Jessica weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces when she was born. Each night at hospital, they weighed Jessica. The first night she had dropped to 6 pounds 14 ounces. The second night she was down to 6 pound 9 ounces and the third night she was down to 6 pound 6 ounces. This constituted a weight loss of 10%, which is the maximum the pediatrician on call at the hospital said was acceptable. Because of that, we visited our pediatrician (same practice as the on-call pediatrician) Tuesday morning after being released from the hospital. At that visit, Jessica weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces, so she hadn’t gained any weight, but she hadn’t lost any more weight either. The pediatrician suggested I supplement until my milk came in, but really that is counterproductive to breast-feeding since your body produces as much milk as it thinks you need and if your baby doesn’t feed as often, it doesn’t think you need to produce as much. Fortunately, my milk came in later that day and by Friday when we went back to the pediatrician, Jessica weighed 7 pounds. She had gained 10 ounces in 3 days and that truly goes to show my milk was good stuff and that Jessica is a terrific eater. Of course, I was also was feeding Jessica what seemed like all the time. It’s pretty neat watching her fill out and I’m curious to know what she will weigh when we go back to the pediatrician’s office on her 3-week-old birthday. For more information on breastfeeding, check out La Leche League of Austin.

Jessica Kicking her Feet in the Bouncer, 4-days old

Besides nursing, Jessica has gone on numerous walks around the neighborhood. She enjoys being in the stroller and usually falls asleep, but sometimes she just watches the toy bugs on the carrier handle.

Jessica in her Stroller, 5-days old

Jessica in her Stroller, 9-days old

She’s started having daily tummy time. The tummy time doesn’t last very long right now. Jessica tries her darnedest to roll over, but she doesn’t have enough oomph yet to do it, which clearly frustrates her.

Tummy Time, 11-days old

Jessica has spent some time with her cousin Aspen, who’s adventures can be found on Jason and Julia’s blog.

Jason, Aspen, Julia and Jessica

She’s been held by her older cousin Dawson, who visited the 2nd weekend of her life and thought she was pretty cute.

Dawson, Jessica and James

Jessica has had her first bath at home. She seemed okay with it until we washed her hair, whereas at the hospital, she didn’t like the bath, but enjoyed the nurse washing her hair. We’ve now washed her hair 3 times and every time, she hasn’t enjoyed it. Hopefully, our bathing baby skills improve and she starts to enjoy bath time.

First Bath, 7-days old

She’s had lots of time with her two grandmothers. James’ Mom was here for 6 days the first week home from the hospital and my Mom was here for 6 days this week. We hadn’t planned on having the extra help, but as I’m not supposed to lift anything heavier than Jessica due to the C-section, its been nice having the extra help. James and I are spoiled now though with all the good cooking our Moms have been doing. Thanks Moms!

Jessica and her Nana

Jessica and her Nanny

And of course, Jessica spends lots of time sleeping. Isn’t she precious? We hadn’t planned on using a sleep positioner, but Jessica has a tendency of kicking her legs up in the air and that movement will often cause her to roll on her side and we want to try to keep her on her back until she can intentionally roll on her side.

Sleeping Babe, 13-days old

Becoming a parent is a totally mind-blowing experience. Hearing Jessica’s first cries as she exited the womb and entered the big new world brought tears of joy to my eyes. Her birth was definitely not the experience I thought it would be though. Caution: Labor details to follow. Skip to pictures for those who get faint.

James and I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 AM Friday. After signing the paperwork and getting the IV installed, the Pitocin started about 7:30 AM. At that point, I was 3 cm dilated. My doctor came and broke my water about 8:30 AM. I have to say, the water breaking was definitely a weird sensation, especially since it doesn’t all come out at once. As I moved around and Jessica moved around, more “water” (amniotic fluid) would leak out. I was hooked up to portable monitors that monitored baby JAM’s heartbeat and my contractions. During the labor process, I walked laps around the maternity wing, sat in the armchair in the room, and bounced on a birth ball. The moving around along with the breathing techniques that I learned in the birth class James and I attended worked very well to get through the contractions. At 11:30 AM, my nurse came to check my progress and she said I was dilated to 8 cm. I thought, “Wow, 5 cm in 4 hours.” Then she said she was going to have another nurse check. So the other nurse came in and checked and said, “I don’t know.” This discussion made me a little nervous. They both left and a few minutes later, the nurse and my doctor came in with a portable ultrasound. The doctor checked and then did a quick ultrasound and said, “Well, she is butt first, the little turkey, so we’re going to have to do a C-section.” So the nurse prepped me and then she walked me into C-section operating room, as I was still having contractions and did not want to be rolled in. The anesthesiologist did a spinal and then I laid out on the table with my arms out. From the chest down, I got all numb. It was weird sensation to fill the tugging and pulling of the C-section, but no pain. Then baby JAM was born at 12:16 PM. Hearing her crying as she was born, was one of the happiest sounds of my life.

First Family Photo

Jessica and her Nanny

Jessica and her Papa

Jessica's Hearing Screening

Sleeping Babe

Jessica and her Daddy

Jessica with her Nana and Grandpa

Getting Ready to Leave the Hospital

In the Car on the Way Home

The due date was October 6th. I have always thought that Baby JAM would be late. There’s a few reasons for that thinking: 1) I thought the 6th was a tad early (my own estimate was the 9th) and 2) Baby JAM’s parents have a tendency of being late so why wouldn’t she be late to arrive also. However, it has become increasingly difficult for me to patiently wait for Baby JAM to make her entrance into the big wide world. She did give her parents an extra weekend of sleeping in, so I guess I can’t complain, at least not too much.

…Introducing…

Jessica Ann Moore

October 16, 12:16 PM

7 pounds 2 ounces

20 inches long.

Baby Jessica

Baby Jessica & Momma

Baby Jessica was born via c-section due to being in the breach position.  Mom and baby are doing fine.

Some of you have been asking to see pictures of the nursery. It’s been ready for a little while and I am finally getting around to posting pictures. I’m so happy with how it turned out. The rainforest theme (Fisher Price) is adorable. James and I are very blessed to have friends like Aric and Kristy who made the tree as a baby gift for us. The area in between the branches opens up to be a little hiding place. The bottom of the tree is open for baby JAM’s stuffed animals. She already has 6. I also really like the monkey hamper. You can see my stack of diaper covers on the changing table. I’ll keep you posted on my foray into cloth diapering.

Crib

Tree

Changing Table

I’ve also been remiss in posting updates about baby JAM. This coming Tuesday is her due date. It’s hard to believe that will be 40 weeks. At my checkup last week, my doctor said I was unlikely to go into labor prior to the due date. From the beginning, I thought baby JAM would be later than Oct. 6th. There’s 2 days left for her to prove me wrong. I am about 2 centimeters dialated, but I’ve been that way since week 38. I feel great and have had some of what may be contractions this weekend, but nothing regular. My next post will most likely be her introduction to the world (unless I set up some posts of some cards I need to share).

Week 32

Week 34

Week 36

Week 38

I have my 32-week appointment this Thursday. Time is flying and we’re getting really excited.

Tonight we went to a Pediatrician Open House at the hospital. This was the second one we have gone to and have now met all 4 doctors in the office we are interested in using and have made a decision as to which pediatrician is the best fit for us. We also did the tour of the labor and delivery unit (very conveniently timed shortly after the open house). Seton Southwest has 6 labor and delivery rooms. It is pretty neat in that you will labor, deliver, recover and postpartum all in the same room. I think this will prove advantageous. I also really liked the nurse who gave the tour and wouldn’t mind having her as my nurse.

The baby’s room is coming along nicely. A month ago, James with some minor help from me put the crib together and this last weekend we (well James with the help of my brother-in-law Brian) finished moving the furniture necessary to get  the rest of the baby furniture basically in place. We still have a lot to do, but progress is occurring. Now to just make some Craigs List postings and unload some furniture we no longer need.

James Putting the Crib Together

James and the Finished Crib

Baby Furniture

I’ve started being a lot more tired and recently back ache has come into play. I’ve also been really hot, but James hasn’t minded when I’ve  wanted to turn down the air.  I still don’t feel huge, but that may be because as of my last doctor’s visit at 30 weeks I had only gained 13 pounds thus far. Even though I don’t feel huge, I no longer  am comfortable bending over to tie my shoes. It is nice that James is willing to tie my shoes, so I don’t have to bend over. Baby JAM is still pretty active.  She also has gotten the hiccups quite frequently as of late, three different times today. It is quite an odd sensation when her little hiccups are occurring.

Following are the next two installments in our bi-weekly photo shoots. I wish I would remember to do them earlier in the day to get better lighting. I should also find a better place to take these pictures than in front of the door. Then I wouldn’t have to keep removing the door knob from the photo.

Week 28

Week 30