1st Week of Life

Mom, Dad, and I are settling into life at home. Mom says it is all about getting used to my cycle: feed, burp, change diaper, sleep. This cycle usually repeats every 2-3 hours. It depends on my mood and how fickle I am about eating. Sometimes at night, I give my parents a little extra sleep and wait 4 hours in between feedings. They really love when I do that...

In general, I spend most of the day in somebody's arms. I tend to sleep better that way and mom feels more comfortable knowing that I am breathing at all times. Our new favorite item is the baby carrier. Mom or Dad pops me inside and they get to do whatever they want, because they have both hands available. Mom particularly likes to walk around the neighborhood with me inside. She gets to get out of the house and Emma (our dog) gets a walk too.

I am just over a week old and life is already pretty busy. I have been getting lots of visitors. Most of the time I sleep while these friends and family members hold me. It has been especially nice to spend some time with Great Grandma Joan. She comes over during the day and watches me, so mommy can shower, or run an errand. You can tell that Grandma had lots of her own children, because she knows just how to hold me and calm me down. I really hope she decides to stay for longer...

Finally, mom insisted that we post some pictures from my first bath. As you can see, I did not like the whole process very much. I am getting more accostumed to the baths now, but I definately like to squirm as much as possible.

Here I Am World!

My mom went into the hospital on Saturday morning to try to induce me for the third time. I was very comfortable though and I really wanted to stay where it was warm. They gave her a pill every hour for 8 hours before they decided to break the bag of water surrounding me. Well, that didn't make me too happy, so I decided it was probably time to start coming out. At 2:36am Sunday morning, March 15th, I made my way out into this world.

I weighed 8 lbs., 4 oz. ("5 lbs. of scrotum" the nurse said) and was 21 inches long. I was born with a full head of hair and a bit of a conehead. My parents were both instantly in love. I looked at them in amazement, "So, these are the faces behind the voices I had been hearing for 9 months?!"

Soon after I was born, I got a visit from some of my family members. There were four generations of Malvinos in one room: Great-Grandma Joan, Grandpa Matt, mom, and I. There was lots of happiness from everyone.

The next day, there were visits from many other relatives. All of them got to hold me, as I slept or looked at them with wide eyes. Everyone commented about how alert I seemed.

We had to spend some extra time at the hospital, because I wasn't quite ready to breastfeed. However, after some very nice nurses' help, mom, dad, and I worked something out and we got to come home on St. Patrick's Day.

First Attempt...

Hello Everyone,
I went to the hospital for a monitoring test yesterday and ended up staying. The doctors needed to monitor the baby during contractions and I ended up getting pitocin. They continued with the treatment to see if I would go into labor, but by 10pm last night, my cervix was not dialated enough to continue through the night. Paul and I came home for a good night's sleep and now we are waiting to see if they want to try again today. Cross your fingers for us!
Ciao,
Mama Miller