Hayley and Kate Minter

How’d we manage that? Hayley had a feeding around 11pm or so last night, then we all went to sleep until around 3am, woke her up for another feed, and she was out like a light until around 7am, for another feeding. Everyone got some sleep last night – Mom, Dad, baby, and Grandma Barnes (who had been taking the early morning shifts for us).

Mmmmmm….sleep…..

We took Hayley back to the doctor for a weighing today, and any ideas we might have had about her not getting enough to eat were erased when she clocked in at an even eight pounds – an increase of 1/2 pound since just Monday! Now that the doctors are sure she’s growing properly, we don’t have to go back until she’s about a month old.

Today was also her first trip out “in the world,” as we stopped by Target on the way back. She did great on the trip, as she was wide-eyed and quiet as we plopped her carseat into the cart and pushed her around the store.

Speaking of carseats, that appears to be her favorite spot so far (except for Mom’s lap). We’ve tried putting her into both of her bassinettes, but she’ll usually start getting fussy after about 10 minutes or so. But she’s been known to nap for a couple of hours so far in her carseat, once we bring it inside.

As far as sleeping goes, we have good nights and we have not-so-good nights. Thank goodness Grandma Barnes is staying with us, or Holly and I both would be at our wit’s end. When she goes home Saturday, we’ll have to see how we handle it as solo parents. The past two nights, Hayley has been inconsolable around 1am – 3am. Dunno what that’s all about.

We’re approaching the end of my first week of paternity leave, which means that “the real world” is fast approaching. I think Holly will do fine by herself when I go back, but I’ll miss being around them all day.

Hayley had her first trip out in “the world” today. She went to the doctor for her first checkup. She did well on the trip – sleeping most of the way. In fact, that was her theme for most of the day. She’s been pretty comatose since this morning.

But the doctor gave her a clean bill of health. She’s even starting to gain weight again, after dropping down from a birth weight of 7lbs, 15oz, to a low of 7lbs, 5oz. But now she’s on the upward trend, clocking in at 7lbs, 8oz. We go back to the doctor in a couple of days for another weighing.

Hayley got introduced to her bouncy seat this morning (a hand-me-down from Aunt Beth). It’s a pretty nice one, with vibration and sound built in. She didn’t seem to quite know what to think of it, but she hung out for about 15 minutes until she started getting cranky.

We also got some nice flowers this afternoon from the fine folks at Holly’s work, to go with the ones that arrived Saturday from Cassie. Sam Adams (no, not him) also graced us with something every parent needs – duct tape!

I’ll be updating the photo album pretty regularly, so feel free to check back for new baby pictures, even if I don’t mention them here.

I’ve updated the photo album with pictures from baby’s trip home.

Just a quick note to let everyone know we’re back home in Fuquay as of tonight. Thanks to everyone who sent their well-wishes – we appreciate it!

Wow – that was quite a night. Got to the hospital around 4am, and Hayley was born via C-section at 6:06pm on Wednesday, January 22, 2003. The vitals: 7 pounds, 15 ounces, 18″ long, blue-grey eyes, and a lot of brown hair. She’s been adjusting well to life out in the world, nursing, sleeping, and getting daddy to change diapers every hour or so.

Holly was incredible throughout the whole thing. They pumped her full of enough pitocin to kill and elephant in an effort to get her labor going, and she handled it perfectly. Major surgery, a spinal, staples in her belly, and she’s already up and moving around. She’s wonderful, and I love her and my little girl more than I could have imagined.

I’m just home to grab a quick shower, make sure the cat didn’t eat the dog, and it’s back to the hospital, but I wanted to thank everyone who left well-wishes and whatnot. Plus, as a treat for reading this, you get the first set of baby pictures, straight from the digital camera to you.

I’ll write more when we’re back and settled. And, since nobody guessed either the date or weight exactly, congratulations to Ross, Jeremy, and Mark who split the difference on the date (though Ross told me that in true Price is Right fashion, he was the closest without going over), and Larry Larr and myself split the difference on the weight.

…or, at least, the water does.

More later – we’ve got an appointment to meet someone at Rex Hospital, and she won’t be kept waiting.

A word to the wise to those who may run across Holly up until she goes into labor: Don’t ask “So, had that baby yet?” You might end up getting a beatdown.

So no, still no baby. Our parents’ theory that the full moon would kickstart the labor, alas, proved false. So we’re just hanging around for a couple of days – Wednesday we go for the tests and to plan the next steps.

Yes, the baby’s still hanging around in utero.

The doctor checked again today, and found Holly 20% effaced and maybe 1cm dilated. Progress from last week, but not really close to labor. We have another appointment Wednesday, where they will do a fetal activity test, an ultrasound, and check the dilation/effacement again (assuming labor hasn’t hit by then). Those tests will determine what we’d do the next week. The doctors probably won’t let her go more than two weeks past her due date, so we at least have that target ahead.

The tests will monitor things like the level of amniotic fluid, the condition of the placenta, the size of the baby, heartrates, and so forth. I also learned that the phrase “ripen the cervix” is funny.

It looks like the small tease of snow we got today will be just that – a tease. It’s turning to rain as we speak.

Poor Holly is having a hard time getting comfy lately. I can’t say that I blame her, though. I just keep telling her that she’s got a maximum of about two weeks left, so the end is in sight. She looked at her horoscope in the News and Observer today, and it said “The thing that you are waiting for will arrive by tonight.” I said “I wish.”

We have some new entries in the baby pool! Here’s the current standings:

So it looks like January 19 is the popular day – we’ll see how it turns out!