First Smile

No words needed...

First Christmas

Merry Christmas!

To celebrate Christmas we went to Mimi's house on Christmas Eve. This was with my mom's side of the family.  We had a yummy Italian dinner (Daryl's choice for his 55th birthday), had lots of entertainment from the little ones, and enjoyed each other's company. I would say this was one of our more chaotic gift opening. We had Garret- 4 (almost 5), Hudson- 2 1/2, Callista almost 2, Isaac-1, and Ashley 5 weeks. Garret was ecstatic about every single gift he received! Hudson was totally uninterested, especially once he opened his Gator Golf, Callista didn't pay too much attention, just ran around and played with any toys laying around. Isaac's current obsession is balls, so there were occasional balls being thrown across the room to keep him entertained. Ashley did her fair share of adding to the noise with her crying. She did settle down after a bit. The scary thing is, next year we will have 2 extra ones, that will be three close to one year olds added to the group! I can't wait!

The 2 G's and their new boots!

Callista sporting Ashley's head band

 For Christmas morning we opened presents at home, Ashley got her first Bible from Santa. Mommy got a video camera to record all of the fun and new things Ashley will be doing this year and daddy got a new digital camera to take pictures of Ashley and his birds  :)

Papa and Awma and the other aunts and uncles are celebrating Christmas in Mexico this year with Luke and Allison, so we had gifts from them stored under our tree to open Christmas morning. Ashley got books, a swimsuit, and some toys from them. And cousin Claira sent some books as well.

After we finished with our Christmas, we went to my mom's to celebrate with my siblings and parents. This proved to be more entertainment for us. We decided not to exchange gifts for the adults this year, but just to by for the 5 little ones.  Out of the 5, only 2 had the capability of actually opening gifts, so the adults were still opening majority of the gifts anyway.

Callista and her new baby

Hudson's favorite gift

Do you want to play pool with me?

Daddy and mommy went to visit Tate in the NICU and that left Papa, Gigi, and Mimi to watch Ashley for a couple of hours. I am told she was only a little fussy. :) Tate on the other hand was doing great. He weighed over 5 pounds and the doctor told them he might be able to be home before New Year's- that's only one week away! We hope he can keep getting stronger and drink all of his bottles so that everyone can spend more time with him!
We spent the rest of the day at Papa and Gigi's and had a delicious Christmas dinner that Gigi made and played board games
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Happy Birthday Jesus!

First Road Trip

We went on our first road trip as a family last Thursday. We went to Topeka to deliver some things to one of Daddy's buildings for work. Ashley had a great time.

Here we are heading out of town, looking out the window.

She lasted about 20 minutes and then slept the rest of the way.

When we got there we had lunch at the Copper Oven-Nate's new favorite restaurant. We have yet to try the one in Wichita and see if they have the same foods.
Then we went back to the building where daddy had some work to do and we Ashley ate lunch and then got a tour of the place, again she slept through that.
Next we went to the Tag Office to register a company vehicle, why are those places so nasty? We waited for about 40 minutes and then they called our number and Ashley woke up ready to eat. So we waited in the car for another 40 minutes for daddy to finish registering the vehicle (why are those places so slow?).
Then we headed back to Wichita where again Ashley slept the whole way home! She did a great job!

1 month old

Today you are one month old. The month went way too quickly.  We've loved every minute of it, even the ones when you won't stop crying or the ones where you spit up all over us. You have been a good baby and really pretty easy. You like sleeping in our bed (and mom likes it too). During the night, you wake up about every two and a half to three hours to eat. About 3 nights ago, you slept for 5 hours straight during the night, that was awesome, but certainly a fluke. You have had some 4 hour stretches here and there though. Mom doesn't mind, it's just extra time to get to hold you! You do like to be held, your favorite way is to be upright against someone's shoulder. I think that's because you have a lot of gas and that feels best on your tummy. :) When we do hold you like that, you do a great job at holding your head up, you are really working hard at that. You love to have your hands up by your face and you've been like that since birth. Every time we swaddled you, you always wiggled your hands free. When you sleep you like to hold your hands up by your face too. You like to listen to daddy's voice, you always open your eyes really wide and watch him when he is holding you. We love your big beautiful blue eyes. We are constantly guessing what color they will be. You are a noisy breather/eater. It's nice at times because we can easily tell if you are awake or asleep without looking just based on the way you are breathing. You are now in size 1 diapers, and out of the newborn size. You can even fit into some 3 month sleepers (but you still have room to grow). 2 weeks ago you weighed 8lbs 11oz, my guess is that by now you are around 10lbs! We are so blessed to have you in our family, and are excited to celebrate your first christmas this week!

Happy Birthday Isaac

Ashley went to her first birthday party, cousin Isaac turned one on 12-18. She slept through most of the party in Mimi's arms

It seems a bummer to go to your first birthday party and not be able to enjoy the sweets, no cupcake for Ashley, but Hudson got to have one...

I'm pretty sure he liked it!

 Ashley did get plenty of love and attention from Callista...

It was a fun day for everyone, Happy Birthday Ike!

4 weeks old 12-18-10

Bath time

Ashley's second bath went much better than the first. She did not cry at all...until we took her out.

Tummy time

Ashley has started doing some tummy time, she doesn't seem to mind it. Her neck is getting pretty strong.

First Bath

Ashley's umbilical cord fell off on Sunday. She was 22 days old. I was hoping it would fall off soon because that meant she could have her first real bath! She was not really a fan. She did okay at the beginning (like the first 30 seconds), but eventually decided it was no fun.

First Church Sunday

 Ashley is 3 weeks old and we finally made it to church. She did very well! Although, I knew she would be noisy, so we did have to step outside so that she wouldn't distract others. If she's in her car seat and it is on the floor, you couldn't really hear her. Of course we wanted to hold her, so when we got her out you could tell immediately she was too loud and a distraction to the people around us. So, dad held her outside for awhile and then we switched. It's a little weird (but fun) to be part of the mommy group who sits in the gathering area with their babies!

Cousin Callista was at church today. She was very happy to see Baby Ashley. And Callista had baby with her, they had matching dresses. It was adorable!



Another doctor's appointment

We went to doctor again on Wednesday. We weighed Ashley and she is at 8lbs 11 oz. She is a growing girl! It's typical to gain an ounce a day, but she likes to gain more like 2 a day. She gained 11 oz since her last weigh in. Dr. said she was doing good in that department. He went ahead and ordered another test of her billirubin levels. He said she looked a lot better than last week, but her shoulders, head, and eyes are still pretty yellow. The results came back at 13.2 (down from 13.4 the previous week). Dr. wants to see her again in a week and check again. I'm thinking this should be over by now, I hope it's nothing to be concerned over. I have yet to determine what level is average/acceptable for a 2 1/2 week old baby.

Our little piglet

Ever since birth Ashley has been a loud breather/eater. When we questioned it at the hospital, they said it was from the suctioning they did at birth, when we questioned it at the Dr. he said she was congested. The more people we meet, the more quesitons we get about why she is so loud and breathes funny. We took her a specialist who says she has Tracheomalacia. This occurs when the cartilage in the windpipe (trachea) has not developed properly. Instead of being rigid, the walls of the trachea are floppy. Because the windpipe is the main airway, breathing difficulties begin soon after birth. This was encouraging to know that it is not something serious and that she really isn't too bothered by it. The disappointing news was that it could take up to 18 months for her to breathe normally. It certainly makes her unique...you will know when we are in the room that's for sure.

Here's a video for you to hear her... Also she likes to sleep with one eye open to keep on eye on us all :)

First Shopping Trip

Cousin Hudson came over to play with us on Tuesday. It was some much needed Hudson time for me and Ashley enjoyed being hugged and kissed and squeezed really tight by Hudson. Other than a couple of visits to the hospital and Thanksgiving, Hudson hadn't seen/spent time with Ashley. So we decided he needed to have some quality time, what better thing to do than go to Toys R Us! Hudson found something on every aisle that caught his attention, he was loving it. Ashley slept the entire time. We ended up being there for over 2 hours. I was able to get a few christmas presents bought for the little ones, so it was time well spent.

Christmas Party

On Monday we went to Nate's work Christmas party at the Hereford House. We debated about taking her along, but decided everyone would enjoy seeing her and since we are breastfeeding and I haven't been pumping yet, we didn't have any milk for someone else to feed her. So, she came along. She got to wear a cute Christmas outfit and everyone loved her! I left like three times to feed her and then tried to get her to sleep before I went back in to the party, but she just wasn't ready to sleep. So, I missed about half of the party, but oh well it was a fun adventure out as a family. Afterwards we stopped by and said Happy Birthday to Uncle Jacob (14!!!!) and took some family pictures.

Second week at home

Monday morning we went to the doctor to have her billirubin levels checked once again. They had decreased from the Thanksgiving test, so Dr said to stop using the light and see what happens after 24 hours. So, went and tested again on Tuesday, still another decrease, but not quite enough, so we went back again on Wednesday for what we hoped would be the last test. It came back at a 13.2, so Dr said we could return the light. No complaints here. We also had her weighed on Tuesday and she was at 8lbs. She gained 14 oz in 6 days. Way to go! Other than going to the doctor for the first three days of the week, we didn't have too many outings. We did stop by daddy's work after the Dr on Monday and met his coworkers. The best part of the week was Friday. Daddy took the afternoon off from work and we put up our Christmas tree!

Ashley's First Christmas Stocking made by Aunt Wilma

First Thanksgiving

We headed over to Thanksgiving lunch at the Wadsworth's for my families festivities, Ashley wore her adorable Thanksgiving outfit that Gigi bought her. When she bought it, we weren't sure if she would get to wear, we are glad she came early to join us for thanksgiving, and of course she looked adorable in her outfit.

We stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed home for an afternoon nap (for all three of us really). Then for dinner, we went to Nate's parents for festivities with them. Aunt Caitlin and cousin Claira were in town and Ashley got to meet them for the first time. As well as Aunt Debbie (Nate's aunt), and the Grossman's (Caitlin's family).

First week at home

On Wednesday morning we headed to our doctor's office for a follow up on her billirubin levels. They tested her and found she had increased by 4 mg, all the way up to an 18 (this was the highest level she reached throughout this time). We also had her weighed and she was at 7lbs 2 oz. The lowest she was in the hospital was 7lbs, so she had gained 2oz. The doctor ordered for us to have a billi-blanket at home and keep her on the lights.  I was certainly thankful that it was the blanket and not the "bed" lights because we could at least still hold her with the blanket on (as annoying as it was- because of all of the cords). So, she spent all of Wednesday evening/night in the blanket. On Thursday, (Thanksgiving, more on her first holiday in the next post) we had to go to the Wesley ER to have her levels checked again since the doctors offices were closed for the remainder of the week. That turned out to be frustrating because when we got there, they told us they had never received any orders for the test. Nate worked his magic and got us in for the test in no time.
The test involves pricking the heel and then filling a small tube with blood- she hates it, cries every time, I can imagine it hurts, plus by now her heels are covered in scabs because we've done the test close to 10 times. When the doctor called with the results, he said the level had gone down, but only by about .4 of a mg. So, they said to continue with the lights for the weekend and then to have her tested again on Monday morning.

You can't see all of the billi-blanket, but she wasn't able to put her arms down because it came up to her arm pits. Also, notice the red mark on her arm pit, it must have rubbed on her. I felt sorry for her. Although, she does love to have her arms by her face. She has constantly done that since birth, hard to keep her swaddled up.

We kept her on the lights as much as possible, but the lights had to be plugged in, so we stayed home and hung out with daddy for the rest of the week. We had visitors continually stop by, some out of towners got to come and see her since they were here for Thanksgiving, including Aunt Abby who came in from Denver. Nate even braved the Black Friday sales and got a christmas present for me! It was great to have daddy with us all week. We loved all the time he spent with us.

Our never ending hospital stay

We had quite an array of visitors during our stay at the hospital. Nate and I were so exhausted, Saturday seems like a blur, but for the most part all of the (in town) family made it up to see her by the time the day was over.

We did end up sending Ashley to the nursery overnight so that we could try and get some sleep. They brought her back every few hours to nurse, so it worked out well for us to get some sleep. On Sunday, the pediatrician came by and looked Ashley over and was somewhat concerned about her breathing and the fluid that was in her lungs at birth. They said she had quite a bit amniotic fluid in her lungs that they worked hard to suction out. The pediatrician requested us to stay for one more day.

Sunday night, we kept Ashley in our room until about 2am and then sent her to the nursery again. At some point on Sunday evening they began running tests that they typically do at 24 hours old. Monday morning, the neo natologist came by to check Ashley's lungs, and he thought she looked good and the x-ray came by good as well. So, we seemed to be in the clear of any lung issues to keep us there any longer. When the nurse came in, she said that her billirubin levels were high and doctor ordered her to be under lights. So, she spent the day under the lights, this was no fun because we weren't supposed to hold her except when she was eating. She had to wear those silly eye glasses and she was not a fan.

By Monday evening, her levels had increased and the doctor ordered an additional light to be brought in. I was discharged from the hospital, but Nate and I were both allowed to stay and keep our room as Ashley's "Caregivers." We kept Ashley in the room again until about 2 or 3am and then sent her to the nursery for a few hours rest. She still had to be under the lights in the nursery and when the nurse brought her back she said she broke 2 pairs of the eye glasses she was wearing! I told you, she was not a fan! By mid Tuesday, her levels had dropped some so we were able to take her off of the lights for the rest of the day and then have her levels checked again in the eveing, thankfully she seemed to have leveled off so we were released to go HOME!!!

We made it home about 9:30 Tuesday night and were so thankful to be in our house, in our shower, and in our bed! Nate was certainly ready to get out of there, he didn't have the most comfortable bed, plus there was nothing to do in the hospital all day. I would have to say one of Nate's favorite parts of the stay was the fridge with the sign that said "Food is for mom's only"  :)   His favorite was the blueberry muffins! He ate most of his meals out of that fridge, but in all fairness, I really didn't each much out of there, so he was just having my share.