8 Hours!

As I have mentioned before, we are trying to have more "wake time" with Lyla during the day so she sleeps at night. I really tried working on this yesterday. I don't know if it's a coincidence or what but she went to sleep around midnight and is STILL asleep as I write--yep, 8 hours. I tried waking her to eat about an hour ago but it was hopeless. This may be partly due to her restlessness yesterday afternoon and evening. She just wasn't sleepy at all and was hungry within an hour of just eating. A friend told me she is probably just experiencing a growth spurt that usually occurs at 2-3 weeks and she may want to eat more often for a day or so. While I thoroughly enjoyed the sleep last night, I don't expect her to make a habit of that just yet. However, if I want more of the same, I had better try waking her up again.

Here she is enjoying some relaxing time on her Boppy pillow. Check out her cowlick--she'll be fighting with that her whole life (poor thing).

Two Week Check-Up

Friday was Lyla's two week check-up and our first trip out...just the two of us. Those of you with children will sympathize with my failed attempts to get an early start out the door. MY plan: I got myself ready and the diaper bag packed while she napped--next I planned to wake her up to eat at 1:00, then I would check her diaper and be in the car by 1:40. Sounds perfect, right? LYLA'S plan (her plan won, by the way): she wasn't really wanting to eat at 1:00...sleep sounded much more appealing to her. I know many of you are thinking "if she wants to sleep, let her sleep" but I had it in my head that she would be a fussy girl at the doctor's office when she woke up with an empty stomach so I really wanted her to eat a little something. She ended up taking about an ounce before I had to abandon my plan and just get her in the carseat. Before I strapped her in, though, I thought I should get a good burp out of her. Lyla wanted to drive home the fact that she didn't want to eat to begin with because she spit up probably the entire ounce on herself AND me. So, we both had to change quickly (Lyla in her 3rd onesie of the day--typical girl) before rushing out the door at 1:45. All that being said, thankfully, we were right on time for her appointment. Yes, she is on the verge of tears in this picture because by the time we were back home she was VERY hungry and ready to be out of that carseat.

The appointment went well. The first thing Dr. Rettie said when he entered the room was "wow-she seems so much more mature than a two-week old baby." He commented on how active and alert she is. He and the nurse also noted what a good baby she is (Okay, Mom was proved wrong--guess she didn't need to eat after all. I can admit that). Lyla is almost up to her birth weight at 7 lb 5 oz and it is apparently normal for breastfed babies to be a couple ounces lower at two weeks so she is right on target. Her long fingers and toes don't lie...we have a tall girl on our hands. She measured 21.5 inches long--a good 1.25 inches longer than when she was born! We knew she had grown in length because her newborn onesies weren't long enough anymore but we had no idea she had grown so much! Over all, the doctor said everything looks great and Lyla is doing well. We go back in two weeks for another check-up.

Per a friend's suggestion, I went prepared with a written list of questions and he was very helpful with answering them. Some of you know nursing has been a bit of a struggle but Dr. Rettie gave me some pointers to get Lyla back on track. Due to a low milk supply on my part, Lyla wasn't getting enough to eat in the beginning and we had to pump and bottlefeed supplementing with a little bit of formula now and then. Well, my supply is up but drinking from a bottle has made Miss Lyla not want to work as hard for her milk when nursing. She gets frustrated and even angry because it isn't instant gratification like the bottle. He said she is still young enough that the bottle hasn't done any permanent damage and suggested I try nursing her before she's hungry--her hunger is causing her to get so angry. Now that the weekend is here and I have Seth with me for support and encouragement, we are going to try to go back to nursing today. Pray that it goes well and isn't too frustrating for ANY of us. She is a strong little girl and we know she can do this...we just need to stick with it.

On an unrelated note, I HAVE to include this picture and story. The other night I was busy warming up Lyla's bottle while Seth kept her occupied and content. He held her up close to his face and was talking to her when all of a sudden, she latched right on to his nose and began sucking. It was hilarious!! I was able to get video of it, too which I know she will love watching one day!

Popeye & The Peachtree

Is it normal for parents to have so many nicknames for their kids? Of course, we have the usuals: Angel, Pretty Girl, Beautiful but there's also Little Monkey, Houdini and now Popeye. This picture isn't quite the look we usually get but you get the idea--as Lyla is waking up, her right eye is always a little ahead of her left in opening up. Hence--Popeye!

Lyla's DDaddy Hunt runs in a race in Atlanta every 4th of July called the Peachtree. As with many big races, they take your picture at the finish line and DDaddy is always prepared to pose for the picture with his arms in the air and he always has a great picture to remember the race.

Now, as you have read, Lyla isn't a big fan of being swaddled so once we unwrap her, she stretches like crazy. We like to call this particular stretch "The Peachtree" in honor of her DDaddy. She is just getting ready for all of her photo-finishes.

Thanks for my cute onesie Uncle Ken and Aunt Alison...and no, my butt is too tiny to look big in anything right now. In fact, this onesie is still a little big on me but Mommy couldn't wait for me to wear it.

Wake Time & Sleep Time

We are trying to keep Lyla awake a little more during the day so she sleeps at night. It seems to be working because she slept 4 hours straight last night. I was so thrilled!! During "wake time" today, Lyla sat in her little bouncy seat. She enjoys looking around in it. Many of you have been asking how Lane is dealing with our new addition. He is experiencing slight jealousy but he really is handling it all very well. The hardest part is when we are encouraging Lyla to eat by saying "come on"--Lane trots over as if we are talking to him. He is most curious about Lyla when she is in her seat down on his level. He knows not to get too close but still likes to sniff her as much as possible. So, here they are...Lane and Lyla.

And I can't resist including one of the little angel asleep. She is just too precious!!!

Houdini's First Bath

This entry tells two stories...the bath is self-explanatory but "Houdini" needs some explaining. Before leaving the hospital we got a thorough lesson on "swaddling" Lyla when she goes to bed. Those nurses would get her wrapped up so tight there was no way she could ever dream of escaping. Just when we finally feel like we are getting the hang of it, we find her breaking free somehow. So, Seth started calling her Houdini. He thinks he figured out her trick, though...most of the time when we wrap her up, her legs are bent up close to her body. Apparently, she begins to straighten her legs and slowly works the blankets loose so she can get her arms out. See? She is Houdini!

Lyla's Granny helped us give her her first bath the other night. She was not a big fan of the sponge bath--she cried all the way through it. But she immediately stopped crying when we got around to washing her hair. It's nice to know she is a true girly, girl who loves a nice relaxing shampoo like the rest of us.

Hospital to Home!!

As many of you probably know...

LYLA CLAIRE entered the world on July 10, 2007 at 6:06 pm weighing 7lbs. 7 oz. and measuring 20.25 inches in length. As you can see, she has a full head of dark hair just like both Mommy and Daddy had at birth. Her fingers and toes are soooo long--her Mimi (Grandmother Hunt) says she is bound to be a piano player while Daddy just likes to call her his "Little Monkey."

Lyla had so many visitors in the hospital that we just know she is one loved little baby girl. Here are a couple hospital pictures including pictures with her grandparents, Mimi & DDaddy Hunt and Granny & Paps Martin. They waited very patiently all day Tuesday for their granddaughter to arrive and even were victims of a practical joke from the delivery nurse--the nurse told DDaddy the baby was here, everyone was doing fine and that her name was Ethel. While he wasn't crazy about the name (no offense to all the Ethels out there), he thought he was the keeper of some big secret and wouldn't tell the other grandparents the name. Thank goodness Daddy soon came out and announced her real name before Mimi got the fake name out of him and the whole east coast was buzzing over it. (Just teasing, Mom.)

Paps and Granny are happy to welcome their third granddaughter. Now they have all the hair colors covered...red, blonde and dark brown. Lyla can't wait to play with her cousins, Maisie & Jamie who have started her wardrobe off right with some beautiful clothes. She will never be naked, that's for sure--she has more clothes than I have!

I wish I could say the first night home went as smoothly as the trip home itself but I cannot. However, Mommy and Daddy are working as a team to meet Lyla's needs and are also making sure Lane (big brother) is getting plenty of love and attention. I'll close on that note with a couple pictures of the newly-formed Martin family. Will try to stay in touch. Love all of you!

And we're off!!!

Mimi & D-Daddy Hunt just arrived and we are off to dinner and then to the hospital!

We appreciate your prayers over the next several hours and look forward to announcing Little Miss Martin's arrival soon.

NEW Countdown: 4 days...

Our little girl has been described by the doctor as either stubborn or comfortable. I prefer to think comfortable is more accurate but there's a good chance there's some stubbornness in there, too. Basically, if she has not arrived by Monday, I will be induced Monday night at 8 p.m. The doctor wanted to give her a few days to come out on her own.

Many people have given us their suggestions for speeding up the process and we thank you all. We will be having tacos with a little extra spicy kick tonight for dinner. We'll see how it goes...

I don't really have any new pictures but I feel like the posts look empty without at least one. This is from last Friday. Hope the next post has a picture of our precious little girl!!!

John's Birthday

Uncle John was disappointed that his niece will not share his birthday, June 30th, but he had a good birthday dinner just the same. Here are a couple pictures of the occassion including one of Jamie "feeling the baby kick." (The baby was not moving at all but don't tell her that.)

Seth and I took full advantage of what is potentially our last Sunday alone by napping for a couple hours in the den this afternoon. We know those opportunities will soon be a thing of the past so we soaked it up.

Oh, something all of you who know and love me will appreciate--I pulled my groin yesterday making the bed. I tried to nudge the mattress over with the outside of my leg. Not exactly a muscle I need to be sore going into labor but there isn't much I can do about it now. Typical.