Halloween

Here are a couple of pictures of Erin in all of her cute Halloween things that she got. Also, she tried out her new frog towel from Uncle Tom and Aunt Pam. Check out the belly on this baby! More pictures are on the Picasa site.

From Erin Michelle Callaway

From Erin Michelle Callaway

From Erin Michelle Callaway

From Erin Michelle Callaway

p.s. the best costumes at our house this evening were:

• dead hannah montana
  
• bag of jellybeans
  

Better

Last night was better than the past several nights, which was a nice change! Erin was wide awake for part of the night, but she didn't scream. We'll take that! It's still hard to get her to sleep on her own, especially at night. She has been eating more often...basically I try to feed her if it's been awhile since the last time and she's fussy. Hopefully that's ok. She likes the baby bjorn carrier (thanks, Amanda and Tyler!), which is nice for having both hands free. She also likes the swing (today, that is...thanks to my UNC nursing buddies!) and has spent the past 2 hours sleeping in it. She's excited about her first Halloween tonight and hopefully will rest all day getting ready for it! We've been going on walks nearly every day, which is nice to get out of the house, and today she'll get her second at-home bath.

From Erin Michelle Callaway

From Erin Michelle Callaway

Lungs

Erin can scream. There's no doubt about that! She even screamed for Liz on the phone last night. Monday night, she screamed from 4:30am-5:15am, just to prove that she can scream any time of the day or night. Last night, she screamed for me for about 30 minutes, then again for Bob for an hour and a half! Poor Bob. Sometimes, she doesn't even cry real tears, so it's like she really is just yelling. We haven't figured out what works to console her, so we are just trying everything we can think of. For example, she loves the bouncy seat during the day, but these evening screaming fits are apparently no time for the bouncy seat. Usually she decides when it is over, and then she passes out.

Speaking of her making decisions for herself, we have had so much fun getting to know her personality. She's got plenty of that, too! My personal favorite - she likes to hold one pinky finger up in the air when she's eating, kind of like she's at an English tea. She LOVES to stretch, and she gives Bella a run for her money in the yawn department. She will make happy noises, and she "smiles" after she's done eating. And so far, she doesn't like her arms to be contained/swaddled. Yesterday she started to suck on her hands. She's started to become more alert, which is really fun too.

So, we are hanging in there with the sleep and enjoying ourselves in the meantime. I think it's sinking in for me that she is finally here...and Bella has come to that realization as well!

Pediatrician visit

Today was Erin's first outing from the house - to the doctor. We were happy with the doctor (Dr. Bowman at Apex Peds) and had a good experience, as far as doctor's visits go. He said she is doing great, and she has gained a whole ounce since Saturday morning! He answered all our questions and said we are doing everything right...nothing can help the sleeping problem, unfortunately.

We have, however, discovered the magic carseat. She hates getting put into it, but once she's in, she goes right to sleep. We will definitely be using that to our advantage!

Also, she had her first bath at home today...she did NOT like it, but we liked seeing her clean, fuzzy, sticking-up hair afterwards!

Lights! Camera! Erin!

Here's a short clip of Erin about 2 hours after she was born (click on it to play)!

From Erin Michelle Callaway

and another one of Logan touching Erin's nose and calling her baby (Doggie if you're Logan):

From Erin Michelle Callaway

Home!

Here is my first post as a new mommy. I still remember how to type, but I had to get Bob to help me download the pictures. We had visits in the hospital yesterday from both Grandmas, Dale, Maria, AND Rio! We had to go to the parking lot to see Rio, but we were so happy to finally meet her. So, we've been home since yesterday afternoon, and all is going well so far. Erin enjoyed her first car ride and we came home to beautiful balloons from our neighbors an a sign, pink ribbon, banner, and balloons from my mom! Bella got acquainted with Erin, but they don't seem to be too excited about each other quite yet.

Erin is eating wonderfully. We are so relieved that she is doing great with it. I won't provide a lot of details here, so just let me know if you want to know more about that : ) However, her sleeping is not so great. We think she is just getting used to the new house, and maybe her stomach is trying to get used to having food in it. She will sleep if someone is holding her, but would not sleep alone. Things are looking up though - her naps at 7am and 10am this morning were all by herself, so maybe she is starting to be able to fall asleep on her own. It's hard to get used to short spurts of sleep when we are used to a full night! Bella is a little grumpy this morning.

Here is a picture of Erin and Bella meeting each other. Some more pictures are on the Picasa site:

From Erin Michelle Callaway

This girl has more pink in her closet already than I do! Here's her laundry basket right now:

From Erin Michelle Callaway

Hour 38 Update

Well, it has been 38 wonderful hours since the birth of our little angel Erin, so it's time for an update!

Gina's feeling a lot better today, though she was up and moving around yesterday with not too much trouble... Erin has been great - sleeping well, eating really well, and most of the time she generally seems content... she really loves to be held, though she does enjoy her sleep! Though sometimes she's not happy about something and doesn't hesitate to let us know - we knew before the pediatrician told us that she had healthy lungs!

We had lots of visitors yesterday, and Erin got to meet (for the first time) Grandpa Steve, Uncle Dale and (almost) Aunt Maria, Shannon, Joanna, Liz, David, Yannis & Sofia, Mike, and saw Grandma Lois, Grandma Pam, Uncle Chris, Aunt Leslie, and cousin Logan again!

Since it looks like everything is fine, we're expecting to be taking Erin home today! We've already seen the pediatrician this morning, who said she's looking great - she's lost 6.6% of her birth weight (currently 7lbs 1oz), which is well within the normal range. She's got her first doctor's appointment on Monday, so we'll learn updated stats then.

And for those of you concerned about our other (more furry) baby, she's been having fun at home. Dale & Maria brought their golden retriever puppy named Rio (and Chris, Leslie, and Logan brought up their dog Willie) so she's had doggie playtime for the last couple of days! She also took a walk with her neighbor friend Wendy (thanks Ken & MK!), and has been eating well, so we think she's coping with the news of Erin's arrival just fine.

On a more personal note - being a dad is about the coolest thing ever - I love being able to hold her, and thinking about all the fun that's to come is great - I can't wait! Gina was such a trooper through the entire pregnancy, labor, and delivery, and she's a wonderful mom - I couldn't ask for a better family!

I'll be uploading pictures periodically to the Picasa site, for which RSS feeds are available. I also got a little bit of video footage of Erin so far (sleeping, being held, and being called "doggie" by Logan), which I'll upload somewhere when we get home.

Thanks again for all the phone calls, well wishes, gifts, thoughts and prayers - we have been truly blessed with a beautiful, healthy daughter and the best family and friends - we couldn't ask for anything more!

It's a Girl!

Erin Michelle Callaway was born on October 23rd, 2008 at 7:01pm. She was 7 pounds
and 9 ounces and 21 inches long. We are very happy and relieved that she is here!
The delivery went great and both mom and baby are doing wonderful!

We will be at WakeMed Cary hospital for the next two days - we're in room WP26, and visiting hours are from 9am-8pm... just call Bob before you come (919)601-1526!

Thank you all for your well wishes, thoughts, and prayers. Now, let the fun begin!

Love,
Bob, Gina, Erin, & Bella

http://picasaweb.google.com/bob.callaway/ErinMichelleCallaway

Getting really close!

Well, this is Bob from the hospital bedside - no baby yet, but we're getting quite close!

Here's the timeline of today so far:

2:30AM - Gina starts feeling painful contractions
5:40AM - Bella awakes and requests her breakfast
5:45AM - Bob awakes and sits up, about to get ready for work, when Gina says "I think you're gonna need to stay home from work today"
6:00AM - Bob & Gina eat breakfast, counting and timing contractions (5 min apart, 30-40 sec in length)
8:00AM - Gina calls OB; they recommend coming into their office to be checked
8:20AM - Bob calls Lois @ work, will call back with updates after OB appt
~10AM - Jessica (the midwife) checks Gina - approx 3cm dilated, sends us on to the hospital
10:30AM- Check into Room #5 at WakeMed Cary
~1:30PM- Jessica checks Gina, ~6cm dilated
1:45PM - Lois, Leslie, and Logan arrive
3:15PM - Gina has had enough of the pain (but has been a champ all along) and gets an epidural
3:45PM - Kelly (our nurse) checks Gina - says she's around 8.5cm
4:00PM - Gina's water breaks
~5:00PM- Kelly checks Gina again, says around 9.5cm dilated, 100% effaced.
5:55PM- Kelly just checked again, says that we can begin pushing once Bob finishes eating the delicious Wendy's chicken sandwich that Lois brought him
6:15PM- We get ready to start pushing
6:25PM- The pushing commences, crowning soon follows
7:01PM- Erin takes her first breath!

Nope, nothing

Well, no updates from the doctor this morning. I am the same as last Wednesday, which is a big bummer. Unless anything happens, I will go back on Friday morning for a non-stress test, which is when they hook me up to a fetal monitor for about 20 minutes and see how the baby is doing. He said if all is well with that, they will continue to wait and not talk about an induction until the end of next week. While I am still scared of an induction (the full-blown Pitocin type, that is, after hearing so many stories of those inductions leading to c-sections), it's kind of discouraging to know that we may be waiting a lot longer. He said to do an induction now would be tough because I haven't made much progress.

So...we will keep waiting and hoping, and I will try not to go crazy from boredom! At least Bella is happy to keep her life normal and baby-free for now.

The Big Sister

I have heard that parents should give older siblings presents or do something special for them when a new baby is born. I don't see how this is any different:

My plan was to let her get used to it now, so we could leave her alone with it while we're gone to the hospital. The plan may backfire when she chews the whole thing today. After all, it is coated in peanut buttery delicious-ness. Who can resist that?!?

Finally - (a little) something

Well, I finally got checked at the doctor's (technically midwife) today, but I am only 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Jessica has redeemed herself to me - she only called me "love" once and took some time to talk to us, as well as doing the exam, of course. She said everything is doing what it is supposed to, so I just need to give it some time. Torture! I was happy to hear that at least something is happening. She said she felt the baby's head, which I thought was kind of weird because I thought the amniotic fluid would protect the head, but maybe she didn't directly feel it - I didn't think to ask about that. She said the baby is still in the right position and the heartbeat is good (140's), so that's good. I am measuring good and all else is fine. She also said a couple of times that I have a good pelvis (gynecoid, for the nurses). I said thank you - what a compliment! Her estimate of the weight is 7 lbs. 8 oz...but of course that is just from poking around outside, so she may be way off. I've heard they can easily be a pound off either way. I think that is a good size though, not too big! I was sad not to have more dilation, but I guess it is something and everything is going good. She can't say how much longer it will be, of course. I wish she could!

She did try to sell me on laboring at home...she had a patient this week who she brought into the office at 3 cm, checked the fetal heart rate, and sent her home until she was 6 cm. I am not sure how I feel about all that. We will just have to see how it goes.

I think that's it from this morning. So, I feel a little encouraged that we have something going on, although it's not much. I sneakily (with Bob's approval) made the next appointment for Monday instead of Wednesday to not have to wait a full week. Besides, Tuesday is the due date, so I figure it's all right to see them on Monday, right? Hopefully we won't even have to go back to the doctor's! Really, I feel fine and have no complaints other than boredom. Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

A Non-Update

Still nothing from the doctor this morning...and I had such high hopes for Dr. V! He said they should check me for any progress next week, but I was also told that he would check today and he didn't. So, we shall see. He said they will only induce me if my blood pressure is high (it is nowhere near high right now), or I assume/hope they will also induce if I go past my due date. Otherwise, no weight gain in the past 2 weeks, which I guess is good, I am measuring good, and everything else is good.

So, we continue to wait. I have learned that I am not cut out to be a stay-at-home-wife...even with being home all the time, I am still not making Bob gourmet dinners or cleaning the house every day. Poor Bob! Bella is enjoying all the personal attention though - she is constantly begging for biscuits now and ringing the bell to go out all the time. As long as she is happy, we are happy.

Slumber party?

Who wants to guess how much sleep is going to happen in this room when you add 2 adults and a newborn?

We got nothin'

Well, the Week 37 appointment was kind of disappointing. We probably saw Kim for less than 60 seconds for a quick listen to the heartbeat and measure. That was it! She seemed nice, I guess, just...quick! She did say that Dr. V will probably check for any progress next week. I was disappointed that she didn't poke around (Leopold's maneuvers, for you nurses) and check the baby's position since Lucie did that last week, or speculate on the baby's weight, or anything like that. But they are the professionals, so I'm sure they are doing what needs to be done. My blood pressure, weight, etc. were all fine, so that's good news.

So, right now I am feeling a little sad that I will most likely have to wait another week with nothing to do except whine about my heartburn, and poor Bob has to hear it! But I need to remember how lucky we are to be in this situation, and the baby will be born when he/she is ready. For what it's worth, I am ready!