Month 1

Annie's 1 month photo with tutu

The first month is a little foggy. I remember it feeling like a 24-hour marathon. In those now hazy memories of 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, and 4 o'clock feedings, I loved the peacefulness of it all. I know I was incredibly tired, but also incredibly grateful to be able to be the mama of this new little girl.

Annie's first month was full of homemade meals brought to us by friends and family, late night walking/rocking/bouncing sessions, and moments of utter exhaustion. Here I am two months later, and I can barely recall anything negative about those first few weeks. We had great helpers in taking care of our little bundle. Jan came down when Ben had to go to Ft. Wayne when Annie was 10 days old. She was an angel and would rock/sing/shush Annie to sleep after a feeding at night. We had Annie's 10 day check up where we found out she was back up to her birth weight and doing great. Our friends all pitched in to make sure we were well fed and were willing baby holders so I could eat meals with two hands. The weather was finally cooling down a little and we were able to start going on walks around the neighborhood.

Sans tutu

Annie's personality started to develop. She would look at us with wonder, trying to figure out exactly why she had been evicted from her cozy surroundings and who we were.  She began gazing at her black and white animal cards near her changing table and it became her favorite spot. She slept in our room in her Pack n Play and we would listen to her little grunts, snorts, and sniffles and try to figure out if she was ok.  We finally got the hang of breastfeeding and it became SO MUCH EASIER.  Annie loved taking naps in her swing and being tightly swaddled. Toward the end of the month, she would somehow wiggle one arm out of her swaddles, earning her the nickname "Houdini".  Around three and a half weeks-we got some smiles! They probably weren't true smiles, but they were magical to us. We looked forward to seeing what else this little bundle of cute had in store for us!

Meet Annabelle Lee Knoop!

I figured it was time to start a new blog, since we have a pretty cute new addition to our family!  Meet Annabelle Lee Knoop, born on August 14, 2012 at 10:56am.  She arrived via c-section (not planned) at Community North hospital and was promptly whisked away to the NICU.  We found out later that day she weighed in at a whopping 8lbs 15oz and was 20.5 inches long. No wonder I was so tired those last few weeks!

She let out a healthy wail when she was born and being cleaned. 

Big nose, meet little nose. 

That's a Ben nose for sure. 

                                                    

Our first photo as a family of three. Glad we all got the hat memo.

I had some complications during labor that necessitated the c-section, and due to those complications, Annie had to be admitted to the NICU for IV antibiotics and monitoring. It was heartbreaking seeing her hooked up to monitors and wires, but we knew she was healthy and was just in the NICU as part of the protocol.  I hope we never have to go back there again! It was difficult to try to take care of myself and Annie and we were pretty stressed.  Ben was amazing and helped in whatever way he could. We pretty much camped out in her room so I could try to feed her as often as possible. It was not the ideal set up but we tried to make the best of it.

Annie was born on a Tuesday and we were thankfully both discharged on Friday. She had become jaundiced but a night under the lights got her billirubin levels within 'normal' range and we were released. There was a bit of a showdown with the attending physician and the NP who were taking care of Annie but the doctor's orders trumped the NPs-whew!  We gave her a bath, put her little monogrammed onesie on her, and headed home as fast as our little car would take us (actually not very fast-Ben drove very carefully). Once home, we enjoyed our first family nap, and then the fun really started!