2 weeks!!

My little love bug is two weeks old already! Wow has it gone by fast!  Between feedings and attempting to nap occasionally I feel like I never really get anything done, but I remind myself that taking care of my daughter is a big thing is the most important thing on my to do list! I did manage to clean in the kitchen yesterday for a while, I felt so accomplished :)
Adam has been such a big help.  I can't even imagine doing this without him.  For a guy who has never changed a diaper two weeks ago, he is very experienced now.  I did not even change a single diaper the first few days. I can already tell that Amaia loves her daddy :)  Of course, she doesn't "play" too much yet, but I really do feel like she lights up a bit more when they play together.
We went to the pediatrician today for her two week check up and she weighed 7 lbs 10 oz and has gained about an inch in length since her birth.  She is not quite back to her birth weight, but the past week she has been gaining the right amount of weight per day - yea, yea, yea!!  Seeing her weight gain really lifted a weight off my shoulders.  Breastfeeding has been much more stressful than I ever imagined.  I just thought that such a natural process wouldn't require such hard work and perseverance,  but it seems like what we have been doing is working and I think that she catching on more and more.  The doctor seemed happy with her weight gain and thought she looked great and I can now start letting her sleep for 4 hours at night, which means an extra hour of sleep for mom - woo hoo!!
I attempted to take some pictures of her by myself today, but it wasn't the easiest.  I think she will be much easier to take pictures of when she can hold her head up by herself.

We spend a lot of time together in this chair in the middle of the night.

 Amaia waves "bye bye" to everyone!

Pictures of Amaia

Funny Face

Sleeping Beauty

Just a real quick update on our little girl.  I can't believe she will be two weeks old in just a few days.  The days go by so quickly!! We are all doing well and getting to know one another.  Our main goal right now is getting Amaia to be a good eater and put some weight on.  She needs to learn that to be a part of our family means you like to eat :)  She was slow to catch on to feeding well and I think she is doing better now, but I am eager and a little nervous to go to the pediatrician tomorrow.  You can be praying for that!  I will write more of an update soon, but I wanted to share a few quick pictures.  Our good friends Justin and Allison also came over and took some wonderful pictures of her.  They are much better than any pictures I can take :)
If you are interested: http://justinsalemmeyer.zenfolio.com/p350747807

The wait is over...

Please allow me to introduce you to the new love of our life:

Amaia Ruth Horning

Amaia Ruth Horning was born February 19 at 5:43 am.  She weighed 8 lbs.  She has dark hair and dark eyes and she is just beautiful.
We are all home now and getting adjusted to our new life together.  Everyone is doing well, but I admit we are tired - all three of us :)
I will have to write more details about her birth day later, but it went very well.  No complications, she is "perfect" according the pediatrician and I did make it through her birth without an epidural or other pain medication.  I really wanted to do it that way, but wasn't sure if I would be able to.  I feel like I should be a bit proud of myself for that, but there are way too many other things occupying my mind I guess.
I look forward to sharing more cute and fun pictures with you all soon!!  But please forgive me if I am slightly MIA for a bit.  I now understand why new parents are so busy :)

Squished

I just want to meet this cute face already!!!!

 

We had a non-stress test and an ultrasound today just to make sure everything is going okay in there and our baby girl is doing great.  Heartbeat is good.  Fluid level is very good - which could be part of the reason that labor isn't coming very quickly.  And our baby girl is still a a girl :) Yea! Also, she is not small - probably about 8 pounds right now.

We are extra excited to meet her now!!  And believe me I have been walking every night after work, eating eggplant and spicy foods, and all kinds of other things.  I am hopeful that something will happen tonight or at least this weekend.  I will keep you all updated!! 

Still here!

Yes, I'm still pregnant :)   We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little one.  I say anxiously, but I really am content with waiting until she is ready.  I have been feeling well for the most part.  I have the swelling and a sore back, etc….the normal end of pregnancy woes I guess, but all in all I have had it pretty good.  I will say that I am getting really eager to meet her, see what she looks like and learn about her personality.  It is still so amazing and exciting to me that she is parts of both Adam and I and am excited to see how that plays itself out!  Plus, I would mind having the whole labor portion of this process behind me.  My main prayers have been that labor would go smoothly, that our little girl and myself are both safe and healthy through it all and that I would not need to be induced!!  I have a dr. appointment this afternoon, so hopefully I have made some more progress.

Although I am ready to meet this girl, it was such a nice weekend of sunshine and nice weather and fun things!! On Friday night Adam and I were able to go to a couple's night at church, that was wonderful and I was really hoping to go to.  I also got to go on several walks this weekend in some gorgeous weather.  Yesterday, Adam and I celebrated Valentine's day by conducting our own chocolate tour around town.  I so wish that I would have taken my camera on our excursion, but I failed at that!  At the end of our journey we decided that chocolaterie stam is by far our favorite and next year we are only going there!!   I'm not entirely sure how Adam has been married to me for 2+ years and has only recently discovered his love for chocolates, but I think he is now a fully converted chocolate lover :)   It was just really reminded this weekend of the wonderful man that I have for a husband.  He is so good at loving me, so fun to be with and I definitely consider him to be the greatest blessing that God has placed in my life.  It was so refreshing to get to spend some extra time with him before our lives get a little crazier very soon.

39 Week Update

So here is what Adam looks like at 39 weeks ;)

 And here is what our family is looking like these days...

 Okay, I just had to post these pictures.  We had our last labor class last night and I will admit that I was looking forward to the empathy belly since signing us up for class.  After getting slightly freaked out by the 500 million things that can potentially go wrong during birth, this was the perfect thing to lighten the mood.  It was just so funny to watch the dads put this on and try to tie their shoes, turn over while laying down, etc.  I was nervous that we weren't going to be able to get through all of our classes, but we have officially graduated and can have our baby now!!
I am feeling sort of "ready" though.  At least I feel about as ready as one can be for such a big life change.  I'm just excited to meet this mystery girl already!

Finishing Touches

I put up my poof balls!!  Well, really Adam put them up,  while I sat in the chair and watched.   He told me all he needed me to do was sit there and look pretty, so that is what I did :)
I also received the most wonderful gift this weekend.  My grandma had a quilt made for our baby girl and I LOVE the way it turned out!  I think it is about the most beautiful thing I have ever received.  These pictures don't do it justice at all.
Please ignore the weird look on my face...apparently I was practicing for a driver's license picture.

I went to the doctor again this week, but no major progress.   She has moved down a little bit more in the past week and is still in the head down position (yea!!) but the doctor said she still thought it would be awhile.   I think she should stay put for awhile.  There is quite the blizzard outside tonight and I figure the farther away from cold and flu season we can get the better!