Grandma & Grandpa's first visit

My parents arrived on Saturday for a visit until Thursday ... we've been showing them the sites around town (not a whole lot to see .. ) and watching them interact with Ainsley. Here are a few pics:

Our 'kids'

Here are some pictures of Ainsley and her brother Fletch ... so far they are pretty indifferent to each other but Fletch has occasionally gotten excited to see Ainsley when she comes back from a nap.


And, as you can see, we have the same difficulties as other parents when trying to get the kids to look at the camera at the same time - is it so much to ask??



Team PM & Ainsley

Obsessed with baby

I'm sure all new moms (and parents for that matter) enjoy watching their babies sleep as much as I enjoy watching Ainsley sleep. Everytime she's napping I have a hard time resisting the urge to take photos of her - she is just so darn cute : )



I think there is another tendency with new parents: make your baby look silly to get a laugh ...

The first two weeks...

Today Ainsley is two weeks old ... the time is already going by too fast! She is doing very well and adjusting to her new home life like a champ. Funny enough she isn't even phased when Fletch barks, I guess she's used to hearing that sound as well as our voices : ) She loves to eat and is gaining weight steadily, though she hasn't quite gotten back to her birthweight - she weighed in yesterday at 5 lbs., 15 ozs.; still very tiny but growing! She gains about an ounce a day which is what is recommended, so we're happy with that. And, the best part is, she loves to sleep! We actually wake her once at night to feed her! Many people have told us that this isn't necessary, including our doctor, but due to her small size we've decided that its something we want to do. We just have to keep reminding ourselves that we're her parents so we can decide .. that is still kind of weird to us though!


Ainsley loves to be cuddled and talked to, she is starting to really notice our faces and likes when we make exaggerated expressions while talking to her - her eyes open really wide in reaction, and a few times she's tried to reach up for my face. She's been on quite a few outings in her short life including a bonfire last Friday night, the grocery store/Wal Mart etc. a few times, and the Watoto Childrens Choir this past Tuesday. She also went to her first baby shower on Wednesday night for her friend Natalie Erling who is about 1 month older. We also had a very lovely first Mothers Day; we had dinner at Clarks (best restaurant in Cold Lake), and Ainsley gave me a card with a Willow Tree collectible sculpture of a couple holding their new baby - and Daddy made me breakfast : P



Yesterday we visited Cold Lake Provincial Park for the first time and went for a little walk ... Fletch got to swim in the still somewhat icy water - I guess there's a reason they call it 'Cold Lake' ... but it was 25 degrees out so soon enough the ice should be gone!



As for me, my recovery is going really well .. I am feeling pretty good and have little to no pain most days. I am completely off my medication so any pain I do have I feel! I am still a little slow and I can't walk for too long, but its getting easier every day. I have to say that if it wasn't for Peter I don't think things would be going as well as they are! He is the best partner anyone could ask for and his attitude towards everything reminds me again why we call ourselves 'Team PM'.

Team PM & Ainsley

She's here!

Ainsley Lily-Isabel was born Friday May 2nd, 2008 and was 6 lbs., 1 oz., 19.5" long.

Some of you have already heard/read this story, but for those who haven't you may be wondering what happened and why I needed an emergency c-section ...

I started having contractions at home around midnight on May 2nd ... I timed them and they were about 6 minutes apart. After an hour, I woke up Peter and he started timing them and we quickly realized that they were now under 5 minutes apart. I called the hospital and we were told to come in; once there they hooked me up to the fetal monitor and determined that I was in labour - my water had partially broken by this point so we were staying! After several hours I decided to have an epidural .... we had one doctor come in and he tried twice to get the epidural in with no luck. At that point we figured it was a done deal and that an epi wouldn't be possible ... then the magic doctor came in!! He was wonderful and had the epi in in no time and I didn't feel any of the insertion pain that I had felt with the first two attempts. It was a relief ... and a miracle, but we didn't know that yet. Within about 20 minutes of having the epi the baby's heartrate dropped dramatically during a contraction ... the nurse had to quickly start massaging her head to try and stimulate her. This worked and it seemed we were on the right track again ... then, about 2 hours later it happened again, except this time it was harder to get it back to a normal rate and it was consistently dropping. At this point the nurse called in my doctor, who then called in the on-call obstetrician, and the chief of the medical staff! We had everyone in there trying to stimulate baby by massaging her head, and they were all checking the fetal monitoring and trying to decide what to do. It didn't take long before they said I would need a c-section. Before I knew it I was being wheeled into the Operating Room and being taken away from Peter ... that was a hard moment for us both but we knew I was in good hands. Poor Peter had to wait out in the hall for about 15 minutes while they prepped me for surgery. I was nervous, but because I'd had the epi already the surgery was started really fast as they didn't have take more time to give me anything. I was awake for the entire surgery, which was weird but not at all painful. Soon, Peter was by my side and the baby was out - they discovered that the cord was wrapped around her neck 3 times! We were so thankful that the doctors had made the decision they made and that Ainsley was delivered before things got worse. The other amazing thing was that our friends from church (husband and wife who are both doctors) were called in to assist in the surgery. They didn't intially know that it was me who was having the c-section so they were really happy to be a part of it. One of them helped deliver her, and the other 'caught' her and helped to get her cleaned up etc. afterward. After Ainsley was delivered I only remember hearing the word 'blue' .. I kept asking Peter if she was okay and soon enough she was crying and Peter was able to go over and help trim the umbilical cord. He said he could see her changing from blue to pink! After waiting for what seemed like forever, Peter brought her over to see me and I was able to touch her and see that she was doing well.



So, that was the drama of last Friday! My recovery since then has been going really well and my pain is subsiding a little bit each day. I've been up and about quite a bit and thanks to the help of my amazing husband I haven't really had to worry about anything. He's done it all: cooking, tidying, diapers and more! Incidentally, he is taking 4 months of paternity leave so he has plenty of time to wait on me hand and foot ... and he hasn't complained once : )
As for Ainsley, she is doing really well and is quite the little eater! She loves to be snuggled and Peter sometimes has to gently remind me to put her down ... its hard : ) Yesterday the public health nurse visited and we were happy to learn that Ainsley has gained about an ounce a day since being discharged from the hospital, so we know she is eating and growing despite her tiny size. She now weighs in at about 5lbs., 9.5 ozs so she is steadily climbling back to her birthweight.

Oh, and her 'brother' Fletch has been doing very well with the adjustment too ... though, he usually gets up and leaves the room when she's crying in the middle of the night : )

We'll keep the pictures coming!
Team PM & Ainsley