1 Month ..Navy Edition..

The first month of Navy's life was a little hectic. Between the constant newborn feedings and diaper changes, we were packing up our house, sending dad off in the moving truck, and 10 days later flying from Boise to Kansas City, then driving to Kirksville. Without the help of our awesome families, I'm not sure we would have made it; but we did and it went relatively smoothly. Thankfully, Navy is such a sweet, easy-going baby. It was also great that she remained almost constantly sleepy through her first four weeks of life. We made it through two connecting flights and a three hour car ride thanks to a moby wrap and major help with Trooper from Grandma and Grandpa. And we were so happy to be back with Dad (and his help with the nighttime diaper changes)!

Before we left Idaho and our families, we blessed Navy at my parents' house on June 21, 2014. She was just a week and a half old. She looked beautiful in my old blessing dress and was a perfect baby during the sweet priesthood blessing that her dad gave her.

The classic "Lion King" blessed baby hold.

Zoe found Grandpa Delbert who still had ice cream in his bowl. They became quick friends.

Pretty Grandma with baby Navy.

At six weeks, Navy was averaging about 6 hours between her nighttime feedings. During the day, she's on a pretty solid three hour schedule. She seems the most awake in the late evenings, especially while I'm at the gym and dad is supposed to be studying while the kids sleep... So we're going to have to rearrange our schedules until Navy figures out her bedtime. She falls asleep pretty much as soon as she gets in her carseat which makes outings easy at this point.

Around four weeks, Navy started cooing and responding to us. At her one month check-up (the day after we arrived in Kirksville) the doctor was really impressed with that and said she's about four weeks ahead of schedule. She's growing and gaining weight at a healthy, steady pace. At one month, she weighed 8 lbs. (17th percentile) and was 21.25 in. long (60th percentile). She spits up quite a bit sometimes, but it's in spurts so I think it must be caused by something in my diet that I need to figure out (I'm really hoping it's not chocolate!)

Trooper LOVES Navy. When she cries, he has to check on her, give her Pluto, or sing her a song. I hear him say things to her like "It's okay, Navy. I'm right here" and "I love you, Navy." When she's laying on the floor or propped up on the couch, every few minutes he just stops to cuddle her, rub his face on her fluffy hair, and give her a kiss. He tells me "She's such a cutie" or "Oh she's so beautiful!" If I'm in the kitchen and it's silent in the living room, I usually look out to see Trooper just cuddling Navy quietly. I love to watch it.

We really can't get over how cute she is. Her beautiful blue eyes amaze me. She gives us these sweet smiles that just make the our day. I want her to stop growing but, at the same time, I'm excited to see more of her personality as she grows and what/who she's going to look like. Basically, we LOVE having her in our home and in our family. The adjustment has been pretty easy and super awesome.

And here are some pictures of the sweet girl.

Halle LOVES "Baby Naby"

Loves any chance to get close to her.

Rockin tummy time.

All-American Navy girl. July 4, 2014.

1 month old! July 10, 2014.

6.10.14

Now that my sweet Navy is five weeks old, it's probably time for me to write out her birth story before I forget anything. I'm really still in awe at what an amazing experience this pregnancy and delivery was. So much so that I ALMOST feel like I could do it all right over again... but not quite yet, don't worry:) Dr. West at St. Luke's was such an awesome doctor and I'm really sad that we most likely won't be in Boise for any future pregnancies that I may have. I have no idea why someone would choose to be an obstetrician, but I'm super grateful that some amazing people do!

 At my 38 week appointment, Dr. West told me I was 1.5 cm dilated and 65% effaced. We set the date for my induction on June 10th at 7am. I would be 39.2 weeks; my due date was June 15th. The plan has been to induce at 39 weeks from pretty early on just because we would be moving across the country at the end of June and the older this little girl could be when that happened the better. Because this was my second pregnancy and I was induced with Trooper without any complications, as long as my body seemed ready my doctor was willing to and even encouraged an induction given our crazy schedule at this point. Personally, I was curious to see what it would be like to go into labor on my own, but I didn't get my hopes up since Trooper was late and I actually loved being able to schedule everything.

39 weeks. June 8, 2014.

On the evening before my induction, Brent and I took Trooper out on a special date. I wanted to take him somewhere fun for dinner, but he actually requested banana pancakes at home:) Then we took him over to Build-a-Bear where he chose to make a little golden bear that he named "PBS Kids" (his favorite iPad app).

Trooper loved being at the mall! He was amazed at how big it was and the clear banisters upstairs that he was able to look through and see all the people below him. He also LOVED the escalators:) Then we finished off the night with his very own milkshake from Sonic. Sure love that little boy.

I was able to sleep surprisingly well that night and we headed to the hospital around 6:30am while Grandma Brady came to be with Trooper. We checked in at 7am and met my nurse Carrie who was awesome. Dr. West came to check on me and I was at 2.5 cm, 70% effaced and the baby's head was engaged at a -2. (I was pretty thrilled with that since with Trooper I labored for hours and had my epidural while I was only at 1.5 cm.) At that point, Dr. West asked if Brent wanted to deliver the baby and Brent said that would be awesome! We started pitocin at 7:52am. 

Brent and I walked the halls, ate snacks, watched tv and played games while we waited for things to progress. I responded to the pitocin really well and was quickly having contractions about 1.5-2 minutes apart. Carrie had to keep adjusting my dose to try to give my body a chance to relax between contractions. Luckily, I wasn't feeling anything yet. At 9:31am Dr. West broke my water. I was 3 cm, still 70% effaced, and at a -1. I was starting to feel the contractions so we walked the halls a bit more until we could hear a woman yelling and screaming during her delivery. It was honestly worse than any of the dramatizations I've seen in the movies. It was a bit unnerving and while the nurses tried to assure me that that's only how it is when you forgo an epidural, I decided to go back to our room and shut the door:) 

By 12:20pm I was at 4 cm and 80%. I tried taking a bath and while it was very soothing, it seemed to slow my contractions so I got back out and tried the birthing ball. I had planned on getting the epidural before I felt even an ounce of pain, but I kept feeling like I could hold out a little bit longer so I'm pretty proud of myself for making it to at least 4cm. I was stopping to breathe and concentrate with each contraction. Carrie came in and fitted Brent for some surgical gloves so he would be ready to deliver the babe when the time came. At 2pm (after I ate a good lunch:), I told my nurse I was ready for my epidural. It was quick and really rather painless. The pressure of contractions faded pretty quickly and Brent and I were able to take naps. At 4:21pm, Carrie came in saying there were variables in the baby's heartbeat with each contraction which most likely meant she was low and about ready to come! I was feeling pressure again, but not necessarily like I needed to push so I just figured I needed another boost of my epidural meds. Dr. West came in and checked me and I was 9.5cm which completely surprised me. He said that in a couple minutes it would be time to push. He also said he could feel that the baby was sunny side up and that he would try to turn her but if he couldn't, it would just be a bit more work for me. My nurse guessed the baby would be born at 4:37pm. I was shocked because that was only about 10 minutes away and I still wasn't quite convinced this was really happening. On the next contraction, the urge to push came really strongly and I was convinced. With Trooper I felt the pressure of each contraction enough to know when to push, but I didn't feel a strong urge, so this was new and super uncomfortable for me. At 4:30pm Dr. West told me to push on my next contraction and he was going to turn the baby. He was able to do so in one push, then two more pushes and baby's head was delivered. Then Dr. West told Brent he was up, so Brent reached under her little arms, pulled her out, and set her on my chest. That is my most favorite moment in all the world. The overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude when you see your baby for the first time is unbelievable. She was born at 4:32pm. 7 lbs. even. 20 in. long. She's perfect.

Trooper came to meet his baby sister a few hours after her arrival. He brought her a present - a little pink penguin that he had picked out himself. 

He wasn't quite sure of the whole situation at first and didn't want to get to close to me or the baby. But then he got a present from Navy and started to warm up to her. 

Since we were in Boise this time, we were lucky enough to have lots of family come visit.

Our first family photos.

Our hospital stay was awesome, besides the awful food. Apparently St. Luke's usually has great food but they happened to be doing emergency construction in the kitchen during our stay and food was brought in from some other company... It was pretty horrible. Hence, the Papa John's pizza box. But our nurses were great. The pediatricians were great. We loved it.

It took us a couple days to decide on her name. We've been thinking Navy for a while, but there were a few other names on the list that we were still considering. Most of our stay at the hospital, she was just called "baby girl." Then we finally bunkered down and tried all the names on her, even looking at name lists to see if there were any more we should think about. But in the end, Navy fit her best and we think it's adorable. 

Shelee is my mom's name. I've been waiting my entire life to name my daughter after my mom, who is the most caring and selfless person I've ever met; not to mention the most fun and funny. If Navy grows up to be anything like my mom, she'll be one amazing person.

All tuckered out

Picking out her first hair bow!

Troop adjusted really well to having Navy around. He did cry a couple times for me to put her down and hold him, which I was very careful to do. He may have been a tiny bit more cuddly and needy the first few days, but that was okay with me. Other than that, he has loved to look at her, be close to her, and he's always very concerned when she starts crying. He insists that he needs to go talk to her or sing to her to make her happy. Melts my heart.

Troop's first time holding baby sister.

He brought her his beloved Pluto and Mickey blanket. This is a big deal folks. Then he stood there are rocked her while he sang "I Am a Child of God."

He stationed himself right there where he could watch her.

So cute!

Cute little bundle.

3 days old at her first doctor's appointment.

By her first doctor's appointment, she was already regaining the weight she had lost after birth and the doctor was no longer concerned about her jaundice. She eats well, sleeps pretty well for a newborn, and is a happy, sweet baby. The adjustment really hasn't been hard, which is a super big blessing considering we were packing up our house since the day we got home from the hospital. We love Navy to pieces and can't get over how beautiful and perfect she is! 

And here's a sneak peek of some newborn photos I took. Maybe someday soon my student husband will have some time to edit the rest and then they'll get their own post. Until then, here are a few.