1 Week Old

Ivy turned 1 week old yesterday and it was a day of firsts.

She woke up to her first diaper explosion which led to her first real bath. She didn't seem to mind this bath because she was in the water not just getting a sponge bath. Let's hope this continues. She seems to be taken by water. If she's fussy, she calms right down when we turn on the sink.

Once we got her all clean, dressed and fed we decided it was too gorgeous of a day to spend inside so we took her on her first walk with Charlie-Bill. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. Charlie did well and wasn't really phased by the fact that we were toting a stroller on the walk.

After the walk we dropped Charlie at home and walked over to Holy Cross School where Keegan works. Ivy was met by Keegan's class as they headed to the church to practice their mass. Then we went inside for Ivy's first visit with Sr. Ruth and Sr. Mary.

Last night Julian and Amanda came over for a visit and some pizza. Ivy slept most of the time they were here. Then she proceeded to be up all night first with Ben and then with me.

When she took her morning nap today, we put her in her crib on her back and swaddled. She decided that she would prefer to sleep on her side, so she rolled over!!! Um, we aren't ready for that yet. :-)

Today she had a visit from grandma Joanne and grandma Connie and Kathy Kadera. She was awake a good part of the day which is also a first, so I'm hoping it leads to a first night of sleep in blocks. :-)

Tomorrow is Ivy's first trip to the pool to meet Ben's team and all of the parents.

Ivy's first check up.

Well we made it through our first weekend at home with Ivy.
She's been a busy little thing.

Ivy and daddy shared her first bath at home. She does NOT like her baths. She screams so loud when we get her naked or even just change her diaper. We hope/think she will like bathtime more once we can submerge her in the warm water.

Saturday we went to Keizer to see Great Grandma Holly and the salem grandparents. Ivy loves the car. She falls asleep immediately once we get going. She doesn't love the stop lights though. Each time the car stops she gives a little grunt to let Ben know he needs to step on it.

Our visit was really nice. We spent the day with grandma and grandpa Swinehart and auntie Andrea. We finally realized that Ivy looks like Papa Rod when she's sleeping. She's definitely a Swinehart. Then Joanne got out Ben's baby book and we saw a picture of him as an infant. Ivy and her daddy are IDENTICAL when she is awake and alert.

Sunday we spent the afternoon and evening with grandma and grandpa davis, uncle Julian, uncle Keegan and auntie Morgan watching Ivy's first superbowl. Although it wasn't the outcome we had hoped for, we had a great time. Unfortunately all of the pictures that were taken are on mom's camera and that's NOT digital. :-)

Today was Ivy's first check up. Dr. Ollor said she is doing great. She looks wonderful, her jaundice is going away and the gas is just her little system trying to figure things out.
I was surprised that she hasn't gained any weight. When I look at her she looks bigger, but I guess not. She still weighs in at 7 lbs 5 oz which is what she weighed when we left the hospital.
We have another appt next Monday morning so we'll see how much progress she's made.

Auntie Vikki stopped by to visit and meet Miss Ivy. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture. We'll have to have lunch soon and take a pic. :-)

Uncle Jake also stopped by to visit Miss Ivy. Ivy must seem small to Jake who's niece was born in October and weighed 9 lbs at birth!

We are still adjusting to a different schedule, but overall I'd say we are doing well and we are DEFINITELY enjoying our little Miss Ivy.

Home Sweet Home

Hi All.

Today we brought our daughter home. It was and is amazing.

We fed her when we got home and then she took a 3 hour nap in her crib. It was really nice for us to be able to relax a bit as well.

When she woke up we fed her again and then took her for a stroll through the neighborhood, introducing her to trees and the sunshine. She seemed to love being bundled in her stroller. The fresh air was good for us all.

Tonight Ben and I are planning to relax a bit with Miss Ivy and enjoy our first night at home as a family.

Enjoy the pictures.

Welcome to the world Ivy Christine Swinehart

Ivy Christine was born January 27, 2009 at Providence Hospital.
She was 7.12 lbs and 20 inches long. She arrived at 1pm sharp.

Ben and I checked into the hospital at midnight with my contractions less than 5 minutes apart.
Our birth coach Cindy arrived at 1am.
It was slow going and extremely painful for the first 6 hours. Once I decided I wasn't a failure for needing the drugs, we got the epidural and things progressed quicker.
At 11:30 the pushing began and we welcomed Ivy with open arms and lots of tears at 1.

It's 9:15 and we've had a ton of visitors. We are certainly blessed with family and friends. Ben is rocking our little girl as I update everyone and then she'll be ready for a feeding before tucking her into bed.

We are so blessed and excited. She is perfect and we couldn't have asked for anything more.

I will post some of the pictures in a bit. Our connection is pretty slow.


Love,

Lindz, Ben and Ivy.

37 Weeks

I know it's been a LONG time since I last wrote, but I've been busy growing a baby and getting ready for her arrival.

Here's an update of what's going on recently.

We are well.
Ben is back in the swing of things at work and getting ready for his first meet of the new year this weekend in Corvallis.
I am trying to finish things up at work so I don't have any dangling threads if/when I go into labor.

We had a Dr. appt on Monday and things are progressing. I am now 1.5 cm and 25 - 50% efaced. Ivy has dropped and Dr. Bauer could feel the top of her head.YIKES. :-)

This doesn't really give us any idea on when the big day is, but it does tell us that we are progressing so that's nice.
She also said that Ivy is a good size. Probably between 6 and 6.5 lbs right now which is nice.
Her heartbeat was strong and my blood pressure was low, so everything is really good.

I have been loving the cool weather, as I am about 50 degrees hotter than the rest of the world. I am truly carrying around a little heater.I've been having sporadic contractions this week so I am working at home the remainder of the week trying to lay low and get my work done.

Week 37 is considered full term so I would be more than happy to greet little Ivy any day next week...After Ben is back from Corvallis.

See the big pictureHow your baby's growing:

Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.
Your baby weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Fall has arrived...

and with it, the sound of the fog horn. We live at least a mile from the riverbank, but yet today, as I sit at the kitchen table peering out of our new back door into the fog, I hear the fog horn blow 4 times. Eerie. The fog is so thick I can barely see the building behind our property. And, it's COLD! But somehow Charlie-Bill can stand it and he thrives on sitting in his bed on the front porch keeping watch of the street through the fog.


In other news, we finished the nursery this past weekend. Well, really I should say that Andrea and my mom finished the nursery. It would have NEVER gotten done withou them. I am so THANKFUL. Now we wait. Wait for the arrival of the furniture and then the arrival of the little one. YAY! I am getting more excited each day.

Ben and I are trying hard to get pictures taken so we can upload them for y'all to see.
We have a lot to show. The nursery and the new patio.

More later...

Back to Reality

We are back.
We arrived in Ptown at 7 am Sunday and promptly went home and went to bed. We spent a bit of time cuddling with Charlie-Bill, as he wasn't speaking to us.

I'm back at work today and Ben starts back at the pool this afternoon.
We are already missing our luxurious life in Hawaii...Especially the warm weather. We are FREEZING.

I'll post some fun pics from our last days in Kauai later tonight.

Tomorrow we have an ultrasound and Dr. appt. We should get a definite on the baby's sex. Watch for a blog later tomorrow.