Ssshhhh! Baby is Sleeping (Maybe)

Disclaimer: I realize babies are NOT robots. They operate on their own mixed-up, trying-to-figure-out-the-world schedules.

Second disclaimer: She is eating well and growing by all accounts.

That said, we have been having daily adventures with getting our little nimbus cloud (Nyla means "cloud" for those who haven't read here much) to go to sleep. It's obvious she is tired, but for whatever reason she just does not want to go to sleep. She has a full belly, a clean diaper, and good snuggle/rocking time with Mom or Dad. But when you put her down, after 5 or 10 or 20 or 30 minutes, she decides to let us know she's still awake. We'll go in, calm her down, and leave the room... only to be back in there, again, 5 or 10 or 20 or 30 minutes later.

We're pretty sure we've isolated the problem. Unfortunately, the solution has not easily presented itself. Her arms are the problems. Yep, those sweet, chubby little arms are causing us trouble. Since she's only 2 weeks old, she has not quite mastered the art of control over her muscles. Also, she likes having her arms up by her face, often sleeping with both arms "flexing" beside her head. You see where I'm going with this? Having your arms up by your face is ok. But when you're two weeks old, well, sometimes those arms become boxing gloves as you twitch and flail around. In other words, she will hit herself, wake herself up, think "Hey, who hit me?" and proceed to cry. The obvious solution? Advanced newborn mind control Swaddling. I mean, who doesn't like to get all snuggly under the covers and wrapped up nice and cozy? My daughter, apparently. Ginny and I will go through our "night-night" routine with her. She's quiet; she's comfortable; she's swaddled. We put her down in the bed. Then, over the baby monitor, we hear a various array of grunts, sighs, and eventually cries. She is trying to wiggle out of the swaddling, despite the fact that when we first swaddle her, she immediately relaxes.

As you can see, this can cause some problems, especially when it is not an every-time thing. Just yesterday, she went down with no trouble in the morning, around noon, and in the afternoon. But at 6? Well, at 11 she finally went to sleep for the night. Now understand, she's not screaming the whole time. She does remain fairly calm, until she decides to become Houdini and attempt to free herself from her box filling up with water (that's all I can imagine she thinks her blanket is to want out THAT badly). It's frustrating for Mom and Dad, because she'll be quiet for up to 30 minutes before deciding she is in Alcatraz and needs out.

It's sort of a darned-if-you-do, darned-if-you-don't problem. If we don't swaddle her, she can wake herself with flailing arms. If we do swaddle her, and she doesn't go to sleep right away, she wants out. But when she gets to sleep, she is out. She won't move.

For all the parents or child experts, what is your advice? I know babies don't establish a good sleep pattern for the first few weeks, but Little Girl is obviously tired. Short of rocking her for an hour until she's in deep sleep (which we would prefer not to do and let her fall asleep on her own), what advice do you have about this swaddling/arms free problem?

-D

Friday edit: She had her 2-week checkup today. Good weight gain. Good report. Pediatrician said her sleep (or sometimes lack thereof) is normal, because, after all, she doesn't really know any better at this point.

One Week Pictures, A Week Late

It really is amazing to see how much Little Girl has changed since her birth. She is simply adorable, and every day I get wrapped around her tiny little fingers just a little bit more.

By the way, we had some storms here this afternoon. Apparently Nyla (whose name means "cloud") does not mind thunder, because she fell sound asleep while the thunder boomed all around us! I love her even more! (Note: That's hard to do!)

Now if we could just her to look at the camera for her 2-week pictures! =)

-D

One Week Old

Wow. Little Girl is already one week old. It seems like just yesterday she was getting pulled out of G's belly. I'll probably save more details for a later post, but the last week has been a real adventure and emotional roller coaster as we learn to raise our little bundle of joy. But seriously, look at this face. Isn't it all worth it?! YES!



-D

More Pictures!

Hello, world! It sure has been weird not seeing much of you! Of course, we've been busy with our darling little girl. We had a rough night last night with some tummy troubles, but we are doing much better this morning! While she is soundly sleeping, here are a few pictures to share!

This was yesterday morning. Waking up in Daddy's arms and to a cell phone camera near her face.

This is from this morning. Glad to see her sleeping so well after a fussy night.

And then there's this sweet picture. Waving to her Daddy, at least that is what I am telling myself!

Ginny is recovering well, and the doctor said she could go home this afternoon. We will see how the rest of the morning goes and make a decision after lunch.

-D

Nyla is Here

Born shortly before 12, Nyla came into this world via C-section. (G pushed for two hours, but Nyla never could get past one tight spot. Rather than risk harm, the doctor, with G's blessing, went with a C-section.) She tipped the scales at 9 lbs, 8 oz and measured 21 inches in length! No wonder G pushed and pushed to no avail! Little Giant Baby Nyla lived up to her name.

In short, she is beautiful. And I am blown away by the moment I first held her.

-D

Today is the Day

Well, dear readers, your old pal Daniel is a bit tired. It's been a long 28 hours, and it will culminate hopefully in the next hour or so with a Little Giant Baby Nyla in our arms. G began having some mild, widely spaced contractions around 4 am yesterday. They gradually got stronger and more frequent. However, with no water break, there is not much that can be done. We thought her water was leaking at about 10:30 last night, so we ventured again to the hospital with the hopes of staying. No such luck. 1-2 cm dilated, 50% effaced, no water break. With the effacement, the nurse we saw did tell us we would be back within 24 hours.

So of course at 2:00am this morning, Ginny's water breaks explodes floods her side of the bed. Back to the hospital, where we come to found in a short time she went to 5 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Now we currently, er, well really she currently is almost 10 cm dilated and 100% effaced, meaning it's just a matter of time.

Continue to pray for a safe, quick, healthy delivery and for a beautiful healthy Little Giant Baby Nyla.

-D

Baby's Bedroom Bonanza

Well, dear readers, it's a week overdue, but finally the time has come to show off the beautiful room for our still lazy, stubborn baking Baby Nyla. Since I feel like this room could be featured at the Showcase Showdown on the Price is Right, I'll need to get my announcer voice ready to go. Give me just a minute...

(Clearing throat...)

We start our tour of the beautiful baby's room with pictures of these... LOVELY modes of transportation! The bus, car, truck, and train all look quite cute with their vibrant colors and lettering.

As we progess around the wall, we stop and admire this... CUTE bow holder. This lovely canvas is dotted with circles and highlighted by this fantastic letter N. Five custom-cut ribbons provide support for all the hair bows your little girl could EVER need.

Immediately below the bow holder, we find this... LUXURIOUS glider! The neutral color allows for colors around the room to stand out and brighten your day. The comfort of this glider is perfect for those 3am crying and feeding times. The curtains are hand-made from a blanket, and the stuffed animals bask in the warmth from the double window. The window seat will see plenty of action when your little girl begins reading.

What room would be complete without... THIS HUGE WALK-IN closet?! Yes, your little girl will have hundreds of outfits to wear for all seasons, and you can find them all easily with the wire shelving and baby coat hangers.

And what sort of baby room would it be without... THIS SPECTACULAR crib?! Assembled by the loving hands of Daniel, this crib is sturdy and will provide hours of sleeping for your little one. The hand-made bedding brightens the room and lets everyone know that a cute little girl sleeps 20 hours a day in there.

To sparkle the wall over the crib, we've added these... ADORABLE pictures! Hand-painted flowers by Ginny bookend this beautiful centerpiece of colorful lines and boxes with a cursive "Nyla" in the middle.

Lastly, your giant baby needs clothes to wear as she leaves the hospital. That's why you'll love... THESE PRECIOUS outfits! Already worn before by Ginny and her sister, these outfits are precious and tell everyone that your little bundle of joy is coming home from the hospital to begin the rest of your lives as a family of (for the next few years) 3!

All of these items can be yours if YOU'RE having a BABY in 9 days and live in our house!

(Clears throat)

Phew! That game show announcer voice stretches my voicebox to the limit. I think I need a Hawaiian punch 5-calorie drink mix. That is all for now, contestants friends and family. Remember to help control the pet population. Have your pets spayed or neutered!

Have a good weekend!

-D

The Month is Upon Us

July 1. Half the year, calendar-wise, is over. Has time flown by for you? I wouldn't say it has for me. It's gone by at a nice, leisurely pace. With the month of July ahead of us, it is now crunch time for Little Giant Baby Nyla. She is 18 days away from her due date. Wow. In a way, it seems like yesterday we found out Ginny had another person growing inside her. At the same time, it seems like that was 9 months ago. (It was.)

Today was Ginny's regular, weekly checkup with her regular doctor. Regular checkups are ok at this point, given last week we were in and out of doctors' offices. The report? No change in dilation. No effacing, at least not enough that we were told about it. But Little Giant Baby Nyla is now head-down. This is a good thing. Ginny's belly continues to measure about 2 weeks ahead, so the nickname we gave her works.

That leads us to the bigger news. July 18th, in the evening, we will make our trip to the hospital, at which point the nurses will do whatever it is they do down there to encourage Nyla to make her grand debut on July 19th, her actual due date. Of course, now that we have set up an official date for her to come, she will probably decide at 2am on Wednesday the 14th to want to see us. Not that I'm going to complain, however. I'm ready to see my little girl and hold her in my arms!

I hope to post some pictures of her room this long weekend. Hopefully G and I can coordinate that and get some pics to share. No promises, though! Little Giant Baby Nyla could throw a wrench into everything!

-D