First trip to Huntsville

On Saturday we made our first trip to visit my grandparents in Huntsville. We knew that once school started back up we’d probably have a hard time getting up there, so we decided to make a day trip to let the Belcher clan  check out Gwynn.

Great Grandma got to feed Gwynn.

Great Grandpa held her until she got a bit squirmy.

Great Uncle Steve, Great Aunt Ellen and 1st cousin once removed Ethan (trying to look cool).

The entire Belcher family, 4 generations. The bunny ears my dad is doing are required in all Belcher family photos.

More bunny ears.

My brother holding Gwynn. We have to work on on his baby holding form.

Gwynn already has an imaginary boyfriend. Here she is posing with him.

Even my brother’s dog, Nisha, tried to get in on the baby action, but we wouldn’t let her get too close…hence the sad face.

What’s in a name?

Since we’ve been taking Gwynn out more and more, we’ve been getting lots of questions about how we named her.  Gwynn is not a very common name, so people assume it’s a family name.  When we first discovered I was pregnant the name game began.  I would say a name I liked and the most common phrase out of Jeff’s mouth was “No…I have a student with that name.”  Jeff would say a name he liked and my response would be “No…I had a student with that name.” You can see where I’m going with this.  Since we have 12 years of teaching experience between us there were not many names that didn’t evoke a strong opinion from either of us.

So how did we decide on Gwynn…

My dad (“Pop”) grew up on a small island on the Chesapeake Bay called “Gwynn’s Island.” Our family vacation each year was to visit my grandparents (Mema and Pepa) on Gwynn’s Island.  At the time, I’d rather have gone to Disneyworld or Gulf Shores, but looking back I wouldn’t change a thing about our yearly vacation.  Here are some pictures of me and my brother and sister with Mema and Pepa and on the dock.

Last summer, Jeff and I took a trip to Gwynn’s Island with my family.  The island had not changed since I’d been there.  You just have a different mindset when you’re on Gwynn’s Island (we had no internet service, hardly any cell service, and it was wonderful).  We had a wonderful trip and knew this would be a vacation spot for us for years to come.  Jeff insists that he was the one that came up with naming our little one Gwynn, but I think it was me.  Either way, we had finally decided on the perfect name…one that elicited fond memories for us both! 

Here are some pictures from our trip to Gwynn’s Island from June 2010. 

We’ve already planned our trip for next summer…we can’t wait to take Gwynn to her island! 

First trip to church and out to eat

Gwynn had her first trip to Mass on Sunday. We went to Holy Spirit in Tuscaloosa. She did pretty well with only one small outburst during one of the readings.

After Mass, which was at 9:00am, we all (Gwynn, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, and Pop) went to Cracker Barrel. She was asleep for most of breakfast, but woke long enough to have a bit of formula so she didn’t feel left out.

Meeting Great Grandma

Gwynn made her first trip (of many) to Tuscaloosa to meet her Great Grandma. She did great on the trip down and back (slept the whole way). When Gram first saw Gwynn she said “She’s so tiny!”, but when she first held her she said “Ooh…she’s heavy!”  I guess looks are deceiving.

 

Aunt Jennifer came to visit!

Aunt Jennifer drove from Oklahoma to meet Gwynn.  We were all very excited that she was coming to visit.  Jennifer loves to cook so Jeff and I were especially looking forward to her visit! Apparently, she also loves to clean because the laundry and dishes were always done and the house was spotless! 

On Tuesday night, Jeff’s mom came to babysit and we went out to eat with the Brasfields. It was hard leaving Gwynn, but we knew she was in good hands!

Aunt Jennifer just left yesterday but we already miss her!  We can’t wait for her to come back and visit again. 

2 week Doctor’s Visit and First Shopping Trip!

Gwynn had her 2 week check-up today and she was a trooper. She had to have her heel pricked and she only cried for about 5 seconds…but it was a very, very loud 5 seconds! We went to the doctor last Friday (July 15th) and Gwynn weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and they weighed her again today (only 5 days later) and she was 8 lbs 7 oz! I don’t think we need to worry about her eating habits! The doctor told us to still have her sleep in our room, but have her wake us up for her nighttime feeding. She was 20 3/4 inches tall and her head circumference was 14 1/2 inches.

In other news…while we were at the doctor’s office and I was getting Gwynn undressed her belly button fell off. I was glad it happened while we were there because the doctor was able to clean it up and put some special ointment on it. I’m not sure I’d have wanted to do that at home.

Gwynn’s first official shopping trip was to WAL-MART! She will not remember it since she slept through the entire experience, but we took some pictures to document the trip. We went to the register to check out and paid for all of our groceries and Jeff and I both turned to leave (of course talking to or about the baby) and the cashier says “Hey! Don’t forget your groceries!” We would have totally walked out to the car with just Gwynn in the cart if he didn’t stop us! We are definitely not used to shopping with a baby yet.

Grandparents

Both of our dads visited Gwynn this week. Kristen’s dad ("Pop”) visited several times and my dad (“insert name here”) came on Thursday.

My dad doesn’t have an official grandfather name yet.

Kristen’s dad is “Pop” since that’s what Kristen’s nieces already call him.

Both our moms visited a few times during the week. My mom is quite enamored with Gwynn since it’s her first grandchild. She could hold her 24 hours a day.

Home Bodies

It’s nice to have Kristen’s mom here so we can nap during the day and not have to worry about cooking, dishes, or laundry.  It’s also nice to not having to worry about work since we’re both off for the summer. We’re working on our routine with Gwynn – baths, feeding, preparing bottles, etc. and it’s great we are able to do this on a relaxed schedule.

We’ve worked on tummy time a few times so she can work on her head control. It’s amazing how much she’s changed in less than two weeks.

Baths are fun, but we haven’t gotten a strict schedule with them yet. We’ve also got to work on being a bit faster – it seems to take forever!

My favorite thing to do is read to Gwynn after her bath. It’s nice bonding time and is good preparation for her future career as a rocket scientist. Mother Goose and I are real close buddies already. When I run out of books I narrate the history of Alabama football. Gwynn already knows how Alabama got hosed back in 1966.

Photo Shoot

Gwynn had her first official “photo shoot” today with Lacey Barnwell of LB Studios Portraiture.  I highly recommend Lacey if you need ANY pictures taken, especially of your newborn!  She was so patient with us (even through multiple prop changes due to Gwynn’s little accidents).  I’m still in awe that she could get any shots of Gwynn without a diaper on…it made me one nervous mommy having to watch for accidents!  Here is a sneak peek that Lacey gave us.  She’ll put the pictures up on her website and I’ll pass along the address so everyone can see our little model. 

Home Sweet Home

Well...we're finally home. It's been a LONG 8 days, but we made it through and are stronger because of it. Gwynn has pretty much been sleeping since we brought her home, so she hasn't seen much of the house yet. Jeff and I are pretty sure she's going to enjoy all of her toys, books, swing, bouncer, etc. Jeff's mom and my dad helped us bring Gwynn home from the hospital (dad was the official photographer for the big event). Jeff and I even got to nap for a few hours while they watched Gwynn. My mom is staying with us for a few days which has already been a huge help. We even came home to a nice clean house thanks to Aunt Jennifer (she got our house cleaned for the big day). I'm sure I'll be saying this a lot, but we are really blessed to have such a great support system in both of our families.

Update: July 12th

Gwynn had another great day today. She got to wear her Alabama hat and wore one of her new outfits. At 10:00am we moved to the family room at the NICU. They took Gwynn off all monitoring and only checked on us every few hours. It was kind of a parenthood dry run. We learned some tricks for how to calm her down when she's cranky which will come in handy when we take her home Wednesday.

Today was our 3rd anniversary. We almost didn't realize it. We had a delicious dinner of various meats, cheeses, and breads at this little Italian place in Southside called Subway. Unlike every other anniversary we were able to spend time with our daughter which made it the best one yet.

Update: July 11th

Today has been another wonderful day for Gwynn! Her weight tonight was up to 7 lbs 11.1 oz...back to her birth weight already! We were able to see the nurse bathe her (only took the nurse 5 minutes...I'm sure it will take us 3 times as long when we're on our own). Before a baby leaves the NICU, they must pass a car seat test. The nurse put Gwynn in a car seat for an hour and a half to see if she could handle it without her oxygen saturation dropping. Well, she passed the test with flying colors, but the nurse said she screamed for over an hour while in the seat. I'm glad we weren't present for that test...not sure I'd be able to stand seeing her cry like that! Jeff and I are just hoping she'll tolerate her car seat better than this when we take her home.

 

 

 

 

 

On to the big news of the day...we got a discharge date from the doctor! We will be taking Gwynn home on Wednesday, July 13th! The night before discharge we will stay in a family room in the NICU with Gwynn. We will be in charge of all the feedings and diaper changes, but we'll have access to the nurses if needed. The nurses will come in a few times throughout the night to get Gwynn's vitals, but we'll pretty much be on our own. We are looking forward to this "practice night" before we have to take Gwynn home!

Update: July 10th

Jeff and I are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family praying for our family, bringing us meals, keeping us company at the hospital, or just letting us know they are thinking of us and baby Gwynn. I truly believe that all of the events that have happened in the past few days have taught Jeff and I so much and we will never forget the support and compassion shown to us by family, friends, and even people we have never met!

 

On to the update...

 

Gwynn has had a wonderful day today. Her breathing, temperature, and heart rate are all perfect. She has had no more episodes of her oxygen saturation dropping. She is in an opened crib with no bilirubin light. Her weight increased a little and she now weighs 7 lbs 9.5 oz. We have a new doctor coming by tomorrow and we're hoping she'll give us some idea of a discharge date!

Gwynn update: July 9th

Gwynn is doing well today. She is eating well, gaining weight and her oxygen saturation has been good the last 20 hours. Still no word when she'll come home but hopefully by the end of the week.

The NICU

Today Gwynn was admitted to the NICU. The lactation nurse that was helping us noticed that her respiratory rate was about 70-80 breaths per minute when normal is approximately 30-40 bpm. We don't know why her breathing is so fast. It could be any number of things. We will just have to wait and see, hopefully it is something minor and we can go home soon.

Introducing...

Gwynn Marie Belcher

July 5th, 2011

2:01 pm

7 lbs 11 oz

20 1/2 inches