Monkey Seat, Exhaustion, Curiosity

Wow her first Saturday was a busy day.  Following the doctor appointment and the sponge bath, we already had to change her to a new sleeper.  Then we put her in the monkey seat for the first time.  She stayed awake and really enjoyed it.

It was obviously a tiring day.  This is a picture from about 4AM the next morning after nursing.  I sure look exhausted.  It is sweet how she is all cozy with her little hand under her chin.

 Monday we dressed her up in her flamingo dress.  I tried getting a good picture of her next to Daisy Bear put my body pillow didn't offer her the best support.

 Chilling with Grandpa again.

 Gotta love monkey seat.

 Needless to say, our Roxy Rox has been overwhelmed recently.  First we get a grown stranger (Mom) in the house then a little human who cries a bunch comes to the house to be followed by yet another grown stranger (Bryan).  Roxy is a little scaredy cat, but she is cute and funny.  She will wait until Aubrey is quite then sneek up closer to her to investigate.  Below she is trying to look through the netting of the packnplay to see what is making the little sleepy noises.

 Nothing sudden happens, but will usually act like she is totally startled and run off.  She is getting better with not being so scared of Baby as time goes by though.

A Big Surprise Followed By First Home Sponge Bath

Grandma and Grandpa gave us a big surprise Friday night the day we came home from the hospital.  Grandpa flew in to meet little Aubrey and spent Father's Day weekend with us!!  How lucky!  Here are Aubrey and Grandpa spending some bonding time together.

 She had to visit the pediatrician the morning after her discharge from the hospital.  Her weight was down to 6lbs 8ozs and she was quit jaundiced.  They did several heel sticks to check her bilirubin and CBC.  Aubrey did really well through it all.  Thankfully, no need for further lab checks and her weight by Monday the 17th was back to her birth weight!

Mom and I gave her a sponge bath when we came back from the doctor.

 She was cold and sad despite the froggy cover up.

 Once out of the tub, she was satisfied with life again.

 Adorable in polka dots!

 Particularly once she was all swaddled up like a little burrito.

Bye Bye Hospital, Hello Home! (Friday, June 14th)

 After our two nights in the hospital, I was ready to get out of there and head home with Baby.  

Joe and I decided on Baby's name just in time to give it to the hospital registrar lady before we left.  We had developed a list of nearly ten names we liked.  Once we saw her, we easily eliminated most of them and whittled it down to two names: Aubrey and Ashlyn.  So we kept talking to her using both of the names.  It was clear to both of us that the keeper was Aubrey.  For the record, her official name is

Aubrey Carole Ngai

with her middle name after my maternal Grandma Thompson.

Following our showers, we decided on the final take home outfit for little Aubrey.

We dressed and swaddled her up.  At first, she wasn't too happy about this, but she sure looked adorable!

Daddy held her which calmed her down while we waited for the discharge papers and patient transport lady.

 And off we went in the wheelchair through the hospital.

 Next challenge was getting her settled into the car seat.  She was so small we had to figure out how to adjust all the straps more, but, in the end, we got her in safely.  Aubrey really enjoyed her first car ride as she dozed off.

 When we arrived home, Mom and Joe had organized several cute and thoughtful welcome signs and flowers for us to enjoy.  Over two weeks later I still have them all up since they make me happy.

 Taking her into the house.

 How pretty with lots of happy colors in the sign and flowers.

 Happy to be home!

 What a sweet, adorable little face!!

 Not looking too happy again.

 But we quickly had her content again.

Our Little One's Arrival

After getting home from the hospital on the 11th, I continued having contractions.  Joe helped me through them throughout the night then Mom took over in the morning so Budd could get a bit of sleep.  We didn't want to go in too early again so Mom kept really good track of the contractions and did excellent counter pressure on my low back for me.

I knew I was ready to go when around 10:30 in the morning on the 12th I told Mom I wanted to get to the hospital and get the epidural going.  We woke Budd up and started the trip back up to the hospital.  Budd got us there in about 30 minutes and Mom continued to help me through each contraction.  They did not let up this time but became stronger and closer together during the drive.

 Just looking at this picture I can tell I am in real pain.  They checked me and found I was now 5cm dilated.  Definitely not being kicked out.

 Anesthesia giving me the epidural at about 12:30.

 Hooked up again but loving the epidural.  I could not have done natural childbirth being restricted to the bed like this - no way.

Pretty tired after nearly 29 hours of labor.

 Mom and Joe exchanged taking breaks to grab some food and stuff.  Mom bought me a new adorable bear whom I now call Daisy Bear.  She is decked out with super cute hat and headband that baby can eventually wear.  Budd is working on his computer.

At about 6:30pm I could tell the epidural was wearing off a bit (which made me happy given I became a more active participant in the actual delivery).  I looked around at everyone and said flat out that baby was coming and I needed to push.  At first, the nurses didn't really believe me.  They checked me again and clearly saw how correct I was.  Everyone started helping me with the pushing which fortunately only lasted about 25 minutes.  The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice, but all turned out alright.

 This is Alex who was by far my favorite nurse in the hospital.  She was excellent at helping me during the delivery.

 Our baby girl arrived after 32 hours of labor at exactly 7:00pm Wednesday, June 12 weighing 7lbs 2.8ozs measuring 20.5ins.  Above is one of the video clips of some of her first cries and below are a couple of her first photos.

 Daddy with a scrub top that they put her footprints on.

 Our little bundle all swaddled up.

 Being held by Grandma.

 Look at all of that hair!

 All swaddled again following her first sponge bath.

 Sleepy time after nursing.

 We are so thankful our little girl arrived safely into this world.  She is already showing her sweet spirit and cute personality.  I am extremely grateful to Budd and Mom who helped me get through the hours of labor and delivery.