1 Month Old!

It is hard to believe but Aletheia is already 1 month old! I think we have adjusted well. She still gets up a lot at night to eat but I feel alright during the day and not overly tired. Jesse has been back at work full time since our second week home and he is doing well. He doesn't even wake up most times at night (although I am sure he is not getting the best sleep).

Ali is a pretty easy going baby thus far. She loves to be cuddled and held and will cry if we lay down when she is awake sometimes but will also occasionally lay awake quietly. She still mostly just sleeps and eats but is beginning to have more awake time as well.

She is working on her tummy time and is very strong already - she can lift her head very well and even do the "mini-pushup" that is an advanced 1 month milestone.

It is hard to believe how different she is already. When she is awake she is much more aware and will look around. And when she is mad she really shows off her strength arching her back and pushing with her arms and legs.

She has definitely complicated life but we are adjusting and love having her with us.

3 Weeks Old!

Little Aletheia is over three weeks old already! Hard to believe it has been that long. It seems like the time has flown by but life before Ali seems millions of miles away. She has changed our lives so completely I feel like I can't even remember what it was like before her.

She is eating well and growing like a weed. She was 7 lb 3 oz at her doctor appointment Tuesday and is probably well past 7.5 lb by now :) It is no wonder she is growing like she is - she wants to eat every 2 hours (or sometimes less) even through the night. Occasionally I will get a 3 hour stretch (which feels so luxurious) but I feel like I have adjusted pretty well. I don't feel particularly tired during the day anymore which is wonderful even though sometimes the night seems to fly by without much sleeping.

My due date was yesterday - it is strange to think that I figured I would still be pregnant today (you know first time moms always go late . . . lol). I can't imagine still being pregnant and I am glad that I did not have to deal with going past my due date (although a couple more days sure wouldn't have hurt). I can't believe how much Ali has grown and am pretty glad all the baby she is now isn't trying to fit in me still!

Aunt Molly was in town last Tuesday through Friday. It was so great to see her and Ali got some great Auntie time. My mom came down (both her and my sister were on spring break) as well during the week. Ali loves being held and cuddled so she enjoyed the extra hands around so she could be held (and I loved that laundry and cleaning could still get done).

We managed our first Sunday at church since Ali's arrival. It felt good to get back into some of our "normal" routines - even though it was far from normal. Ali did very well - she was quiet in her carrier for the first half of the service or so then started waking up so Jesse pulled her out and held her for the second half.

We have been thoroughly enjoying the meals provided by our friends and we are not looking forward to April when we have to cook for ourselves again :). We have really enjoyed getting to see everyone and visit a little bit when they drop food off as well.

Pictures

I will upload pictures of Aletheia to Shutterfly - they can be seen at the following address:

http://rockymountainwhitehouse.shutterfly.com/

I will post a few pics on the blog when I update it but I will probably manage to get pics on shutterfly more often (and there will be many more).

2 Weeks Old!

Thought I should post a quick update - I will try to get a few pictures added later this week.

Ali celebrated her two week birthday Friday. Hard to believe it has already been that long and harder even for me to believe she should even be here yet. I would definitely be counting days down if I were still pregnant. She had a breastfeeding checkup Friday and is up to 6 lb 12 oz - back above birth weight - yay! She has her two week appointment Tuesday so hopefully everything looks good.

We bought a fan for her room yesterday at Lowes. It is really cute - it has colored blades and little flowers on the arms that attach the blades to the fan. Very girly :)

We are doing well and starting to adjust. Jesse had his first full week back at work and Ali and I survived by ourselves at home. We even made our first outing just the two of us on Thursday - a little tough but manageable!

Ali still gets up quite a bit at night (every 2 to 3 hours pretty much) and the past few nights has been really fussy right as we are trying to go to bed. She has slept great between feedings during the day though. Hopefully we can get that night fussiness flipped to during the day soon :)

Our friends and people from church have been providing dinners which has been an enormous lifesaver. It has been so nice not to have to think about what to have or make anything. We are going to get quite spoiled :)

Ali is getting bigger and stronger by the day. It is amazing how much strength there is in that little body when she gets mad. I am loving spending every day with her (even though I am completely exhausted) and enjoy learning more about her with every moment.

Welcome Aletheia!

Aletheia Elizabeth Bostwick White (Ali for short) arrived February 26, 2010 at 7:03 am by emergency c-section. We are certainly in trouble if her dramatic entrance into this world is any indication of what we are up for in the future!

She made a valiant effort to steal my (and her paternal grandmother's) birthday but missed it by a day :) The end of February will be quite a party around here from now on though!

Her delivery was nothing like I wanted or we had planned for but the only thing that matters is that she is here with us today - alive and healthy!

Aletheia's Entrance

The last belly shot.

I did not know I was in labor until my water broke around 3:30 am (I was sleeping soundly). In retrospect I think I may have starting having contractions (very minor - I think I have had worse menstrual cramps) around 7:30 pm the night before. We were fairly unprepared (I had taken Thursday and Friday off of work so I could get the last few things done before she reached "full term" on the 27th) so things were a bit frantic as I started trying to pack a bag. I called my midwife and she said we could continue to labor at home for a while to strengthen up the contractions since the baby was still moving well and the amniotic fluid was clear.

We labored at home and got ready as best we could until 6:30 am. At this point my contractions has gotten much stronger and I wanted to be able to use the tub at the hospital for pain relief and relaxation. We walked up the labor and delivery and were shown to our room. Jesse helped me through a contraction immediately after we entered the room then I want to the bathroom to leave the requested urine sample . . . The rest of the day was pretty much a blur. As it turned out little Ali had us all fooled - she was breech and we ended up with a rare complication called umbilical cord prolapse. Fortunately God was watching out for her and the complication was noticed in time.

I was quickly wheeled away and given a general anesthetic and little Ali was born less than 10 minutes later. Jesse got to see her and accompany her to the NICU before he joined me. I woke up confused and probably had to be told 5 times that I had a baby girl before I was able to process the information. The doctors and nurses got me stabilized and we were sent to a recovery room where we would be the rest of our stay.

I got to see Ali for the first time late that morning and hold her that afternoon. After the longest 50 or so hours of my life - she was finally discharged from the NICU around 10:30 am Sunday morning. It was the greatest feeling in the world when we called to make sure it was a good time to visit and were told Ali was discharged and they were bringing her to us!

Ali and I were discharged Monday. It was so scary and overwhelming leaving the hospital but so great to know that she was really ours. She was jaundiced and had been in a phototherapy bed in the hospital and we had to get one delivered to the house to use as well.

Her first week was filled with doctors appointments (hers and mine) but she got to come out of the bed Thursday and has been doing great.

Ali had a little trouble nursing in the hospital - she tended to fall asleep too quickly. We were told this partially due to her arriving a bit early. She is still a great sleeper (better during the day than at night) and is eating better by the day.

She is such an amazing blessing and I overflow with love and pride just thinking of her. We are so thankful to have her in our lives and are adjusting to being mommy and daddy. The dogs are doing well with her although they are quite needy for attention.