Emmeline - Week 6

The highlight of Emmeline's week was a trip to the beach. We spent a week at The Beach Club in Fort Morgan. It was a great trip. She spent a lot of time bonding with her Uncle Seth . . .

and her Grandmother.

We also celebrated my birthday while we were down there. While I was feeding Emmeline, everyone else decorated the condo and totally surprised me when I came out of our bedroom. Emmeline was slightly unsure about the whole thing.

She was the subject of multiple photo shoots, one of which is shown above.
All in all, we had a great time. Emmeline was well behaved and really enjoyed spending time with extended family.

David snapped this picture of her the other day and it is his new favorite. I like it too, so I thought I should included it.

This may be the last weekly update - I think I'll switch to monthly. Her milestones should be spreading out soon. So far, she:

• holds her head up really well
• recognizes faces (especially David, me and other folks she sees all the time)
• shows a preference for positions, people and toys (she loves her pink bear)
• smiles when we approach her to pick her up
• enjoys tummy time, especially on her daddy's chest
• smiles and approximates a laugh, but not that baby giggling yet (I.can't.wait.)
• "talks" to us using coos, sighs, gurgles and squeals, but conversational inflections, which is really crazy
  

I think she is doing really well. Below are her stats:
10 lbs. 7 oz. (up 2 lbs. from birth, and 2 lbs. 3 oz. from her lowest weight)
23.5 inches (up 2.5 inches from birth, but she is hard to measure, so this one is approximate)

Next post - not baby related - I promise!!!

Emmeline - Week 5

Emmeline's fifth week was a busy one. She took her first big trip. We went to the beach but I haven't downloaded all of the pictures yet, so those will have to wait until the next post. For now, here are a few pics of her other activities.

Napping in the pack and play and dreaming about puppies and fairies.

Chilling in the back yard, working on holding my head up.

Posing (a la Glamour Shots) for my one-month portraits.

Emmeline - Week 4

So I weighed Emmeline again on her 3 wek birthday and she had only gained 2 oz., no where near the .5-1 oz. per day recommended. Connie, my neighbor who is a lactation consultant, worked with me on some techniques to get Emmeline to eat more efficiently. She also left her scales for me to use. This was fantastic! I really got to see how well she was eating. She weighed 9 lb. 3 oz. on Sunday, up 6 oz. in five days. Connie and our pediatrician are no longer concerned. YAHOO!! She has also grown about 1.5 inches, so now she is 22.5 inches tall.Other events for the week include her first real bath. She wasn't quite sure if she liked it or not.
We went to church for the second time one Sunday. She did very well!
We went over to my grandmother's house for a birthday celebration for David and me. My grandmother LOVES Emmeline!
Emmeline is also becoming more aware of her surroundings, including her feet, as shown above. She also smiles when she sees us now. It is the cutest, toothless grin I have ever seen in my life!

Emmeline - Week 3

To celebrate David's birthday on July 23, his parent's bought Emmeline a tree, a brandywine maple, which they planted in our side yard. In the fall it should turn the most lovely deep purple color. I can't wait!
We also spent some time just chilling. It was great. We like taking her out on the back patio after the sun sets below the trees. As you can see in the above picture, Emmeline has some silly hair. And it gets sillier every day. She hasn't lost any yet (knock on wood) and it just keeps sticking up and out. I hope she keeps it.
We also had a setback with her weight gain during this week. She hadn't gained any weight at her two week appointment. The pediatrician didn't seem too worried, but suggested that I bring he back for a weight check at four weeks. I let her know that my neighbor is a lactation consultant who offered to work with me and borrow her scales if I needed to. The pediatrician said just to keep her updated on Emmeline's weight. I'll give you more info on that in the next post.

Emmeline - Week 2

The highlight of Emmeline's second week was a trip to Camp Winnataska for the dedication of the new ropes course.
The climbing tower was dedicated to Roger Soloman for his dedication to camp, especially during the interim between our joint venture with the Boy Scouts and our current independent configuration.

She had a doctor's appointment on her one week birthday. Her stats were 8 lb. 11 oz, up 7 oz. from her hospital release 3 days prior. Other fun events for the week were visits to Samford and the Hoover Public Library. We visited my aunt and uncle, and had many visitors to the house including my mom and grandmother, my dad and his wife, Madelyn, Colin and Annalisa, and a few more. She also went to David's sister, Sharon's birthday lunch and David's cousin, Tandy's birthday party. Thank goodness for the ring sling carrier! She was snug as a bug in a rug at all of her visits.

Emmeline - Week 1

Friends. I have neglected my blog. I have a good reason, and she is really pretty. Emmeline Violet was born on July 7 and we have spent the last four weeks hanging out and getting to know her. I'll (try to) post weekly for a while with her updates, but I'll spend the next four posts catching up.
I'll spare you the entire birth story, but I'll let you know that I was induced. They started pitocin at 7 am and Emmeline was born on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 2:18 pm. She weighed 8 lb. 7 oz., was 21 inches long and had a 14.5 inch head. Right after birth, she had trouble keeping her oxygen levels up. They took her for observation, but she ended up spending four days in the NICU for a pneumothorax and fluid in her lungs.
It was really sad, but for the best. She was in great hands and we got to spend a lot of time with her during visiting hours.I finally got to hold her for more than a second which was GREAT! She was still hooked up to monitors and still had the IV in her head, but I think it made us both feel better.
We brought her home on Saturday, July 11.
For those of you who were worried about the dogs, there was no need. Winni, as you can see, LOVES her. Ginny thinks she is her baby and comes in if Emmeline makes a peep in the other room to see why we aren't running to the rescue. Chica and Calvin love her too.
We really love her and can't wait to get to know her more. I'll post again soon.