Time

Us through the ages...and a little bit more

Nowadays
(I did a poor job getting rid of Tyler's glasses...so it looks a little funny sometimes)Babies
(a little creepy, I think)
ChildrenOld folksAfro-Caribean (that's what they called it) East-AsianWest-AsianShe/He and He/She
ModiglianiManga CartoonApe menhttp://morph.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk//Transformer/

Well...

Danica is now 3 weeks old!
It's so crazy how time flies, but it also feels like she's been here for a lot longer. She is still such a sweet and content baby. She is very alert. They say newborns don't smile intentionally until about 6 weeks or so, but I feel like she's going to sooner. There's just some spark or something in those eyes when we talk to her... who knows.

A lot has happened since she's been born... and also not very much. (I need to be better at documenting things!) We did have a couple of appointments, though, with a pediatrician. At her 5 day appointment everything was looking great. She had gained weight and seems to be eating great.
Her stat's at that appointment (8/6) were:
Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz - 24%
Head: 13.18" - 14%
Length: 19.52" - 44%

Since then we've had a 2 week appointment. Danica is healthy and growing.
Her stat's at that appointment (8/19) were:
Weight: 7 lbs 13 oz - 28%
Head: 13.97" - 31%
Length: 20.5" - 51%

So she's growing! She's probably over 8 lbs now.
She still spends her time reading, composing music, painting, eating, sleeping, and going potty! She's especially good at those last three.

Here are some pictures from her first bath:

Songs

I need your help.

I'm trying to remember all those cool songs my parents sang to me when I was younger. (Well, my parents and Sharon, Lois and Bram...anyone else watch that show?)
I want to sing songs to Danica and figured having a list of all sorts of songs will help me branch out from "Waddly Acha" and "Fish and Chips and Vinegar"

Any suggestions?

What songs do you remember from your childhood?

All Alone

Well, except for Danica!

Today is my first day alone with Danica. Tyler's back at work and my mom is back home. So far, so good.

Danica is now 8 days old. She is such a mellow baby right now and I love it. She is very alert too. Coming home from the hospital she weighted 6 lbs 4 oz and at her 5 day check up she weighed 6 lbs 15 oz. So she's likely over 7 lbs now!

Tyler is such a great dad. The nurses were surprised with how helpful he was at the hospital. Watching him interact with Danica at home is so cute too. She's gonna be Daddy's girl.

It was so great to have my mom here with me last week. I miss her and I'm sure I'll be calling her up a lot more often asking for her great advice and giving updates on Dani.

This is on her actual due date (Aug.5th). I thought her hands were so funny
This is Dani at one week old!

It's Mommy and Daddy now

Danica Shay Pearson was born!

Last Tuesday (July 28th), I went in for my doctor's appointment and I was dilated to a 2 and my cervix was soft. Because of my progression, my doctor told me that I could be induced the next day, if I wanted. That surprised me. I told him I'd like to talk to Tyler about it. I talked to a few friends about it, too, to get their advice.
Well, we decided to set up the induction for Monday, August 2nd.
On Saturday, August 1st, Tyler and I spent the morning sewing outfits and getting ready for a costume party taking place that night. Because it was a Disney themed birthday party, we decided to dress up like Pacha and Chicha from The Emperors New Groove. (She is the only Disney character I could think of that's pregnant.) Throughout the morning I told Tyler, "I think I might be having contractions, but I'm not sure."
That afternoon I started to curl my hair for the party and was feeling pain every couple/few minutes so I decided to go down stairs so Tyler and I could measure the time between contractions. They were varying 2 to 4 minutes apart. Since it wasn't consistent we weren't sure if we should head to the hospital. Finally, I told Tyler, "I don't think I can take it anymore. I want to go to the hospital."
When we got inside the hospital, at about 7:15pm, I couldn't walk so we got a wheel chair. Every minute (it seemed) I was having a contraction. The nurse checked me out, and this was our conversation:
"You're dilated to a 4... no wait, a 5. You're just melting away! On a scale from 1 to 10 how would you rate your pain?"
"Well, since I know it's going to get worse, I'd have to say an 8."
"At what number would you like your epidural?"
"As soon as possible."
"So already?"
"Of course already! Hello! That's what I meant when I said, 'as soon as possible,' you idiot!" (No, I didn't actually say that. I just wanted to...instead I just said, "Yeah" with the least amount of energy as possible.)
So, shortly later, in walks this Heavenly being with a needle and few other supplies.
The anesthesiologist was already at the hospital, so in no time, the epidural was working wonders! I loved it!! At that point I was at 6 cm and it was about 8:00.
I kept progressing at a good rate and by 11:30 the nurse checked me again and could feel Danica's head. I was complete and at 10 cm, so she decided to call my doctor. Because I was so close she gave me the options of pushing her out or letting my doctor use forceps to take her out. I've heard Dr. Judd is the Master At Forceps, so after consideration, we decided to go that route.
Dr. Judd arrived shortly after midnight. Because Danica was turned 90 degrees, he had to use the forceps anyway.
7-ish hours of labor and one push later Danica was born!

Here are pictures from her birth day.

By the way... this is my 100th post!