More Photos

Click here for more photos from her third and fourth week.

Big Week

Mary Beth has had a big week. Last Wednesday we had three outings in one day which is a lot for us and then the next day she had her first trip to Moultrie. She experienced many firsts while we were gone and we had a great time. She is now five weeks old and is such a great baby! We are enjoying her more and more each day!

Some of the many firsts:
First time out for dinner to celebrate Coop's birthday
First time being in the car for more than a few minutes (it took us six hours to drive to Moultrie)
First encounter with gnats
First encounter with Lucy the wild dog
First baby shower
First time meeting her great Maw Maw
First time going to church
First time going to family supper and meeting the extended family

Ready for the birthday dinner

She loves her great Maw Maw

Being spoiled by her Atlanta uncles

Meeting cousin Andrew for the first time, he is three weeks older than Mary Beth

Sleeping through the night and one month check up

One Month Photo
Sleeping good in the miracle swaddle

She loves sleeping in only a diaper

Mary Beth has been sleeping through the night and we were so excited and proud of her! We were bragging to our pediatrician (big mistake) about how well she is sleeping at night and he told us that she didn't need to be going more than 6 hours without eating at night until she's two months old. So, we are setting our alarm for the middle of the night and are waking her up to eat. She is starting to go to bed a little earlier which has been great and is starting to get on a more normal schedule instead of one a teenager would keep. The good news is that she is a great sleeper and when she is old enough we think that she will sleep through the night.
Her one month weight was 9.0 pounds and her new length is 21.5 inches long. She has gained a pound and has grown 1.5 inches since she was born which is great! She also had to get a shot at this appointment and she was not excited about it. While we were at the office, she pooped on their scale and then had a blow out in front of the pediatrician, she was letting them know how she felt about everything! I don't know who cried more after the shot, me or Mary Beth. Dan had his hands full with both of us!

First Photo Shoot

Shanna, my sister-in-law, had a photo shoot with Mary Beth while she was visiting this week. Click here to view the photos and other pictures from her second week of life.

First Smile

Mary Beth smiled when she was 14 days old and we were fortunate enough to be in the middle of taking pictures with her so we caught it on camera. She has been smiling in her sleep since she was born but this was her first one when she was awake and looking at us. We love her smile!

We have made it through two plus weeks

It seems like much more than two and a half weeks since we left Northside Hospital with our new daughter. We have learned so much and everyday gets better. Mary Beth is such a sweet baby and she loves to sleep. We still have to wake her up to eat and she is eating every three hours during the day and four hours (sometimes five) at night. We wonder how long she would sleep if we didn't wake her up to eat and are tempted to test this at night. It seems that she is a night owl as her most awake time is from about 7pm to 12am or later. She definitely gets this from me but since I have been married to Dan, I have gotten used to going to bed much earlier so the late nights have been a challenge. My mom has been in town this week to help us and it has been wonderful. Last night Dan and I went out to dinner for the first time since MB was born and it was nice to have some time to catch up. We went to the pediatrician this past Tuesday when she was two weeks old for a weight check. She gained 7 ounces in 7 days and they were very excited about her weight increase. She weighs 8 pounds 2 ounces and has passed her birth weight. We will have cute fat rolls on her in no time!

Here are some things that we have learned so far about Mary Beth:
She loves to be naked and cries when we put clothes on her
She doesn't like to have her diaper changed
She didn't like the sponge bath but is a fan of the real bath
She likes riding in the car
She is a night owl
There is a good chance she will pee on you when you take off her diaper (she is getting a little better at this)
She makes the best faces while she is sleeping
If you wake her up, you better be ready to feed her
She has the best smile
She gets sweeter and more beautiful everyday

She's here!

Mary Elizabeth Milam was born on June 30th at 11:31am and she weighed 8.0 pounds and was 20 inches long. We went into the hospital on Monday night, June 29th and she was born the next morning. The delivery went really well and was fast. We figured that she just needed a little encouragement to come out because once we started the induction, she arrived shortly thereafter and we were very thankful. I had a few problems after the delivery with my hemoglobin level dropping and they kept me in the delivery room until that night to keep an eye on things. Fortunately, I am feeling much better but it will take two months to restore my hemoglobin level. We were sent home last Thursday and my mom was with us until Monday and Dan's mom is here through tomorrow and then my sister Carrie will be here through Friday. We have been very glad to have the extra help since I am not very mobile yet. Mary Beth is a wonderful baby and she sleeps most of the day. We went to the pediatrician yesterday and everything looks great. You can click here for more pictures of her.

Sleeping

Hanging out with Daddy

Here is a timeline of the labor for those interested:

7:00pm - checked into the hospital

9:30pm - moved into the labor and delivery room

10:15pm - started Cervadil

12:00am - started having some contractions

2:00am - contractions became more intense

4:00am - removed the Cervadil and was dilated 3-4cm

6:00am - asked for the epidural since contractions were 30 seconds apart and very painful

6:00am - 8:00am - took a nap (the epidural was amazing)

10:00am - started pitocin

10:30am - felt the urge to push, was dilated to 10cm

10:30am - 11:00am - was told not to push as my doctor had not arrived
11:00am - started pushing with nurse

11:15am - told to stop pushing to wait on doctor

11:25am - doctor arrived

11:31am - Mary Beth was born