out with daddy

first bath

first post-bath towel drying 

cuddle time with mommy

first walk

touchdown! Aubrey likes to sleep with her hands up here, or by her face so swaddling isn't her favorite

first time swinging

caught cat-napping

first time in the boppy! (she likes this because she feels like a big girl)

first tummy time!

halloween 2011: trick AND treat!

Sorry to be MIA for awhile, but as you surely already know, baby Aubrey has arrived, and decided to show up a little after noon on October 31st, otherwise known as HALLOWEEN!

hello, world! (or should I say "boo!"?)

I wanted an October baby because it's my favorite month of the year, but when I said I liked the idea of an October birthday, I wasn't thinking Halloween!  Granted, I love Halloween - it's almost my favorite holiday - but I was a bit nervous about having a baby on that day, because her birthday will always be shared with Halloween.  I hope she's able to embrace it!  Surprisingly, Aubrey joins the ranks of several very famous celebrities also born on Halloween, including 80's rap icon Vanilla Ice (1968), Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz a.k.a. the "King Ad-Rock" (1966), The Hot Chick Rob Schneider (1963), comedian John Candy (1950), Little House on the Prairie star Michael Landon (1936), and former CBS anchorman Dan Rather (1931).  Wow, you're in great company, Aubrey!


As we mentioned in our last post, we went in at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 30th to induce labor.  Things started off rather excitingly, as I promptly passed out while the nurse inserted my IV into my left wrist.  It hurt (lots of stinging) in a way that made my body go all weird and pass out, and dropped my blood pressure to 63/33.  Needless to say, I awoke to a room full of nurses and doctors to welcome me back to reality.  Talk about getting everyone's attention! (at the time, we were the only couple in the L & D wing)  The IV was much more successful in my right hand when I was given a numbing shot first. :)  Shortly thereafter, we started me on petocin (an IV drug that induces contractions) to see how my body reacted.  Since it went well, we then we started on cytotec (a pill to thin and soften the cervix to prepare it for dilation), which took a couple hours to work per dose.  Throughout Sunday, we had family members come in and out to visit and bring food to Jason (and Meggie brought me Popsicles!), and watched football (hooray for the niners winning!).  Late in the evening, the nurses recommended that everyone get some rest.  My contractions were getting stronger so this whole "trying to sleep" thing was not really working, but I did my best to relax.  A couple hours later, POP!, my water broke, and we were in business.  It then took about an hour to get the anesthesiologist in for my epidural, which he had to administer twice because of my compressed vertebrae (boo, hiss!), and by then I was getting heavy doses of petocin to speed things along.  Wheeeeeeee!  By this time it was about 3 a.m. on the 31st so we knew we would have either a Halloween or November 1st baby.

let the induction begin

I progressed well throughout the morning, and by 7 a.m. was 5cm dilated.  This was accompanied by amazingly uncomfortable back labor, which the midwife conjectured was being made worse by the fact that the baby was face up, rather than face down (I was very into pushing the epidural button when this pain got worse).  Unfortunately, however, by 11 a.m. I was still dilated at 5cm and had been fighting a fever that wasn't responding to Tylenol.  In addition, the baby's heartbeat had been sporadically lost by both the belly bands and an internal fetal monitor, which was concerning the nurses, midwives, and doctors.  A midwife came in to tell me these things, and let me know that she was going to alert the doctor on shift and have her discuss options with me . . . only to have the doctor come in my room 20 minutes later decked out in scrubs, ready to take me to the OR for a c-section!  It's kind of a blessing that we didn't have to decide between trying to progress and having a c section, because that would have been a tough choice so off we went to the OR a few minutes later.  

daddy's ready for the OR!

The c-section was definitely a strange experience (being half awake during surgery and feeling them tug and jiggle your body without really feeling it was bizarre, to say the least), but we were happy to meet our baby.  Jason was so awe-struck that he pretty much blanked on taking any photos or even going over to see Aubrey after they removed her from my belly!  Silly daddy.  Once he saw her, though, he told me how beautiful she was, and even brought her to see me briefly before they took her to be bathed, tested, etc. while I was put back together.  

heeeeeeeeere's aubrey!

40 minutes or so later, I was wheeled into recovery where I was able to hold Aubrey for the first time, and it was fantastic (I'm glad I was relatively lucid despite all the drugs I had been on for the past 28 hours! ha!).  Even though we ended up having a different birth experience than we had hoped for, and had to stay in the hospital a little longer than planned, we still got to meet our beautiful new daughter (and in this case, sooner than we otherwise would have!) so the result was well worth it. 

first photo with mommy

with daddy!

looking at daddy

family photo

She's a little trickster, showing up on Halloween, but she's simultaneously the best treat we've ever had!

waking up at 2, 3, and 4am = trick! 

sleeping soundly = treat

welcome home!

in case of emergency, break glass

The other day, Aubrey was shifting and squiggling like crazy so I pointed it out to Jason, who exclaimed, "maybe she wants out!"  I replied, "well, if she wants out, she can break the glass - I'm not stopping her!"

Several days later, and the little bugger is as squirmy as ever, but not going anywhere; therefore, we are evicting her tomorrow morning.  We've had several conversations with her, telling her that she could do this the easy way and come on her own, but apparently she's stubborn and wants to do this the hard way.

We'll call tomorrow morning to see if they have room for us, and if they do, we'll head to the hospital to start the induction process, which could take awhile -- this means we could have an October baby, or we could have a November baby . . . what suspense!

Thank you for all the well wishes and luck -- we will keep everyone posted and of course share pictures as soon as we get a chance.

xoxoxo.
blaire, jason, & baby a

the "nursery"

You may be wondering why "nursery" is in quotes in the title of this blog.  This is because when we found out we were having a baby, we had to convert our office/guest room/jason's closet/where the cat's litter box was, into the nursery for our bun in the oven (as a sidenote, we called Aubrey "bun" for the first half of the pregnancy, before we knew whether we were having a boy or a girl).  Although mostly successful, Aubrey's "nursery" still houses my desk, and the closet, while containing many of her clothes, also holds Jason's hanging clothes, all of my jackets, as well as some storage things like photos, crafts, etc.  This is why it's hard to fully call it a nursery, sans quotes.

That being said, we have all we need (and more) to make this a true nursery, and I'm confident that once Aubrey is here and we utilize the space for her more often, it will completely turn into her room (with the desk and storage still squatting there, of course).  Since this room is a little bit of everything, and because we are currently renting, we opted not to paint, and have to deal with the carpet color etc. that came with the place so it's nothing too creative.  We're still waiting on our rocking chair, but once that arrives (at this rate, maybe before the baby?!) the room will be "complete."  Here are some photos!

The pillow is patiently awaiting its rocking chair to sit on (kind of like mommy and daddy are patiently awaiting the baby! due date came and went with nothing yesterday so we'll see how this week shakes out . . .).

baby shower

since my mom and sister (with help from several family members and friends) did such an amazing job throwing me a super cute, fun baby shower, I wanted to post a few photos from the day.

(diaper cake and real cake made by mom, cake pops made by sis - all that's missing are the photos of me WITH mom and sis!  I think they're on another camera so I'll try to add them later :))

are you getting as antsy as we are?

Nearly 39 weeks along, and we are more than anxious to meet our baby girl! Mommy mostly just wants to get through labor and any surprises that come with it, as well as get the baby out of her body. Daddy, meanwhile, wants to meet his daughter and take some time off work. (daddy is about to be unpleasantly surprised that this will be no "vacation," even if he's not at work!) For those I haven't seen in awhile, yes, I have gotten much bigger and there appears to be little room left (we were quite surprised to learn that she had turned last week, as we were sure there was no room for her to do so!). Let's hope we don't go past (or too much past) her due date, because I'm not sure where she's gonna go...

The doctor has guessed that Aubrey will be a "larger than average" baby, in the 8 pound range. I was 8lbs 12oz so I suppose this shouldn't be shocking, but I'm still hoping for something less than that...mostly because we have so many newborn clothes from Aubrey's cousin, Georgia.  Speaking of whom, look how big my smiley niece has gotten--she is almost 6 months old now!

We will definitely keep everyone posted on any notable developments over the next few days/weeks.  Although it's hard to be patient, we know that our new addition will be here very soon and can't wait to find out when she will decide to make her appearance, and what she looks like - we already know that she's strong, both in will (eh-hem, turning late) and physical nature (her kicks, turns, and punches have gotten quite intense)!