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Sunday, November 30, 2008

Date Night

Last night was oh so exciting for me - I got to go out to eat! This didn't used to be so exciting but I haven't had the luxury of doing this since September due to bedrest and the busyness of the last few weeks. Since Alexa isn't allowed outside of the house for 8 weeks she stayed at home with Grandma and Grandpa Dorn and luckily was a perfect angel for them (she saved the screaming and being up for hours on end to the middle of the night when Dad was on duty). So for our date night we went to Valentino's buffet & Target to buy diapers. I know this sounds oh so exciting doesn't it. But hey, I'll take it!!

Trying to give our best smiles with very little sleep and just finishing up giving a last minute bath after quite the potty incident. We did make it out the door though and only a half hour after we planned. Not bad.

These next pictures have really nothing to do with date night but I thought they were cute...

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Turkey Day

Loving the attention

Alexa and Grandpa Tom

Alexa and Uncle John



Callie unsure about the new addition to the family

Ready for a nap

Monday, November 24, 2008

Cuddle Bug

So they say you can't spoil kiddos as young as Alexa so you can respond to their every whimper (which I must admit I probably would've done even if they didn't say this). But I think they are wrong - she is so incredibly spoiled already. I didn't get to hold her as much as I would've liked when she was in the hospital so perhaps I over did it when she got home. But whatever the reason she sure doesn't like to be left alone & she lets you know it too. So...I am writing this one handed as I hold her in the other arm. I thought maybe it was just me that she had outsmarted but she is doing the same thing to Daddy and Grandma Dorn too. So...getting pictures is very difficult because while she is awake she wants to be held - not posing for pictures. But anyway, here are a couple of keepers I captured today of my little cuddle bug.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Look at those curls

So during bath time last night I realized that my daughter was blessed (or cursed) with her Mommy's curly hair. It looks pretty cute right now and hopefully she'll appreciate the curls unlike her mother.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

2 weeks already!

Alexa is 2 weeks old already and I can hardly believe it. The time has gone by so fast (probably due in part to the fact that we hardly get any sleep and the days run together). But like all parents say it is all worth it. I just can't get over how fun it is to watch Alexa's many facial expressions and her little sneezes are to die for. She's quite fiesty and her scream is deafening - I can't help but wonder what we are in for.

Today it is beautiful outside which is very unusual for this time of the year in Nebraska. Alexa isn't supposed to go outside but we did have fun looking out the window at the bright sunny sky. We also had some "tummy time" today which Alexa is now getting used to. They said to try having Alexa lay on my belly while I am lying on the floor. Alexa seemed to enjoy this until it was time for "tummy time" to end and mommy remembered she doesn't have any ab muscles left due to the C-Section. It was quite interesting to get up off the floor in this position while holding a baby. Oh well...lesson learned. The other big part of today was that Alexa's umbilical cord fell off. I have to admit I was rather nervous about this but it was really no big deal in the end.

Smile for the camera!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Our Journey So Far

Well we have a lot to fill in since the last post. I think we'll start with the night our little one decided to be born. Nothing was unusual about that night...I had been having contractions since week 25 and the contractions I was getting were nothing different. I was sitting in bed (I was on bedrest) watching Obama give his acceptance speech while Paul was in the kitchen doing dishes. At 10:55 p.m. my waters broke. Now mind you it took me a minute to process what was happening but there was absolutely no denying this is what happened. I yelled for Paul and when he came into the room he looked like he was in shock. He couldn't find the doctor's number in my phone and we went back and forth asking each other "What do we do now?" We did get the doctor and the hospital called and then we packed the bag. Yes..I know - you'd think that knowing we could deliver early we would've had this done already but for some reason or another we just kept putting it off. I'm sure this was quite the scene and we forgot a lot of things we were planning to bring along. On our way out the door we called my dad and asked him to stop by our house and pick up our dog, Zoey, since it was cold outside and we didn't know how long we'd be gone. My dad did get the dog but he got picked up on his way home for a headlight being out and then when he left for the hospital, Zoey decided to eat a loaf of bread, 7-8 chocolate chip cookies, and some mac and cheese from my parents kitchen (and this wouldn't be the last of the food stealing...).

When we got to the hospital, we let the staff know the baby had been breach at all of the previous appointments. After running a series of tests, confirming she was still breach, and discovering I was 8 cm dilated they decided to do an emergency C-Section. While I was laying on the operating table, Paul leaned over and asked what we were going to name the baby. Now of course we had talked about this but we hadn't decided 100% on a first name at this point. We had picked the middle name since this is a family name for both of our families. We decided to name her Alexa May Ladd and she was born at 1:21am on November 5 at 6 lbs 5.3 oz and 18 3/4 inches long. She had some troubles breathing at first and considering she was early at 34 1/2 weeks they took her to the NICU right away without me having a chance to see her first which was very difficult for me. Alexa was monitored for a lot her first few days of life. In addition to her oxygen, they were concerned about infection since my membranes had ruptured so she had to be on antibiotics through an IV in her head. She wasn't able to eat enough to maintain her temperature or maintain her weight and she did become jaundice as well. They wouldn't let us take her home until her temps went up, she ate enough, and she started to gain weight. She was a little trooper and on Thursday the 13th we got to bring her home.

The whole process was quite a whirlwind and I'm grateful everything turned out so well. It's good Alexa didn't wait one more day to be born because Paul was scheduled to go out of state on November 6. Both of our mothers were out of state as well when she was born but got to see her within a couple of days. Since my labor was so quick it went very well and my recovery was fairly easy also. Paul has been absolutely wonderful and I couldn't ask for a better husband. I feel so incredibly blessed by this whole experience and even though nothing really went as planned we have the most perfect baby in the world and the love we have for her is unexplainable. Here are some pictures from our journey so far...
Alexa and Daddy

Alexa & Mommy

Dad giving a bath in hospital

View from our NICU window. We were given the best room available the 2nd day Alexa was in the NICU. It was a corner room with a great view. We think it's because Alexa is such a loud screamer and this way the whole wing didn't have to hear her. The nurse's of course said this wasn't the case...(but they didn't have a different reason).
View of the duck pond from our window

Dad helping with a feeding

Alexa with Grandma Cheryl

Alexa with Aunt Taryne


Alexa with Grandma Celia


Alexa in her cute pink hat

Alexa sleeping

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The Big Day!!!!!

This is a post in progress but I thought I would get some of the pictures up

Dad getting ready for the big event


Only a few minutes old and Dad's already wrapped around my fingers


First meeting face to face with mom


Sleeping is my favorite thing to do