The First Smile!

On Thursday, August 6th we got our first smile from Laina. It was right after she had eaten and then I'd changed her diaper. We knew she was getting close but this was the first real open mouth joyous smile and it nearly brought me to tears! I quickly got my camera and tried to recreate the moment but I only caught a partial... still, you can tell she's close. If there was ever any doubt that we are wrapped around her little finger, it is sealed now. She hasn't give us a smile since but instead has enjoyed watching us do everything under the sun to entertain her and get another one. It must be nice being a baby and watch adults act like idiots.

Below is the partial smile picture. I'll post the full meal deal once I get it on camera. She's so cute. :)

Lake Baby!

I'm excited to report that Laina LOVES the lake. She relaxed and slept almost the entire day on Saturday. She loved the breeze on her face and fell asleep almost instantly when I sat in the porch swing. I never knew a baby could sleep so much and still sleep through most of the night...

Cousin Tristan LOVED her sunglasses.

Julie holding Laina while she sleeps the day away on the dock.

Cry Baby Cry!

Last week I took Laina to Dr. Jeff (her pediatrician) because I thought she might be having some belly problems. She seemed to cry quite a bit after she ate and if she's anything like her parents, she'd be happy after eating! Dr. Jeff said she has acid reflux and put her on the newborn strength prescription of Zantac. He said we should see a big difference after a week. Well, it's been a week and what a different baby... well, almost. At least now the crying isn't due to belly pain.

I've discovered that I have a cry baby on my hands. She just LOVES to be held and cuddled... which isn't very conducive to working since I've gone back part time. SOOOOO, that means she's had to get used to spending some time on her own. It's a little painful, especially since I really don't like to hear her cry but I know in the end it'll make for a more independent Laina. So, cry baby cry... :)

I'm happy to report that after just a few days of this she cries a LOT less.

Laina's Newborn Pics

At about 3 weeks, we had my cousin Katie come over and take Laina's newborn pics. Laina wasn't overly cooperative but we got plenty of good pics anyway. Katie's photography business is really thriving and I can see why. She does a great job! Visit her blog here.

I feel like Laina has really grown since even these pics were taken but I guess that's the reality with a newborn. They can't stay little forever!

Here's the link to the photos. Enjoy!

Laina's first few weeks home

Elaine (my grandmother's middle name)

Elizabeth (my mother's middle name)

I'm trying to catch up on my blogging so forgive me if this post is a little all over the place.

(2 days old)

Laina is now officially 3 weeks old. She has changed so much since those first moments when she was born. She's gained over a pound and continues to gain about an ounce per day. She seems to be going through a growth spurt lately and wants to eat constantly. We've both figured out what we're doing in that department so feeding her isn't as difficult as it was the first two weeks. (1 week old)

Everyone asks about the amount of sleep we're getting, and the answer is that we're getting more than I expected to get! She'll usually give us about a 4-5 hour chunk of time during the night but other than that she likes to eat every 3 hours on the dot. I'm definitely enjoying the time off from work to be with her and just trying to soak up every moment since I know it'll be over soon and back to work I'll go. Hence, why I've been unconnected from the world wide web for the past few weeks... it just seems more important to hang out with Laina. I'm edging my way back into the real world though.

This past weekend we had my cousin over to take some pics of Laina and our family. I'm really looking forward to seeing them since the last ones came out so great. Here's a pic of us after our photo shoot was over. We were all ready for a nap afterwards.

(3 weeks old)

I'll try to be better at updating the blog reguarly with the news about what's going on. Hope your summer is going well wherever you are! I know ours certainly is different than last year's!

Elaine Elizabeth's Arrival

Well she made her appearance right on time. On June 21st, 2009, Elaine Elizabeth Shepard joined our family at 9:22pm.

The Story:

After feeling like I was going to be pregnant forever, I finally gave in and resolved that this baby was going to come when she wanted to. Saturday night the 20th, we hung out with our neighbors. We came home about midnight and I fully expected that I would wake up the following morning with absolutely no indicators that Laina was coming anytime soon. At about 1:45am, I woke up with the urge to use the bathroom. I almost made it to the toilet when I felt a huge rush of liquid fill my pants... I mean it was not a cup of liquid like they said... this was a pitcher of water that someone dumped in my pants! Shocked, I quickly reached and closed the bathroom door, accidentally slamming it. Dan woke up and said "you ok?" and I said "yeah, I think my water just broke" to which he responded, "oh, ok.". He brought me my phone and I called the doctor. She said "go on into the hospital, I'll call them and let them know you're coming." So we gathered up our bags, etc and headed to the hospital. We both said goodbye to Monroe (our cat) and our life as we knew it. It was a weird feeling knowing we were going to come home with a baby.

Once we got to the hospital and got settled in the room that would become our world for the next 3 days (I literally didn't leave that room once until left), we were told that I had an hour to start contracting on my own until they would give me Pitocin. The fluid tested positive for meconium which is the baby's first bowel movement. That means Laina had her first poop inside! Since this could indicate that she could be in distress, they put us both on monitors. I had really hoped to do the whole delivery without any drugs but the risk to the baby and to me of infection was great if I didn't deliver her within 24 hours. Even after 12 hours of labor there would be a mild risk. So, when I didn't start contracting within the hour, they hung the bag of Pitocin and at that moment my birth plan got thrown out the window... but I wasn't too worried about it.

The contractions came with gusto and I made the decision with Dan to get an epidural. Needless to say, it made things much better! The day went by pretty quickly in my eyes as I had my mom and my sister around to distract me. Dan was pretty busy delivering the news to everyone and making sure I had everything I needed that he didn't provide as much comic relief as he usually does. I can't blame him, he was getting ready to be a daddy and very excited about it.

At about 7:00pm the nurse said I could start pushing, so we said good-bye to mom & Julie and they started getting the room prepped for our delivery. At about 8:00pm I actually started pushing. Man, that was rough work. Even though I had an epidural, there was quite a bit of work involved and I was relieved when after about an hour the delivery team started to come into the room. The "team" was comprised of several nurses, some of which were from the nursery to attend to Laina when she came out and make sure she didn't aspirate any of the meconium. If she did, she'd be at risk for pneumonia and would need to stay for observation longer than expected. Pretty soon I heard "the head is out!" and then soon after that, she was here. They took her over to the warmer that was right by my bed. I could see her the entire time as they did some suction and announced that she didn't aspirate any of the meconium. Then once they weighed & measured her they placed her on my chest skin to skin. We just marveled at her and soaked in the first few moments with her. Every moment since then has been so great.

Jazzoo 2009

I had to practically fight for the right to go to Jazzoo this year. Dan felt that being super pregnant, I wouldn't feel like it... but sitting at home is even worse these days. :) So I found a dress that fit (not an easy task lately) and we headed out to the Kansas City Zoo for their annual charity benefit. I had a great time enjoying all the food and people watching. It caused me to reflect on last year at Jazzoo, which was one of the first events I attended for Dan's work. We were so excited to be back in Kansas City and looking forward to all the changes that were coming. Now, in the midst of all those dreams coming true, I am very thankful for all of the things we have in our lives, including each other.

Back to Life... Back to Reality...

After a very long and relaxing Memorial Day Weekend, it's back to reality. We were able to enjoy the weekend quietly since most of our family was off to South Dakota to see my little brother Bret graduate from college. I was kept informed by text messages from my Dad and told when they did indeed call his name. Congrats Bert! Other than just doing some final preparations for Baby Shep, we kept it low key and enjoyed spending time with each other.

The picture above is of the Floral Hills Cemetery on Memorial Day. This is where most of my family is buried. My grandfather was in the Navy during WWII and is honored by one of these flags (we couldn't find it but I've seen it before...). It's a pretty impressive site to drive through the cemetery and see all the flags representing those who served our country who are buried in there. It always causes me to reflect on the enormity of it all.

So as I stated in the title of this post, it is back to reality. The reality is that I have less than 3 1/2 weeks left until Baby is scheduled to arrive. Pretty exciting stuff that would have me jumping for joy if said baby was not causing such discomfort these days. I won't complain too much except to say that she only likes one side of my belly and chooses to curl up tightly against my abdomen. This means my belly is completely lopsided and there's tons of pressure. We have little discussions daily about this but she doesn't listen. I'm sure it's a preview of days to come when she will be defiant in person. :)

We'll keep you updated as things progress. Hope your Memorial Day Weekend was as relaxing and enjoyable as ours!

Graduation Season

Well the temperature is starting to stabilize in the warm degrees and that means it is Graduation Season. My two youngest brothers are matriculating this year from their respective colleges. Unfortunately I won't be able to go to Bret's graduation up in Sioux Falls, SD because the drive is just way too far. I was, however, able to make it to Josh's graduation in Warrensburg because the drive was only 45 mins. At this point, Dan and I are just not willing to take the risk that I'll go into labor more than a few hours away from the hospital, even though I still have 6 weeks left. We have a busy schedule over the next month so I'm sure it will go quickly.

Here's a group picture from Josh's Graduation this past weekend.

Hope you're enjoying all that life is giving you this spring. I can't be thankful enough for all the happy things that are happening in our lives.

Let the Sun Shine!

Spring is officially here and everything is "blooming", including me. Just when I think my belly has reached its maximum stretching capacity, I see another picture of myself or glance in the mirror at this huge medicine ball I'm now carrying around. Little baby girl is a real mover and a shaker in there and has a pretty regular routine. She is most active after breakfast in the morning and I sometimes enjoy just sitting & watching my belly move as she plays around in there. As the big day gets closer I have mixed emotions because I really can't wait to meet her but I will also greatly miss having her in my belly. She's so safe and protected and close to me right now. I think those maternal feelings are starting to kick in... :)

Last weekend my sister and friend threw me a baby shower. It was really wonderful to see all my close friends and family all together in one place. I got so much stuff for baby Shep that my anxiety about her coming too soon is starting to settle down. We now have most of the essentials, should she decide to join us early. It felt like Christmas as Dan and I opened all her stuff and started to put it away. Dutifully, Dan help me put together some of the things that required assembly. Luckily there wasn't too much of that because he grumbled about kids being raised without any of these modern conveniences for years the entire time. Do some of you still wonder why we didn't register for more toys? :)

The girls from High School at the shower!

Alicia & Jill from New York flew in for the occasion and spent the weekend with us at our new house. I almost cried when I had to put them back on the plane because it was so good to have them here.

All in all the spring is treating us very well. I have a little more than 6 weeks left which seems like a lifetime but I'm sure will fly by. I can't believe it's already been a year since we moved back from New York. Many things have changed in one year but much has remained the same. We still miss the big city life but look forward to all the new things this new life has in store for us. Enjoy the spring flowers while they last, summer will be here before you know it! (baby shep along with it.)