Month 7 Letter

Dear Sophia,

You are now 7 months old, can you believe it? You are getting so big, and are already growing out of your 9 month clothes. At your last doctor's appointment, you were 26 inches long and weighed 19.8 pounds, which puts you in the 75th percentile for height, and 90th percentile for weight. This, of course, isn't surprising, given how much you eat every day! You are now eating solid foods 3 times a day, along with 2 snacks, in addition to your formula. We make all of your baby food for you using organic fruits and vegetables, and you have now tried over 15 different foods! So far, you like most of them. Here's what you like and don't like:

Acorn Squash- LOVE!
Apples- LOVE!
Avocado- Eh, can take it or leave it
Bananas- LOVE!
Cantaloupe- ICK!
Corn- LOVE!
Cauliflower- ICK!
Edamame- ICK!
Green Beans- Eh, can take it or leave it
Mango- LOVE!
Oatmeal- only if it's mixed with something sweet, otherwise, ICK!
Pears- LOVE!
Peas- Eh, can take it or leave it
Rice Cereal-ICK!
Sweet Potatoes- LOVE!
Yellow Squash- LOVE!
Zucchini- Eh, can take it or leave it

We've started getting tricky with you, by mixing the things you don't like with the things you do like to get you to eat more things. So far, this has worked great, but there are some times when you look at me as if to tell me "um, mom, I totally know what you're trying to pull, here, and I'm not buyin' it." And then you shake your head and purse your lips and will not let a spoon go near your mouth until it has one of your favorites on it. It has been so fun to watch you develop your preferences and clearly communicate to me when you are NOT INTERESTED.

You have also started to express your independence while eating. You keep trying to take the spoon away and put it in your own mouth (this usually results in getting food all over your face, of course!), and you are holding your bottle all by yourself now (even though sometimes you drop it on yourself or spill formula all over your face).

Developmentally, you are still having some trouble staying on your tummy and pushing yourself up with your arms for more than a couple of minutes, so you aren't quite crawling yet. However, you are now already standing on your own, so we think you might start walking before you crawl (or maybe you won't crawl at all!).

You are also talking up a STORM! You talk all day long (you take after your mother in this regard), and are really starting to play around with different sounds. What's funny is that you are also experimenting with volume. Especially in church, where you think it's HILARIOUS to scream "AAAHHHHHHHHH" at the top of your lungs during the gospel reading. Now you are clearly associating the sound "ba ba" with your bottle, and you ask afor it as soon as you wake up in the morning. You are also saying "da da" and "ma ma" quite a bit, and we're pretty sure you know who those refer to. Sometimes you will look right at me, especially when you're tired, and just say softly "ma ma..." and let me tell you that is probably the most precious sound in the world. Well, other than your laughter, anyway.

You are such a happy baby, and you laugh at everything. You are even starting to do a "fake" laugh just to get our attention. You say "heh heh" in a low tone and then as soon as we look at you, you start to giggle. It is so funny! You smile most of the time, and it so infectious that when we are out in public with you, you get SO many compliments on what a good baby you are and how adorable you are. In fact, when we're in church, you like to flirt with whoever is behind us by playing peek-a-boo (you hide your face in our chest and then peek over our shoulder and smile, and then hide your face in our chest again).

You've started to identify your favorite toys this month, too. You have a serious penchant for books (just like your mama- yay!) and usually pick those out of a pile of toys to play with. You really enjoy turning the pages and looking at the pictures. You also like to play with your "Sophie the giraffe" teether and your daddy's old cell phones of all things. But perhaps your most favorite toy is the remote control for the television. You cannot keep your hands off of that thing, and you get SOOOOOOO angry with us if we try to take it away from you. And, of course, you like playing with Kleenex. I don't know why, but you do.
























This last month, you also celebrated your first St. Patrick's Day and your first Easter! I've gotta tell you, your daddy and I are having so much fun dressing you up for all these new holidays!






















This month, like all the others before it, has clearly been a joyous one for your daddy and I, mostly because you are in our life. In fact, we have had SO much fun, we are already working on a brother or sister for you! We'll keep you posted :).
Love,
Mama

Month 6 Letter

Dear Sophia,

Today you are officially six months old! And, like every month since you were born, your daddy and I can hardly believe you’re that big already! You are now officially 24 inches long and 18.5 pounds. WOAH. You are getting so big that it’s becoming more and more difficult to carry you around with one arm. But in addition to getting so big, you are also getting even more adorable, if that’s even possible. At least, your daddy and I sure think you get more and more cute every day (but of course, we’re incredibly biased). I mean, who could resist this kid:



This last month, you traveled to Albuquerque with me to spend some time with your grandpa, who was in the hospital. You also got to spend a lot of time with your aunts and uncles and cousins, which you absolutely loved. Of course, you were spoiled rotten while you were there, especially by your Nina, who wanted to hold you and cuddle with you all day long. It was such an emotional trip for me, but every day, you brought a smile to my face. This is such a gift to me…all you have to do is give me one of your silly faces or laugh out loud, and it immediately reminds me of all the good that there is in the world. And you didn’t just lighten MY mood, but you also provided a lot of comic relief to your aunt Cathy and aunt Marie, who were (like your mama), a little stressed out from all that needed to be done while we were there:



It’s pretty amazing… in the above videos, which were taken just a few short weeks ago, you were barely learning how to sit up on your own. Now, as I write this, sitting up by yourself is a task that you have already mastered! We expect you’ll start tackling crawling next, or maybe even walking! You have definitely been doing a lot of standing with assistance lately, and making walking movements, and there’s no question that you LOVE your jumparoo. Sometimes after you’ve been jumping around for a half hour, we will take you out of it, and you’ll keep kicking your legs for the rest of the night as if to say, “Hey! Put me back in that thing! I was having fun! Sheesh!” Let me just tell you, that after getting kicked in the thigh, in the stomach, in the face, and in the shoulder from all the squirmy-wormy moving around you do when I try to hold you, I think you are DEFINITELY going to be a first class soccer player.

In addition to sitting up by yourself, you’ve mastered another developmental milestone this month: TEETHING. You now have both of your little teeth popping out from your gums, and you just LOVE chewing on mommy and daddy’s fingers (but truth be told, it is really starting to hurt!). What this means, of course, is that you are also in pain sometimes, and therefore aren’t sleeping as well through the night. Thank goodness this is temporary! Also, as a result of your teething, you have become a serious drool monster. I’m not kidding. I’ve never seen a human being drool so much in my life! It’s everywhere! On your clothes, on your bibs, on the couch, on your blankies, on my cashmere sweaters… and the good news is, you have 24 more teeth to grow! And then they’ll fall out and we’ll start over again! YAY! (~ note the sarcasm~)

Unfortunately, you won’t SHOW anyone your teeth, so we have to be sneaky about trying to get a glimpse of them:



This month, you’ve also been eating solid foods like champ! You’ve moved from rice cereal and baby oatmeal to pureed sweet potatoes, carrots, sweet peas, bananas, and avocados. We also tried apples and pears, but those gave you a really bad diaper rash, so we’re going to wait to reintroduce those until later when your body gets more used to trying different foods. I’ve been making all of your foods for you, because your daddy and I feel it’s important to give you organically grown fruits and vegetables as your first foods. It’s remarkably easy, and surprisingly, you seem to like almost everything we give you (except for peas, which you are still trying to decide if you like or not).

All these new foods that you’re trying are fun, but there’s one major drawback. And that is, of course, the fact that your poop right now has gotten SUPER STINKY. I mean, WOAH, kiddo. It’s BAD. The funny thing, though, is that your little poops come out whatever color you’ve eaten earlier that day. So we’ve seen lots of orange and green poop. Even better…after you eat bananas, you poop out little banana seeds.

I know, someday you are going to read this and be completely mortified that I’m talking about your poop on the internet.

Let’s see, what else have you been doing this month? Oh! How could I forget? You are REALLY starting to babble a lot lately, and your daddy and I will often find you in your bassinet just talking to yourself and playing around with different sounds, seeing how loud you can make them. So far, you’ve been saying “bababababababababababababababa” and “dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadada” and “mffffmmmmmmfpphhhhbbbttttttt”. Which I think loosely translates to “I have the weirdest parents ever.”

One of the neatest things for me to watch is how you are starting to make associations between yourself and objects in your world. I can almost see the wheels turning in your cute little head. For example, when you play with your toys, you are really paying attention to how they sound, how they work, and what they do. You will spend hours turning pages in your books or playing with your blocks if I let you. And you are now developing a sense of object permanence, so when I hide one of your toys under a blanket, you look for it and wonder where it went. This also means that you are learning the high chair game, where you throw your spoon or your pacifier over the side, and then lean over to look at it and then look at me as if to say, “um, aren’t you going to get that?”. Of course, when I do, you repeat the whole process over again.













































I think, though, that of all the things you are learning to do these days, my favorite thing is your developing sense of humor. You used to smile and laugh only in imitation of other peoples smiling or laughing. But now, you are laughing at all kinds of things: when someone makes a silly face, or makes a silly sound, you just burst out with the most adorable laugh on the planet.

The sound of your laugh is the best sound in the whole wide world to me, and I intend to make sure that you will always have something in your life to laugh at. Like your daddy when he is doing his silly dance.

I know I’ve said this a million times before, but I am so in love with you, baby girl, and I feel so fortunate and grateful every single day that I have you. Happy 6 months!

Love,
Mama

Month 5 Letter

Dear Sophia,
I know I keep saying this every month, but OH MY GOODNESS you have grown so much in the last month! You now weigh more than 16 pounds, and you are 23" in length. That puts you in the 95th percentile for both height and weight! Your head circumference is also in the 95th percentile, and some might say you just have a big head. *I* say of course you have a big head- you have a ginormous brain in there!

Let's see... what are some of the new things you've accomplished this month? First of all, you are now doing a LOT of standing with support. In fact, you prefer standing to sitting, as evidenced by your whining every time I try to get you to sit on my lap. You can even stand up by yourself for a few minutes while just holding onto my hand (this is pretty advanced for your age). You want to stand up and see the world, darn it! No point sitting around, no sireee, not for you! It's true, though, that you are definitely a curious baby. Everyone who knows you mentions how intently you look around at everyone and everything with your big, beautiful eyes.























One of the funniest things you started doing this month is blowing spit bubbles and making raspberry sounds with your mouth. I think you started doing this because you were imitating your daddy and me when we would make funny sounds at you. I even took a video of you doing this one day because I couldn't stop laughing!



You are also really learning how to play with toys- you will transfer them from one hand to another, you will repeatedly shake or squeeze or nudge toys that respond to movement with light or sounds, and you have even learned how to turn pages in a book. Right now, your favorite toy by far is your jumparoo.We put you in that, and you bounce all around, laughing and giggling the whole time (have I mentioned how absolutely amazing and infectious your laugh is? I have? Oh. Well, I can't help it- it IS!!!).








































You've discovered your feet this week, too. Which isn't to say that you didn't know before that your feet were attached to your body. No, what I mean is that you are now actively seeking out your feet so that you can grab them and play with them when you're in your crib. You spend alot of time in your crib, grabbing at your feet and talking to them as if they're your friends. I have no idea what you're saying to your feet, but it is clearly a VERY important conversation.


















One thing that's interesting is that you really like to hold different kinds of fabric with different textures. You will take just about anything- tissues, paper towels, plastic baggies, hand towels, burp cloths, cotton and fleece bibs, mommy's cashmere sweaters- and touch, hold, and squeeze it, the whole time paying very close attention to whether it makes a sound, whether it tastes good to you, or whether it feels good on your face. Unfortunately, you also really love to grab onto my hair, and of course you never fail to give it a good yank. Let me say right now... that HURTS, kiddo!

You are drooling a lot these days, and you've started chewing on your hands. Your pediatrician says that you are starting to get your first teeth already, which is why you're drooling so much. We even gave you your first taste of solid food (rice cereal)this week. You didn't like it very much, and I think you only swallowed about one spoonful because the rest of it ended up all over your face and bib.


















Your daddy and I STILL cannot believe that you are already old enough to eat solid food. We think you are growing up too fast!.

Unfortunately, there is some sad news to report this month. For the last week, you have been in New Mexico with me because your Nino is really, really sick and is in the hospital. He's been sick for a while, now, but he is getting worse and worse every day. I am SO glad that you came home to Albuquerque with me over Christmas and SO glad that you are here with me now, because I am just so grateful that you got a chance to meet your grandpa. He won't be with us much longer, so the fact that you get to spend this precious time with him is such a blessing.























OK, enough of that. I don't do very well with emotional stuff, as you will soon discover. Instead, I just want to say that you bring us so much joy, Sophia, I can't even express to you how much more your daddy and I smile every day since you joined our family. You are one amazing baby, and every day I am grateful that I get to come home to your beautiful, smiling little face.























Love,
Mama

Month 4 Letter

Dear Sophia,
My goodness, how quickly time is flying! Every day I look at you, you seem to be growing so much bigger. If I wasn't so excited to watch you grow up, I would ask you to please stop growing so that I can savor each and every moment even more than I already am. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY love being your mom and spending time with you. In fact, I can't imagine anything else I would rather do. Every new skill you aquire makes me so proud, and even though millions of babies all over the world are developing the exact same skills, I still want to climb a mountain every day and shout as loud as possible "my baby girl is AWESOME!".

You've had quite a month so far! You now weigh about 14 pounds and are 24 inches long, and look almost as big as your cousin Amilia who is 10 months old! This month, we have also noticed that your personality is really starting to develop- you smile all the time, and have started laughing out loud (which, I should add, is absolutely the best sound in the universe). What's really neat is that you are starting to realize cause-and-effect. This is most noticible when your daddy and I are playing the tickle monster game- when you see our fingers wiggling above you, you laugh so hard in anticipation of the tickles soon to come! You are also figuring out that you have an effect on your environment, and this is most obvious when we put you in your bouncy chair and you spend most of your time kicking and touching the little stuffed animals hanging above it just to watch them move around. You even try to talk to them, which is SO funny.

You've been reaching many of your developmental milestones this month, too. You can now hold yourself up on your arms when you're on your tummy, you are learning how to roll over from your tummy to your back, you've started to hold your bottle by yourself, and you are able to support your weight when we hold you in a standing position. Actually, you spend a lot of time "standing", because when we try to get you to sit down, you kick and kick your legs until we stand you up. Only then are you content, which makes your daddy and I feel that you will probably walk before you crawl. Either that, or you are destined to become a world-class soccer player!

In December, you went on your first plane ride (well, the first one after you were born- when you were in my tummy, you travelled all over the place)! We were worried you would get fussy on the plane because you still cry a lot when you're hungry or when you're tired, but you did great! We went to visit my family in New Mexico for Christmas. You got to meet all your aunts, uncles, and cousins! Everyone was SO excited to meet you, and I don't think your daddy or I got to hold you once, since everyone also wanted to hold you and cuddle with you. I was so happy that you got to meet your extended family and start to create memories with them, because they are really special people who will play a big role in your life as you grow up.

You also got to spend a lot of time with your Nina and Nino. In fact, your Nina threatened to hide you from us when we were about to leave because she didn't want to put you back on the plane to Seattle. She sure does love you- she had her house all prepared for you with a brand new pack and play, swing, bouncy chair, and a lifetime supply of diapers. She also spent a lot of time getting everything ready for your baptism, and made sure that everything was perfect for that day. Speaking of your baptism, you were baptised on December 28, the day of the Holy Family. Your godparents Michael and Anne were there- they are such amazing people, and they will soon have a playmate for you since they have a little girl growing in Anne's tummy right now! You had a big party afterwards at your Nina's house, with about 50 people celebrating your very first sacrament.

A few days ago, your daddy and I also celebrated the 1 year anniversary of our finding out that you were in my tummy. On January 1, 2008, we discovered that we were pregnant with you. It seems like such a long time ago, and yet the time has also gone by so quickly (how does that happen?). I know I've said it before, but we both feel so very lucky to be your parents, and we honestly don't know what we ever did without you in our lives. We absolutely adore you and love you so very much.

Happy New Year, sweetheart.
Love,
Mama

The Chubbmeister- Month 3 Letter

Dear Sophia,
Today you are 3 months old. I can hardly believe it- where did the time go? You are getting so big already, and while you are still so incredibly cute (so much so that I just want to munch on your little cheeks), I admit that I miss how itty bitty your fingers and toes were when you were first born.

It seems that every day you acquire a new skill, and your daddy and I can hardly keep up with you! You are now able to hold your head up without assistance, you can sit up in a chair all by yourself, and you are getting better at pushing yourself up using your arms. When we feed you a bottle, you try to hold it in your hands too, and you are beginning to understand that when you touch or grab your toys, they actually move. You are eating a lot more these days, so your adorable cheeks are getting rounder, and I now have to use two arms to carry you because you're getting so heavy. You are starting to bend your legs while you're on your tummy as if you want to crawl, and best of all- you are trying to talk to us all the time! I took a video of you the other day when you were talking to me:



This month, you have also been a much happier baby. In fact, you are now starting to giggle and laugh out loud, which is the most amazing sound in the whole world to me. The first two months of your life, though, we were still trying to find out why you were so colicky, because you were crying almost all the time. We think you are allergic to something in my breastmilk, because as soon as we started you on hypoallergenic formula (the super expensive kind... *groan*... apparently you already have your mother's penchant for expensive food), your tummy quieted down and you didn't cry as much. This was a great development, not only because you are now getting more sleep at night (and so are your daddy and I! Woohoo!), but because you have more attention to direct to exploring the world around you.

You've now been in daycare for about a month, and you are doing really well! All your teachers adore you, and you even have a best friend there whose name is Oliver. Being around other babies has made you more communicative, I think, because every time I go pick you up, you are babbling away and watching all the other babies with your wide, curious eyes.

Last week, we went to Thanksgiving dinner at your auntie Lynn's house, and all I could think about that day was how much I have to be thankful for. I am thankful that I have a good job, especially in the current economy (this year, a lot of people lost their jobs and their homes, so we are very lucky in this regard). I am thankful that I have your daddy around, because he is the most incredible husband and daddy and I love him SO much. I am I am thankful that you have now met all of your grandparents, especially because your grandma M and your grandpa B are both really sick right now. I am thankful that you will soon get to meet all of your cousins and aunts and uncles in New Mexico.

But mostly, little one, I'm thankful for YOU.

Love,
Mama

The Hardest Thing About Being A Mom So Far

Dear baby Sophia,
You started daycare this morning. I didn't want to leave you there (even though it is a fantastic daycare and I knew you would be in great hands), and when we turned around to leave, I started bawling. And I cried for the next hour as your daddy and I drove to work. Because I missed you so much it hurt.
Love,
Mama

Month Two

Dear baby Sophia,

We can't believe that you are already two months old! Where has the time gone? Right now I'm sitting on the couch with you sleeping away on my lap, which, believe me, is amazing in itself considering you rarely sleep long enough for me to get anything done. So yeah. Yay sleep!

A lot has happenned to you in the last month, which hardly seems possible because we haven't really gone anywhere or done much but spend as much time with you at home as possible because you start daycare this week and OH MY GOD I DON'T KNOW HOW I AM GOING TO HANDLE THAT so I want to take advantage of the little all-day time with you I have left. I used to think that I would totally be able to manage going back to work full time, but now that you're here and I've totally fallen in love with you, I just want to be with you ALL THE TIME.

This month, you have continued to grace us with your colic, which means we're all still having a hard time getting enough sleep. You'd think that the lack of sleep would make your daddy and I irritable and cranky, but in fact we are managing pretty well. We make a pretty good team, your daddy and I. We help each other out when one or the other of us is exhausted, and we aren't as stressed as one might think because we've entirely given up on the idea of having a spotless house or having clean clothes to wear. Is it worth it, the messy house, the dirty clothes piles, the dark circles under our eyes and the inability to form coherent sentences?

TOTALLY.

This month, I took you to see a pediatric gastroenterologist just to get your digestive system checked out, since it seems to be the root cause of your discomfort. We found out that you have an umbilical hernia, but this is normal and probably isn't causing you any pain. I started on a milk-free diet, thinking that you might have an allergy to cow's milk protein, but it's been 3 weeks now and you aren't feeling much better. So the gastroenterologist told us to put you on a special hypoallergenic formula for a while to see if that will help. I hope you start to feel better soon because the formula is costing us a small fortune (which is really too bad because breastmilk is totally free! And breastfeeding will make my gigantic boobs smaller! And breastmilk is best for your cognitive development! And breastmilk is completely portable! And there isn't any bottle-washing with breastfeeding! And I'm going to stop complaining now!).

One quick comment about infant formula: it makes your poop bright green! And woah, stinkpot. And woah, volume. In fact, you pooped on your daddy this month for the first time, which made me laugh so hard! Your daddy, on the other hand, wasn't laughing. But it was still funny! Speaking of poop, that seems to be a primary topic of conversation in our house these days. In fact, most things related to your butt are a common discussion point. It really is amazing how two intellectually curious people such as your daddy and I, who USUALLY spend most of our time talking about economics or politics, are now discussing at length topics such as "was Sophia's poop more of a MUSTARD yellow, or a GREEN yellow?" and "Wow, I think even the neighbors heard that fart!".

The most exciting thing this month is that you've started smiling!!! Which is to say, you've been smiling back at us when we smile at you. You were doing the "ha ha, I have super butt gas" smile a couple of weeks ago, but that doesn't count. You are so captivating when you smile, and we spend most of our time trying to get you to smile when you aren't crying.

Other milestones you've reached this month: you are starting to grasp small objects (such as a rattle) really tightly, you are making small vocalizations (like cooing), and you can raise your body up on your hands and arms. You are also right on target with your growth, and you now weigh almost 11 pounds! Unfortunately, at your 8 week doctor's appointment, you also got your first shots. Wow was it hard for me to watch you get them, because you cried and cried, and your face contorted and turned bright red. I started to cry FOR you because I don't like shots either. I just wanted to take you away from there, hold you, and make you feel better. The next time you go in for your shots, I think I'm going to send your daddy to go with you.

This month, another incredible thing happenned that has nothing to do with you, but everything to do with history-making. Just a few short days ago, this country elected its first African American president, Democrat Barak Obama. I truly never thought I would see that in my lifetime because unfortunately, Sophia, there is still a lot of bigotry and hate in this country, a country so divided along lines of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and political affiliation. Because of that, both your daddy and I have become incredibly cynical about politics and politicians. But seeing Barak Obama elected President made me feel so proud, so full of hope for the future, because voters turned out in historic numbers to make a STATEMENT. The election was significant in other important ways, because a woman, Hilary Clinton, almost became the Democratic nominee but was beaten in the primaries by Obama. The Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican party was also a woman, Sarah Palin. Never in our nation's history have we come so close to having a woman or an African-American elected to the Presidential or Vice-Presidential positions. And it is this, the willingness of the American people to do something that so many never thought possible (regardless of political party), something so very significant, that makes me so glad that you were born during this very historic time because you will always be able to say "I was born the same year that the nation elected its first black president". Wow. How cool is that?

Love,
Mama

P.S. Have I mentioned that being your mom is absolutely, without a doubt, the most magical thing that's ever happenned to me?

Because Everyone Has Been Asking...

Dear baby Sophia,
Everyone we know keeps asking us for pictures of you, so we finally uploaded all the photos we had on our camera and created a photo website for you. We'll do our best to keep it as updated as possible, and will also put a permanent link to it on the sidebar of this here blog. For now, though, you can see photos HERE.
Love,
Mama

Month One

Dear baby Sophia,

You are now one month old, and your daddy and I can’t believe it! We have so much to write about, but we have been SO busy the last few weeks since we brought you home that we have admittedly had little time to log onto our computers and write everything down. But right now your daddy is holding you and you are sleeping away, so I am taking advantage of the opportunity to tell everyone all about how you’re doing.

We brought you home from the hospital 2 days after you were born. You had a BUNCH of visitors in the hospital- your grandma and grandpa Murphy, your uncle Bruce, your aunt Cathy and uncle Jack, your cousin Mary, your daddy's friend Jason, and a lot of mommy's co-workers (since you were born in the hospital where I work). Your daddy and I got very little sleep while we were in the hospital because we kept waking up every time you made a noise... perhaps not surprisingly, not much has changed since then. You still keep us up all night, and we are still very tired, but we seem to love you more and more each and every day.

You had even more visitors when you came home from the hospital- you met your big sister Madeline for the first time, as well as your aunt Marie and uncle Dave. There are so many people who are excited to meet you! Your Nina and Nino just went back to Albuquerque, so it is really the first time the three of us (you, your daddy, and me) have been home by ourselves.

Unfortunately, it turns out that you have colic, so you don't get much sleep- and when you're awake, you're usually crying. We have a theory that you have inherited your mommy's gastrointestinal problems, because when you are trying to poop your cries get much louder and you are clearly in more pain :(. When we talked to your pediatrician, she said that it's probably because your intestinal system is still immature, but that you will likely grow out of this and have a normal functioning system in a few months. In the meantime, though, we just have to wait it out. So your daddy and I are each taking shifts with you so that we can at least get a few hours of sleep in every night!

Although you're just one month old, your daddy and I are amazed at how much you can do already! You have clearly inherited your daddy's strength, because you can lift your head up on your own and can bear your weight on your legs when you straighten them out. You can roll onto your side by yourself, and you have started to focus on objects when we hold them in front of you and move them around. You are such a curious baby, always looking around with those big beautiful eyes of yours, trying to take in and understand everything you're seeing. It might be time for us to start requesting applications to Ivy League schools, what do you think?

One of my favorite things to do right now is watch you with your daddy. I have never seen him be as goofy as he's been since you were born. He likes to make up his own lyrics to lullabies and turn innocent songs like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" into songs with titles such as "Sophia Has a Stinky Butt". He is completely engaged in keeping you entertained, and has as much of a problem as I do resisting the purchase of adorable baby outfits. He also dances around the kitchen with you in his arms, telling me that it is never too early to teach a little girl how to do the meringue. And every once in a while, I will catch him on the couch, holding you against his chest, both of you sleeping peacefully, and I know he has found his bliss.

You are definitely a cuddlebug- you love to be held, which works out pretty well for us because we love to snuggle with you. Mostly, though,I can't stop looking at you. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I will quietly look over the edge of your bassinet, and just stare at you, breathing in your wonderful baby smell, gently wrapping your tiny little hand around my finger... I spend hours doing this, even though it means I don't get any sleep, because it is in these small, cherished moments that I truly understand unconditional love.

Thank you, precious one, for coming into my world.

Love,
Mama

Your Birth Story!!!

Dear precious baby girl,

As everyone knows, your due date was Saturday, September 6. The couple of weeks leading up to your due date, I kept telling everyone that I was SO ready to give birth to you because my tummy was HUMONGOUS, and I was so uncomfortable I could hardly move. My feet were swollen like sausages, I couldn’t find a comfortable position to sleep, my back hurt, my boobs hurt, and every time I ate something, I got really bad reflux. I thought for SURE that you’d decide to join us early, because for the three weeks before your due date, I was dilated to 5 centimeters (!!!), and my doctor told me that once I started having contractions, I’d probably have a really fast labor because my body was “clearly ready to go”. Your Nina even changed her plane ticket so that she could come from New Mexico earlier in case you were born before your due date!

So when September 6 came and went, you can imagine my confusion (and frustration)! Every day past your due date, I kept talking to you, asking you to come on out and see us, but like both of your parents, you were being stubborn and decided to stay where you were. My doctor told me that if you weren’t born by 41 weeks (1 week after your due date), they’d schedule an induction for Saturday, September 13.

On Friday night, September 12, your daddy, your Nina, and I were eating dinner (with pumpkin ice cream for dessert- yum!) and watching the show “Are you Smarter Than A 5th Grader?”. I noticed that I was having some mild contractions, but wrote them off as just typical Braxton Hicks contractions, and not “real” labor contractions. But then starting at around 8:30pm, they started happening closer together and your daddy started keepimg track of how often they happenned and how long they lasted. Still, I thought they weren’t real contractions because they didn't hurt like I thought they were supposed to!

By 9:30 the contractions were coming every 10 minutes, so I decided to call the doctor on-call at the hospital. When I told him I was having contractions and was 5 cm dilated, he said "get here right away!". So we grabbed our hospital bag, hopped in the car and off we went!

We arrived at hospital at 11:35pm where we met up with our doula (we called her on the way to the hospital) and spent 1 hour in triage, where they strapped on a monitor and they discovered that the contractions actually slowed down. We were given the choice of going home and coming back the next morning for the induction as scheduled, or just going ahead with the induction right then, since we were already there. That wasn't a very tough decision :).

We arrived at the birth suite around 1am on Saturday (September 13), and at 2am, they started a pitocin drip and broke my bag of waters. When the bag of water was broken, the doctor noted that the amniotic fluid was slightly greenish, indicating prescence of meconium (this is when babies poop inside the uterus, which is a sign that a baby is in distress). When I heard that, I got really nervous because if a baby inhales the meconium during birth, it can prevent breathing and/or lead to a life-threatening lung infection. So I knew that right after you were born, they would have to whiak you off to the neonatal team right away so that they could suction out your lungs.

At 3am, I, your Dad, your Nina and our doula took a walk around the hospital floor for a while. By 4am, I wanted to go back to the room because I was getting really uncomfortable. By 4:30, my contractions were much stronger, and your daddy noticed that I was breathing a lot harder and needing some quiet when they happened. When they checked my cervix, It was still at 5cm, but had gone from 50% to 80% effaced.

By 6am, the contractions were coming on REALLY strong, and they seemed to go from very manageable to extremely painful. Everyone was trying to help me breathe, but it was difficult because when contractions are induced with pitocin, they are a lot harder and more painful then when they happen naturally. I remember gripping your daddy's hands and saying "oh, God, help me" with every contraction. Still, I was determined to have a natural birth without pain medication, and I was doing my best to stay focused.

A little later, my body started shaking and I couldn't control it. Our doula said it was a normal reaction to the pain and muscle tension. The contractions at this point were so strong that I couldn't stop crying. My back hurt so much I couldn't move (we later found out that it was because you were turned the wrong way, so all the pressure was going to my back). When they checked my cervix again, I thought for SURE I was at 8-10 centimeters because with that much pain there was no way I couldn't have progressed that much. But of course I was wrong! I hadn't progressed AT ALL- I was still 5 cm. At that point, I knew I needed an epidural- I was already exhausted from all the pain. So, reluctantly, I called for the anesthesiologist.

At 6:45, the epidural was administered, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be (watching all the videos of it in our childbirth classes freaked me out)! After 20 minutes, I barely felt the contractions and I could relax and breathe normally again. I told your daddy that whoever invented the epidural deserves a Nobel Prize!

At 9:30am, the cervical check indicated that I was 8cm dilated and 100% effaced. By 10:30, I was at 9cm and had bloody show (this meant you were on your way!). I don't remember much of what happenned around this time (I think because I was so tired and focused on what I needed to do), so it's a good thing your daddy was keeping track of everything that happenned. Below is an excerpt from his notes:

11am
Mom getting very hot, applying cold towels to cool her down. Nurse also mounted a fan close to Mom so she could cool off. Mom is complaining of nausea.

1pm
Mom not feeling well, vomits twice and feels better. Dr Johannsen comes in and says that Mom might be completely dilated. Nurse Sheryl doesn’t agree, does a full (painful) cervical exam. For a brief period, the consensus is that we may need to do a C- Section. An electrode is placed on the baby’s head (which will later result in a scratch when she is born) to help monitor heartrate, this really helped because the earlier heart rate readings were being confused with Mom’s. Once we are focused just on baby’s, they are much stronger. The worry had been that with a slow heart rate, the baby might be too tired to make her way down. Even though the contractions are not as hard as they would want, from 60-80 when they are 40-60, Dr. Johannsen wants Mom to try and push. Mom’s pitocin drip is increased to help with the pushing.

2pm
Mom starts to push, with the help of Sheryl, Barb (the doula), Dad, and Nina. Mom has to push from above, hold her legs up high and wide, and push for 3 sets of 10 seconds each.

4:30pm
After 2 ½ hours of pushing, Dr Johanssen returns and says that if Sophia isn’t born by 5, she is bringing the vacuum. Mom tries a few more hard pushes. Sophia’s head is visible during the pushes, and then disappears. She doesn’t quite crown.

5pm
Dr comes in with the vacuum. She also has paged the NICU team because of the meconium. She attaches the vacuum to the baby's head and does 4 strong pulls.

5:11pm
Sophia is born! She has chubby cheeks, big eyes hands and feet, and is grey and purple when she is born. She also has a head of dark, curly hair. Dr J delivers the head and shoulders, Dad gets to help with the delivery of the back and bottom. Sophia starts to cry before the NICU team can extract from the lungs. She is quickly whisked to the warmer where she is extracted and cleaned up. Mom and Nina are so happy they are holding each other and crying. Sophia is placed on the scale, 8lbs and 9ozs, with an APGAR score of 9. She is cleaned up (she had pooped on the nurse!), swaddled, and placed on Mom’s chest for some bonding time. Mom had a tier 2 tear, which was sewn up while Mom was bonding with Sophia.

(end of Daddy's notes)

I have to say, kiddo, your daddy was an incredible support coach throughout your birth. Even though he hadn't slept for almost 36 hours, he kept me going and helped me stay focused. He was SO excited that he got to help with your delivery. Your Nina kept crying whenever I felt pain, but by the time I started to push, she was right there holding one of my legs and helping me count (that is, when she wasn't answering her phone when your aunts and uncles and cousins were calling! Everyone was so anxious to hear if you had been born yet!). And although I don't remember alot of the specifics after getting the epidural, I do remember very vividly holding you in my arms, looking into your eyes, playing with your little fingers and toes, and thinking to myself that I am the luckiest woman on Earth because I get to be your mom.

Welcome to the world, my precious baby girl. :)

Love,
Mama

P.S. Here are a couple of pictures taken right after you were born! :

And.... Still.... Waiting...

Dear precious baby girl,

I had an appointment with my OBGYN yesterday, and guess what? I am still dilated at 5 cm. So, only a little progress from last week, and apparently you are happy as a clam inside my tummy right now. But it must be really fun in there, because you are dancing all around in there and don't let your mama get any sleep. *yawn*

The good news is, if you aren't here by this Saturday, we're going to go to the hospital to have a non-stress test. This test will involve hooking me up to a bunch of monitors that will track your heartrate, your movements, and all of my contractions to make sure that you aren't in any distress. Even if everything looks good, my doctor said that if the Labor and Delivery unit isn't very busy that day, she will probably induce labor by giving me a drug called pitocin.

Generally, when pitocin is used to start labor, the contractions will be a LOT stronger (because it's a synthetic form of a human hormone called oxytocin, it works a little differently on the body so contractions aren't as natural as they would be otherwise). Luckily, because I am dilated halfway already (I still can't believe it!), labor with you will be pretty short. In fact, if I have any major contractions at ALL before Saturday, I am supposed to rush to the hospital instead of waiting until they're 5 minutes apart.

So right now, I'm just waiting for your arrival! Everything is ready for you to come home with us, we just need you to decide to join us. At the very least, it looks like you will be with us by Saturday at the latest! Wow, I can't wait :).

Love,
Mama

Still Waiting....

Dear precious baby girl,
Well, your due date came and went yesterday, and it seems that you are reluctant to come out and meet us! It must be really fun in my tummy, because you are wiggling around in there a BUNCH! We were hoping you would be born this weekend, because your aunt Marie and uncle David drove up to visit us from Portland. It would have been so fun if you decided to be born when they were here. Next week, your aunt Cathy and uncle Jack are flying to Seattle from Albuquerque, and they would love to meet you in person. I wonder if you'll be here by then?

Could you please be here by then?

Please?

(your mama's gettin' really uncomfortable as you are growing bigger and bigger, is all I'm sayin'.)

Love,
Mama :)

Getting There.... Slllloooowwwlllyyyyyyy

Dear precious baby girl,
It's become painfully (literally) clear to your daddy and I that you are already exercising your stubborn nature by staying in my tummy and teasing us mercilessly with this whole labor thing. Today we went to the obgyn, thinking that you MUST have made progress, since I was 3-4 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced for TWO WHOLE WEEKS before today. As it turns out, I am now 4-5 cm dilated, but STILL just 50% effaced. You are also kind of high in my pelvis still, and stuck at the -2 station (see below image):


(image courtesy of Nuclear Medical Art)





















The good news, I suppose, is that I am dilated almost halfway, which means that when my actual labor contractions start regularly, there isn't much more left to go (at 10cm you will be ready to meet us!). So most likely, labor will go pretty quickly once those contractions start. Thank goodness for that!!! Apparently for women whose contractions start when they are at 0-1 centimeters, the most difficult part of labor is GETTING to 4-5 centimeters, so I basically have made most of the progress already with only moderately painful, irregular contractions for the last couple of weeks. I can't really complain about that, can I?

The doctor said that she would let me go one week past your due date (which is this Saturday, can you believe that???) before suggesting an induction. We would REALLY prefer not to induce you, so could you please come out soon and join us in the world? We would be MOST grateful. Thanks! :)

Love,
Mama

I Don't Think Baby Murphy Knows What Day It Is

Dear precious little girl,
Today is Labor Day, and your mama here thinks that perhaps you didn't get the invitation to come out and join us in the world. You've been giving me the signs now for over a week- lots of contractions (but not regular ones), less frequent movements (since you're running out of room in there), pelvic pressure... but still you've decided to stay put for now.

But I'm still hoping that sometime today, on LABOR DAY, you'll let us actually go INTO labor, because wow, am I ready to give birth to you!

Love,
Mama

Almost There!

Dear precious baby girl,
I know it has been FOREVER since your daddy and I have updated this blog! We're bad parents already! The truth is, though, that we have been so busy lately, between traveling to New Mexico for your cousins' weddings, to having people visit, to getting your nursery ready, to finishing up our childbirth classes, to getting things done at work so that when we're home on maternity leave we won't have people constantly calling and emailing us for work stuff... it's been crazy around here! Not to mention that your mama here is seemingly trying to set a world record for number of naps taken in a day because I am JUST. THAT. TIRED.

There is alot to report since the last time we wrote a post here, but first, PICTURES!

Here is what I look like at the 38 week mark:























I would just like to note that up until a couple of weeks ago, I was all kinds of excited that I hadn't had any stretch marks, and was even teasing some of the other expectant mamas in my pregnant mama's group that neener neener, I didn't have any stretch marks ha ha ha ha! And then last week, WHAMMO. Serves me right. Look how many I have now! *sigh*

Here are a couple of pictures of your nursery under development:








































Your daddy has been doing alot more work on it in the last week, though, so it will look more finished very soon! It's been so fun watching your daddy put together the nursery- he did all the painting, he put together your crib, he hung the drapes, hung up the light fixure, put together the bookshelf, painted the rocking chair, painted the letters above your crib, picked out the rug/lamp/hamper/nightlight combo, and hung up the pictures. My job has been to wash and fold all of your clothes and bedding, organize the little decorative items, and generally tell your daddy- "Yeah, that looks great! Right there! No, a little to the left! Perfect!".

Your daddy has also been busy putting together your stroller, carseat, and pack n' play:
















So as you can see, we are getting ready for your arrival!

ABOUT YOU:
You are now 38 weeks old, which is something your daddy and I almost cannot believe! Your due date is in only two weeks and you are now considered full-term! Wow! We have a feeling, though, that you will probably arrive before then, because at my doctor's appointment last week, I found out that I'm already 3 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced (effaced refers to the thinness of my cervix)! Plus, I've been having mild contractions now for almost a week, but they aren't regular yet, and they don't hurt too much. Of course, that will change when I go into active labor, but for right now we're just playing the "watch and wait" game.

At this point, you weigh about 7 pounds, and you are about 21 inches long. I can definitely tell that you're getting bigger, because not only is my tummy a LOT bigger, but I also can see you move around in my tummy a LOT! We've been trying to catch your movements on video, but every time we get the camera turned on and ready to go, you stop moving. Apparently you're camera shy just like your mama!

For the last couple of weeks, your biggest job has been to gain weight and put on lots of body fat which will keep you warm after you're born. All the rest of your organs have been fully formed and ready to go for a while now, and you have just been hanging out, practicing breathing, blinking your eyes, and probably sucking your thumb or maybe even your toes since you're all squished up in there!

According to my doctor, your heartbeat is nice and strong, you're already in the perfect head-down position for birth, and you're measuring at exactly the right size for this week. So everything looks great! Now all that's left is for you to decide when you're ready to come out and meet us!


ABOUT YOUR MAMA:
In additionto being super tired (both from not sleeping well at night and also lugging around about 28 extra pounds), the last month or so has been pretty tough on your mama here. It's getting almost impossible to get in and out of a car or stand up from a chair, I am going to the bathroom every 15 minutes (or so it seems), I have swollen feet and ankles constantly, and I get literally out-of-breath exhausted by walking just 50 feet! Plus, all kinds of things are leaking out of all kinds of places, which is REALLY weird. I'm also pretty sure that we'll have to buy a wheelbarrow sometime soon, because I think that's the only thing that will carry around my HUMUNGOUS boobs. And I haven't even started lactating yet! Aggghhh!

Emotionally, I'm all over the map. There are some days when I am so excited about seeing you that I can't STAND it! And then there are some times when I get worried about what might happen during labor, about whether you'll be healthy, and about how much our lives are going to change after you're born (and whether I'm *truly* prepared for that). It's a good thing I married your daddy, because he has so much confidence in me getting through labor and being a good mama. His calm nature and faith that everything will turn out great has been a huge help to me. I know I've said it a million times before, but I am SO glad that he is going to be your daddy, and I cannot wait for you to meet him.

I think your daddy and I are prepared as much as we can be for labor. We have our hospital bag packed and ready to go, our birth plan written out, we have hired our doula, and we've practiced different ways to cope with pain during labor. We're going to try and have a natural childbirth with no interventions (we have lots of reasons for this), so it's important for us to have lots of strategies for dealing with pain. Of course, I have always been kind of a wimp when it comes to pain, so if it really gets bad, I'll probably choose to have an epidural. Of course, I could end up with a C-section too, because there are so many unpredictable things that happen during birth! So, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens!

When we head off to the hospital, your daddy and I will send out an email to all of our friends and family, and we'll call our parents and siblings. We'll also be sure to update this blog as much as we can (yes, we're bringing our laptops with us to the hospital), because we know everyone will be excited to hear about what's going on and see pictures of you after you're born!

Very soon, baby girl, your daddy and I will have you home with us, and we'll be able to hold you and tell you in person how much we love you. How special is that?

Love,
Mama