1 month old

Penelope started growling and grunting in the last couple weeks.  She loves bath time.  She doesn't fuss at all.  Her first couple baths with difficult for us, but not anymore.  I think she likes being naked. haha.  Josh calms her down with helicopter noises.  It distracts her.  I just cannot wait until she starts smiling and meaning it.  It seems the only way she can sleep is in mommy's arms.  She can be dead asleep and I'll carry her to the bassinet and lay her down and she will be wide awake.

Nights are not fun for me.  For about 2 weeks I slept on the couch with her because I didn't want to disturb Josh with her crying and getting up all the time because he had to work.  But he got tired of sharing a bed with the dog instead of me.  I usually start off in bed holding Penelope until she wakes up.  Then I make her a bottle and feed her on the couch.  Then we fall asleep and spend the rest of the night on the couch.  It doesn't bother me much but I feel bad for Josh.   But I still miss my bed.  When she starts sleeping through the night it will be easier for everyone.

I think the reason she has trouble sleeping without me is because I don't like putting her down.  I know a lot of people say I need to put her down so she can sleep on her own. But I have been dreaming about what it would be like to have a daughter for years, even before I was married.  I can't get enough of her so I'm going to hold her and cuddle her as much as I can.  On the average day, I probably hold her around 20 hours.  I'm even typing with one hand right now because she's sleeping in my lap. 

Her hair is brownish red right now.  I hope she turns out to be a little red head.  That would be so cute! Sometimes she will cry in her sleep, only for about 3 seconds though.   We call her Penelope, Penny, Baby, Baby Turtle and Puppy. 

At one month---

She is now eating 3 ounces every 2-3 hours.  Sometimes she is still hungry, so I'll make her another ounce and she either gobbles it down and spits up a little or she falls asleep pretending to drink it.

She cannot hold onto her pacifier for more than 2 minutes.  I usually have to hold it in her mouth for her.

She will sleep between 2 and 5 hours a night, depending on how much she sleeps during the day.  But she almost always wakes up at 9 am.

She is great at holding her head up.  I think she can go about 30 seconds before resting. 

Weighs 8 lbs, 11 ounces and is 19 3/4 inches long.  That puts her in the 7th percentile for height and 34th for weight.  

Growing out of newborn diapers but that's ok because I only have 6 left and TONS of size 1 diapers.

Newborn clothes are getting tight, but newborn pants still fit.  A few 0-3 clothes fit but the pants are way too long for my shorty.

I have lost a total of 29 pounds but unfortunatly, I still have more to lose.  I'm really looking forward to my doctors appt in December so I can get the "all clear" and get back in shape. 

Question-  What do you get a 2 month old baby for Christmas?





Birth



1 week







2 weeks

3 weeks

4 weeks

 And a video.  I love her eyes in this video.

 

16 days old

I guess everyone is ready for an update since I used to blog weekly and it's been over a week now. But I've been busy. I have decided not to do a weekly chalkboard with her because it becomes a chore.  I will do it every month though. 

She is 16 days old today.  We spend most of our nights sleeping on the couch together.  I feel bad when she is crying in the middle of the night and Josh has to go to work at 5:30 am.  Plus, the couch is easier for me to sit up and feed her and still be comfortable and there is light in the living room so I can see.  She still likes to wake up when she is laid in her bassinet.  I have to wait until she is really out of it before I set her down or she will wake up right away and start crying.  The same goes for her bouncer where she usually naps in the living room during the day.  The past few days I have taken her to the bassinet to nap, which is where she is right now.  It's still weird to not have her in my sight and sometimes when she sleeps too long I miss her.  Right now she has been sleeping for 2 1/2 hours and I want to wake her up and snuggle but I know better. 

Almost as soon as we got home from the hospital, we both got thrush.  I didn't catch on for a while so it was frustrating why were having so many problems but finally we got into see a doctor.  Well, I got in to see a doctor and they kept telling me they were booked and couldn't get her in but we weren't going leave the clinic without medicine for her.  That was kind of annoying.  Her mouth was sore which was causing her to not want to eat, so I think that's kind of a big deal.  Anyways, after bothering everyone we could in the clinic, they wrote her a prescription without seeing her.  Score.  She gets her "yummy" banana medicine four times a day and it's almost totally gone. She is definitely feeling better because she eats so much so fast that she spits some up.  Not all the time but occasionally. She also has a blocked tear duct, but that's not a big deal.  She doesn't go back to the doctor until she is 2 months old.

Since my family left and Josh went back to work, I'm on my own with her during the day.  He has only been back to work for 2 days, but still....  I usually try to sleep until about 10 or even noon.  Just because I have been up all night with her.  Some nights are better than others and she will eat and go right back to sleep and other nights she is wide awake after eating.  But anyways... yesterday I didn't have anything to eat until about 3 pm.  I did sleep until noon though.  She wouldn't let my set her down and finally when she fell asleep I had a piece of pie.  That day I felt like I had to choose between eating or sleeping, but I couldn't have both.  But it's not always like that.  Her schedule that day just wasn't working for me. 

But not to fear, in two days Josh's sister will be here to visit for a week and then his mom and step-dad will come out I think nine days after she leaves and stay though Thanksgiving weekend.  Then no visitors for a month until my parents come back around Christmas.  Then maybe things will quiet down some.        

I know I'm bias, but I think she is the prettiest baby I've ever seen.  I'll say "You're so pretty, Penny" and Josh will yell from the other room "Yeah she is!"  And we can't stop kissing her!  I can tell she is going to have dimples when she gets older.  I'm curious as to what she will look like in a few months and even a few years, but I don't want to wish the time away.  I still can't believe how little she is!  (7 lbs, 4 oz, 19 1/2 inches as of two days ago).  I should have kept my premie baby clothes instead of giving them away because she is still too little for most of her newborn clothes.  I will be excited when she can fit into 0-3 because there are so many cute outfits I want to see her in.       

This is Penelope after bathtime today.  I think everytime I wash her hair, it gets lighter.  It looks red here.  She didn't fuss or cry during her bath or getting dressed, even though I could tell she was cold.  We even went through 3 or 4 diapers before I was able to get a clean one on her and she decided she was done with her business.  She fell asleep about 5 minutes after this picture and has been sleeping for about 2 and a half hours now.  She is going to wake up any minute and be starving!

 

That's all for now! 



Penelope Predictions

Here are the answers and winners to the Penelope Parrish Predictions game that was played at my Ohio baby shower:

Date: October 18
winners- Aunt Judy and Jenay Parrish both guessed Oct 18
someone also guessed the correct date, but didn't sign their paper

Time: 9:09 am
winners-  Arielle Miller with a guess of 8 am and Nancy Wires with a guess of 10:32 am

Weight: 7 inches and 2 oz.
winner- Deb Kyle and Melissa Carver were right on the money!

Length: 19 inches
winners- Jenay Parrish, my mama, Aunt Judy and Nanny Thompson all guessed 19 inches

Hair color: brown
winners- Heather Flickinger, Lizzz Lawrentz, Lisa Bantz, Aunt Suzie, Shawna Parrish, Nancy Wires, Shala Parrish, Katy Barrett, Melissa Carver, Aunt Judy and my mama all said brown or dark.

Amount of hair: lots!
winners- My mama, Aunt Judy, Katy Barrett, Shala Parrish, Lisa Bantz, Lizzz Lawrentz, Faith Stiteler, Arielle Miller, Deb Kyle. 

The overall winner is Aunt Judy.  She was off on the time by 5 hours and weight by 2 oz.  She was right on everything else! 

1 week old

She was really one week old yesterday when this picture was taken, but I'm just now posting about it.

 

 

I don't know if it feels like it has been more than a week or less than a week.  Kind of both actually.  I only look about 12 weeks pregnant now (picture makes me look bigger) and Josh said I looked about 6 months pregnant after she was born.  Crazy how fast my tummy can go down, but thank goodness.  I think we are starting to get into the rhythm of things.  For the first few days she would sleep all day and be up all night.  Now she wakes up about twice a night.  If we are lucky, she will go right back to sleep.  The problem is she is being held alllll day long.  Between Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Faith, she doesn't get set down.  I have to tell people to put her down when she is sleeping, but of course that is when everyone wants to hold her.  So she has trouble sleeping on her own at night and sleeps on my chest a lot.

 

So, her birth story...

 

I woke up Thursday the 18th around 330 am knowingly having contractions.  The whole pregnancy I was wondering if I was having Braxton Hicks contractions or she was just moving.  I had about 3 contractions before it really woke me up and I realized what was going on.  So I went to the living room to start to time them.  I remember the hospital said the contractions needed to be 5 minutes apart for 1 minute long for at least an hour.  Well, when I started timing them, they were 3-5 minutes apart and about a minute long.  At 4 am I went in the bedroom and said, "Josh, will you sit with me in the living room for a while?"  He said, "Yeah.....why?"  Haha, then I told him I was having contractions.  I stopped keeping track after an hour because I knew I was definitely in labor and could go to the hospital at anytime.  My midwife told me since I didn't want an epidural to stay at home as long as possible.  But at 5am, I told Josh I wanted to go to the hospital and we started packing up the truck.  It was about a 15 minute drive there and since it was so early, there was no traffic.  We arrive at the hospital about 6 am.  I told Josh to leave the bags in the truck until we were sure I was going to be admitted and checking into a room. 

We go up to labor and delivery and enter the exam room where they took my blood and hooked up monitors to check her heartrate and my contractions.  The nurse said I was 6 centimeters dialated.  That surprised me.  They said I wasn't leaving the hospital without a baby.  Shortly after that, my water broke.  It wasn't what I expected because it's like my water broke multiple times.  I'm told it is kind of like bubbles popping or air pockets so that's why it "broke" a few times.  They decided to move me to the delivery room at this time and they nurse was so confused how to since my water was breaking.  But we got there and my midwife, Gail, arrived shortly after.  She started the Jacuzzi for me so I could get in and relax a little.  (They don't do water births though.)  

She checked me again since my water had broken and I was 8 centimeters now.  It was probably just before 7 am.  The contractions started to become really painful.  A little while later I was at 10 centimeters and my Jacuzzi was still filling up.  Gail suggested that I not get in because it might be hard to get me out. 

At 10 centimeters, I was in a lot of pain and told Josh I wanted the epidural but Gail suggested I start pushing and might not have time to get the epidural since I was progressing so quickly.  At 730 am, 4 hours after waking up with contractions, I started to push. I felt like I wasn't making and progress.  After about 30 minutes, Josh said he saw hair.  I didn't understand why they couldn't pull her out at that point.  I remember saying many times that she wasn't going to fit and that I couldn't do it.  I felt like I had no energy left to push.  After about an hour and a half, I knew I was almost done.  The nurses were getting their tools and instruments ready.  Finally, she crowned, which was such a strange feeling and with the next push, I could see her full head of hair. She was facing the ground.  Then I pushed the rest of her out which was more difficult that I thought.  I was thinking once the head came out, the rest would basically slide out.  Nope.  So she was out and they threw her on my belly.  Her umbillical cord was short so she couldn't reach my chest.  I couldn't see her face, just the back of her head.  After Josh cut the cord, they put her on my shoulder and I still couldn't really see her face.  The nurse asked if we wanted her to take some pictures.  Well all of our things were still in the truck, including 2 cameras and a camcorder, and all we had were our cell phones.  Not smart phones or even good cameras.  Then they took her to be weighed.  I guessed 8 lbs and 6 oz. but the nurse was right on the money by guessing 7 lbs and 2 oz.  She was 19 inches long and I was surprised she was so small even though she was 4 days early.  I was born at 8'2'' and Josh was 8'6'' I think.  So while Penelope and I were getting taken care of, Josh was texting and sending pictures to everyone. 

After things calmed down and we got to snuggle, she was taken to the nursery to get warmed up because her temperature was a little low.  Then I waddled down to the recovery room where I would stay for the next two days and she came to join us shortly after.  And Josh eventually went to the car and brought up the bags. 

 

And there you have it.  If you actually read everything and made it this far, I will reward you with a video that was taken a few hours ago of the beautiful baby. 

 

     

 

She's here!

Born October 18 at 9:09 am.  7 lbs. 2 oz. 19 inches. Labor was 5 1/2 hours long.
Who does she look like?

Baby Penelope!

Joshua

Me


 

I will post her birth story later!   

39 weeks 1 day

Annie banannie!

Reaver was jealous so we had to take his picture too.

HUGE belly!

How appropriate.  She's a pumpkin!  Which reminds me that I still haven't bought any yet.  I usually try to find a pumpkin patch and make a day out of it but this year I might just head to grocery store.  Anyways, back to baby...

Only one week until her due date!  I have a doctors appointment tomorrow and I really hope they say I'm dilated at least a little.  I want to see some progress!  I haven't felt like myself if months with this belly so I can't wait to see it gone.  It's really inconvenient.  Plus, I really only have a few things that fit anymore.  AND I can't wait to see her!  I'm not even nervous about labor anymore.  I'm looking forward to it. I know that will most likely not be the case once it's happening, but as of now, I can't wait. 

My mom, dad and sister are coming out on the 21st and leaving on the 30th.  Then Josh's sister will be here Nov 5-12.  I hope I don't get too overwhelmed with a new baby and so many visitors so soon. 

Been having a lot of pelvic bone pain that I mentioned last week.  Yesterday was the worst by far. I felt like I could barely walk and was just waddling around very slowly.  It still hurts today, but not like yesterday.  Hopefully that means she is dropping and getting in position.  I mentioned it to a nurse last week and she was just like, "yeah, that will happen the further along you get."  So that's awesome.

Pretty sure I have everything ready for her arrival!  Just haven't scrubbed the stroller yet and I really don't want to.  I don't think we will be using it immediately though.  I tell her everyday, "Penelope, time to come out!"  I hope tomorrow we will have a better idea of how long she is going to take.  Today is Josh's prediction but less than four hours of the day left and no contractions.   I still think she is going to stay in there as long as possible.  Really don't want to be induced though.  Hoping this is my last chalkboard update, but who knows!

 How far along? 39 weeks
Maternity clothes? yeppers
Sleep: can hardly sleep with a blanket; it's so hot.  get up at least once a night.
Best moment this week: pretty uneventful week honestly.
Miss Anything? a lot of things
Movement: yes
Food cravings: pancakes and grilled cheese
Anything making you queasy or sick: the smell of cigar smoke or black and milds
Have you started to show yet: i'd say so
Gender: girly girl
Labor Signs: nope!
Belly Button in or out? out, since like, week 10.
Wedding rings on or off? on, but hard to get off
Happy or Moody most of the time: anxious!
Looking forward to: her birth! 

Nursery!

Time for the big nursery reveal!

 

 

 

Bought the curtains at Walmart.  My mom made the valence from left over bumper material. She also made all the bedding. My friend Manda helped me make the pom poms and my sister helped me hang them.

 

The crib and mattress were $40 but Josh probably spent close to $100 on hardware and spraypaint so we should have just bought it new.  Such a hassle. The baby gate underneath was free. 

 

 

The Bumbo was $10 and the bouncer was a gift from my mother-in-law.

 

Changing table was $15.  Top shelf is diapers, wipes/wipe warmer and receiving blankets. Bottom shelf is burp cloths, a bucket of hair bows and crib sheets. 

 

The dresser was $30 I think.  We bought new handles.  I sanded and painted the dresser and painted the handles yellow.  I paid $8 for the lamp from Dollar General and re-did the shade with extra fabric.  The little clock on the table is from WalMart and lights up pink. 

 

My breast pump is the black bag on the ground and I snagged it almost new from a girl on base for $40!  It's a double electric Ameda. Retails for $200.

 

 

The bench is filled with blankets and toys. Bench was free.  The giant measuring stick was a gift from Josh's co-worker.

 

I did splurge a little and spend $40 on the shelves.  But it looks so cute!

 

 

Josh's rocking chair from his grandma.  Someone is making me a seat cushion that matches the valence and bumper. 

 

Closet!  A few clothes hanging up.  My diaper cake on the shelf and the storage bin in filled with bibs, socks and shoes.  The floor gym is also being stored in there for now.

 

Organized chaos.  Diapers and wipes to last us a while!

 

This is the random stuff that doesn't have a place yet.  The pile has gotten a lot smaller!

 

 

We also have a swing that is in the living room, high chair in the dining room and pack n play/bassinet in our bedroom.  All for free!

We are still thinking of rearranging the room and putting the changing table in front of the window and centering the crib.  Then putting the rocking chair in the corner where the changing table is.

 

So there you go!  That is Penelope's room and how you do a nursery on a budget.  Everyone says that babies are so expensive but we haven't seen it yet.  Obviously we don't have a baby yet but all the supplies and preparation haven't broken our bank.   A DIY nursery will save you a lot of money and keep your eye out for deals from friends, family and yard sales!