We are Baby Wise!

Well the last post was a fluke. We have yet to see that stretch of sleep at night again...UNTIL last night. Yesterday was our first day employing the Baby Wise eating, playing, sleeping philosophy/schedule. I must say I was a little skeptical but I read the book in a day and followed his advice pretty stringently and POOF....she went down with out a fight last night at 11pm, and we didn't hear another peep from her until 5am. Six whole hours and I didn't even have to go in and put her pacifier in.

Today has also gone well, she has been sleeping and waking to eat and play on schedule. Before we were just letting her eat and sleep whenever she felt like it, but now we are in charge! She fusses a little bit when its time for a nap but she normally ends up going to sleep much more soundly then if I were to rock her to sleep in my arms or on my shoulder and then try and transfer her to the crib. If she doesn't settle down around 10 mins of being put down for a nap I go in and hold her for a bit, and its really sweet, because she just needs a little love, and then she goes down no sweat.

All this to say, I don't think she was getting enough sleep overall, and that was part of the fussiness we were experiencing. Its ironic that she needs more sleep during the day to sleep better at night. I am not completely sold yet, but the past few days have been SO much better than the last 8 weeks combined. I can predict our schedule, and I know I have several hours split out over the course of the day to get chores done, pay bills, make bottles, and take care of myself and Dave.

Yay Fay...I am so proud of her. She is a loving, sweet, cuddly, beautiful baby.

The Baby Whisperer

I am pretty sure my mother is a wizard. This past Sunday Fay was cranky all day and Dave and I were dreading the night that was coming, assuming that it would be long and sleepless. So, I called my mom to complain and ask her advice and being the amazing mother that she is, she put on her shoes and coat at 11;30pm and came over. Low and behold she was able to get Fay to sleep in her crib for the entire night! This is a feat that Dave and I had been far from conquering. She had all these little things that she recommended and sure enough Fay slept through the night from Midnight to 7am. I repeated her routine the next night and again she slept another 6.5 hours! So excited to have 6 hours straight.

This is not the first evidence that Fay may prefer my mother to all other human beings. She absolutely LOVES her Khaki, she smiles every time she comes over, and she settles down for mother like no one else. I totally understand why she loves her so much, she has the most comforting and nurturing touch. My mom is special, and Fay knows it too. We both love her very much.

I am just so thankful that she has been in the trenches with Dave and I, and willing to put her own schedule on hold to help out when we need it. So thank you mom...I plan to do the same when it is Fay's turn. You have set the bar very high!

My New Love Life

Well, being a parent takes a toll on everything including your relationship. Dave and I have been joined at the hip for most of our relationship, working at the same companies, having the same friends, and just generally spending all of our time together. Now we are still together but our conversations have changed, and our time is spent doing chores and getting ready for the next feeding, and going to bed at different times in order to wake up when we are on call.

And though this may seem like it would be a miserable way to live, I am counting my blessings instead. My husband has been my rock through this whole life changing event, from the delivery, to the recovery, he has been nothing but supportive and awesome. In fact this past Saturday he spent the night in Fay's room on our day bed so that I could get a full uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep, which I have not had since before she was born. Let me tell you, it was the BEST gift he could have ever given me. Truly he is the husband of the year.

The other blessing in disguise is that when we do get a moment alone while the baby is asleep we don't waste it. We treasure each other's company like never before, and it brings you even closer together. Our love life has definitely changed, we just have more love in our lives. This marriage is one that just keeps getting better every day. I love you Dave. And thank you for being you.

5 Weeks Old

Well, I have to apologize for not sending out more photos or posting more to the blog, but it is really due to a computer meltdown. I really need my own macbook pro to keep all of my photos in one place, so please petition my husband, not me for a new computer if you want to see more photos.

Yesterday was scary. Fay has been really struggling with her acid reflux and yesterday it came to a head. She threw up so much that she starting choking and luckily I had a bulb syringe sitting right there and was able to clear her passage way. She has thrown up before but this time there was SO much that she literally couldn't catch her breath. It scared the poop out of me and I immediately scheduled an appointment with the Dr. We have a great Dr. by the way, her name is Dr. Debbie Reese and she is a pro...She is being aggressive about helping little Fay's tummy, so that she isn't in pain every time she eats. We got a new prescription that is very expensive but will hopefully be the answer.

I am sad that we won't be in LA with the rest of my family this week for the national championship, but my mom has promised to bring back some good stuff from Nordie's for me. I am tired, but it gets better every day, just like everyone keeps telling me it would.

It is an adjustment to go from a very busy social, and work life, to monitoring feedings, poops, and burps all day every day. It is the hardest job I have ever had, but she makes me laugh constantly and it is so fun to see what changes every day. We got our first giggle today!

More to come...need to take a nap while she is asleep :)

24 Days Old

Well this is my first post since the big day. Lots has happened and I must say I am finally feeling more in control. The night we delivered was a huge blur for me, I didn't get to have Fay in the room with me until 6am on Dec 3rd because I was not with it after the birth. I had hypertension, couldn't pee and had to be catheterized (twice), ran a 102 fever, and could not stop shaking. It got a little hairy there for a while and we even thought they might have to do a blood transfusion or page the Doctor at 4am. But finally I started to mend and Fay got to come see us in our room.



The hospital stay was amazing, our nurses and doctor couldn't have been better, and I wish we could have stayed at least one more day, but low and behold they kicked us out. The day we left the hospital it was snowing, and Fay wore her snowman outfit home for the occasion. When she was born she weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and when we left the hospital she was 5 lbs 14oz. So we had some work to do in order to gain her birth weight back.



The first night home we introduced Harper to her and he did great! In fact he is very protective of her and even barks now when someone is at the door, which he never did before. Needless to say we are still obsessed with the dog, we don't understand how people just stop loving on their pet after they have a baby, because now more than ever we appreciate what a good dog he is.



In the beginning the breastfeeding thing seemed to be going pretty well, I clearly had enough milk, because we went for a weight check 3 days after we left the hospital and she had already gained her birth weight back, but she was having some serious digestion issues in the late night hours, and in the end was diagnosed with acid reflux. We had to start preparing bottles and that is when I decided to stop breastfeeding. It was a hard process to dry my milk up but she is doing SO MUCH BETTER on the formula than on my milk. And I am much more emotionally stable. When I was breastfeeding she would get so upset and be in obvious pain, and it definitely took a toll on me. I cried every day for the first 7 days. Once we started on the bottle she and I were both totally different people.

Now we are starting to get into a routine, and I feel a lot more confident in my ability to make her happy. It makes me feel really good when she is upset and all I have to do is pick her up and her whole world changes. Dave is amazing with her, one of her favorite places to sleep is on his bare chest, when all else fails he can put her there and we pretty much have a guaranteed happy baby.

I was worried that I would be bored, and I haven't been. Raising a newborn is tough work, and not for the light hearted, but she is a very good baby, and only cries when something is wrong. We have already taken her to the ranch and Austin and she did great. All in all parenthood is great. We are learning along with her and it gets better every day. I can't wait for her to start smiling and really interacting with us, she is starting to focus better already, and she holds her head up really well.

I can't believe that Dave and I are her parents, she is really neat.

Here she is

After a very long night of recovery for mom, we have Fay in the room with us now.


Here she is with mom


More to come

We did it!

10:15p

After 11 hours in labor Fay Marian Joyner joined the the world. She came in at 6lbs 3oz and 19.5 inches long. She was born right at 7:30 right into the capable hands of Dr. Doke.

Mom is trying to get some rest and baby hanging with friends in the nursery.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement and well wishes along the way.