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.