I'm almost 3 weeks old!

Well...Norah will be only 3 weeks old tomorrow, but it feels like she's always been here with us! We are definitely in love!!! (Grandma C is a huge Les Miserables fan...hence the outfit!!)

Grandma Colleen and Grandpa Jimmy just left this morning. We had a great week full of cuddles, delicious food and naps for mommy! I sure will miss them! We even got some sight-seeing in...grandpa got to see the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ride along in a Corvette around the racetrack,

we visited the Hoover Dam,

and finished the trip at the Pahrump Winery! We hit a blizzard driving through the mountains to get there! Norah did very well on all of her outings...pretty good for a newborn!

We received the gallery of pictures taken at Norah's newborn photo shoot yesterday, so when we place our order we will have the disc of all of the shots. We will post them then!!

Wrigley has been a good boy all week! He makes sure everyone is behaving around Norah, and is the first one to arrive on the scene if she gets fussy! I think he was a little confused at first, when he realized the company did not come to see him and play with him!

We are looking forward to our week with Grandma JoAnn and Grandpa Greg! They will be here next Friday...only one more week before I can nap again!!! I know it will only get better...Norah has been on her medicine for reflux for a week now, and I can't decide if it's doing anything or not! She no longer screams throughout all of her feedings, but she still is selectively fussy...very fussy! I think things have improved though, so we will keep doing what we are doing! Now, if only she knew that night time was for sleeping...that would be fantastic! That's all for now!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Norah is almost two weeks to the day today, and we went back to the doctor! We've had kind of a rough week...Norah has been showing signs of either reflux or colic. I've been emailing our pediatrician back and forth about it, and she decided she wanted to see her today in the office. Good news is, she is gaining weight! We are up to 8lb6oz today! The doc thinks its probably reflux, and we got a prescription for Zantac, so we will try that for a week or so and report back! Other than that, nothing too new around here! Grandpa Jimmy and Grandma Colleen will be here tomorrow! It will be Norah's first set of visitors...and we are all looking forward to their week here! And I'm also looking forward to MAYBE getting a few extra hours of sleep a day!!! That's all to report for now!

 Happy Valentine's Day!

Norah enjoys her swing! As you can see, we try to be prepared for frequent spit-ups...

 and of course...she's a Bears fan already...!

Sweet sleeping baby!!! (This hasn't happened so often this past week!)

(I know her face is cut off, but I love her cheeks and chin! And her little hands and feet!)

Just a few pics...

Bath time! Her faces are priceless...I feel like this first one is one I myself use often...

Today Norah met her great-grandparents and Uncle Hank on Skype! She dressed for the occasion...

peek-a-boo!

One Week Old!

Norah is one week old today! Oh what a week it has been. We are still tired, but getting the hang of it I think! Today we started by going to the pediatrician's office for a follow-up on her jaundice situation. She's looking great...and weighed in at 8lbs! She also had another newborn blood screen (standard), and they had to poke her heel and drop some blood on a card to be sent in to the lab. She was upset of course, but once it was all over she went right back to sleep! We will be going back for our one-month check-up in March! We really like our pediatrician; she is very sweet, and we are able to reach her (or covering doctor) day or night...she even gave us her email address. Turns out, I know her husband as well. He is a cardiothoracic surgeon, and I've at least talked to him over the phone (maybe met him face to face...who knows) about a patient or two of mine at work. We came home for our appointment and hustled to get everything ready to take Norah to her big newborn photo shoot! She did amazing! The photographer keeps her studio really warm for baby (like a sauna for us adults), and we started by feeding her and rocking her to sleep. She stayed asleep the whole time, letting the photographer pose her any which way she wanted. There were a couple of shots where we got to hold her, and she peed all over me! No biggie! I cant believe she didn't pee or poop on anything else! The pictures turned out amazing! She gave us a little preview...

Other than that, it's just business as usual around here. Eat, sleep, poop. She's such a good little girl, and makes us laugh all the time with her faces and noises!

She prefers to be bundled up tight! 

Wrigley is doing well, too! Loves his little sis! 

Month "zero"

We are going to try to keep up with monthly shots to watch her grow! She's so funny!

2/5/13...first doctors visit

We took Norah to the doctor's office this morning to get checked out! We all passed our inspections! She weighed in at 7lb10oz (gained one ounce since birth), and measured 20in long (19.5in at birth). The doctor said she looked more yellow to her, but still wasn't overly concerned. Apparently jaundice peaks at days 4-5, and since she looked so good otherwise, said we just have to go back Friday for another look. She didn't even re-draw any blood to check levels. Norah did so well! Hardly made a fuss when we had to strip her naked...everyone was commenting on how cute she was, saying babies this young usually still look like aliens! She also does well on car rides! That's all we know for now...more updates later!

Next couple are before our first walk outside! Check out Norah's attitude already...flipping off Daddy! 

2/2/13--2/3/13...extra hospital day, and homecoming day!

Made it through the first night, no unexpected complications, and were hoping to go home on 2/2! We got word, however, that due to my lengthy labor and my water being broken for so long, that they wanted to keep baby one more night to monitor for signs of infection. It's a good thing we stayed though, because we ran into breastfeeding complications! The nurses had a lot of good tips, and said Norah was doing everything right...but I guess it doesn't happen overnight! She was very upset and clearly starving...and Daniel and I were SOOO sleep deprived (I only had cat naps since we got to the hospital, and Daniel couldn't have had more than a few interrupted hours), that the night shift nurse suggested we try giving her a little formula to fill her belly so she could sleep...and so could we! Worked like a charm! I got three solid hours, and Daniel got four! I also started pumping that night to try to increase my supply. Didn't exactly go according to plan either, but we are still working on it! It's hard for me to have a plan and goal in mind and then have nothing go according to that plan!! I'm working on that, also! We made it to the morning of homecoming day, and Norah had her bilirubin test done to assess for jaundice. It was elevated, not quite high enough to require her to stay, but elevated nonetheless. It wasn't too alarming since she is primarily a breastfed baby, but in order for her body to clear the bilirubin, she has to poop and pee regularly. So now we are supplementing with formula to ensure she poops and pees on a regular basis, which as of today (2/4) she finally is! We have a pediatrician appointment in the morning and those levels will be rechecked then. Fingers crossed that they have gone down! Now that we are finally home, we are just trying to go with the flow! Daniel is absolutely wonderful at everything, especially keeping me grounded! We are a very tired but happy little family! And Wrigley is being so great too! We brought one of Norah's swaddling blankets and hats home from the hospital so he could get used to her scent, and he's been curled up on them ever since! He is very sweet and gentle and quiet around her. He seems concerned when she cries...he sits right by her changing table to monitor us while we change her diaper, then goes straight back to his bed! I think they'll be the best of friends!