Tis the Season

I don't have anything monumental to say, but I just want to make sure this season is well documented. As I type, the laptop is here comfortably on my lap on the couch with the video monitor right next to me. Reese's eyes open then close periodically, and we are trying to figure out how to keep the pacifier in her mouth. It's kind of fun to just watch her from another room. She's still pretty much the cutest baby girl ever.

Friday was our first major outing just the two of us. I was used to having someone sit in the back seat next to Reese to keep her company. However, RHS Homecoming was Friday, and several of my girls were on court and in the parade. What an ordeal it is to prepare for a 4 hour adventure. During Reese's first nap, I showered, got ready, and vacuumed. During her second nap, I got her diaper bag ready and ate a bite of lunch. Then it was time. We loaded up and headed to the pep rally. I still think it's a bit crazy that her first outing was to a high school pep rally and parade. She stayed rather snug and sleepy in the ERGO carrier, but every time the band played or applause erupted, her little arms shook and those eyes looked around to see what in the world was happening. She was a rockstar. We made it to the homecoming parade afterwards, and again, she was fabulous. My girls were beautiful and did such a great job in the parade. What a proud Bible study leader I am. I LOVE these girls so much.

Mopsy and Popsy headed up for the night, and Reese was so worn out from her adventure that while Wes and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner date at Table Mesa, Mopsy and Popsy just watched her snooze in her infant seat the entire time. Farmers Market and Target were on the to-do list yesterday while Wes and Dad went to the Razorback game. Reese loves staying busy...and she loves staying right next to my chest in the ERGO. This was such a great recommendation from the pediatrician in order to keep her away from lots of people these first couple of months while we are still being extra careful not to let this baby get sick again. I mean, who is going to come touch a baby's face that's all cuddled up at my chest? Perfect plan.

Okay, I've rambled enough. And by the way, it takes a lot longer to post now. I think I started this at noon, and it's now 7:20 p.m...oh, now it's 8:42. I must post a couple of pictures, so here you go...

Just showing off her upper body strength last weekend.

And enjoying a nice walk with Daddy one afternoon.

What?!

Reese is one month old today?! That's just crazy talk. However, it's for real. This girl turns one month old at 4:26 this afternoon. Today also marks my first day as an official stay-at-home-mom. Wes got up this morning, went for a jog, showered, and then got ready for work. He left after our morning feeding while little girl was smiling and showing off her cute one month outfit. I quickly learned that my daily goal before Wes comes home for lunch will be to brush my teeth, put "real" clothes on which really only means something other than pajamas, and eat breakfast. This post has taken all day to type, and at this moment, I'm just waiting for Reese to realize that she's gone more than 10 minutes without waking up from her nap. Regardless of the new crazy life at home, I think I'm in love with this new career path. I miss my old co-workers from school like you wouldn't believe, and I miss seeing the outside of my home, but I know that soon enough I'll be able to get Reese out to visit these people, and one day, we will even run errands and meet friends out and about town. What a wonderful thought! Until then, we keep snapping pictures of ourselves and loving on each other. Here are Reese's 1 month pictures and "updates" as many of my friends have done with their little ones.

**Yes, she appears to look a bit "elfish" in these photos, but that hat is just a tad too big, and I may have pulled it down a bit too far on those ears. Oops.

RRW...

Has the ability to melt your heart with her big, deep blue eyes that are so alert during wake time.

Has a very strong neck because she will hold her head up for days.

Has the most pitiful, sad cry...that makes it sound like it's soft, but trust me, the whole neighborhood hears her when I take her outside to soothe.

Has the potential to become a world famous boxer...those arms are up and going full speed most of the day.

Has the sweetest smile, and I really think she honestly smiled at me this morning when I told her how pretty she was.

Has turned over from belly to back once.

Has a love for the ERGO carrier. Thank goodness.

Has put on the pounds. She weighed in at 9 pounds 3 ounces last Monday. I'm guessing she is finally close to her mother's birth weight of 9 pounds 9 ounces.

Has a good chance of having either colic or reflux. We are still working on the correct diagnosis for the gassiness, fussiness, etc.

Has approximately 50 pictures taken of her each day. That may be a slight exaggeration, but some days it's probably pretty accurate.

Wannabe

I am totally a wannabe photographer. I just got 172 pictures developed yesterday, and that was after I weeded through the hundreds if not thousands of photos taken in the past few weeks. And just get ready for the upcoming holiday season...it could get wild. With the purchase of the new camera for my birthday, I decided to host my own newborn photo session the other day. I want to take a class next semester, but until then, I just do what I know to do, and that's just click the big button on the top. I was pretty satisfied with the results because I had just about the cutest subject in the world. You may see one of these in an upcoming birth announcement if I can get on top of things and get them ordered. With the departure of my mother and the arrival of mastitis, it hasn't been the easiest transition to what this new life will be like. I'm impressed we have gotten two loads of laundry done, kept the house picked up, and stayed "rested" during this first day home just the three of us. Regardless, Wes and I are having the time of our lives figuring out how to best love this little girl.

Courtesy of Mopsy (my mom), Wes and I had a date night during our first week home with baby girl. I just had to give a shout out to my mom for being the greatest. She also helped style and assist these wannabe professional newborn photos...and she bought this cute top for me as well. :)

Home Sweet Home

We are here...and today marks our one week anniversary of being here--our home sweet home. Reese has made the transition with much pizazz. So much is here for her to see that she just doesn't want to fall asleep. I don't blame her. We brought her home at the same time she started waking up out of the newborn trance. She is now a healthy 8 lbs. 5 oz. and has added 1/4 inch to her length. This girl is one healthy baby. Yes, she has some gas issues and possibly some other things we are trying to figure out, but she is okay. Praise God.

I am already dreading Monday when my mom leaves. I just don't know how I'll live without her. She has been making gourmet meals, doing every piece of laundry she can find, holding and soothing Reese whenever possible, and bringing me water to drink all day and night. The best part, though, is just having her here for emotional support. Simply put, she is the greatest. I don't know what else to say.

I pray that I soak up every moment of these newborn days. That I can hold her in one arm won't last long. Reese is one special little girl, and she is definitely living up to the meaning of her name...enthusiasm. Here are some pictures from this past week at home. In random order...

Wes checking out his sweet daughter.

Mopsy has so much love for her Reese.

1st doctor's appointment...she was INCREDIBLE.

The daily afternoon sanity saver...taking a walk in the ERGO carrier. She loves it and actually falls asleep without a fight.

Some of the greatest friends on the planet. I am way beyond blessed to have you all.

And last Thursday before our ride home from the hospital. 12 days in the NICU, and we were all so happy to come home.

28 on the 28th

Happy Birthday, Wes! I believe you will remember this one. Of course it's pretty cool that you are turning 28 on September 28th, but I think what you will remember is that you slept in the hospital and counted down the hours until we could take our daughter home with us. We are praying that Reese's last dose of antibiotics will be Thursday, and then off we go! I can't describe how excited I am to take Reese home and mess with her without worrying about pulling off a wire.

Wes, you are incredible. I knew you would be an amazing father, but getting to watch you these past 10 days has been so encouraging and challenging to me. The way you love your daughter and want to protect her makes my eyes water. I could watch you stare at her and laugh when she makes a funny face or smile when she is just sleeping forever. When I asked you what you wanted to do today to make it a memorable birthday, you said you just wanted it to be a peaceful day. Perspective has changed. Our relationship with Christ and the love of family He shares with us are infinitely more important than anything else. I love you so much and wish I could do more for you on your special day than just hang a banner in the hospital room. I'm just glad I did your birthday shopping before Miss Reese was born.

Thank you for loving your two girls so well. We are so blessed.

The love of a brand new daddy.

I love you so much that I searched through all of the labor shots and actually posted two of me.

That hair that I wanted to look so cute...let's just say that I lost my pony tail holder somewhere around 7 cm.
A very proud father...and two happy grandfathers in the background.
Our newly expanded family.
Yes, Wes is much better at changing diapers than me. Maybe it's because he's not scared of pulling off any cords.
Devotion.
Joy.
Contentment.
Love.

Happy Birthday, Wes. We love you so much.

--Your TWO girls, Kate and Reese

Sweet Baby Reese

She's here! And I don't think I can even begin to tell you how beautiful she is. Reese Robinson Walker arrived at 4:26 p.m. on Saturday, September 18th weighing in at 8 pounds and is a whopping 20 1/2 inches long.

I'll start at the beginning...

I decided to celebrate not going into labor on my due date by going to a high school football game on Friday night. We walked a lot, and I went to sleep very tired. Wes, on the other hand, didn't fall asleep until 3:30 in the morning. Oops. When I woke up at 6:03 to what felt like a much different contraction than any other I had experienced, I stood up and realized my water had just broken. I tried to let Wes sleep a bit more, but by 6:28, three contractions had gone by, and I was thinking we needed to get this show on the road. By 7:30, my contractions had been 3-5 minutes apart for quite a while, and we made the move to the hospital. I was admitted at 4 cm and progressed to 8 cm in a few short hours. With Wes, my doula, and dearest friend Lauren (who also happens to be a labor and delivery nurse here), we were on track to having a very short natural labor. Ha. I stayed in transition (8-10 cm) for over four and a half hours, experienced an 8 minute contraction, and finally got to a 10 a little after 4:00 p.m. After 20 minutes of pushing, God helped me deliver Reese into this world. And yes, I did it without any medical interventions. What an answered prayer. I am not exactly sure why I wanted to do this naturally, but I did it...and it was the most painful experience of my life.

It was the most painful experience of my life until we realized that Reese had a few complications. Perspective totally shifted. Very quickly. I have forgotten the pains of childbirth, and I now just long for our baby girl to be well. I won't go into all the little details, and trust me, there are lots of little details, but Reese has Group B Strep. I tested negative for it at 36 weeks pregnant, so I didn't receive any of the antibiotics during labor. Nonetheless, Reese is looking and appears to be feeling much better than she did on Saturday and Sunday. As of now, without further complications, we are looking at another 10 or so days here in the hospital while Reese receives antibiotics, recovers from this nasty infection, and stays under constant watch and care in the Intensive Care Nursery.

We are praising God for answering so many specific prayers in the way we wanted them to be answered. Reese has been off oxygen since Sunday, and her coloring is just beautiful now. Recent test results are coming back in favor of a healthy recovery, and we feel the hand of God constantly. We would like to ask for your prayers, however, for Reese to continue this road. She has had a few setbacks, and we pray for no more of these. Pray for all current and future test results to be good, pray for her ability and desire to breast feed alone, and pray for a procedure that will be done tomorrow morning. I trust God to give the doctors and nurses the wisdom and discernment throughout this whole process, but it can't hurt to pray for them either.

We have been showered with love and prayers from so many, and we appreciate all of the phone calls, emails, text messages, etc. Keep it up, please. We are encouraged and believe that Reese will be perfectly healthy in a matter of another week or so. Until then, we wait with faith here at the hospital.

I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pictures of our precious daughter. Like I said before, she is beautiful.

Better Late than Never

So I totally missed the window of opportunity to get maternity photos taken at the cute belly stage, but my teacher friend Kate came over to drop off a gift the other day with camera in hand and insisted I take a few. And oh how glad I am that I did. No full blown photo shoot was done, but I'm loving these few pictures and will definitely cherish them. Thanks, Kate.

In other news, my due date is tomorrow. Come on, B-Dubette!!

Maybe the next post will be a picture of her. Maybe.