One Month Old!!

Audrey has been doing quite a bit of celebrating lately! We couldn't decide whether to have a party for her 4 week birthday or one month, so we compromised and did both. Much cake was had by all! Aunt Emily is in town for the week and we've been having a ton of fun. Mostly, staring at Audrey, eating ice cream whenever possible and creating ridiculous pies. She's leaving tonight and Audrey and I are both going to miss her. You would never know my sister and I spent 17 years of our lives hating each other with a passion. Turns out we just needed to live in separate houses!

Life is starting to get into more of a routine. Audrey sleeps for 3 or 4 hours at a time (most nights) and she really only cries when she wants something. She can hold her head up like nobody's business and has already tried to give most members of the family concussions while she's been practicing this feat. She can also recognize her dad's voice and will look for him when he's in the room (guess all that talking to the belly paid off!) She's getting better at following things with her eyes too, which is a welcome change from staring into space or at bright lights.

Have I mentioned that she is turning into a CHUNKY MONKEY? This kid has wrinkles and dimples in places I've never heard of. She's already grown out of the newborn and most of her 0-3 month outfits. I'm guessing she'll be in 12 month clothes next month. She's growing like a weed! For now, we're sticking to several wardrobe changes a day so we can get through the rotation of onesies she's got stockpiled.

Our first major outing with Audrey was to the county fair with Auntie Em last weekend. We went to see the bunnies and eat funnel cake; both were awesome and Audrey has already added a pet bunny to her Christmas wish list.

Getting out of the house has actually proved to be pretty easy. I wear my Moby wrap everywhere we go and Audrey tends to zonk out after a few minutes in it. It's also incredibly effective when trying to avoid baby grabbers in public--luckily, I'm tall enough that most people have to stand on their tip toes to see her face in it. (Tall people: 347, Shorties: 0) and it puts their hands withing easy slapping distance...when I say slapping, I'm talking Audrey here--she's vicious! We've nicknamed her The Green Dragon for the crazy squawking noises she makes and the fact that she often looks like she wants to destroy anyone inferior to her...namely: everyone (especially peasants) Her dad has also introduced her to the wonders of flying...so she's really the whole package.

Well, I'm off to feed the dragon. (milk, not peasants) I've been working on getting pictures developed to send out with thank you notes, so if you've sent Audrey a package and haven't heard from us, that's why...God knows when they'll actually be in the mail! But, I'll try to keep the needs of the Audrey addicts in mind and get them out as soon as I can. Until Then!

Even more Pictures!!!

I know it doesn't seem possible, but I've added even more pictures to my Picasa site. There's a new album so you don't have to look through hundreds of them to get to the new stuff...yet.

http://picasaweb.google.com/GGamelin/MoreAudrey

(Sorry I don't know how to make links clicky...maybe my awesome brother will enlighten me...*wink, wink*)

Eeek..a girly girl!

So, today was Audrey's first trip to Badger Mountain and to commemorate the trip, we (meaning me and Grandma G.) got her all dolled up for the occasion. She was officially a girly girl: complete with frills on her fluffy butt and a flowery bonnet. Her father was less than pleased, seeing the time he will be scaring boys away with a shot gun inching closer and closer. Luckily, there were no eligible bachelors at the park. I have to say that even though I am firmly against all things frilly...she's so stinkin' cute I couldn't help but laugh and let her leave the house in that outfit.

After our trip to the park, we also hit up a local gardening store, went out to lunch, picked up some treats at the bakery and swung by the Fiero show in town this weekend. Audrey slept through most of it, but she's still exhausted. Life is rough.

The reason we've been out on the town so much is that Grandma & Grandpa G. and Uncle Joe are all in town visiting until next Wednesday. We're also looking forward to a visit from Auntie Em in a little over a week. She has already firmly established "Operation Extreme Baby Spoilage". It involves a campaign of cute onesies, handmade blankets and promises to play with the seals when we visit her on the east coast. Anyone interested in oneupmanship has their work cut out for them.

As far as Audrey's parents go (It's no longer allowed for us to be identified by our given names), we are dealing surprisingly well. We're getting into somewhat of a routine for the nights and I'm learning that the phrase: "she couldn't possibly need *blank*" is completely irrelevant in baby world. She will eat, sleep and poo as much and as often as she sees fit--there are no rules.

I've uploaded even more pictures to the existing Picasa site and Grandma G. has also created a web album that you can access at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lizgamelin/AudreyAnn

I'll post a new link when I create a new album...which should be soon since the existing one is getting pretty huge. Lots of love to everyone and smooches from Audrey!

We're alive!

Do I look sleep deprived or what?! Life is awesome...and exhausting. I thought I would post a quick update while I have two free hands (thanks to my awesome Moby Wrap). Audrey is 10 days old today and has already accomplished so much! Her resume is starting to look really good. Among these many achievements, just a few are: overcoming jaundice with daily sunbathing (like mother, like daughter), slapping her Aunt Kathryn repeatedly (she deserved it), managing to produce poo that resembles French's Mustard (goo!), and eating at EVERY possible moment. (We're legally changing her name to "Tank")

John and I are incredibly in love with Audrey and, true to form, I have already blocked out any negative memories of childbirth and declared it to be: "not so bad". For anyone who's interested, I am working on my birth story, but it might take a while to get finished. I'll post it when it's done. Long story short: I woke up to contractions at 4:30am on the 25th, chilled out in bed until John woke up and then declared it to be "Spumoni time" (Anyone who doesn't know, that was our code word for "it's go time" ) I labored at home until about 1:30 when we decided to head to the hospital. The Birthing Center was completely full and while we were waiting for them to get a room clean for us, I went from 5 to 7 cm dilated. After we got settled into our room, Audrey's heart rate started dropping dramatically and they were having trouble finding her heartbeat. That meant I got strapped to oxygen and the doctor declared it was time to get her out of there...to which I replied: "You can just do that?!?!" I don't know why no one told me sooner. Half an hour later, Audrey made her appearance and life has been a blur since then.

Make sure you check the Picasa Album we posted in the last Blog post. We try to update it as often as possible so Grandma Gamelin can get her daily Audrey fix. She has started an Audrey Ann Addicts Anonymous (AAAA) group for anyone interested. Their motto is: "Admitting you have a problem is not the first step if you don't have a problem."

Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy! John and I feel so blessed to have so many caring friends and family keeping us in their thoughts.

Audrey Ann is here!

Sorry it took so long for us to get these uploaded! If you can imagine, we are beyond exhausted...and ecstatic...and running around like chickens with our heads cut off. For all of you who have contacted us and we haven't gotten back yet: We are so thankful that you are thinking of us and we feel truly blessed to have such a sweet little girl in our lives. I'll post more info about how perfect our daughter is when my brain can actually function. Until then, enjoy the pictures!

Audrey Ann Schweighardt
July 25th, 2008 5:10pm
7lbs. 13 oz 21.5 in.





http://picasaweb.google.com/GGamelin/AudreyAnnSchweighardt

I'm Still Here!

Well, I've made it to 40 weeks and 3 days! I got to see The Dark Knight (thank you, baby!) and now John and Schmemle are patiently awaiting the babe's arrival. (read: staring at me like a ticking bomb) I'm also finding the stigma of "cranky pregnant woman" to be quite useful, as John seems to receive the majority of phone calls to find out if I've popped yet. This definitely cuts down on interruptions for me while performing so many of my important daily tasks..like napping. Honestly, it's nice to know so many people are thinking about us and hoping the baby comes soon. This kid is going to be loved!

The real reason I'm updating is that I actually have news to update with: I had a doctor's appointment today and I'm making some progress. (p.s. If you're timid of words like "dilation" and "effacement", I'd save some time and skip to the next paragraph.) I went in last Thursday for my 40 week appointment at 1 cm dilated and feeling some intermittent contractions. My doctor wanted to see how I progressed over the weekend and today I was 2 cm dilated and 60% effaced. They also had me do a non stress test and it looks like I'm contracting pretty regularly, it's just not painful...yet. Although, I did find out that I have a bruise on my uterus from baby keeping it's feet lodged under my ribs for so long. This basically translates to just feeling pain in my left ribs when I'm having these "painless" contractions (joy!) and I've been assured that the only way it's going to go away is to get that baby out. No pressure!

Anyway, from all that and the fact that I'm still able to sleep at night, my doctor and I decided to do one last biophysical ultrasound tomorrow to make sure baby's doing alright in there and we tentatively scheduled my next appointment for Monday the 28th to talk induction. Needless to say, I'm not going to be my chipper self if I actually show up at that appointment. John's mom is going to be even less pleased since she took two weeks of vacation around the baby's due date and my next appointment is the day she returns to work. This kid has apparently not yet been schooled in the art of sucking up to grandma. No candy and fruit roll-ups for you, baby!

So, there you go: I have no idea when this kid is going to make an appearance and I'm not going crazy--at least more than usual--yet. I attribute the fact that I'm taking this all in stride to excessive napping and a husband who really does jump at my smallest request, lest the lack of ice cream in my system should result in the baby's further delayed presence.

Rest assured that we'll keep you all updated on when the babe is coming (Code word: Spumoni!) and this is one of the first places we'll update with photos. Hopefully my next update will be something along the lines of "hey, we've got this baby...now what do we do?" instead of a desperate plea from John to save him from his crazy hormonal wife. Until then!

So, it's T minus one week to my actual due date...also known as the release date for the new Batman movie: Dark Knight. Perhaps this has been my motivation all along for remaining chipper about the prospect of going past my due date: one last uninterrupted movie date with John! It might sound silly, but at this point I'm using any excuse possible for motivation. Other motivating factors for keeping the bun in the oven longer include: sleep, being able to eat when I feel hungry, running errands in a timely fashion, not being concerned about anyone else's bowel movements...and more sleep.

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and *surprise* I'm STILL BORING. My doctor keeps looking at me like a proud mother hen because everything has been going so well...and the nurse in the office who is pregnant and due two weeks after me still consistently gives me stink eye for not being more miserable. Mostly, my appointments are to check up on baby to make sure everything is going well. My doctor isn't too obsessed about "making progress" and doing internal exams every week; the game plan is to keep baby healthy and not worry about when I'm going to pop until I'm a week overdue. Honesty, in the induction-crazy society we live in, this is a great comfort to me.

Another great comfort I discovered yesterday came in the form of a magical place at the hospital called the "nourishment room". John and I went in to the birthing center at KGH to do our pre-admission paperwork and get a tour of the facility yesterday. After finishing the inquisition about my medical history, ("Ever been exposed to Hepatitis? Scurvy? Bubonic Plaque?") we get to the first stop on the tour. This is where I actually want to be allowed to labor, but I'm pretty sure it violates several health codes. The Nourishment Room is a magical land of snacks that the Labor and Delivery Nurses have access to for you 24 hours a day (This does not even include being able to order from the cafeteria from 7am to 7pm)...and when I say snack room, I'm not talking just Jello here either. I'm guessing the coffee and sandwiches are for battered, sleep-deprived husbands, but it's nice to know the option is still out there. Anyone who has known me for more than 10 minutes is well aware of my Hobbit-like eating habits and that no one...not even Nurse Ratchet...is going to stop me from snacking during labor if I want to. The fact that this place has an entire room devoted to snacks when the rest of the country is still in "ice-chips-only mode" speaks volumes. I didn't even need to see a delivery suite; my apprehension about laboring in the hospital went right out the window.

So, now I can return to my regularly scheduled lounging, free from the worry of how to smuggle snacks into the hospital. John & I think we've got a pretty good phone tree set up to keep everyone posted and we will post pictures of the babe as soon as it arrives. If you call and I don't answer the phone--Don't worry!--I'm most likely napping, floating in the pool or in a food coma. What can I say? It's a hard life.