Mommy and Me

Alli's close up!

New Weight Update

This evening we took Alli to Dr. Roscoe's office for a weight check. In the hospital she had lost enough weight that they wanted us to be sure she was gaining weight once we went home. She was born at 6 pounds, 10.5 oz and went down to 6 pound, 1 oz by Saturday. Before we left on Sunday she had picked up an ounce so we were headed in the right direction. Today she weighed in at 6 pounds, 7 oz so our little girl has picked up about a quarter pound in the last 3 days.

Sleep!

Last night was a good one...certainly the best since we've been home. Alli went down for bed after her last feeding around 10:30 and slept until 1:30pm and then again slept from 2:30 until 6:30pm. We've found that she really likes the car seat and sleeps remarkably well in either that or in the swing.

We go tonight to have her weight check appointment with Dr. Roscoe and will post an update after we get back.

Home!

Sorry for not getting anythingup yesterday. As we're finding out (and all you parents with more than one already know), two kids is a lot more work than one. When one is napping the other is going crazy and vice versa. Yesterday was our first full day on our own. All things considered it could have been worse. We found that Alli loves being in the swing and sleeps much better that way. She has had more time awake yesterday and today and you can already tell she's trying to figure out just what the heck happened and where am I.

Ethan has been GREAT with his new sister. He has been very gentle with her and today said her name for the first time. He always wants to see what we're doing with her when its time for a diaper change or time to nurse.

Alli has a weight check appointment tomorrow with Dr. Roscoe to be sure that she is gaining weight and a follow-up appointment with the cardiologist to check her heart again in 1.5 weeks. Overall though she is doing great and since her sleep-wake cycles are improving and she's much less fussy than in the hospital I think her weight has to be going up.

Nights have been a challenge as with any new baby. I've been taking the bulk of the night duty to let Megan sleep and she has tried to do the bulk of the day duty to let me work. Sunday night I got about 3-4 hours of sleep and last night it was something like 4-5 so I'm feeling a little better today. Hopefully, I can squeeze a nap in sometime today. I did get a present yesterday when I got Ethan and Alli together for the first time laying with me.

Day 2

Well, last night was pretty good. The nurses here have been great and especially helpful at night. We've used the nursery each night and the nurses encourage this to help get you a little more sleep. After day 1, we were both exhausted so being able to sleep at least for an hour or two at a time at night was a big bonus last night. Today, Alli was a little fussy in the morning wanting to cluster feed with Megan, but has since been perfect.






The doctor appointments are all going well. Megan is up and around more and more and the docs are happy with her progress. She's able to get in and out of bed by herself fine (just a little slower than normal) and can really do just about anything she needs to. Alli's hospital pediatrician wants to do an echocardiogram to assess a heart murmur, but assures us that this is a normal thing. We're not worried since her oxygen saturation has been in the normal range since she was born. She has a little bit higher than normal bilirubin count, but way below where Ethan was at this point so no worries there. She's lost a little weight, down to 6 pounds, 1 oz so they want to keep an eye on that and make sure she's starting to get that back.


Ethan came by again with Megan's parents. He was very good with Alli and warmed up to Megan and I quicker than he did Thursday. I took him down to the cafeteria for lunch for some father-son time and we had a great time sharing some french fries.


Hopefully with any luck, we'll be released early tomorrow. It seems like this stay in the hospital has gone so much faster than 2 years ago with Ethan.

Meeting Big Brother

Allison was able to meet her big brother Ethan this evening. Ethan is staying with Megan's parents while we're in the hospital. Megan took him over there Wednesday afternoon so this is the first time we've seen him since. When he came in we could tell he was happy to see us, but was a little scared of mom being in bed and hooked up to all the monitors. I took him down to the cookie machine and we got a big cookie for him which he enjoyed very much. He warmed up after awhile and eventually was able to meet his sister telling us where the baby was. It was good to see him handle things well and not be too disturbed by the whole process...of course staying at grandma and grandpa's house is a pretty good reward for being good.

First visitors

Allison had her first visitors this evening - Megan's parents and my dad and grandfather. Unfortunately my mom was not able to make it today after recovering from her own surgery this afternoon and hopefully will feel up to coming over tomorrow. Sorry Steve for not getting a picture of you with Allison - somehow missed that.

Allison Lynn Lawrance

And without any further ado...here is our new daughter! We named her Allison Lynn, she was born at 11:01am and weighed 6 pounds, 11 oz. She was 19 in long. All I have to say is thank god she looks like her mom and not her dad.

Off to the hospital

Here is the last belly photo for Megan prior to leaving for the hospital.

6 Days and Counting!

Well, we are down to a matter of days. The Lawrance family will soon be a party of 4! I had a check-up on Wednesday and right now everything looks good. Hopefully baby girl will cooperate and we will make it to next Thrusday. While I really don't want her to come early, I am very ready to not be pregnant! Overall, I really can't complain. I have had a very easy pregnancy by most standards but I have come to understand what it means to be "uncomfortable" all of the time. I am now a little over 38 weeks, and since Ethan was delivered at 37 weeks, this is new territory for me! And I REALLY can't wait to be able to wear non-maternity clothes!!!

Here are a few pics of Ethan I took this morning. He was very comfortable and relaxed while watching his cartoons!

SNOW!!!

Ethan helped Daddy shovel the driveway today with the snow shovel he got for Christmas. He wasn't too sure about having to get all bundled up (he was particularly unhappy with the mittens) but once outside he had a blast! Of course, Daddy is still trying to teach him the concept of shoveling the snow off the driveway and not onto it!