He's here! He's here!

Baby Will is finally here! William Christian Whitis was born at 9:44 am on July 28, 2009 weighing in at 7lb 5oz and measuring 19.5 in long. He is absolutely perfect. His momma did a great job! Mommy and baby are enjoying their rest in the hospital and doing great!

Adalynn doesn't know quite what to think of her new cousin yet. When she heard him crying her eyes got really big and she had this funny little expression on her face! Too cute! They will definitely be great little playmates one day.

Nana and Opa are doing well too! They are happy to have both babies here and healthy.

He is absolutely perfect!

The proud new parents!

Momma and her baby!

First picture of the cousins!

Adalynn is wondering who the heck is making that funny noise! :)

Baby Will is on his Way!!!!

The time has almost come to finally meet baby Will!!! Adalynn and I can't wait to meet her new little cousin. Her daddy and I gave her a bath and put her in her rubber ducky sleeper. We are both now wide awake waiting on a phone call.

Since my sister, Jenna's, blood pressure has been high for the past several weeks and she is now 37 weeks, they went ahead and began inducing her around 7 pm. She is now at 2-3 cm and in quite a bit of discomfort. She's having back pain, dizziness, and nausea. Hopefully they will break her water soon and get her an epidural (I got mine at 2-3 cms!)

It's killing me to not be at the hospital right now but the rule is that children cannot be in the labor and delivery room. Since I am nursing and Nick has to be at work in the morning, that poses a problem for Adalynn and me. So the plan is that I will go to the hospital when she gets closer and my dad will take care of Addy in the waiting room while I stay in for the delivery. My sister was one of my leg holders when Addy was born. :)

Can't wait to meet the little guy and see what he looks like! If you read this in time, say a little prayer that everything goes okay!

Cookout at Nana and Opa's!

Saturday night we headed up to Nana and Opa's (my parent's) house for a cookout. Nick grilled some delicious steaks and Aunt Jenna cooked up some tasty sides. Nick, my dad, and Nathan went out to look at some property in the Knobs we thought might be good to build a house on someday. Unfortunately, it turned out to not be level enough and would be more expensive because it cannot be hooked up to sewer. Bummer!

Uncle Nathan held Adalynn for the second time! She thought he was quite hilarious when he was talking and smiling at her. She did get a little fussy when he picked her up so he handed her off pretty quickly. Poor Uncle Nathan is not very used to being around kiddos. He will get the hang of it though! :)

We are loving the summertime and mommy being off work!

We Did It!!!

Today was D day. I decided to really get serious about this bottle business. Not that I hadn't already been serious, but I was going to try to hold off nursing as long as possible until Adalynn took the bottle. She woke up at about 10:00 am and I nursed her then. Otherwise I would have had a really cranky baby on my hands! She didn't go to sleep until 2:00 am last night but then slept for 8 hours! WOO HOO!!!

At about 12:30, Adalynn, her daddy, and I all piled in the car. I thought she might take a bottle in her carseat driving because she usually likes carrides. This didn't work out exactly like I planned. She didn't get fussy, but she didn't eat. She kept pushing it out with her tongue.

So after about 20 minutes of that, we came home. Then daddy tried to hold her and give it to her. This made her very angry. I was able to hold her and calm her down. Then, whenever Nick tried to talk to her or hold her, she would start crying! It was like she was mad at him! I swear, sometimes she acts much older than 10 weeks! She did eventually forgive her daddy though. Thank goodness because he was very upset.

So after about 1 hour, I put her in her bouncy seat and popped the paci in her mouth and she dozed off. Side note-- Adalynn has been taking a pacifier lately! Woohoo! She will only take a Soothie. So I went out and bought bottles with a Soothie nipple since she obviously knows how to suck on them.

Here is a pic of our little stubborn girl sleeping in her bouncy seat with the dreaded bottle sitting next to her. She is worn out from all of the resisting!

After napping for about 30 minutes, she woke up kind of fussy. Probably hungry by this point. Daddy went off to the gym (I don't think he could take much more). I got her sucking good on her paci then pulled it out and stuck the bottle in. It worked!!! I read about this trick online. After sucking for a while she started pushing it out. So I popped the paci back in and then switched it with the bottle. She drank all 3 oz! YAY!!!

Happily, this whole ordeal only lasted about 2 hours. Not 24 like I was worried about. So we will try again tomorrow and see how it goes. At least now I know she CAN take it. It's just a matter of her choosing not to. When she gets hungry enough though, she will eat! Just like everyone told me. :)

Lunch Date with Daddy

Today I took Adalynn to her daddy's work for lunch and so his coworkers could meet her. He works in the Aegon building (the big dome) in downtown Louisville. They have a Panera Bread in the building, so we ate there. Then it was off to see everyone. They all thought she was a doll baby (of course!) :)

Of course mommy had to get her all dressed up in an outfit that Nick's boss, Laura, got for her. His coworkers were nice enough to throw a baby shower for us a couple weeks before she was born. Here are some pics of Addy all dressed up to meet daddy's friends...

She was a very good girl! I know daddy liked the visit!

Two Month Checkup

It's hard to believe that Adalynn turned 2 months old last week! Her 2 month checkup was today. Unfortunately, this meant 2 shots and 1 liquid vaccination. :( She was a little trooper with her shots. She cried only briefly then went into a deep sleep that has pretty much lasted all day except for a couple of times that she woke up to eat. I am giving her Tylenol every 4 hours and gearing up for a long night. Although I am hoping that I will be pleasantly surprised.

Adalynn weighed in at 14 lbs and was 22 3/4 in long (although I really think she is a little bit longer because it didn't look like they stretched her out enough). She was above 97% for weight and 50% for height. So I'm thinking okay she's a little chunky for her height but she's just a healthy breastfed baby and it will all even out when she gets a little longer. Well, imagine my surprise (actually more shock) when the Dr. gets into a discussion with me about her being overweight!

First of all, I didn't even think it was possible for a breastfed baby to be overweight because I didn't know you could overfeed them. And second of all, she only eats every four hours or so, if that, and goes all night without eating a lot of the time. I know this may sound a little silly, but I got very teary eyed after he told me this and really thought I was going to have an emotional breakdown for a few seconds. I just wasn't prepared to hear anything else about my baby other than that she's perfectly healthy and is developing just fine.

Looking back on it, this is a bit of an overreaction. I mean, she is perfectly healthy, thank goodness. After talking to my mom, mother-in-law, sister, and Jill about this, I know that everything will all even itself out eventually and that she is just fine. I really realized today how personally you take things when it comes to your own child.

I was also hoping that the Dr. could shine some light on this "bottle issue." I was thinking he may have some nifty tricks up his sleeve to get her to take the bottle. Disappointment #2 of the day, he recommended that I take a more aggressive approach and stop nursing until she takes the bottle. I have read that this can go on as long as 24 hours which seems pretty cruel to me for baby and mom. That could potentially mean a screaming baby for 24 hours. Any takers on babysitting? :)

I'm still researching other ways to get her to take a bottle before it becomes a battle of wills. I'm giving her a day off from it though. I figure my little cutie has already been through enough today. Her daddy and I joke that when she moves around or whimpers in her sleep that she is having nightmares about a bottle. :)

Before I was a Mom...

This is a poem that I've seen a couple of different places. I first read it when I was pregnant and it really made me realize that I was about to experience more love for someone than I ever thought possible. Now that I have been a mom for 9 weeks :) I can already relate to most of these things.

Before I was a mom...

Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom -I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Even though I have read this a bunch of times, it still chokes me up. I feel so blessed that God chose me to be Adalynn's mom!

Bottle Woes

Adalynn definitely has a healthy appetite! At about 3 weeks old, she really got the hang of nursing and it quickly became her favorite pasttime! :) Before that, it was a bit of a challenge. I was warned that breastfeeding is difficult at first, but never could quite understand why until I actually had to do it every 3 hours a day for at least 45 minutes at a time! Thankfully feedings have gotten much quicker and farther apart now! I am so glad I have stuck with it this long and would love to do it for as long as possible! My goal for now is to make it to at least 6 months if not longer.

When we first got Adalynn home, neither she nor I quite knew what we were doing when it came to feeding time. For a few days, I had to pump and give her bottles because nursing was just not working for us and she had to eat. This really upset me because I was afraid she would never take to nursing and always have to be a bottle baby. Thanfully, this was not the case. In fact, we now have the opposite problem on our hands.

I had given Adalynn bottles here and there when need be. It was not her favorite, but she would take them just fine. At about weeks 5-7 she was not given a bottle. I kind of figured she already knew how to do it and was not worried about it. On July 10th, I went to a professional development day and my grandma came to my house to watch her. The night before I decided to give her a bottle to practice again, and to my surprise, she would not take it! She screamed and screamed. I was very nervous about how the day would go. Luckily, I was able to come home during lunch and nurse. A couple hours later, my grandma thought she was hungry and tried to give her a bottle and she screamed again! She did not stop until I came home!

Ever since then, I have been giving her bottles everyday. This has been going on for about 2 weeks and she is still not wanting to take them. I have tried every nipple and bottle they sale. She seems to like the NUK the best, but she still does not quite know how to take it. I have left the room and let my husband do it. My mom, who is a mother of 4 and a pediatric nurse, has tried several times. None of this is working. She screams, she gags, she spits, she pushes it out with her tongue... It really seems like she has totally forgotten how to do it. She has the same reaction when I try to give her a pacifier. And the worst part is, she looks at me with these big eyes. It's like she's saying, "Why are you doing this to me mommy?" It really is awful!

Somedays she will do better than others, but then have a really bad day the next day. Everyday when it is the dreaded "bottle time" I just have a sick feeling in my stomach. I keep thinking that I'm going to have to go back to work in 3 weeks and she will eventually need to eat. People have told me that she will eat when she is hungry enough, but I'm not quite sure.

This Wednesday we have an appointment with her pediatrician for her 2 month checkup. I am going to see if he has any suggestions. I keep hoping that if we keep at it, she will eventually get the hang of it.

Here is a picture of "bottle time" today. She actually did okay. She didn't cry or scream but she didn't exaclty eat either. She was more interested in her Uncle Mikey taking the picture than she was her bottle. :)

I have been trying to get her to take it in her bouncy seat. I read that they may be more willing to do this because they will disassociate it from nursing. We will keep trying! It has been frustrating, but I am hoping that practice will make perfect!

Introducing Adalynn Grace Adams

After 41 LONG weeks, my Dr. finally decided to have mercy and schedule an induction for Monday, May 18th (exactly 1 week after my due date). We arrived at the hospital the night before around 7 pm. The plan was to start doing the Cervadil strips that night and then Pitocin in then morning. However, I was already contracting on my own so they could not do the Cervadil. Sleeping was not really possible because my husband and I were both so excited. We were finally getting ready to meet our baby girl! The wait was almost over! Here are the anxious parents after arriving at the hospital Sunday evening!

I was 1.5 cm dialated before Pitocin was started at 4 am. At 8 am, my Dr. broke my water when I was 2 cm dialated. The contractions felt like uncomfortable pressure before my water was broken. I was offered some type of pain medication which I declined because I heard it caused nausea which would probably be worse than the pressure. After my water was broken it was like "WHOA MOMMA!!!" Those contractions were very strong, PAINFUL, and close together. Thankfully, I was given an epidural not much later (at about 9:30 am). Sadly, I was only 3 cm dialated when my epidural was put into place. I thought I would be a little bit more of a trooper, but I guess not!

After the epidural, my labor progressed pretty quickly. I went from 3 cm to 6cm to 8cm to 10cm in a matter of only a few hours. By 1:30 pm I was fully dialated and just waiting on the head to come down a little more. I began pushing at 2:00 and our baby was born at 3:35 pm weighing in at a healthy 8lb 8oz and 20 in long!

Love at first sight!

The proud new parents!

All cozy and warm after her very first bath!

May 18, 2009 was definitely the best day of our lives! Becoming parents is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to us! We are so blessed. We look forward to raising our beautiful little girl!

Figuring Everything Out

Okay... so I have been meaning to start a blog ever since our precious baby Adalynn was born 9 weeks ago today! Ahh! I can't believe it has already been that long! They truly do grow way too fast! I wanted to do this for our family to capture all of the precious moments. I think it will be fun to look back on and also be a great way to share things with friends. Although I wish I would have started this sooner. Like maybe 9 weeks ago :) I guess it is better late than never. It seems like we have already had so many milestones in only 9 weeks! I might backtrack and post some of these things.

As a new blogger, I am trying to figure everything out. I have noticed some people have really cool layouts. I'm sure with a little bit of playing around, I can find one that I like better. However, at this point, I am a little confused. If anyone has any helpful hints, please share! :)

So we will see how I do in the world of blogging! I hope I am able to keep up with it!