As the Joc grows...

We just got back from the Doc with Joc, and things went very well! Her weight at 5 weeks is... (drum roll..) 9lbs 11oz! A bit less then we actually thought (we had her at 10lbs last week) but she is growing very nicely! She is in the 55% for weight and she is now up to 21.3 inches which puts her in the 45% for height- she's quite avg! Her head has grown 3 cm's which is great b/c she is now fitting into all the really fun hats we have for her!

The doc said she is progressing very nicely, and we asked about her 25 min cat naps and she said not to be concerned. At 2 months we can talk about having her cry through them, but for now she sleeps when she wants, and eats what she wants and when she wants it (perfect for her!)

We also asked about her binge eating of 5 1/2 -6 oz's and she said as long as she is keeping it down, it's fine. They go through all sorts of small growth spurts and she may have just been going through one of those.

She got her first shot (Hep B) and handled it very well (only cried for about 10 sec). Chris claimed that she was acting tough like her daddy, not weak like her mommy (who almost fainted on the delivery table receiving her shots last time!)

All in all- Good News!

Getting our party on!

Grandma D

A little Great- Grandparent Love!

Grandpa giving Chris some fatherly advice

Nana and Grandpa

With both grandkids!

4 Generations!

Logan was trying out her old car seat (she didn't really like that Mommy was holding a new baby!)

Aunt Mysh!

Great-Grandma DeBruyne

Mima and Pop-pop

Christmas

Our Christmas Present!
She is smaller then a stocking!

Our ghetto Christmas tree! (It didn't' look that bad in person, it took a picture to make us realize it!)

Ahh... our silent night!

The Christmas season this year was especially wonderful because of our new little one! It is still crazy for us to think that we are parents, but with each passing day it becomes more real- especially when you see family and you are finally able to realize how much the holidays mean to your own parents.

Chris and I were fortunate enough to see each set of parents and to spend some great quality time with each. Jocelyn was very excited to see all her grandparents (she told me this while we were in the other room), and especially loved staring at the Christmas lights.

4 Weeks and a Blizzard

Jocelyn is mystified by the christmas lights!

Love those chubby cheeks!
Burton in his element... eating lots of snow!



Family walk down at the Pier

Burton running free down at the Pier- having a blast in the 8-10 inches we got

Tree Frog

There is nothing like having a little tree frog stuck to the front of you to bring a smile to your face...! Our little J-Lill had her first really good night last night (and I'm knocking on wood as I say this) and slept between each and every feeding WITHOUT screaming or crying (she got that out of the way earlier in the evening from 3-8pm). She wanted nothing to do with being put down in her swing or co-sleeper, so Chris and I had our little tree frog attached to our fronts for the night. But we will gladly sleep in the stiff board position if it means we can shut our eyes without a headache!

As I was laying there last night, treasuring her deep breathing and twitching little toes, I began to realize that her personality just may be beginning to show it self. Jocelyn is very precise- she goes exactly 3 hours between feedings (almost to the minute- she likes to stay on the hourly- 11am, 2pm etc), she was born exactly on her due date, and heaven forbid you don't give her what she wants, exactly when she wants it (aka- food) her viciously loud screams let you know you are not holding up your end of the bargain (her end is just being cute- you're responsible for everything else). Some might call her a little demanding.... we'll just call her our Tree Frog (for lack of cute, demanding animal coming to mind)

Lounging in Daddy's arms

Look at those cheeks!!

Our little tree-frog on Grandma D

And when you were a newborn......

We thought the other night was as bad as it could get, but ladies and gentlemen, we topped it last night! Now, I write this post only so that I can use it when Jocelyn is 16 and as parents we get to say things like "do you know what we went through when you were a newborn??!"

Jocelyn was up last night from 10:30pm until 6am this morning, taking 10 min cat naps throughout (you know the type of naps that gives a parent hope, that "yes, this is it, she's actually going down" only for her to wake up screaming within minutes.) It got so bad that at 4:30am when Chris took her out for a walk, she was laying in her carriage staring up at him with her big blue eyes, almost mocking him. "What else do you have big papa, because this isn't going to do it!"

The silver lining to a night like last night (and yes, there always has to be one) is that it makes Chris and I realize how much we have to rely on one another as a team. That neither one of us can do this on our own. We need the mental and physical support of each other in order to make it work. I often say a prayer of thanks for having such an amazing husband, one that is willing to take the 3 am feedings, and take our daughter out for walks at 4am while I lay crumbled on the floor from exhaustion and desperation. He truly is an inspiration to me.

and now, hopefully, we sleep......

2 weeks already!

Time does fly by! Jocelyn is already 2 weeks old! Our "little chicken" as we affectionatly call her, is already 8lbs! That means she has gained almost 2 lbs in a little over 2 weeks! We can say that she is eating well! :)

Ahhh... yes, we do all wish for a silent night, but as long as she's this cute, we'll take her any way we can get her!

Daddy and daughter both look a little sleepy

Aunt Sam is already teaching her the Nittany Lion roar !

Foot on the Bouncy Seat, Hand on the Vacuum

So we are going on hour 5 of Jocelyn staring at us with her big blue eyes... and it's 3am (so I'm apologizing early if this posting has some grammatical errors, or just doesn't make all that much sense!)

It seems that our little one just doesn't feel the need to sleep.... for hours at a time. This afternoon, she was awake for 4 hours, and now 5 tonight... I feel that the time to be concerned maybe upon us. But at this moment, all I can do is place my foot on the bouncy seat (my arms are exhausted from swinging her), raise the volume on the vacuum cleaner sound (have to love downloads- just downloaded 1 hour of blissful vacuum sounds), and try and keep myself sane.

The hardest part to all of this is knowing that tomorrow is not the weekend, so I am all by myself with Jocelyn. This has been one of the biggest things I"ve been struggling with- the feeling of isolation. Chris has been amazing- getting up at night for feedings, coming home from work during lunches, etc, etc. But in the end he has to do his job, which is working, so I need to figure out how to keep myself from feeling completely overwhelmed by the task in front of me.

Prayer has def. played a big part- b/c at 3 am, what else are you going to do?! But these are def. the times that I wish we had family members close enough that I could pop by for a visit and some relief.

Back in action

Today was the first time that I was able to take Burton down to the Pier in the morning, and it felt so great! After 2 weeks of having no set schedule, it was so nice to do something that slightly resembled our "old" life.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love having Jocelyn in our lives, but it has been quite difficult to have no continuity in our lives. Our old schedules are out the door, and we are at the mercy of our 2 week old little love (all of you parents out there are just laughing at us, and I'm sure asking "well, what did you expect?!!) For me, that has been one of the hardest things to get used to. Not being able to accomplish what I use to, and not being able to count on doing anything.

This morning, I'm on my way to my first "Baby Mama" group over in Tribeca. It's pretty exciting, one- b/c it's 9:15am and I am ready to head out the door, and two b/c once again, Chris took the night feedings and allowed me to sleep for a few consecutive hours (ahhh.... that feeling is amazing!) This group is made up of all mothers with children born from Oct- Dec 2009, so all the babies are right around the same age. Should be fun!

Game Day!

The day came!! We welcomed Jocelyn Lillian to our family on Monday November 23rd- exactly her due date! The days have been a bit crazy, so it's been a while since we've posted, but I'll try and catch everyone up.

On Sunday Nov. 22nd, we were watching the Giants game with our friends Missy and Mark and Chris's cousin Bobby, enjoying ourselves and catching up with them. After walking around downtown a bit with them, we said good - bye to Missy and Mark, and started on our walk back to the apt. As we were walking, all the sudden, I felt something dripping down my leg. Of course your first question to yourself is "did I really just pee on myself??!" After crossing that off my list (or at least hoping that I could!) I turned to Chris and Bobby and just announced "I think my water just broke." Chris's face was priceless!

That was at 4:30pm, and by 6:00pm the labor pains began. We assumed that we had about 12 hours, but we've assumed a lot during this pregnancy and have been wrong..... every single time. So this one was no different. The contractions and labor progressed quickly, and by 10pm I began to really question whether I'd be able to walk out of our building and down the street to find a cab.

To just hit on some highlights- Epidurals are God's gift to women (love them!) ; Nurses that talk to much and describe EVERY needle prick into your arm need to stop doing that ( I have this weird fear of IV's and nearly passed out when getting mine); Calm doctors and nurses make everything go very smoothly; and once again, we love epidurals!!
Jocelyn was born at 6:25am and was 6lbs 1oz, 20 inches long with adorable brown hair and blue eyes. The experience was something that was so incredible- for both Chris and me. What the human body does to actually bring this little person into this world, and how God created us to handle it, is really a miracle.

It's now been over a week, and so much has happened, it's really quite incredible. Jocelyn brings more joy to our lives then we ever thought possible. Even on those tough nights (and there has already been plenty) she is so innocent, and just so perfect, we really feel blessed.

and....

and........ nothing.

Feels anti-climatic doesn't it? Well, that's how our last few days have been. Things seem to be moving along, we're gearing all... all the signs are there....... and.... nothing.

We have a game player here ladies and gentlemen. Magenta is officially laughing at all of us, and is working on her own time schedule. After so much excitement at our last doctors visit, this weeks' was a bit more subdued.

To get technical- I'm still only about 1/2-1 inch dilated and 50% effaced (no change there). Her head has moved down even further, but my cervix, although shortened, is still in the back. So for those that have no medical background- it means that "things are moving along, but nothing is eminent"

Basically I was told to go up to the front desk and make my appts for the 41st week... ahhhhh!

Our due date isn't until Monday, so we're trying to stay positive that I won't go into 10 months, 1 week, and all the walking / stairs / jumping jacks that I've been doing will start to kick in.

Good news is that there are days that I feel just fine- like today. She's just chilling, so I'm just going along with my every day routine (as a stay at home pre-mamma, that "routine" involves a lot of Burton time... and trying not to poke my eyes out). Other days I'm completely exhausted, my insides feel like they are on a roller coaster and I'm ready to have Chris sit on my stomach so this child has no where to go but out.

But most importantly, Magenta is in good health and that's what is most important (ahh yes, there are my maternal instincts). It was great to see her sucking her thumb in the sonogram today (sorry though grandmas, no good pictures- her hand kept getting in the way). She measured 6 lbs 13 oz - nice and small (keep that up child!)

If she keeps up this relaxed behavior, we def. know that she will be just like her daddy- ready to chill. (my child would have been out and about 2 months ago with a to-do list all ready to go). So it's probably a good thing that she's still content to float around some more.

A list of love

These last few days have been a bit rough. Just give an update, my last day of work was Friday. Just stopping that was a bit of a shock to the system. I was now throwing myself full on into "Mommy" role... or at least "prepping to-be mommy" role. This end date was a week earlier then originally planned, because work had just gotten a bit too physically overwhelming. My body wasn't keeping up with the demands I was putting on it, and I needed to scale back.

After ending work on Friday (and saying at least a temporary good-bye to my friends and kiddies), a few nasty physical things began to happen (as you can read in the previous post).
But as I was resting today I realized how much I want to not only cherish this time off, but when I look back on the pregnancy, remember the amazing parts of it.

So here is my list of love- the amazing things that have happened over the last 9-10 months

- Feeling her hiccup (there is nothing like feeling / watching your stomach jump each time, to really make you realize the little being that is inside of you)

- Having Chris put his hand on my tummy to feel her move. It's like connecting all 3 of us together.

- Looking back over the pictures of my growth, and really seeing the changes that have taken place (or the not-so existent changes- I really didn't start showing until almost the 8Th month- incredible!)

- Folding and re-folding all of her little clothes, and imagining her actually fitting into them (some of them look SO small!)



- Having Burton drape himself over my stomach b/c I swear, he can feel her moving


- Seeing those sonogram pictures of her, and hearing from the doctor that she is doing great (and has long legs!)

- having "mommy-brain", where I can't remember simple words or phrases, and knowing it's b/c so much of my juice is going towards her!

There are plenty more, that as I think of them, I'll add. I really just want our little girl to know how much she is loved, even before we get to know her.

Lies...

Don't ask a 9 1/2 month pregnant woman how she is feeling unless you really want to get an ear full. If you get the "oh, I'm doing great! Everything is wonderful" response, just realize what you just heard was a bunch of lies.

What she really wants to say is that everything is swollen- holding small things such as pencils, cups, or even the hair brush hurts her hands. (this picture is of my wedding ring, which once did fit on my finger)

Her feet no longer resemble a foot- rather, it looks like she has fat caterpillars (not that hairy ones at least) attached to flippers at the end of her legs. She is aching in places she didn't know she could ache. Her hips have now spread so far apart, the waddle is no longer the "joke" she thought it would be that lovely place called 2 months ago, but rather how she gets from place to place. A rash has taken up residency on her appendages that itches like crazy, and no, she doesn't feel the least bit pretty.

So rather then ask "how are you feeling" just give all 9 1/2 month pregnant woman a compliment, because you know what, they need it.

9 Months

Babies room is coming together!! We have our glider!
9 months of belly

So our preparations are in full swing! Last weekend we attended our "birthing class"- this was a one day, full intensity, get it all in now, class that pretty much overwhelmed the heck out of us! I know I walked out of there fully understanding what we got ourselves into here, and couldn't sleep for 2 days!

OK, so it wasn't that bad, but it was very informative (and long! 8 hours is a long time to ask a pregnant lady to sit for!) although I'm praying not to have our little one on a weekend because the hospital was insane (and super hot- not sure whose great idea it was to have the maternity wing a nice raging 80 degrees... after all, pregnant and new moms never sweat much ;) ..!)

Our babies room is coming along nicely too. This was our second weekend finally back in the city, and we've actually had some time to put into setting up the room. The glider was delivered this weekend and we have already decided it was a very worthy investment!

At night I'll lay awake now and start to get a little panicked. I just can't believe that our little girl will be here in a month, and our lives will forever change (more then we'll ever know I'm sure!) Sometimes I feel so prepared, and then other times, I just can't believe we actually going to be parents. Crazy...

NJ Shower - 8 months

Here is the sign we'll post on Magenta's wall, welcoming her!
And the belly continues to grow..!

Burton getting used to the abuse.. ahh, yea, the love, he'll recieve from our little one! And yes, those are Logan's fingers in his eyes, and no, he didn't even react.

Love those belly shots! 8 months exactly (don't mind the weird face, I wasn't ready for the shot)

Baby Shower! 8 Months

Enjoying the beautiful day in my parents backyard! We couldn't have asked for a nicer time, and even though it was a little chilly (so I was told- I couldn't tell you b/c of the constant heat volcano that is erupting inside of me!) everyone had a really great time!
Can, Missy and Dani did a beautiful job decorating!

The beautiful handmade flower lollipops

My mom and Mysh did such a beautiful job setting it all up, this could look like a professional catering hall!