Sleepy

Occasionally, Lydia sleeps.
It starts with a yawn...

Follows with a cuddle...

And then she's down...

Sometimes after a good feeding...

And then she's awake! "I'm not sleepy anymore, Mommy!"

A Coo Soon?

I think she's starting to develop her coo...maybe?

Tummy Time

We tried Tummy Time. She hated it.

(BTW-I'm not a mean mom. This is normal and helps her learn to roll over and prevent positional plagiocephaly.)

How Not to Calm a Crying Baby

Lydia had a dirty diaper changed, finished a good feeding, and burped. Ahh. She should be a happy baby, right? Well, she wasn't. She was fussy and the usual comfort measures weren't helping. You know, when I took Lydia to the doctor's office yesterday, she was so calm and quiet in her car carrier, as if she liked it. So hoping for that same peace and quiet, I strapped Lydia into her car carrier. Results not good. Then I tried swinging her back and forth in the carrier to calm her down like I had seen a friend do. This worked pretty well, but my arms started to get tired, and was I supposed to swing all day long? Next, I remembered something I recently read: "Studies show SleepTight works. It's an FDA-approved device that makes the crib feel like an automobile going 55 mph, complete with wind sounds as a soothing accompaniement" (What to Expect). Intriguing, I thought, maybe it's not the snuggle of the car carrier or the motion, but the speed that babies like! But before I jumped on the autobahn, maybe I'd check her diaper. Well wouldn't you know it, but she was wet, and once changed, she was fine.
So in the end, the car carrier wasn't the miracle I had hoped for, but here is a picture of Lydia in it since she is still cute in it.

My Cutie-Pie

Meeting Family

Lydia met her Aunt Stacy and Aunt Sarah.
They had fun playing dress-up and otherwise interacting.

Grandma Linda was thrilled to meet her as well, her first grandbaby!

Lydia met Grandpa Pulley on Sunday, and she'll meet Kathy and Addie soon.

Help from Grandma

The first week home with a baby can be rough when you're trying to recover from delivery, get to know your baby's cries and hunger cues, and figure out which rules you need to follow and which ones you can break. In other words, there's not much time for chores and meal prep. But that's where Grandma Jan came to my rescue. On Thursday she drove over with frozen meals, and spent the whole day vacuuming, doing laundry, dusting, and even watching Lydia while I napped. Praise God for a wonderful mother-in-law!

First Babysitter

Some parents can't bear to leave their newborn for a minute... and... we are not those parents. It's Valentine's Day Eve, Grandma Linda is here, there's a bottle in the fridge, and what are Ben and I to do? Take advantage of the situation and go out to a coffee house! It was so nice to spend some alone time with my Valentine. Thanks, Mom.

Baby at Home

While at the hospital, Lydia stayed in the nursery at night and was brought to us just when she was hungry. So last night was our first real night with her. The hours from 1-4am were a little rough, I'd say, but a good learning experience. Well, we'll just have to see if we do any better tonight :)
Here she is in her bouncer. We like how it keeps her head elevated, and she seems to like it too.

In her crib. She kept managing to squirm her arm out of our wrap. The velcro wraps are marvelous.

Precious First Moments

Rocker-style hearing test.

She passed.

First Bath
Ooh, Daddy's finger!

Born on a sunny winter morning. (We had the OSF L/D room with a view!)

Happy to be 'Daddy'

Lydia weighed 6lbs 4 ounces

Labor Story

Feb 5, 2010
It was a beautiful winter day. From my chair at work I could see the snow falling and it was a beautiful scene, but I was feeling antsy. So after a full work day, Ben and I lapped twice around the mall with vigor. After dinner we treated ourselves to a french impressionist musical performance. We thought it would be fun if we had to run out of the church due to a early labor. But alas, we had a lovely uneventful date. Little did we know it would be last time we would be out as a carefree married couple.

Feb 6, 2010
Awoke at 4:30am with awful cramps. Was I going to be able to go back to sleep? No. Were they real contractions? What if I got up and had a glass of water? And they still came: 15 minutes apart, irregular? Bloody show happened at 5:30am. Ok, I'm not crazy; these are contractions, but labor could be a few days off yet. At 6:00am my water broke. Call the doctor. "Come on in to the hosptial." Ok, but we'll take showers first. But contractions were 7 minutes and then 4 mintues apart. Ben starts to freak out, "We have to go now." The car ride was painful, but short. Walked up to the L/D nurses station at 6:45. Shift change, and all the nurses looked at us as if to say, 'are you lost?' "Dr. Kelly told me to come here; I'm in labor," I stated. They took me to triage, not knowing the urgency of my situation. And then it all blurs: I can't sit long. Ben has to answer questions for me. 'You'd be a good candidate for natural, if you thought about it.' Maybe give me IV morphine. Roll me down the hall. Ask me more questions I can't answer. Oh, the midwife is in the hospital for another delivery. Try to start the IV between contractions. I feel like pushing! Ok, they check and I'm 8cm dilated. Forget about the pain medicine. The nurses help me through a few pushes. Then the midwife steps in and takes control. Is she really asking me to push the baby out--like it's really happening? No way! 17 minutes of pushing, and Lydia Marie Pulley arrives at 8:00am! I'm shocked and relieved that it's over. No more pregnancy, no more contractions, hello skinny belly, hello Lydia, hello parenthood!

Side View

Here's a side view for all you out there who like to see me fat and pregnant :)