Just the Two of Us

Although it was a bit nerve wracking, the first day by myself with Audrey went very well. She slept much better at night (a 4-hr and 3-hr period!) which made getting up at a normal time much easier. I even managed to shower, run an errand and do a couple loads of laundry. The rest of the week wasn't quite as smooth or productive. However, with another Spring storm bringing another foot of snow it was easy to just sit inside and cuddle. Our days consisted of watching Band of Brothers, followed by Ellen to cheer us up. When the sun came back out yesterday, we were able to get on a walk with Sark and even avoided a meltdown.

Week Two

2 Weeks Old

Week two of Audrey's life brought a little more activity and excitement.  Grandma was in town and loved holding and staring at Audrey and listening to the constant groans and grunts she makes whether awake or sleeping. This allowed us to get some sleep in the late evening and early morning as she is still waking up every 2 hours to eat. We have officially moved her out of our room and to her crib across the hall, which has helped everyone sleep a little better at night.

We ventured out to Macy's to get some pink and purple since most of the 'gender neutral' clothes really make her look like a boy.

She found her thumb and it's adorable.

With the loss of her umbilical cord we were able to give her a first bath - she was not a big fan.

The weather has turned from winter to summer...Tuesday we had a foot of snow on the ground and the weekend was a beautiful 85 degrees! We will be spending a lot more time under the umbrella out in the backyard - the warm heat puts Audrey right to sleep. Apparently noone makes newborn sun hats...so for now we'll sport it like Fresh Prince of BelAir. 

And a few more pictures of the week. A lot of sleeping, a little tummy time, cuddles with mom and Moby Wrap Trial with dad...

A Birth Story

Audrey

The birth of a child is an amazing thing. The night after the birth and the first few days of recovery, I was in a little state of shock as to how intense childbirth can be. But now a couple weeks later, looking back it is clear that Audrey's birth went as good as we could have hoped. Josh and both nurses we had through the day and night were extremely crucial in helping me get through the pain and delivery and I feel very lucky I had that support. Below is a cliffs notes version of the days' timeline.
5am - I had just gotten back in bed after one of my four bathroom breaks of the night. I was having trouble falling back to sleep when all of a sudden I felt my water break. I jumped out of bed and told Josh either I peed my pants or this baby was on its way.
5:15am - We called the doctor who confirmed my membranes were likely ruptured based on the evidence. Because I had tested positive for Group B Strep she wanted us in the hospital in the next hour or so to start antibiotics even though I was not feeling any contractions.
6:15am - After showers and a scrambled egg breakfast, we packed the car, said bye to Sark and headed to the hospital. (Josh mentions this isn't quite at the urgent pace he was expecting)

Bye Sark!

  7:30am - Medication was started thru an IV. This was my first experience with an IV and it wasn't particularly pleasant. We had a failure of entry on one arm and the second arm was difficult as well. The nurse joked that some women think this is the hardest part of labor. I told her I think I could live with that.
8am - They monitored baby and contractions. The nurse said I was having some slight contractions even though I couldn't feel much. Once I saw them on the monitor, I realized I felt light crampiness during the peaks, but nothing that would have stopped me from going to work had said water not broken.
8:30am - My doctor came to check in and requested I do some walking to try to bring on stronger contractions and she would check back in at noon...if needed we would talk about inducing with some Petocin (not ideal). We started up and down the stairs and laps around the first floor of the hospital. By the time we went back for a quick monitor of the baby I could definitely feel contractions getting stronger but more of an annoyance than pain.

Before we were 3

Last Belly Photo

11:30am - Jump a few hours of walking for a half hour and monitoring the baby for 10 minute intervals and I was definitely feeling the contractions about every 8 minutes. (Again Josh mentions this is not how he expected this to go...it was pretty uneventful. I would tell him when I felt a contraction so he could time them, but they weren't too painful and when it was over it was like it never happened)

12:30pm - The doctor is happy with my progression and advises us to continue to walk and rest to keep things moving forward. I try to lie down for a bit since the initial adrenaline rush was over but the contractions were just a little too uncomfortable for much rest. (Josh enjoyed the Masters)
4:30pm - Contractions are coming more frequently and stronger and I labored in the bath for an hour or so.  My doctor decides its probably time to check my dilation. To everyone's surprise, I am already at 6 or 7cm, the baby is low and I am progressing quickly. The doctor requested to break a sack of fluid that was in front of the babies head to get it out of the way. She said she'd check back in a few hours.
5pm - And now I'm in indescribable pain and contractions are coming every couple of minutes. I labor in the tub again until I start feeling nauseous and need to get out of the heated water. (Now...this is closer to what Josh was expecting!)
7:15pm - I get out of the water which causes the pain to increase even more. Luckily I feel the urge to push. I push through a couple contractions with the nurse and Josh on each side of me and the nurse coaching me through. The nurse calls the doctor to let her know it's time. I am afraid the doctor is not going to make it in time to catch the baby.
7:40pm - The doctor arrives and realizes it really is time. She quickly dresses and brings in her cart of equipment. I continue to push through contractions and it isn't long until the head starts to appear. The nurse continues to be my personal trainer...ensuring I was pushing longer and harder than I thought possible. And it paid off...
8:04pm - Audrey Ann was born and placed directly on my chest. Josh couldn't exactly see the parts needed to identify the sex, so the nurse turned her towards him and this is how it went:
Josh: 'It's a girl!'
Tracie:  'Really, it's a girl? Are you sure?'
Josh: 'Yes, I'm sure'
Doctor: 'I can vouch for him, it's definitely a girl'

The aftermath of the birth was something I'll spare details on. The important part of the process was complete - we had our little girl - she was healthy with a good set of lungs on her and our hearts were full of love we didn't know we had.

Welcome Audrey ~ 7 lbs 8 oz ~ 19.5 inches 

Some more pictures from the hospital, trip home and her first few days...

Proud Dad

Ready to go home!

Welcome from the Boulder Crew

Sark's Buddy

1 Week Young

1 Week Old

A little bit about Audrey 

She loves to eat and is so good at it... she's now back up to her birth weight

She hates cold wipes on the bum...that's when she cries the most

She poops a lot and so loudly that it often makes Sark jump...it makes her smile

Tummy time started today which went ok for a few minutes...maybe it'll grow on her

The newborn rash has finally cleared up...it was pretty unattractive
We went on our first walk...the fresh air put us all right to sleep

 Overall...she's perfect!

And so it begins...

Days 2-5

Life so far hasn't been too bad for this girl. She did enjoy her first experience in the car seat, two hands up, but wasn't so thrilled the next time when she had to be bundled up because of all the snow. Luckily she has Sark to protect her so she sleeps pretty easy at night and pretty much all day.

Welcome Audrey!

A small collection of photos from the first hours

Ready When You Are...Little One

We are full term and beyond! I have heard people say there are the first 8 months of pregnancy and then the last month - which feels as long as the first 8. Maybe it's continuing to be busy at work, the house projects (the floors are finally (pretty much) complete!) and having to keep up with an active puppy, but time continues to fly and I cannot believe that at any time we will be on our way to welcoming our little one into the world. The bags are packed (well mine and baby's are - apparently Josh will either pack last minute or be in the same clothes for 2 days...I may just have thrown a couple things in for him so I wasn't stressed about it...). Sark is packed for a few days at camp. Car seat is in the car and has officially been checked out by the nice fireman at Boulder Rural Fire station. And I am constantly keeping up with laundry and dishes to ensure nothing is left in the case we do have to head out in the night (like leaving for a trip, I am obsessed with coming home to a clean house). We are ready!
A couple more pictures as Alf continues to grow in the belly - I think you can tell the swelling has started to kick in. I am down to fitting in two pairs of shoes or flip flops, which worked well with the 60 degree weather we were having but is proving more difficult with the spring snow that was just dumped upon us.

37 Weeks - We are Full Term!

39 Weeks - Ready anytime