Rehoboth Beach

We had a great time on our first vacation as a family of 3 to Rehoboth Beach. We went with my family and I do believe that Imogen was the star of the show all week (she loved the extra attention and being held so much!). Below are a few pictures from the trip.

Rehoboth Beach or Bust!! With Mr. Bee on the way there. She was a good girl in the car.
Soaking up all the attention from (left to right) Nunny, Aunt Lisa, Zianna, Nana and Uncle Michael.
Imogen's first time on the beach. She was...having a whale of a time!
Our first family picture on the beach, but certainly not our last!

PS (to Aunt Carolyn): We do not spike her hair -- it stands up on its own!!!! :-)

At the Creamery

"I Love Poppa"

Imogen loves taking trips to my parents gelato shop in Shadyside called Mercurio's Mulberry Creamery. She's gotten plenty of lessons on all the flavors already and will be an expert in no time. This past weekend, they had a gelato-eating contest and flavor contest -- something my parents do each year in July to celebrate National Ice-Cream Month. The flavor contest is where customers submit flavors that they think up and eventually, about 20 are made (from around 150 submissions). It's narrowed down to a final 8 each summer at a picnic with friends and family. From those top 8, the winner is selected by votes from customers at the creamery over the weekend. This year's winner was Lemon Bilberry. A bilberry is in the family of the blueberry -- a berry grown in Europe. The lady who submitted the flavor originally titled it "Imogen" for our beautiful baby girl...and it won. Yippee!! The flavor is delicious :-)

The Way She Moves

Imogen started her nap like this... ...and ended it like this!
The girl really likes to move, what can I say. It was fun watching her wiggle her body around and keep trying to go somewhere -- where exactly, we don't know. But she has got places to go! At the time this second picture was taken, she had had enough and started to cry, so we figured she was at her destination.

Exercise Mat

I got the Boppy Entertain Me play gym as a gift at the shower and I finally got it out last week and washed it so that Imogen could lay on it. This is her first tummy time on the mat, and although she did a great job, I think she enjoys laying on her back to look at the toys. At first she would just lay there for a few minutes not knowing what to do, and then she'd cry. But now, she actually bats the toys and looks at them! It's so amazing to see her develop...even though this is such a little thing, it really warms my heart!

Our First Video

Well, not our first, but the blog's first! I filmed this this morning after changing Imogen's diaper. She was laying in her crib and just looking so darn cute! She was really enjoying herself and looking around...that's when I decided to run and get the camera, so this is the tail end of her contentedness and the beginning of her hiccups! Hope you enjoy it!

Imogen Says...Be Nice To Your Mama

...Mama Earth, that is. As most of you know, we are using cloth diapers on Imogen. She is loving them and so are we. There are so many benefits and one of them is, of course, less waste for the Earth. Above are pictures of both grandma's changing their first cloth diapers :-) They did a great job!

The diapers are so cute, so modern and so easy (even for daddy)! Her fluffy bum is always covered in pink, purple, little animals, or minky polka dots! If anyone is interested in more information about them, just leave me a comment, or visit the Wildflower Diapers link to the left -- which is just one online store with tons of details.

Be Good To Your Mama!!

Happy (Belated) Birthday Daddy!

Chris's 29th birthday was on June 29th and these pictures were taken that day. Imogen wore a pretty dress and bow just for her daddy! We had his mom here and my family and celebrated with some dinner, gelato and spice cake -- one of his favorites!

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 bear
June 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 ;-)

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!!

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...

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!

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 wrap

First 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!

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.

The Best Anniversary Gift Ever

Today is our 3 year anniversary and we couldn't imagine spending it any other way than taking care of our precious angel sent to us from God above. She has completely stolen our hearts -- we can barely take our eyes off of her! The above picture may just be my favorite so far. She is wearing a cloth diaper underneath that pretty cover...cute tush for an even cuter baby girl!

Birth story is still in the works (hey, I like details and it takes awhile!) but wanted to add some more pictures...these are her current hairstyles:

Hairstyle 1: The 'spike do'

Hairstyle 2: The 'mohawk do'

Hairstyle 3: The 'professional do'

Welcome to the World...

Imogen Eliana

May 24, 2008

6:07 PM

6 pounds 13 ounces

20 inches long

Thanks to everyone who has followed along with our pregnancy blog -- Baby Girl (otherwise known as Imogen) has finally arrived! Birth Story to follow...Stay Tuned :-)

Her name, Imogen, is an Irish name that Chris and I both really love and also has a great meaning -- Image of Her Mother (which she definitely is!). Her middle name, Eliana, is a tribute to many important women in our lives: One of each of our grandmothers, Elsie & Elvira, and both of our mothers (Linda & Anna).

Name pronunciation for anyone who is curious: Imogen (Im-O-Jen) Eliana (Ell-E-Auna)

Week 39

Baby Girl's Development in Week 39: She is waiting to greet the world! She continues to build a layer of fat to help control her body temperature after birth, but it's likely she already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds! The outer layers of her skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

We sit and wait. I go to bed every night wondering if this is the night I will go into labor -- waking Chris up at 2AM with those words, 'It's time.' Like the song says, "All our bags are packed, we're ready to go...." These pictures are taken with our new camera :-) and that was the last piece we were waiting for (I mean, baby girl was waiting for).

I am still working from home so that I can lay down most of the day, and although it is extremely hard (for any of you who know me well, that wouldn't surprise you), I am taking it easy! I know most, if not all, of you are anxiously awaiting the news of baby girl's arrival and you can see her first pictures here on the blog! I will update it as soon as I can after we get home. I apologize in advance if you call and we don't answer or don't return your call -- but we are surely busy and will get back to you as soon as we can!

Here's to another week of being pregnant and the impending birth of our baby girl! I really hope you've enjoyed sharing the pregnancy with us! Will I take a 'Week 40' picture? Only she and God knows...

Relief...

As some of you already know, I had my 38 week appointment on Tuesday and it was more eventful than either Chris or I would have liked. My blood pressure was high! eek!! The midwife checked it several times and decided to send us over to the hospital for a non-stress test (for the baby) and blood pressure monitoring for me. We were there for about 4 hours and every time they took my blood pressure while I was laying on my back or sitting up, it was elevated or high. When they would take it while I was laying on my side, it was normal. So, I was placed on bedrest to keep it within a normal range. The baby looked extremely happy in there...the fluid levels were perfect and her heartrate was perfect. I wasn't really contracting all that much. My blood tests came back normal and there wasn't any protein in my urine, which is good because these are all signs of a very dangerous pregnancy complication called pre-ecclampsia. Since there weren't any signs of pre-ecclampsia besides the elevated blood pressure, which was normal when I layed down, they sent me home.

Today I had a follow up appointment so that I could get my blood pressure checked multiple times a week. It was back down to within a normal range. There still was no protein in my urine and I have no other symptoms of pre-ecclampsia, so that is very good! Chris and I were extremely relieved -- we had our bags ready to go just in case the midwife would have sent us to the hospital to get induced. Now, I have a regular midwife appointment scheduled each week and a non-stress test at the hospital each week until baby comes to make sure we are both healthy, but as of now, they are going to let baby girl come when she's ready!

The midwife said the head was very low and she expects baby girl to come soon!! :-) Stay tuned...