Happy Easter Bunny!

As a child, I combined Easter Bunny and Happy Easter into one phrase, and it was used a lot this weekend. Grandma and Grandpa Schaeffer arrived on Friday to see Isabel and we had a great visit. Not only did Isabel get lots of Grandma and Grandpa time, they were a bit help with preparing meals, doing laundry, dishes and grocery shopping. Grandma also really enjoyed getting to put her newborn nursery nurse skills to good use and Isabel received many "professional burps and diaper changes."

Since Isabel was only 10 days old on Easter Sunday Mommy and Dad decided to stay home with Isabel while Grandma and Grandpa went to mass. Later on Easter Sunday they prepared a yummy Easter dinner and we still have leftovers to enjoy! After dinner we converted Isabel's cradle into an easter basket, complete with eggs and her new duck blanket that Great Aunt Monica brought her. (she also brought the adorable Easter Bunny shoes Isabel is seen wearing)

Bathtime with Mommy and Grandma. Isabel's stump fell off Monday, but we are letting it dry out a bit before giving her a real bath. For now Isabel doesn't seem to mind her sponge baths, except for the whole hair washing part.
Easter family photo. We used the timer and tripod. I am looking forward to getting some better family pictures of both sides of the family at Isabel's baptism in April.
Dad sure loves his little girl!

Isabel with her Grandpa Schaeffer...
...and Grandma Schaeffer.

And with all the talk of college costs sky rocketing in the upcoming years, Isabel has decided she better start reading the Business section to determine how to manage her 529 plan. Maybe she'll be able to teach mommy and dad a thing or two.

Happy 1 Week Birthday Isabel

Its hard to believe that as of 3:59 today, Isabel will already be a week old! She is such a blessing and we cannot imagine life without her. Each day she continues to have more and more awake time, which is especially fun for mommy and dad.

We received great news yesterday when the Cardiologist called us back with the results of Isabel's holter monitor. He saw nothing unexpected and she still has the extra beats (about 3000 extra beats detected out of about 200 000 for the 24-hour period--which if accurate is a decrease from the 4 to 5 extra beats per minute they heard when they detected te PACs in the first place). So, he maintains his expectation that everything is fine but wants to see her back in 4 to 6 weeks for another EKG and again at about 4 months (for another holter monitor) to be sure. That was a nice relief for mommy and dad. Below is a picture of our bionic baby from her first holter monitor test. I'm assuming that when we go back in 4 months it will be a little more difficult to keep the leads on her. This time the worst part was taking off the leads, as they really stuck to her delicate skin.

Great Aunt Cindy in Texas sent Isabel a bouquet of clothes. We thought it was a really neat idea and Isabel is looking forward to wearing the new outfit.

"Isaburrito" as we like to call her. Like most babies, Isabel loves to be swaddled. It took a little practice but we have a system down that works.

Dad's little monkey. Dad thinks Isabel looks like a baby spider monkey, and has started calling her monkey. While walking around with her yesterday he saw this view in the mirror and thought it was picture worthy, since she looked pretty silly (and apparently like a baby monkey)

Its hard to be a baby when your hat is just a little too big and keeps falling over your eyes. I don't think she minds it though.

Of course the pugs are feeling a bit neglected with this new "thing" in the house. They are very curious and are adapting to her well. This morning we let the pugs sniff Isabel and give a few licks. She didn't seem to mind the licking, but dad was a bit concerned so we didn't let the licking last.
Isabel is looking forward to meeting her Grandma and Grandpa Schaeffer who are driving up from SC on Friday. Only 51 more weeks until Isabel gets to enjoy her first birthday cake. And I hope those 51 weeks creep by :).

Isabel Renee

To re-cap, Isabel Renee joined us at 3:59pm on March 13th weighing in at 7lbs 8oz and 20" in length. She arrived healthy and happy and we are all settling into our life as a family. Geoffrey and I both love being parents and it really is amazing the amount of love you instantly feel for your child. We arrived home from the hospital Saturday evening and after a rough first night, have been blessed with 2 nights of very little fussing. She is quite the eater and nurses about every 2 to 3 hours. I've actually felt pretty good on the sleep I'm getting, as when she sleeps, I sleep :). Dad has done a great job of taking care of mom and even brought me breakfast in bed the first two mornings! The pugs are adjusting well and are VERY interested in this little thing that makes funny noises. They have gotten to sniff her and General has given a few licks.

We had our first pediatrician's appointment yesterday and she got an A+. She is just 2oz shy of her birth weight which was a relief to mom, since now I know she is definitely getting enough to eat :). We also had to take Isabel to a pediatric cardiologist, as they discovered she was having some extra heartbeats (called PACs - Premature Atrial Complexes) while at the hospital. This was the second time we met with the cardiologist, (who is fantastic). He feels the PACs are probably the harmless kind, since everything else is normal, but still wants to watch her. She was hooked up to a holter monitor, and has 5 leads attached to her chest and a bundle of wires attached to a data recorder. We call her the bionic baby and will get a picture, as its pretty silly looking :). Once the doctor confirms that they are the harmless kind of PACs we won't have anything to worry about, as it won't matter whether or not they fade with time. Our pediatrician said the PACs must be there so that we have something to worry about, since she is such a healthy baby otherwise.

This is the first of what will be many installments of pictures. With 3 different digital cameras in the home it will take a while to sort through them all. And when you have such a beautiful baby to look at, blogging takes a back seat.

Isabel got to meet her Uncle Kevin and Uncle Eric in the hospital on Friday night. She is looking forward to meeting her Uncle Peter and Uncle Jerry soon :).

Although we weren't able to pull off a basketball win over UNC Saturday, Isabel still proudly displayed her "baby hokie" hat when we left the hospital.

Isabel was born on Cousin Rita's birthday (well really, Grandpa Schaeffer's cousin). So it was fitting that the blanket she wore home from the hospital was made by cousin Rita! It sure is warm and kept her nice and toasty for the car ride home.


And finally, a little video. Not that babies this age do all that much, but I still thought it was fun :).

Enjoy! We'll get more pictures up as we have time.

Practice Makes Perfect, Right?

Seems I've been having A LOT of practice contractions (also known as Braxton Hicks). So much in fact that early Sunday morning Geoffrey and I thought it was the real deal. Early Saturday afternoon I was having contractions, but they were short and spaced far apart, no biggie. So we went to a party that evening and had a great time. During the party I started noticing more contractions until a point where I told Geoffrey we should go. On the car ride home they got stronger and were 45 seconds long, 3 minutes apart and very regular. So we got home, called the doctor and doula, gathered the bags etc and headed to the hospital. I got checked at the hospital and no dilation = no labor and was sent home. The contractions continued at home with greater intensity and length (I would also call these pain) until 8 am the next morning when they went away and I could get some sleep. So hopefully this is my body's way of getting ready for labor, or else Isabel is just playing games with me. Now I seem to be getting contractions pretty frequently, but until I'm in major pain or they are super long, I'm not even going to bother timing.

Instead, I'm focusing on little things around the house. I've been working on the baby book some and hope to get all the "pre-baby" sections filled out today. I'd attempt to "nest" something, but the house is actually very clean and organized at the moment, thanks to some work I did on Saturday, so from here on out all we can really do is wait.

The Nursery

The nursery is just about complete. The only thing left to finish is a project Geoffrey and I have been working on for a few weeks. We built (well Geoffrey mostly built) 6 model airplanes and began painting them this weekend. Geoffrey is then going to make a mobile with them. So, if you hadn't already guessed it, the theme for Isabel's nursery is planes. It definitely is not a room you will find from the pages of Pottery Barn, but I really enjoyed trying to find a way to use airplanes, while still having the room be fun and girly. I think it worked.

This is the view from the nursery when walking into the room. No, we don't plan on putting Isabel in a real bed, but at the suggestion of my mom and a few other nursing mommies, decided to leave the bed so I would have a place to rest or nurse during the middle of the night. It also allows us to keep 2 bedrooms available for guests, since Isabel will be staying in our room for the first few months.

Above the crib hangs 5 different airplane photos, including one of the Wright Brothers' first flight. The sheep on the end of the crib is a "sleep sheep" and plays different noises that are supposed to help sooth a baby.

I painted letters spelling out ISABEL to hang above the changing table/dresser. Geoffrey suggesting hanging the letters in the "crooked" pattern, as he said the letters should be fun, since little kids are fun.

Hopefully little Isabel will like airplanes as much as her dad. But if not, the pictures can easily be replaced with whatever hobbies she takes interest in.

Sooner Rather than Later???

All along during this pregnancy journey, I'd gotten it in my head that first babies are late and just carried along in my head that Isabel would probably arrive a week or two after March 15th. So it came as quite a shock when I went for my 38 week checkup on Friday to have the doctor tell me to plan on this Friday being my last day. Isabel has definitely dropped and is at a minus 1 station (for those of you up on your birthing lingo). No dilation yet, but I am 75% effaced. After telling me I should stop working in a week, the doctor also said he believes Isabel will arrive in a week to 10 days. Not that there is any exact science to predicting all of this, but the doc sounded pretty confident. So provided I make it through this week, Friday, March 7th will be my last day of work as a full time employee. Wow. After that I will take about 10 weeks off post Isabel and then return to work part-time, working 2 days a week. I can't wait.

I've been crossing things off the to-do list, now that my timeline has been moved up a couple weeks. Next on the list is carseat installation, which Geoffrey and I will tackle this evening. And I'll get those nursery pictures taken and uploaded, along with a belly picture.