One Month Old

Hayden is now more than a month old! I can't believe it how fast time has flown by. We've noticed new changes in her almost everyday. She has definitly gotten quite a bit bigger. She is starting to fill out and get baby fat. She also has a double chin which has proven almost impossible to keep clean. She is making new noises as well. Sometimes it sounds like she is laughing or she will let out a short giggle. She also smiles more and makes better eye contact. I can't believe how fast she is growing up! And I only have 1 more week left to enjoy with her until I go back to work :(

My mom came to stay with us all of last week, which was really nice because she took the night shifts so that I could catch up on my sleep :) She also babysat Saturday night so Mike and I could enjoy a night out. We are also going to a wedding this coming in weekend in St. Cloud and we are spending the night in a hotel both Friday and Saturday night. This is going to be interesting because it will be her first overnighter. Hotels can't kick you out in the middle of the night if your baby is crying to much can they??? I hope not. Although she isn't really too bad, she only really cries when she is hungry. Hopefully it will be all good and I remember to pack everything we will need.

Well.... time for a nap.

Hayden took a bath in the sink. We made a trip to Target together. Thats pretty much all that happened - I know... exciting. Somehow both of these events took almost all day.
I am pretty tired today because Hayden woke up every two hours last night, and I think I know why. I usually swaddle her at night and then she can go about 4 hours in a row. However, when it came time to go to bed last night I had forgotten that I had her swaddle sack in the wash machine and forgot to throw it in the dryer. She only has one right now... I guess I need to get more. Instead of waiting 45 minutes for it to dry and then put her down I just put her in a regular sleeper. Tonight I will not make the same mistake!

On a different note, I just realized that I only have 3 weeks of maternity leave left and then it is back to LabCorp :( Don't get me wrong, I like my job and all, but I could definitly get use to this 'stay at home mom' routine. I even threw the idea at Mike to let me go back to work part time in the evenings. This would let me stay home with her during the day and we wouldn't need daycare. He said maybe in a year or so but not right now because we need the extra money. So I guess we will see how it goes. I'm am mainly nervous about leaving her for 10 hours straight everyday. What if she forgets who I am? What if I miss out on all of her firsts? Luckily the person who will be watching her everyday is a friend who is a stay at home mom with a 1 year old. So I know she will be really good with her and be able to give her lots of attention as oppose to a daycare center or in home daycare where they have 8 million kids to 1 adult.

So I've also decided that I am going to start running again. The Twin Cities has alot of different races throughout the spring/summer/falls months and I really want to get back into it. I miss running and competing in races and I think it will help me get back into shape before I have to fit into a bridesmaids dress come October :)

PS... I think I might make a trip to Tomahawk soon. I am getting cabin fever being in this house all day long everyday, especially since the weather is getting so nice it would be nice to get out of the city and enjoy some time in the good old northwoods.

My Little Leprechuan

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2 Weeks Old

Well, today was Hayden's 2 week checkup. Can you believe she is already 2 weeks old!! I can't. She is growing up so fast and soon will be heading off to college :( Ok... well maybe not soooo soon. Her check up went well. This was pretty much my first alone outing with her which I was a little nervous about. I overpacked her diaper back with way too many things and never once opened it the entire trip out. Hey... I was expecting the worst and at least I was prepared, so there. And although the nurse kept calling her "he" and "him" (I didn't correct her.. after all I did dress her all in dark green and her car seat is brown, green and cream colored.) I think she was a little taken aback when I pulled out a bright pink blanket to swaddle her in after she weighed her. Oh well. It was slightly humerous. She now weighs 7lbs and 10 ounces. So she has gained a whole pound since she has been born. What can I say - she is a bottomless pit, which she gets from her dad. Oh in other big news... her belly button fell off today!! yeah! we are so happy, because I always felt like I had to be so extra careful and manuver around it all the time when changing her.

Grandma Palin also came to visit today so I could go out by myself. I spent two whole hours at Target! I could have probably spent all day at that store though so thats not really a big deal.. but it felt oh so good to get out and not worry about Hayden. I forgot to get my dad's birthday present when I went out though so now I have to take her out with me tomorrow to go get it anyways since my parents are coming to visit on Saturday. Well see how it goes.

Hayden also started sleeping in her own bedroom last night. Mom and dad finally had enough of waking up at every little grunt, moan and cry she would let out during the night. I figure if she is crying I will hear her no problem. I also got her to sleep 4 hours in a row twice last night - which was awesome! I think it had to do with this swaddle sack I started to use. As soon as I wrapped her up in it she calmed down and went right to sleep. We will see if it lasts.

Other than that not much else new here. I am posting a photo of her at 2 weeks old. I know it looks the same as all her other ones... but what can I say the girl loves to sleep in her swing.

1 Week Checkup and Visitors

Hayden had her 1 week check up on Thursday and everything went well! All of our concerns we had, the doctor assured us that they were totally normal (constant hiccups, not wanting to wake up to eat - this little lady loves her sleep! , and congested nose). She has also gained back the weight she had lost when she had left the hospital... which was only 4 oz. but now she is back up to her birth weight, which the doctor says is excellent. Mike and I also noticed that she is already starting to look bigger. I know this is suppose to happen.. but come on! she is only 1 week old and she is already growing up too fast! Oh well, I guess thats how it goes.

I was a little bit nervous about Thursday night because Mike officially went back to work on Friday, and we agreed that I would be the one to get up with Hayden at night while I was still on maternity leave so that he could get his sleep. He just got promoted to store manager and needs lots of rest so we agreed to this arrangement, (except on the weekends of course) and then once I go back to work in 5 more weeks we will go back to taking turns getting up with her. But hopefully by then she won't need to get up quite so much. I think she is actually pretty good though I have nothing to compare her to since she is our first. Last night she only need to get up twice to eat between 11 and 7. So Mike and I only had to each get up once in the night which isn't so bad. Espcially for me, since anyone who knows me knows I love my sleep... which is probably where my daughter gets it from.

This weekend we also had some visitors come. My sister Amy, niece Megan, Amy's friend Emily and her 6 month old daughter Sally came to visit. Everyone was very excited to meet Hayden, especially Megan. She seems to love the role of the 'big cousin'. Amy was kind enough to help out feeding and changing Hayden on Saturday so that Mike and I could catch up on our sleep. She also babysat for a few hours Sat. night so that we could go catch a movie. And I must say as much as I loved getting out alone with my husband for a few hours, I really really missed my baby :(

Well, that is all for now...

First Week Home

Hayden has been in this world for exactly one week now. I delivered her at 12:52am on Thursday, the 26th of February. Unfortunately there were some minor complications during birth. Because my water broke at 8:00am on the 25th and I didn't deliver her until 17 hrs later, the risk of infection was high. Around 11pm I had a fever of 103 and Hayden's heartrate went way up. I was put on Pitocin to increase the contractions and within two hours Hayden was born. The doctor ordered blood tests on both of us to check for infection. Because of this we had to stay in the hospital until Saturday night. Hayden also had to stay in the NICU because she needed to get antibiotics. This was really hard... because I had planned on having her room in with me so I could be with her the entire time. But since she was in the NICU we couldn't take her out and only Mike and I could go in a hold her. I was able to go in every three hours to feed her which was nice. But I was so happy we were able to come home on Saturday night when all her tests came back normal.

The first night home was a little rough as we were trying to establish her sleeping and eating routine. We introduced her to Misha which I was a little bit nervous about, but it went surprisingly well. Misha just sniffed her a little bit and that was about it. I think she is now starting to realize that Hayden is here to stay. Mike and I have been taking turns getting up throughout the night to feed and change Hayden. We are a little sleep deprived right now but each night has gotten a little bit better and I think we are finally starting to establish a good schedule. I am really surprised at how much she has been eating and sleeping though. When we left the hospital on Sat. she would eat about 50 ml in one feeding, and it has only been 4 days and she now eats twice that in a feeding. What a pig!

We gave her her first sponge bath yesterday and although she cried pretty much the entire time I really think she enjoyed being clean again and not smelling like old milk... yuk! As soon as I took her out of the bath, wrapped her in a blanket and held her it wasn't long until she was back to sleep again. We have her first drs. appt tomorrow and it will be the first time we are taking her out. Hopefully all goes well and the dr. says she is doing well in every way.

Well... that is all I have for now. I am posting some pics we have taken during her first few days home.