Sam’s first pediatrician visit

| September 30, 2009

Today Sam went to the pediatrician for the first time.  We thought she’d be a good girl and not fuss too much, except for when we had to take all of her clothes off, and we were right!  Our little one does NOT like being naked, which I am sure makes her daddy happy ; )  She only cried when she was undressed, and even then, not for long.  She is such an angel.

Her exam went very well, as expected, and the pediatrician said she looks just perfect.  She is now 7 lbs 9 oz which is one ounce above her birth weight.  The doctor was pleased as he said sometimes it takes babies 2 weeks to gain their weight back.  We knew Sam was a good little eater!  We made her next appointments (for when she is one month and then 2 months old) and were told no shots until her 2 month appointment.  I don’t know who will be more upset that day, her or us!

After the doctor, we decided to stop at the grocery store to pick up something to make for dinner, since she seemed perfectly content and sleepy in her carseat.  We strolled through the aisles of Acme for quite a while and she slept the whole time.  I can’t wait until I can get out and about more easily and I can take her shopping with me, and take her to lunch, and all those girl things. We are going to have such a good time!

A few firsts for Sam

| September 29, 2009

Today Sam had a few firsts that are worth reporting, at least to us.  She had her first little sponge bath at home, which went pretty well.  There wasn’t too much crying, which I guess is a good sign that I did ok.  She really needed one, since her hair was starting to look like it needed a shampoo, and frankly, we couldn’t wait to do one more new thing with her.  Needlesss to say, she emerged from her bath looking simply fabulous, and her hair is silky soft now and worthy of a magazine cover.

Since Mommy was feeling a little housebound (I went from 6 days cooped up in the hospital, to 2 days cooped up at home), Sam decided that a little walk down the block would do us both some good.  Well, ok, it was Mark’s idea, but neither Sam nor I were complaining.  We bundled up Sam and popped her in her stroller for the first time and headed down the block for a short walk.  Sam got to meet some of the neighbors who all said that she is just gorgeous (of course!) and I think the fresh air did us both some good.

What first are we going to have tomorrow?  Her first visit to the pediatrician.  Somehow, I don’t think Sam will enjoy that one as much as her walk or her bath!

Welcome Home, Samantha

| September 28, 2009

On Sunday, September 27 Mark and I got to do the thing we have been waiting seemingly forever to do — bring our little girl home.  Although it was not the best day weather-wise for a homecoming with all the rain, it could have been pouring rain, sleeting, snowing and the midst of a tornado, and it would not have stopped us from leaving the hospital!  I felt like  a prisoner in the hospital after 6 nights and I was anxious to get home and start our new life together.  I asked the nurse at 6:30 in the morning what I needed to do to get out of there, and she said I needed to see my doctor, Sam needed to see the pediatrician, and I needed to see the endocrinologist that was called in for consult.  Thankfully, the pediatrician and the endo came pretty early.  All I needed was to see Dr. Monzo, who was the one on call that day, to officially release me.  The nurse had already given us discharge instructions and all the necessary paperwork.  So we waited….and waited….as soon as we heard she was on the maternity floor, we finished what little packing I had left, got Sam in her carseat, and stared hard at the door willing Dr. Monzo to walk in.  She did come in not too long after the “official” discharge time of 11:00, and we were soon on our way!  Here are a few pictures of Sam in her carseat, ready to go into the outside world for the very first time.  I cannot believe how little she looks — she barely fills half the seat!

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We liked her coming home outfit because it has a bunch of animals in cars on it : )

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She was asleep the whole time in the car and wasn’t at all impressed by her surroundings or Mark’s Pilot : )

It was a pretty hectic day, since I hadn’t been home in almost a week.  Mark did a great job keeping the house in order, doing laundry, taking care of the cats, etc. but you know me, I had to run around a straighten up, go through the mail and a million other things. I am really trying not to overdo it, per doctor’s instructions, but I can’t help myself as I am sure you all know.

My mom stopped by, and Mark’s dad and his uncle Flavion, who was in town, came over and picked up dinner for us.  Here is Sam with Mark’s uncle Flav.

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Overall, the day was pretty darn great.  Amazing even.  After everything calmed down, and it was just us, Mark and I kept looking at Sam in her pack and play, or wherever we happened to put her at the time, in awe that she was actually here.  In our house.  Real.  I tell Sam all the time that she seems too good to be true, but unbelievably, she isn’t.  She is true and real and ours and she is just perfect.  I am the luckiest person in the world.

As for how our two tigers are adjusting, they did us proud, as always.  Both Zephyr and Muffin gave her a sniff when she first came in, but neither one of them growled or hissed or even raised their fur.  They are such good kitties.  I know they are curious about her, but I think as long as she doesn’t eat their food, use their litterbox or otherwise disrupt their routine they will be ok with her : )

I was totally exhausted by the end of the day and wound up in bed by around 8:30 or 9:00.  Mark was good enough to handle everything while I was sleeping.  Everyone keeps telling me that I need to remember that I have to take care of myself too, since I did have major surgery.  It’s easy to forget though when I am so wrapped up in my little girl. 

Things went well at night, although Sam did have a fussy period off and on from about 12:30 a.m. until 4:30 a.m.  She didn’t seem to know what she wanted and I think we did a little bit of everything.  She did settle down at 4:30 though and was fast asleep until I went in to wake her at 9:00 a.m.

What an amazing day.  I will never forget it as long as I live, I swear.

Great photo session today

| September 26, 2009

The recovery room where Pam has been staying at the hospital is small but has a great big window on one side that floods the room with natural light all day. We decided to take advantage of this today and do an intimate little photo shoot using only natural light. For all the other recent photos here I used daylight plus fill flash bounced off the ceiling but these are are all with window light only and a fast lens. I really like our results, enjoy.

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There’s those beautiful eyes!

| September 25, 2009

My goal for the day was to get some photos of her lovely little eyes. Being a newborn, her eyes are closed most of the time. I took a chance with getting her all posed and wouldn’t you know it, she cooperated really well by keeping her eyes open for a full 15 minutes straight!

This is my favorite photograph of the day. I wonder what color her eyes will turn out to be.

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She looks rather plaintive here. “Hmm, do Io want Mommy or Daddy to feed me? ”

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Ten bucks my Mom leaves a comment here saying that I use to sleep just like this, which I did. My parents even had a statue of a baby sleeping that way.

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Here is Sam with her loving Mom and Grandmom.

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Thanks everyone for all the flowers and balloons! They are lovely and really help to cheer up our little room.

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