Wow - it's been a while!

Hey Everyone!!
 I can't believe how long it has been since I've made a new entry on here to update you all on our little Lily girl!!  Lily will be 4 months old on the 14th of January, and I can honestly say that the last few months have flown by.  I have been busy back at work, and Tom has been busy with school and his new job!  I do like being at work again - although I really miss Lily and wish I could just spend every minute with her.  It's good for me though, because as much fun as being home with her can be, it's also a nice change to go to work and do something else that I love - anesthesia!  My coworkers are so great and it's nice to have adult interaction too ;-)  Haha....plus I get all kinds of parenting advice and ideas which is fun (usually!)
  Tom is really loving his new job - he is the director of innovation and analytics for a company called Enclarity.  He is working downtown which he also LOVES!!  He is a city boy at heart!  Plus, he's a total foodie and he can walk to many different restaurants for lunch every day which is pretty fun for him.  The only downside to his new job is that he likes it so much that he spends more hours at the office!  Lily and I usually get to see him by 6:30 or 7pm which means less time to hang out before Lily (and I) go to bed at night!  We have an early bedtime of about 8:30pm ;-)  Even though we don't get to see him as much between his new job and weekends at school, I am just so thrilled that he is so happy with his work!  I know that many people are fortunate to love what they do, so I consider Tom and I very lucky!!
   So, now for Lily!  So much has changed!!  She is really turning into a "little person" as Tom likes to say ;-)  She loves to smile and coo....she is almost as talkative as her mom!  She even likes to scream just for fun sometimes - obviously she likes the sound of her voice!  She has started to be much better at entertaining herself on her playmat, in her swing, or her bouncy seat.  We have started putting her in her bumbo seat as well which she loves!  For those of you not familiar with a "bumbo seat" - it's like a little chair that is almost molded around the legs/butt of the baby.  So babies like Lily who are pretty good at holding their heads up, but can't sit unsupported yet, can sit in this little chair and have lots of fun!  Lily loves when we put toys on the little tray of the bumbo seat - especially balls.  She loves to roll them around and watch them go.  She is so much fun!  She has even given us a few little giggles here and there!!  ;-)  She is loving her tummy time and really pushes herself up well!  She even scoots around a little...but doesn't get terribly far yet.  We have witnessed what I think are "accidental" roll overs from her tummy to her back, but more often than not she gets frustrated and makes lots of noise when trying to turn herself over. I don't think it will be long before she's rolling like a little log!  We will keep you updated when she does ;-)
    Lily has been spending her days either at daycare or with her Grandma Jane and Grandpa Brian.  She loves her time with her grandparents, but things at the daycare center weren't going very well (mostly for me....a little for Lily) so we will be switching daycare centers next week.  I am looking forward to the new center.  I was having a really hard time with the lack of communication and concerns with low staffing at the other center, so I'm really hoping this new center will be a great improvement!!  Hopefully it won't take her too long to get acclimated to a new place and new faces.  She will spend the rest of this week with Grandma Jane, which will be so fun.  When she starts at the new daycare, she will continue to be with me on Wednesdays (my day off from work) and then she will be at daycare the other four days (except when Tom is at Yale...then she will be with Grandma on fridays!)  Hopefully the new schedule will work out for her and us as well.  I know her Grandparents will miss having her with them one day a week, but we are expecting that they will "steal her away" from daycare every now and then for some special time together ;-)  Lily has been so lucky to get to spend this time with them!
   Well...I suppose I should show some recent pictures of the little lady!  She has changed quite a bit and keeps getting bigger every day!!  I'm happy to report that the feeding issues we have had are mostly a thing of the past!  Lily even takes her bottles well now that we switched brands.  She is a champ!!  Hope everyone is doing well - my New Year's resolution is to spend more time with friends, so help keep me honest!  ;-)

Lily met her Great Grandma Pat!

Her first trip to the beach!  She's a California girl ;-)

Some thanksgiving pics in California

Meeting her Auntie Katie for the first time!

All fancy in her Thanksgiving dress 

Here she is trying out the fabulous bumbo seat!  She's even better at it now...I'll try to post an even more recent pic soon!

Meeting Great Grandparents Mimi and Boompa at Thanksgiving!

Here are some recent pics!

Pictures of Lily!

All snuggled up after her bath....she's really not a fan of getting clean!

She found her thumb - this time with no help!

Snuggling with her best buddy - Baxter!!

Pretty sweet little family!

All bundled up - ready to go on a run with Dad and Baxter!  She was happy as long as Tom was running....not walking!  ;-) Haha!

This picture is post smile....I missed the real thing - but she's still pretty cute!

6 Weeks Old!!

Wow!!  Lily's first 6 weeks have already flown by....and it has been a crazy ride to say the least!!!  Lily, Tom, Baxter and I have all been learning a lot and settling in a little more every day!  For the first few weeks, Lily was like many newborns...not doing much besides eating, sleeping, peeing, and pooping!  Then, at around 3 or 4 weeks of age, she really started to show us her personality!!  She is definitely a red-head....and a lot like her mom - she goes from being quiet and content to wide awake...and then to seriously angry at times too!  Around her 4th week, I started to get a little concerned because at every feeding she would eat ferociously for about 4 to 5 minutes, and then scream and cry like something was hurting her!  This was not only incredibly concerning to me, but also frustrating for everyone!!  Lily would cry and cry unless she was swaddled and bounced...and once she fell asleep she would sleep like a rock.  It was so upsetting to me that my beautiful little girl was only crying when she was awake and eating...and otherwise seemed very uncomfortable.  We called the pediatrician right away and she suggested that maybe I was "letting-down" too fast for Lily, or that Lily had a little gas issue.  So, we started gas drops with every feeding, and I tried a couple of techniques to help slow my let-down.  The interventions really seemed to help for a few days, but then the problem seemed to get worse again.  I was really struggling not only because Lily was so unhappy, but also because I had come down with an awful rash all over my chest, arms and legs that was keeping me up itching like crazy every night!  So, even when Lily was sleeping, I wasn't able to sleep much at all!  The combination of issues was really stressful...between screaming episodes with Lily and dermatologist visits for me, we were busy and exhausted!!
    Thankfully I can now report that life has improved immensely!  After one day of trying to work through screaming during feedings, I decided to call the lactation consultants at the hospital.  They were incredibly helpful and quickly figured out what the problem was - I was making way too much milk!!  Poor Lily was practically drowning in milk when she was trying to eat...so instead of taking 10 to 15 minutes to eat 3 ounces or so...she was getting it all in about five minutes!  Talk about guzzling!!  Once we figured out what the problem was, we were able to try a bunch of things that started to help Lily almost immediately!  What a relief!!  She is now eating well, having happy awake time, and then taking nice long naps!  She is even sleeping up to 6 hour stretches at night!  It's been great for the past week or so and we are so relieved.  Even though I know we will likely have more surprises and bumps in the road ahead of us, I am very happy to be through this one!
    As for my rash...well, after multiple dermatologist visits, and a skin biopsy, we have figured out that I have hives all over my body that are caused by and unknown source!  So..it could be either a reaction to medication or just a random viral hive caused by some cold virus that I may have had.  Either way, I am happy to know what it is, and the dermatologist has suggested some meds and creams that seem to be helping a lot!  Finally!!!
    Well, it has definitely been an interesting and slightly rough few weeks, but Lily started SMILING just as this was all happening which has been so much fun!!  She still looks kind of like she's working really hard to make her mouth get into the "smile" shape sometimes, but it is honestly one of the sweetest things I have ever seen!  And when she looks me in the eye and gives me a huge smile - it pretty much makes all of those bad moments disappear and my heart just melts!  She is a complete sweetie and I am so in love with her!
    Not much else to say for now...I will try to get a picture of a smile soon and post it!  I took a video today and was successful at a smile capture...but I'm not sure I can post videos on here.  So...you'll have to wait!  ;-)  Hope everyone is well!
   Lots of love,
     Katie, Tom and Lily

Welcome Lily Katherine Dow!!

Well, I know it has been a while since I've updated the blog so here goes!!  Life has changed incredibly for us in the last three weeks.  Lily Katherine Dow was born on September 14th at 2:48pm weighing in at 7lbs 2oz. and measuring 20 inches!  Just two days before her official due date, my water broke in the middle of the night on the 13th!  When we arrived at the hospital I wasn't really having many contractions (not painful ones at least!) so they ended up starting Pitocin to get the contractions going.  It's kind of ironic that after all of the weeks we spent trying to prevent contractions, when it finally came down to it....we had to use medication to get the contractions going!!  Anyhow, things moved along pretty well and by mid afternoon on the 14th, I got an epidural (which was fantastic!) and within a few hours we had our little Lily!!
    Life has been pretty hectic and crazy since we came home....but it has been absolutely wonderful at the same time!  She is officially 3 weeks old today!  Lily has been eating well and doing lots of sleeping, peeing, pooping, burping....and crying!!  She is quite a feisty little woman - not surprising considering the way she acted while she was inside ;-)  She definitely lets us know when she needs something, and has no problem with being too quiet...haha...her cry is loud (kind of like her parents' voices!)  We are starting to settle into more of a routine in the past few weeks, and we are very lucky that Lily tends to sleep quite well at night.  She even gave me a straight 4 hours of sleep last night!!!
   I will post some pictures - we have taken soooo many that it would take up way too much space if I posted even a tiny percentage of them!!  She is quite a beauty (though i might be biased!) and definitely has red hair which is so much fun!  We feel like she looks a lot like both me and Tom....but mostly she just looks like Lily!!  ;-)  Here are some pics so you can decide for yourself!!!
   Hope everyone is doing well - we are slowly feeling ready for more visitors....sometimes I'm just too tired to have much socialization during the day....but we will make sure that everyone gets to meet Lily soon!
    Lots of love,
       Tom, Katie and Lily

Just born....Happy Mama and baby

Proud Grandpa - Dad was so happy to meet Lily on her birthday...he had to leave for my cousin's wedding the next morning!  Lily has impeccable timing!

Happy Uncle Brian!  

Lily looking unsure about the bottle feeding they were giving her due to some low blood sugars right after delivery....you can tell she has red hair though!

Proud Papa!!  So happy to have his little girl in his arms!

Mom and Dad were in a wedding 3 days after Lily was born!  Lily got to come too....she is one social gal!

Getting ready for the wedding

Lily at about 2 and a half weeks old

Our little lady bug....haha...working on tummy time

Taking some posed pictures ;-)

Tiny little feet....

Proud parents (we need to edit this picture....just haven't gotten around to it yet!)

Big Belly!

I figured I better post a recent picture - my belly has really gotten big!!!

Doc Appointment Update!

Hello Hello!
  I had my doctor's appointment today and it looks like my "suffering" on friday may have done a little something to make it worth while ;-)  I am currently dilated to 2cm (apparently at my last visit I was more like 1 and a half or less....I must have been listening with optimistic ears!) and now about 75% effaced!  So...even though it's not dilating a lot, my cervix is definitely softening up more.  Baby's head is still down and in the engaged position, so everything is in a good place.  Who knows when this little one will arrive, but at least we are moving in the right direction!
   We talked to the doctor about what the plan will be in the event that she hasn't arrived by friday (my official due date) and it sounds like unless there is a medical reason deeming induction necessary, we would not induce labor until the following friday (when I would be 41 weeks) if that was the direction things needed to go.  So....hopefully we won't make it that far and this little lady will just come when she's ready!!  I will continue to work (full time now!) until she does...which is at least a really great distraction!  Plus, I do lots of walking, standing, squatting and moving about at work, so maybe it will get things going ;-)
     So, that's about it!!  Hope everyone is doing well!! Thanks for all of your encouragement and support - and thanks for putting up with all of my complaining/whiney posts in the last few weeks ;-) I am trying to stay positive and patient, but I don't always seem to have success!
     Love to you all,
         Katie and the Little Lady ;-)

39 Weeks....Here Come the False Alarms!!

Well Friday marked 39 weeks and started what I fear may be the first of many false alarms!!  I have been back at work now for a week and it has been going really well.  Besides having some hip and back pain, (probably due to me not being used to my new body weight after so many weeks of bed rest) I have felt really good!  I love my job and love doing anesthesia, so being back at work has been a wonderful distraction from wondering when our little lady will make her debut.
    On friday my shift started off normally - I was feeling more contractions in the morning than I had been feeling earlier in the week, but with my history of contracting all the time, I really didn't think much of it!  I had a busy day and by lunch time I was starving and so happy to eat.  I probably scarfed my food a little too fast, but while I was eating lunch I started having some really strong pains in my lower abdomen, and noticed that I was having pretty firm contractions as well.  The pains and uterine tightening didn't seem to be happening at the same time, but I couldn't really figure out what was going on.  All I knew is that I was really really uncomfortable and it was not fun!!  I continued to do my work (which was challenging to say the least) and even though I was in a lot of pain, I wasn't convinced that I was in labor, so I just tried to tough it out!  I really didn't want to cry wolf and ask to leave work, only to return on monday still pregnant!!
   So...things continued, and to make a long story short....the pains I was having continued throughout the afternoon and into the evening.  I drove to my Mom and Dad's house after work in serious pain and called the nurse at my doctor's office, who didn't seem to think the pains I was having were labor pains.  I relaxed with my parents for a while and Tom came over to help out as well.  Things calmed down a little but I was really uncomfortable throughout the evening and continued to wake up in the middle of the night with awful pains about every 10-30 minutes.  By saturday morning, I was feeling much more comfortable, but was contracting every 3 to 5 minutes all morning.  The contractions were enough to get my attention and make me catch my breath, but I was not in serious pain.  We decided after an hour or so to call the doctor.  The on-call doctor who I spoke with basically said that I was not "in labor" until I was having contractions that were so painful that I wasn't able to talk or walk through them, and they had to be 5 minutes apart.  Well....this was quite frustrating for us considering that the pains I was having on friday were terribly painful but weren't considered labor, and now I was having contractions every 3 minutes, but they weren't labor either!!!  Talk about FRUSTRATION!!!!  Both Tom and I had gotten excited that morning with the frequent contractions, and made sure all of our bags were in the car adn ready to go!  Unfortunately...it looked like there was no need for excitement ;-)
     After a while I just decided to stop timing everything because it was just making me more disappointed and upset than anything to see that I was probably not in labor and that everything on friday was just a big false alarm!  So, as you can probably gather from my tone...I was not in the best mood yesterday after so much pain on friday, and a terrible nights sleep....and then more frustration when I realized that it was not really a sign of anything...big bummer.  But I guess that's how it is with labor....lots of people probably go through this so I shouldn't complain!  I guess I just figured that after 16 weeks on bed rest, that I would just go into labor pretty quickly after I was allowed to be up - guess this baby has other ideas!!
   Thankfully, I am feeling much better today!  I have still been contracting quite a lot, but like I said - I'm not timing anything until I can barely stand how much it hurts....then maybe I will finally believe that what I'm feeling is labor!  Until then - I will not be convinced ;-)  Haha....my stubborn attitude is coming out now.  I am happy to be healthy and able to be up and living life - so I just need to continue enjoying myself and accomplishing things that will be much more complicated once we have our little lady with us and outside of the womb ;-)
    I will have my 39 week doctors appointment tomorrow with my regular doctor who I haven't been able to see for the last two weeks, so I am really looking forward to talking to her about what our plan will be if we get to 40 weeks or beyond! ;-)  I will let you all know how that goes and if anything changes at all.  For now....all is well, and we are continuing to wait....but not so patiently!  ;-)
   Lots of love,
      Katie, Tom and The Little Lady