My Doctor Trip

There are no pictures for this post because mama did not think that taking a picture at the doctor was really worth it. But we have updates on my height and weight and head size. My height (19 and 3/4 inches) and weight (6lbs and 13 oz) are in the 25-50% but my head is in the 75%. Mom does not remember my exact head size but she is pretty proud of me with my growth. Soon i will be able to ride in the sunggley just 9 oz more to gain. mama thinks that by the end of next week we should be able to try it!

Daddy Does Diapers

I have never doubted that Timothy would be a good father. What I did not expect was how willing he would be to do everything that needs to be done for her including changing her diapers. He is a pro! This morning when i finished her 4:30am feeding and Meredith would not go back to sleep it was daddy that got up changed her diaper and then got ready to go to work. I enjoy when timothy comes home from work to spend his time with Meredith. He does baby exercises with her. Moving her arms and legs and just in general loving on her. We like for her to try to stay awake in the evenings so that she will sleep at night. so far so good. I am getting sleep at 31/2-4 hours at a time. it sure helps my sanity. I do not nap much during the day so it is good to be getting sleep at night!

Catch up

Mama is not doing a good job of keeping up with our blog like i had hoped. She is making these excuses about me wanting to be held or that i threw a crying fit for two hours today and that made her not have time to come and post. Excuses, Excuses. Mama is going to try to catch you up with that has happened in the past five days. First off i have gotten cuter! Second off I am getting old. I will be two weeks tomorrow. WOW how the time flies. I go back to the doctor tomorrow and they are going to do a once over to make sure i am gaining weight and to make sure that i am working all my billirubin out! As mama mentioned in the last post she made Grandma Stavenger is here and being a big help. She likes to hold me just as much as mom and dad like to hold me so i am a happy little camper. Dad went back to work this past monday and i think he misses me during the day. Mom would like to take pictures of me and send them to dad during the day but again I am being a stinker sometimes and mom has not had time to do that yet. Also mom has been trying to get me outside some so that it can help my jaundice. That also takes up time. So here is what mama and i are going to try. I am going to try to take my afternoon nap and try eating my afternoon meal with out fussing and Mama is going to try to get on here every day or every other day and make a post for you all. We are going to share two pictures today. One is my surprised look and the other is just cute little old me!

Belly Button

Today was an eventful day in my life!! I am a proud owner of a umbilical cord free belly button. I will get Mama to take a picture of it next time she changes me. I am so happy to be rid of the umbilical cord because it was scratching my little belly and just making me unhappy. Now my diapers fit me better well better for how skinny i am. Also my Grandma Stavenger is going to meet me for the first time. I was so excited last night that i barley slept at all!

Peaceful Sleep

Sometimes the only way that Meredith will sleep is if she is laying on me. I believe she still has yet to fall asleep on Timothy but you will have to ask him that one. One of favorite pictures thus far is where she has fallen asleep after a feeding and she looks like she is praying. In the background of the picture you can see the billiblanket light. It is a blue green in color and gives off UV rays that help break down the billirubin in Meredith's blood to help her get rid of it. We were only on the biliblanket for about 24 hours. Right now we are on prescribed outside time where we sit in the shade to get more UV rays. It is really hot though during these outside times. luckily since it is best for Meredith to be stripped down to her diaper so we do not get to warm.

Cloth Diapers

Most people think that i am crazy or maybe a little nuts but i really am excited about doing cloth diapering. Right now we are in our second cloth diaper of our life. I think that in the least Meredith enjoys changing a little better. the cloth is not so scratchy on her little butt. they also seem to absorb better that sposies. I know what i hear from older and wiser people that i will HATE them and that i will be back in sposies in a matter of days. but wash has never bothered me all that much and a little poop is not a big deal. I want what is best for my daughter and what is best for the environment. Plus the extra $ we save will be worth it too. (how i finally sold timothy on cloth).

Mama Gwen

Having Meredith home is a new experience for us all. The dogs are reacting mostly as expected. Gill is having hard time adjusting to not being the baby any more. he has taken to eating only one time a day. He is very interested and gets jealous of Meredith when Tim is holding her. Back to Gwen. Gwen's ears go up and she looks for Meredith every time she enters a room. This morning I came down stairs before Timothy and the dogs as soon as Gwen came down she walked over to the play pen and looked in. Meredith was not there. one of Gwen's new favorite pass time is to make sure Meredith is happy. Mostly this consists of looking in to the play pen and coming over to her and trying to lick her head. Attached is a picture of Gwen checking up on Meredith.

The fourth night of sleep ... or lack there of

While I'm sure Mollie will become quite more tired than I, as she is breast feeding Meredith, I have not yet become too sleep deprived. But I think I may be working on borrowed time. I can only assume that eventually the less sleep that I am now will catch up with me, and that I will become quite exhausted soon.

Both Mollie and I are becoming tired earlier and Mollie is taking naps during the day. Today we were able to wake up quite a bit later (9:30) than I would if I were going to work. Hopefully during the remaining days this week we can put together at least a semblance of a schedule that may help keep us sane and awake (mostly).

Only time will tell how well we cope with less sleep and more crying.

Learning how to calm down Meredith

Of the many ways Mollie and I have tried to calm down Meredith (rocking, singing, speaking, rubbing, among others), we have found that she is quite interested when I play the piano.

If I lay Meredith on my lap and start to play, her eyes open wide and any crying wanes off. She tries to look behind herself to try and find where the sound is coming from. She also seems to be watching my hands some.

The only issue so far is if she starts getting fussy again -- it's quite hard to play some music with only one hand. :)

It's time to be a Dad!

Just over eight months ago when Mollie and I found out that we were pregnant, my response was "I'm screwed." Well, I have come a long way and now I know that I am! :)

However, I'm definitely happy and overjoyed by Meredith coming into our lives. Nearly everything that I know will change, but I believe that it will change for the better. I'm already immensely proud, amazed, and awed by what Mollie did for us all last Thursday. It's only been four days, but I am already excited to love Meredith and to watch her grow.

The birth of Meredith Jane a mom's perspective

I remember far little of August 16th. I remember some pain and i remember asking for pain medication and Timothy being the best husband in the world and talking me through the birth of our daughter. He did everything I asked and then some. I also remember Meredith being born and not hearing her cry and them asking for the NICU nurses to come in. I was extremely worried that she would be taken away from me. She was taken up the the regular nursery and cleaned up and taken care of up there for a while. About midnight i woke up in a panic and wanted to know where Meredith was and why i had not gotten to see her. The nurse brought her to me but then took her again later. Then at about 7 they brought us her and she stayed with us for the rest of the time we were in the hospital.

Hello world, here I come!

Hello! My name is Meredith Jane. My Mom and Dad welcomed me into the world on August 16, 2007 at 8:22 pm. Although I'm too small to weigh and measure myself, my parents say that when I was born I was 18.5 inches long and 6 pounds even. After a brief moment where I did not want to breathe on my own, I picked up on the whole crying thing and did just fine.

My Mom, Dad, and I spent a few days in the hospital as the doctors and nurses made sure I was well enough to go home. Now that I am at home, I want to be sure all of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and everyone else interested in my well-being are kept up-to-date.

Depending on how things go, my Mom and Dad will post as often as they can and hopefully as often as major changes happen in my life. Visit often and see what I'm doing lately and how much I've grown!