May 28, 2007: We went to the Pittsburgh Zoo for our 2nd Anniversary and got our picture taken in front of the big polar bear
June 27, 2008: In front of the same polar bear, but with a special gift, our little Imogen. Saturday, June 28, 2008
What a Difference a Year Makes
May 28, 2007: We went to the Pittsburgh Zoo for our 2nd Anniversary and got our picture taken in front of the big polar bearJune 27, 2008: In front of the same polar bear, but with a special gift, our little Imogen. 
One Month Old
Imogen's one month birthday was this past Tuesday June 24th. This picture was taken that day. I can't believe how big she's gotten! At her one month doctor appointment this week, she weighed 9 lbs 2 oz! She was born in the 25th percentile for weight and has now escalated to the 50th percentile. The doc said she's growing great :-) They did not take a length measurement, but will do that next month.Imogen is now fitting very well into her 0-3 month clothing, so it's really fun to dress her every day! She is very aware when she is awake and loves to look around! She is a great sleeper (takes after me on that front) and usually gives us nice 4 hour stretches at night, which is pretty good considering she's breastfeeding. Imogen has great head/neck control, even though we still call her 'bobble' every so often. She'll hold her head up all by herself for awhile and then it will bobble over and hit your shoulder -- so we are very careful!
Chris and I have loved being able to see her grow and change so much over the past month. She is, by far, the cutest little girl we have ever seen -- and we're definitely not partial ;-)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Happy Birthday Mommy!
Today is my 27th birthday and I have the greatest gift in my arms. I've had a wonderful day! It started with only having to wake up once last night with Imogen. Then this afternoon my parents, nana and a few siblings came over to make me dinner and we had gelato cake from the creamery afterwards...delish!! Now, Imogen is hinting in the picture to where we are headed next -- a nap together while Chris cuts the grass. I hope everyone is enjoying their 2nd day of summer as much as I am!!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day!
Imogen loves kisses from her daddy! And we'd like to wish all the fathers (and father's-to-be) out there a very happy and special father's day! Here's to many more...
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The Long Awaited Birth Story
Our last picture as a 'couple'
The last picture taken of me before Imogen was born. With my Nana, sister (Anna), and mom.
Sorry it's taken me so long to get this posted, but life with a newborn baby is unpredictable at times...as many of you know! Here goes:
Due to my high BP, starting at 38 weeks I was scheduled for weekly non-stress tests at the hospital to check how the baby was doing and also to monitor my BP. My first (non-emergent)one was scheduled for May 22nd, and although I wasn't looking forward to it, I really wasn't concerned since I had already had one the week before. I sat in the chair and the nurse put the BP cuff on my arm and the belts around my belly. The baby was looking perfect on the monitor, but after only 2 BP readings, the nurse said, "Let me go get the doctor." Minutes later, a doctor that shall remain nameless walked in and said, "Congratulations, you're going to be a mother." I said, "Yea....." and he said, "And you're going to be a mother today. We're going to induce you because of your BP and we'll have a nurse wheel you up to labor and delivery." Then he turned around and left!! I was in shock...Chris was in shock. It just wasn't what we expected on a normal Thursday when I was feeling totally fine.
We got up to L&D and I wouldn't let anyone do anything to me until I spoke with my midwives. There were two of them in L&D that day and they were really great and supportive and thought it was best to get the baby out ASAP for my health. So, the induction process started...I won't go into toooooooo many details here, but in a nutshell, after 19 hours on cervidil and pitocin, I was only 1 cm dialated and 80% effaced and the baby was at a -3 station (aka...really high up in there!). So, the midwife suggested to stop pitocin and start another 12 hour round of cervidil, which I did. After that 12 hours, and then an additional 4 hours on pitocin, I still hadn't changed from that initial 1 cm!! I was devastated needless to say. Being induced was the last thing I wanted and then to be faced with a possible c-section because it wasn't working was horrific to me.
As me, Chris, my mom, Anna and Nana were sitting in the room talking about the options on the table, the baby decided she had other plans...and 'POP!' She broke my water! That was at 2:15pm on Saturday. It was honestly a pop that both Chris and I heard -- it was that loud! After it broke, my contractions because 1000 times more painful than the pitocin contractions. After about an hour of attempting to breath through them (more like crying), I had the midwife check me to see how far along I was. I thought if I was already like 8 cm, I would try to hold off on the epidural because I really didn't want one. But she checked and I was only 2 cm!!! I asked for the epi at that point because the back spasms with every contraction were more than I could bear. About an hour after the epidural went in, I got checked and was at 6 cm...I was so elated I can't even describe the feeling. An hour after that, the nurse decided to check me and she was shocked to exclaim that, "Oh my, you are complete and the head is right there!" She called in the midwife because it was time to push. I was scared because I hadn't gotten any rest (like I thought I would with the epi) and was very fatigued -- not eating for 12 hours will cause that. But I was also so excited to meet my little girl, so she kept me going.
I started pushing and after 9 contractions (about 15 minutes) she was out! It was the most amazing, surreal moment of my life. A true miracle is the only real way to describe the entire pregnancy and birth.
And if any of you were wondering why that pesky induction wasn't working, it's because Imogen decided she wanted to be a ballerina while still in the womb -- she came out one arm first and her other arm beside her head which was tilted upward instead on tucked under. So those arms of hers were blocking her from properly dropping into my pelvis and the lack of pressure was causing me to NOT dialate. Go figure. Anyway, my "active labor" time was recorded as 3 hours and 52 minutes because that's how long I was truly in labor. My water broke at 2:15pm and she was born at 6:07pm. Not bad.
Although I didn't want to be induced, when I look back at the whole situation around her arrival, I wouldn't change a thing. I know I made informed decisions regarding all my labor care and that's what I spent the 9 months preparing for. She is an angel, so perfect that I couldn't have dreamed her to be any more perfect. God is great!
Due to my high BP, starting at 38 weeks I was scheduled for weekly non-stress tests at the hospital to check how the baby was doing and also to monitor my BP. My first (non-emergent)one was scheduled for May 22nd, and although I wasn't looking forward to it, I really wasn't concerned since I had already had one the week before. I sat in the chair and the nurse put the BP cuff on my arm and the belts around my belly. The baby was looking perfect on the monitor, but after only 2 BP readings, the nurse said, "Let me go get the doctor." Minutes later, a doctor that shall remain nameless walked in and said, "Congratulations, you're going to be a mother." I said, "Yea....." and he said, "And you're going to be a mother today. We're going to induce you because of your BP and we'll have a nurse wheel you up to labor and delivery." Then he turned around and left!! I was in shock...Chris was in shock. It just wasn't what we expected on a normal Thursday when I was feeling totally fine.
We got up to L&D and I wouldn't let anyone do anything to me until I spoke with my midwives. There were two of them in L&D that day and they were really great and supportive and thought it was best to get the baby out ASAP for my health. So, the induction process started...I won't go into toooooooo many details here, but in a nutshell, after 19 hours on cervidil and pitocin, I was only 1 cm dialated and 80% effaced and the baby was at a -3 station (aka...really high up in there!). So, the midwife suggested to stop pitocin and start another 12 hour round of cervidil, which I did. After that 12 hours, and then an additional 4 hours on pitocin, I still hadn't changed from that initial 1 cm!! I was devastated needless to say. Being induced was the last thing I wanted and then to be faced with a possible c-section because it wasn't working was horrific to me.
As me, Chris, my mom, Anna and Nana were sitting in the room talking about the options on the table, the baby decided she had other plans...and 'POP!' She broke my water! That was at 2:15pm on Saturday. It was honestly a pop that both Chris and I heard -- it was that loud! After it broke, my contractions because 1000 times more painful than the pitocin contractions. After about an hour of attempting to breath through them (more like crying), I had the midwife check me to see how far along I was. I thought if I was already like 8 cm, I would try to hold off on the epidural because I really didn't want one. But she checked and I was only 2 cm!!! I asked for the epi at that point because the back spasms with every contraction were more than I could bear. About an hour after the epidural went in, I got checked and was at 6 cm...I was so elated I can't even describe the feeling. An hour after that, the nurse decided to check me and she was shocked to exclaim that, "Oh my, you are complete and the head is right there!" She called in the midwife because it was time to push. I was scared because I hadn't gotten any rest (like I thought I would with the epi) and was very fatigued -- not eating for 12 hours will cause that. But I was also so excited to meet my little girl, so she kept me going.
I started pushing and after 9 contractions (about 15 minutes) she was out! It was the most amazing, surreal moment of my life. A true miracle is the only real way to describe the entire pregnancy and birth.
And if any of you were wondering why that pesky induction wasn't working, it's because Imogen decided she wanted to be a ballerina while still in the womb -- she came out one arm first and her other arm beside her head which was tilted upward instead on tucked under. So those arms of hers were blocking her from properly dropping into my pelvis and the lack of pressure was causing me to NOT dialate. Go figure. Anyway, my "active labor" time was recorded as 3 hours and 52 minutes because that's how long I was truly in labor. My water broke at 2:15pm and she was born at 6:07pm. Not bad.
Although I didn't want to be induced, when I look back at the whole situation around her arrival, I wouldn't change a thing. I know I made informed decisions regarding all my labor care and that's what I spent the 9 months preparing for. She is an angel, so perfect that I couldn't have dreamed her to be any more perfect. God is great!
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Wearing Imogen
Picture of her before a walk (it's just so cute!)One thing that I love to do is take Imogen for walks during the day while Chris is doing school work. We got a great wrap at the shower and wearing Imogen is my favorite way to walk with her. She falls right asleep! I've also worn her around the house when I'm trying to get laundry or cooking done and I know she really likes being close to me!
Imogen in the wrapFirst Trip to Nonna & Nonno's House
Last week, we took Imogen to my parents house for the first time. She got to meet quite a few friends and some family that still hadn't seen her. We dressed her in one of her many ice-cream outfits for the occasion. She did great in the car and didn't mind being held by others.
Proud Grandparents look on
Imogen & her Zianna
Imogen & her Uncle Mike
Anyone Else...?
Imogen is such a great baby! She is so content all the time and loves to lay awake and look around. However, she does get into a discontent mood sometimes, and when she does, she pulls her hair! I finally captured a picture of it to share....but I'm serious -- she'll pull her hair and start screaming, then let go and stop. Clearly she is not aware of her hands yet, and we can't help but laugh when she does it. So, anyone else have this problem with their two-week-old? :-) 
We put mittens on her hands to stop it sometimes, but she is a great thumbsucker, so we hate to have them on her all the time. We hope she'll grow out of it soon!
We put mittens on her hands to stop it sometimes, but she is a great thumbsucker, so we hate to have them on her all the time. We hope she'll grow out of it soon!
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
First (Sponge) Bath
Imogen had her first sponge bath this week. We have to wait to give her a real bath until her umbilical cord stump falls off -- which should be any day now. She did surprisingly well given the fact that she hates to be naked. And when the cold air hit her, she peed all over the teddy bear sponge! But don't worry, we got her all cleaned up and she smells terriffic :-) A natural beauty she is for sure.
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