What A Difference A Year Makes!

A year ago today Dan and I said "I Do"!  And boy have our lives changed since.  We were married in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand with some of our family and close friends.  We had a wonderful ceremony followed by dinner and dancing.  We spent the remainder of the week there for our honeymoon and had a blast.  I'm so excited to go back, how lucky are we to get to return to Las Vegas to celebrate our marriage!?

For our one year anniversary, Dan and I get to celebrate with the most precious gift in the world, our baby girl!  She is 3 weeks and 3 days old now, already she has changed so much since I first laid eyes on her.  I hear parents say that kids grow up before you know it and I can see they are spot on!  In a few days we will be celebrating one month with Sophie!  Can't believe it!

Grandma and Grandpa Swartz returned home almost two weeks ago.  We were so sad to see them go!  Grandpa cleaned my floors and my bathroom, loaded/unloaded the dishwasher a bunch of times, and walked Lucy once a day.  Grandma went to the grocery store, Target, and Walgreens about 100 times, did about 100 loads of laundry, and rescued me in the middle of the night when Sophie couldn't go to sleep.  We still miss their company and all the things they helped us with.  We don't know what we would have done without them for those first two weeks.

We survived for a week on our own!  Dan is busy working on his project at Disney, so Sophie and I had to get busy doing our own thing.  Our two week appointment went well and little Sophie had made it back to her birth weight and then some!  She weighed in at 7 pounds 12 ounces (up one ounce from birth weight) and measured 21 3/4 inches (up 1 1/4 inches from birth).  Her umbilical cord stump fell off at this appointment so we got the go ahead to do tub baths!  She still loves getting her hair washed but is not to thrilled about the rest of the bath.

Sophie and I also attend a mother and baby tea on the local hospital's campus where other mothers of newborns up to 8 week olds get together to ask questions and socialize.  It has helped me tremendously since I get all of my questions answered along with hearing other new mommies questions I just hadn't thought of yet.  Also, it helps me understand that I'm not crazy and not the only one going through the trials and tribulations of being a new mommy.  Some questions that have been asked that got everyone in the room nodding their heads and adding their own thoughts:

1. Is it normal to check and see if my baby is breathing every hour? (I'm still doing that)
2. Is it normal that I'm up feeding my baby every hour from 2am-6am? (Gosh, I thought I was the only mom walking around like a zombie)
3. How can I get my baby on a sleep schedule? (Wishful thinking, can't be done this early...)

Grandma York is now in town!  Baby Sophie was so happy to meet her namesake finally!  Grandma Elaine has the magic touch too, just when we didn't think we could get a screaming Sophie to stop crying, we passed her to Grandma and she was out immediately.  Thank goodness for Grandma!  We are enjoying daily walks to the park together, a cup of coffee in the morning and a delicious glass of wine at night.

Dan and I are enjoying every minute with little Sophie.  I'll end with a few new pictures of our sweet girl.

Proud Mommy and Daddy!

Happy Easter!

Listening to Dad sing to me

Big sister Lucy keeping an eye on me

Always manage to get my right arm out of the swaddle

Hi Everyone!

Love,
Dan, Jess, Baby Sophie, and Lucy

Sweet Sophie

Our baby girl has arrived!  One week ago Dan and I went to the hospital for an induction.  We arrived at 5 am to get the process started. I was a bit nervous, but there is something calming about "going to work" to have a baby!  I knew all the people that took care of me as they are my friends and co-workers and trusted that I was getting the best care possible.  We were settled into our room, the induction medication was started and we were on our way.  Many of my co-workers stopped in to wish me luck in the labor process, it was so nice to see all those familiar faces.  By 7:30 pm I was completely dilated, but my epidural was so strong, we decided to wait for a bit until I started feeling more and let me body do the work for me.  Around 8:45 pm I started pushing and at 9:19 pm our lives changed forever.  Sophia "Sophie" Elaine York was born, weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces, measuring 20.5 inches long, and looking exactly like her daddy with a matching head full of dark hair! 

Just before pushing started, thank you epidural!

Our first meeting

Our new family

7 pounds 11 ounces! A big girl!

We brought our daughter home on Friday, March 30th where Grandma and Grandpa Swartz and big "sister" Lucy were waiting.  Lucy was of course excited to see us since we had been gone for a few days, so we gave her love and attention while baby Sophie waited her turn.  Sophie was a little impatient and started crying which got Lucy's attention and she wanted to meet her right away.  With a little encouragement to be calm, Lucy sniffed Sophie's head to greet the new addition.  During the first few nights, Lucy was the first one to stir whenever Sophie cried, wondering what all the noise was about and why it disturbed her sleep every 2-3 hours.  Since then Lucy has gotten used to the crying, coming into the nursery during feeding time to keep the girls company.

Sophie got her first bath at home on April 1st.  We began by washing her hair while she was swaddled in her blanket.  She closed her eyes and relaxed not making one sound during the luxurious scalp massage.  This tiny girl loves getting her hair done!  The sponge bath followed and that part was not as appreciated as the shampoo.  Once the bath was complete and she was wrapped in her towel, we combed her hair and she was one content girl.

Sophie is a miracle and we are enjoying every minute of her little life.  She makes us laugh daily with her funny faces (which all remind me exactly of Dan), her hiccups, even the moments when she passes gas.  All of these moments seem to pass by so quickly, so we are taking pictures all the time.  Here is a sampling of some of our favorites.

My two loves!

Long fingers like her mommy

Long toes like mommy too!

So tiny and comfy in her bassinet, thanks to mom's awesome swaddle skills

This first week has gone by so fast!  We're learning new things about each other every day.  I always hear people say that children grow up so fast, so I'm loving every second with our sweet Sophie.

With Love
Jess, Dan, Sophie, and Lucy

40 Weeks

Tomorrow marks 40 weeks for us!  March 27th is Baby York's official due date and by the looks of it she has no intention of making her debut any earlier.  Just like we keep saying we have things to get done before the baby gets here, it seems she has a few more things she needs to do on the inside before heading out.  Dan says she must be reading a novel in there, she's just not finished reading her book yet!

My Dad arrived the other day and brought the rest of the items from my baby shower along with him.  I forgot how many diapers people got us!

Our diaper stockpile!

The following is a picture timeline of the growing "bump". Let's see what 10 months looks like from the beginning!


9 week Sophie



14 weeks

16 weeks

17 weeks

20 weeks

22 weeks

25 weeks

26 weeks

30 weeks

34 weeks

35 weeks

37 weeks

39 weeks!

Dan and I on our way to a pool party!

See you soon Sophie!

Love

Mom and Dad

Waiting for Sophie

Today we are 39 weeks and 1 day pregnant! 



38 weeks 4 days


Yes, still pregnant.  I said weeks ago I was ready for our little girl to join us but I seem to keep finding things that need to be done.  I finally packed our bag for the hospital yesterday.  Granted we only live 5 minutes away so anything that didn't come with us in a hasty situation would be easy for Dan to stop by and get.  Maybe now that it's packed baby York will decide it's time...  Wishful thinking probably.  I've been doing everything known to pregnant ladies across the country to "try" to go into labor.  While I'll spare you the more personal "options", here's what I've been busy doing for two weeks now.

1. Sitting on a giant yoga ball.  We use these in the labor and delivery room as a more comfortable option for those going through labor pains.  While it is very comfy to sit on, the hope is that it engages the baby in the pelvis and aids in dilation.  I especially enjoy eating dinner while perched on the ball!

2. Walking.  Lucy continues to try to walk the baby out of me.  I enjoy the walks we get to go on with Dan holding the leash.  Gives me a chance to catch my breath and take things at my own pace.

3. Red raspberry leaf tea.  Drinking 2-3 cups of this daily apparently gives you a toned uterus.  So when those contractions start, they mean business.

4. Evening primrose oil.  This comes in a capsule like taking fish oil.  I've been taking two times a day to help prepare the cervix once labor starts.

5. Getting a pedicure.  Twist my arm!  An extra long foot massage can help start contractions.

6. Acupressure.  Certain pressure points can also start labor.  Dan's going to need to help me more with this one.

Some things I've had people tell me to do that I haven't gotten around to...

1. Eat a spicy meal.  This sounds awful right about now as I have heartburn 24/7

2. Drink castor oil.  Another awful sounding idea.  I heard it tastes disgusting and I'm unimpressed with the effects it has on one's intestinal system.

3. Eggplant Parmigiana.  What!!??  Just heard about this from a co-worker.  Apparently an Italian restaurant in Georgia claims their dish makes women go into labor.  In fact they have a wall of baby pictures at their establishment of all the babies born shortly after their mothers consumed this labor-inducing meal.  Too bad we're not in Georgia.

Despite all of these things, I'm just fine with waiting on the little one to arrive.  I'm a little uncomfortable at times.  I'm still working, why not, I'm in the right place if I go into labor.  Waiting for the moment for her to make her debut is kind of like a surprise party for Christmas morning.  I look forward to Christmas morning for months in advance as I'm sure many people do.  But imagine not knowing when Christmas morning is suddenly going to happen.  That's how I feel.  I'm so excited to see her little face and meet this person that has been growing inside of me.  We've been waiting for her for so long now, the anticipation has reached it's maximum.

So, waiting for my surprise Christmas morning to arrive, I've managed to find things that still "need" to be done.  One very special thing was for Dan and I to get a new car.  Last weekend we got ourselves a pre-owned 2011 Hyundai Sonata!  Finally, we have a grown-up car (gulp), equipped with four doors for easy access to a baby seat in the back.  A huge purchase that we're very excited about.  Now that the new car is in our possession I was sure to outfit it instantly with the car seat base, window shade for baby, and backseat mirror that allows us to see the baby's face from the rear view mirror.

I also managed to get our living room rug cleaned after all these years.  It's not an expensive rug, but I couldn't imagine our little one playing on it before it was properly cleaned.  After the dry-cleaners said it would cost me $100 for them to clean it, I thought we would throw it out and purchase a new one.  But, the lovely lady at the dry-cleaners suggested something she used do to her rugs.  So, I took her advice and took a hose, some laundry detergent, and a broom and got to scrubbing the rug in the backyard.  Of course I had some help...

As soon as I laid this rug out, Lucy had to try it out!

Another thing I've been doing to keep things ready for baby is vacuuming and swiffer-ing.  How many times a week can one swiffer their floors?  Every few days for me!  We do have a dog with black fur that never ceases to gather in corners and on rugs, so I can't seem to swiffer my floors enough.  It's calming to know that there will be a clean house to come home to when we return from the hospital with our little one.

As for this moment, right now, I think I'll kick back and continue waiting for Sophie =)

38 weeks 5 days, waiting....

Love,
Jess, Dan, baby Sophie, and Lucy