Giana rolled from her stomach to her back during tummy time on Sunday! We watched in amazement the first two times, then we got out the camera and she did it one more time –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzuR0BcfpvE
**I realize everyone’s baby does this, and it probably isn’t all that exciting to anyone except for me….and Giana’s grandma, who also reads this blog. My apologies to everyone else! 🙂
I think that every day is a bit of an adventure with an infant. I thought about things like schedules and planning and using her crib before she was here. Now that Giana has arrived, sometimes those things go out the window.
My Type-A personality likes planning. Scratch that, I love planning. I make lists just so I can check things off. I love to take a problem, figure out a plan and execute the heck out of it.
It has actually been kind of fun to let that go as I adjust to life with an infant. Don’t get me wrong – overall, Giana is an amazing baby and has been super easy on me. She takes nice, long naps and usually sleeps really well at night.
Her shirt is a lie – she slept seven hours right before I snapped this picture of her laughing at me!
So even though I have a very good baby, sometimes that whole schedule thing doesn’t work out. Like last night, when I could her the gas rumbling in her little belly from across the room. She tried so hard to go to sleep but just as she would start to relax, her eyes would pop open with another pang in her tummy. We walked and rocked and walked and rocked (and walked and rocked and walked and rocked) until it all passed and she could finally fall into a deep slumber.
This means we didn’t get on our morning schedule at all. Papa still managed to get dressed in his sharp new suit and got off to work on time –
And then, instead of getting right on her usual awake/nap schedule and me getting back to my to-dos, we just cuddled. Giana and I had the best morning being warm and snuggly in bed. It’s hard to care about anything else – especially a schedule – when I get to love on my little girl.
Our little Giana is six weeks old today! And she’s not all that little anymore. She weighed in this morning at a whopping 9 pounds, 13 ounces! For those of you keeping score at home, that’s exactly three pounds more than her birth weight (or an average of a half pound gain every week she has been on the outside).
For the past several days, I have been enjoying a most beautiful sight – Giana smiling back at me. It’s not gas; it’s a real smile meant just for me. It makes me melt every time. Here’s one I caught on camera this morning.
Absolutely amazing.
You know what else is amazing? Sleeping eight hours. I know because I did that two nights ago! My little girl gave me a full night of sleep and it was glorious. She’s had a couple of other nights when she has snoozed for six to seven hours. Thank you, sweetie!
Giana had an opportunity to play with my old toys when we visited Iowa for Thanksgiving last week. Here she is checking out the doll crib my dad made for me when I was little.
Wise words in the baby aisle at Target –
Proof I’ve changed? This sign made me cry.
Pre-baby: Rafael could probably count the times he saw me tear up on one hand.
Post-baby: My poor husband is subjected to my hormonal sniffling. (“I just love her so much!” I wailed to him the other day.) Oy.
Our sweet little girl is four weeks old today. People always told me how fast the time would go, and I believed them…but seriously, I really can’t believe how fast the time has flown.
I have so much I need to write about her birth and first weeks, but another list will have to suffice for now. Giana is sleeping on my chest and it is hard to type one handed!
What Giana loves:
Riding in the car and falling asleep in her carseat
The sound of plastic bags (but she doesn’t seem to mind Hawk’s barking)
…that bring joy to the heart of this new mom.
– The many sounds she makes while she is eating.
– Cuddling in bed with my two loves (three if Hawk sneaks up there too).
– Pumping then napping while laying on my stomach.
– Pretending like she is giving me a kiss (when she is really looking for something to eat)
– Finding a pair of socks that she can’t seem to kick off
– Watching her change and grow every single day!
There is so much that I want to document that I don’t even know where to start. I wish there was a way to bottle up her smell. I have spent hours tracing the delicate lines on her face and caressing her sweet skin that is unbelievably smooth and soft. I have studied her cries (even those are cute) and tried to determine what they mean. My fingers have traced her tiny spinal cord as I marvel at the wonderful workmanship of our Creator.
Giana is two weeks old today! She has already gained a pound since birth. I finally understand what my sister was talking about when she talked about the pride I would feel by nourishing my baby. It’s true – I am so proud that I have been able to feed my daughter and help her grow so well!
We have been asked a few times what Giana’s nursery looks like, well here it is.
Toy designed in collaboration with Tony Vu for a new infant formula packaging, we have one of only two ever made. Thank you Tony.
Today was my due date…but instead, it’s Giana’s sixth day of life!
Six pounds, thirteen ounces of pure perfection.
We are so in love!
Eight days left until our due date! I’m absolutely amazed that I have been pregnant for almost 10 months. When I think about how the time has passed, I just think about how it seems now how every week took so long, but now the whole pregnancy seems so short.
It was 35 weeks ago today that I took the first pregnancy test and saw the plus sign. Then I took another…and another, this time a digital one that actually said the word “pregnant.”
It was 30 weeks ago when we saw her tiny heart fluttering in a dating ultrasound at the OB office. It was the most beautiful little flicker I had ever seen. She was nine weeks, exactly as I knew she was because I knew exactly when we conceived because we were tracking. The doctors didn’t expect me to be so far along. They didn’t think I could have conceived so quickly after having two miscarriages in the previous four months. I will never know why the Lord decided to take those angel babies home when he did. I am thankful for every life he has given us and thankful for the opportunity to meet this little girl on this side of heaven.
It was 26 weeks ago that we finished the first trimester, breathed a huge sigh of relief, and we started telling our families the news and share in everyone’s excitement with us. We figured out that we get to make one of my sisters an aunt for the first time.
It was 19 weeks ago that we went back to the ultrasound office to see her again and of course, find out that she was a girl. And 15 weeks ago when she started kicking me. A lot. I loved (and still do) to feel it every time she moves. I have never complained about getting a foot in the ribs or getting kept up at night when she wiggles. Every movement let me know she was growing and healthy.
It was one week ago the doctors told me that my blood pressure was creeping a little too high and I would need to be on bedrest until she comes. I was disappointed at first – after all, this whole pregnancy has been uneventful. But bedrest has not been bad so far. The swelling has disappeared from my ankles and my feet actually look like feet again. I am able to get work done from the couch during the day. Best of all, my sweet, sweet man has been pampering me at night with delicious meals and taking care of domestic duties.
And hopefully, one week from now, I will be going into labor, naturally, when this little girl is finished baking. It’s still hard to believe that we will finally get to see her face…after all these weeks.
