First Photo Session

We took Melia to get her newborn pictures on 8/6. I think they turned out great!

Then a few shots with Cameron. The photographer was so excited she got so many cute shots of the two of them. Apparently they don't usually get this many with a brother/sister this young.

Them with their reindeer!

And then a couple of our family shots.

First 2 Weeks!

It's only been 2 weeks and Melia is already growing like a weed! Makes sense considering how much she is eating! Our little piggly wiggly was eating 2 ounces each feeding when still at the hospital...she's now up to 3 ounces! At her first doctors appointment on 8/1, she was still at 6 lbs 13 ounces. Basically what she was when we left the hospital. At her 2 week check up on 8/11, she was 7 lbs and 9 ounces...almost a full pound! Then to top it off she was measuring 20 5/8 inches, which is over an inch she grew in just 2 weeks!

Photo of her first outing...to the doctor.

She was a little jaundiced so we were told to get her out in the sun. Here is a photo of her first sun bathing experience...and cooling off afterwards.

She is a really good baby! Still sleeps a lot, but is starting to wake up more during the day. She's been having really fussy spells at night usually between 10-2. Not fun. Last night (8/15) we tried something different and it seemed to work. We started her bedtime routine (for lack of a better word as we don't really have a routine yet) at 9:30. When she wasn't settling completely I pulled out a sound machine and turned on the heartbeat. It seemed to help settle her and she ended up falling asleep. It took about 45 minutes to get her down, but both kids asleep by 11 PM was a pretty big deal!! Thinking we are on the road to a routine and this may be a good start.

Some photos from her first sponge bath. As Cameron would say "she was not a fan".

Aunt Lynn was bugging us for pictures and she wanted a fashion show. We didn't really give her what she wanted, but we did get some good shots.

And one of her with her first baby doll from Aunt Lynn. It's as big as she is!

Lots of snuggle time with her big brother Cameron!

We gave her a real bath too! She did much better than Cameron did with it. Really didn't cry until we started washing her hair. Before that she just lounged on the little hammock. Of course the first thing she did was pee in her bath water...figures! They say boys are worse than girls when it comes to peeing as soon as the diaper comes off. So far, that is not true here. She has far out-peed Cameron in just the short 2 weeks she's been here (and I am talking all of Cameron's almost 3 years). For her second bath we put her down in the actual tub and she liked that even better...probably was warmer so no crying!

Happy Birthday Melia!!

We welcomed Melia Kendyl on Thursday, July 28th at 10:34 AM. She weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and 19.25 inches (just a bit bigger and longer than her brother). She was born at exactly the start of 38 weeks. Earlier than we expected. We were set to deliver on 8/5...then moved to 8/2. However, on 7/18 my blood pressure was up during my doctor's appointment. They sent me over to the hospital to labor & delivery to be monitored.

I ended up being admitted to the hospital overnight. They were monitoring my blood pressure, the baby's heartbeat, and running some tests. Later the next day I was discharged me to bed rest. After being home a little while my pressure was back up and we were back at the hospital! They admitted me again for the night. The rest of the week I spent at home basically in bed or on the couch.

I was being monitored by a high risk doctor the rest of that week since my doctor was out of town. Both thought we'd be moving up the date, which of course got my hopes up (so much better than continuing on bed rest). Through the weekend we had a couple of random spikes in my pressure so when I saw my doctor again on 7/26 she decided to move up the date to 7/28.

Thank god Grandma Beth moved up her flight so she could help get everything ready. I was pretty limited on bed rest and there were things we left until the end. We had to be at the hospital at 8 AM to prep for surgery.

This picture was taken just before we left for the hospital. Mostly because Aunt Lynn was bugging me for a belly picture and Melia's bedding.



We had a couple of hours before the surgery after being admitted. Shortly before 10 AM we were headed back to the OR. Everything went well. Melia really did not want to come out!! They had to vacuum her head (left a little bruising). With a lot of coaxing, she was here. The doctor held her up so I could see her peek over the curtain. Otherwise, I only saw her a few seconds before they took her off for her checkup.



I was finally out of surgery at 11:30. We were told Melia would be brought to us after 2 hours of monitoring. They ended up keeping her a full 4 hours to monitor her breathing...I guess as a precaution since she was a c-section baby. It was like torture waiting that long to hold her! Her first present from Cameron is in the picture too...this is her very own reindeer!



Cameron was so excited to meet his new little sister! He was afraid to hold her at first, but wanted to be up close to her to give kisses and touch her cheek.



Grandma Beth was there and couldn't wait to get her hands on the baby.



Papa Rick & Lisa came out that same afternoon.



Then some of Melia's first pictures.

She has long Repasky fingers & long skinny feet.

This was one of my favorites!

We got discharged Saturday night (7/30) to go home. Below is a picture of Melia in her car seat all ready to go. I forgot how tiny they really look in them. Her weight before leaving the hospital was 6 lbs 12 oz (Cameron was 6 lbs 12.5 oz at birth).