How time flies..

It's amazing that in two days Lucy will be a happy (most of the time) one-month-old.  She had some feeding issues, and not until last week had she reached her birth weight again, but she's growing and changing each day.  Last week she enjoyed two new toys.  First, Andy and I had to buy a swing when we realized that we had no more visitors to hold her when I need to go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, etc.  So, she's now got a lovely, snuggly swing, which she christened with a nasty dirty diaper on the second day.  At least we now know that the wooly seat cover washes well in the machine.  Second, she spent 10 quiet minutes on her activity mat.  It's a comfort that she's slowly expanding her interest in the world to things other than breast milk. 

Saturday Lucy had her first father-daughter outing.  Andy took her on a walk to pick up brunch.  He got lots of "ooo's" and "ahh's" and "God bless you's" from the Armenian grandmothers at the bakery.  Meanwhile, I was able to do a quick cleaning of the house.  I even took a shower and shaved my legs.  Sunday Lucy showed Andy a beautiful grin.  We're pretty sure it was a genuine smile, but we haven't seen another yet.  Maybe this week...

Week Number Two

It's been a wonderful second week (at least for Lucy's parents), full of visits from grandparents and a couple of "firsts."  Andy's mother was a huge help and his father demonstrated a talent for keeping the little one quiet when no one else could.  On Thursday, Lucy's umbilical cord fell off, which meant she was cleared for her first official bath!  It has been our experience that Lucy hates new things, but she didn't holler once during bath time.  We don't expect this to be the norm, but we enjoyed it while it lasted.  On Friday, Lucy made her debut at Andy's office and got to see his super exciting editing bay, and Saturday marked her first trip shopping.  It's been a busy week for only being 17 days old, but she handled it well.

First Easter

Sunday marked Lucy's first Easter, as well as her first dress-up day.  Both of her Grandmas were in town, so she had plenty of admirers.  She celebrated by creating the dirtiest diaper we've seen yet, and messing her pretty new Easter dress.

Cry, Eat, Sleep, Poop... repeat

Babies first week home... Thankfully Grandma Fatula has bee here all week helping Rachael with baby. She's been cooking delicious meals for us, doing laundry and taking Lucy for walks so Rachael can get some sleep. I don't know what we would have done without her here.

HOMECOMING

After staying almost a full week in the beautiful Verdugo Hills Hospital we were finally cleared to go home a day early. Finally we get to do something early. Everything else has been late or long. Now Mommy and Baby are home and we can finally, really relax. I know that sounds funny with a new born to say we can relax but that's how it feels. The hospital was great and everyone (except for one crazy nurse who looked a little like Estelle Costanza) was super nice, but there was too much going on up there. Whenever we would put Lucy down to sleep and try to sneak a little nap in ourselves, someone would come into our room with a blood pressure test or paperwork or tell us about photographs or take our breakfast order for the next two days. They were all great services and it probably would have been fine if we were there for 2 days. All in all no complaints about the hospital or the staff (again except for the nurse who said we had a fussy baby on 2 different occasions, of course she's fussy she's 12 hours old and has been poked and prodded he entire life) it's just really nice to be home.

Here are some of our hospital pics and homecoming photos as well.

Swaddled

Peaceful

Toes

Kisses

Fussy (I guess)

Homecoming outfit

Ready to roll

New Room

Tiny Baby

Asleep at home, finally!

Going Home

We just got the OK to go home a day early. Rachael and I are SO HAPPY!

Pictures of Baby

Our Sweet Little Lucy Mae

Mommy and Baby (after 40 hours of labor)

Happy Daddy / Little Baby

Sticking her tounge out at you.

We Have Baby!

Lucinda Mae Sipes was born April 1st 2009 in Glendale California. She is 7 lbs 10 oz and 20 inches long. Mommy and Baby are both are both doing great. Photos to come. 

Just a few more hours!

I jokingly told Rachael a couple of weeks ago that I thought April Fool's Day would be a fun day to have birthday parties. I guess be careful what you wish for. Our little girl will be delivered by Cesarean in a couple of hours. I'm sure Rachael will write about all the details later but here's what has been going on...

28 hours after being induced and 12 hours of really painful contractions, last night at midnight,  we decided to get Rachael an epidural so she could rest. It was the right thing to do. This morning we got a check up and we're still no further along. Rachael's water broke yesterday at 1 PM and once that happens they don't like to let you go more than 24 hours. So we've decided to go with the Cesarean. Rachael and Baby have been doing great and have had steady heart rates through it all. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and we will welcome our beautiful Lucy in a couple of hours.