Baby's First Road Trip

After Bailey's two week check up (which we did two days early) we loaded up the car and headed South.

Friday night we drove to Vegas and stayed in the family friendly Excalibur...
Too bad the internet lied and our family friendly hotel had a main floor casino reeking of cigarettes. I was pretty sure I was going to kill my two week old as we ran to the elevator and raced to our smoke free room.

Luckily, we made it quickly through the smoky air and started the long hall trek to our room, only to notice that the closer we got to our room the louder and louder the blaring music became. And then we started to hear voices. Loud voices yelling profanity. And then we started seeing empty beer bottles laying in the hall. Kill us now. We got to our room and called security. It was midnight and we were tired. A few minutes later, through the peep hole, we saw an eighty something year old security guy hobble down the hall. Then some large Polynesian men emerged. I was pretty sure we sent that security guard to his death, but instead he sent those loud party animals on their way because the registered guest was not present. Hallelujah. Peace until their 4 am return.

Bails was a little trooper. There were definitely stops to change poops, feed, and clean a spit up, but she did better than expected. Then we spent the next nine days in California Bliss.
Bailey was a big hit. She was held almost 24/7, got to wear all of her cute summer outfits, and only had to do what she does best: eat, sleep and poop.
On the way down we got text messages every five minutes from this girl asking us how much longer we were going to be. Apparently she wanted to be the first to hold her little niece, but unfortunately she was out shopping when we arrived so she lost that achievement to Grandpa.
Uncle Craig refused to hold Bails for a few days. He kept claiming he didn't want to get up and wash his hands. Possibly true because he is a teenage boy, but still unsure if he was a little scared to hold the baby as well. I guess we will never know. Eventually he caved and held the baby.
Bailey loves her Grandpa. She went almost everywhere with him. And when we all decided to leave and go shopping, Boopers got to stay home and take a nap on him. This is how we left these two...
and this is exactly how they looked when we returned home a few hours later. I am pretty sure neither of them moved an inch the entire time.
And we can not forget Grandma. These two took naps together, and hung out while the rest of the gang was at school/work, all protected by their watchdog Rex...
I am pretty sure these are Rex's favorite two girls. He would not leave their sides.
Aunt Janet loved to hold Bailey. Unfortunately whenever it was her turn Bails was always asleep, which may or may not have caused a few scuffles when Boopers actually opened her eyes (which was not that often).
And here is a little proof that Sam actually came to California with us...
I guess that's what happens when you are the one that always remembers to pick up the camera.

We loved every minute of being in California. The weather, the food, and most of all the people. What better way to sum up our fun than a nice big grin...
Thanks for letting us visit. We love you and miss you already.

Two Weeks Old

Length: 21 1/4 in

Weight: 8 lbs 13 0z
Head: 37 cm

All in the 75-90%. Who would have guessed my baby would be this big? Definitely not me.

Burping 101...

She may be little, and she may look just like me....
but she sure does burp like Sam.

Aunts, Uncles, and a Grandma...

Bailey had a very busy first week and a day of life. What was she doing? Meeting a bunch of her Aunts, Uncles, and a Grandma Pam.

Bails with her Aunt Dana. I am not sure whether Dana was happier to meet her first little niece or to be out of Rexburg, Idaho. Apparently it had snowed up there a few days before she left and little Dana's don't do cold.
I am pretty sure Aunt Connie is in love with Bailey Boopers. This is a very good thing because as long as Bails can maintain that love, we have a babysitter.
Aunt Jana is the best. She left her two lovely boys and husband to come down and visit.
Bailey did get a visit from Aunt Zenna and Uncle Robby on Rob's birthday, but unfortunately Sam was at work most of their visit and thus not one picture got taken. But lets just say that Robby was a Bailey hog. Zen didn't get a very long turn because I believe in the words of Robby, Bailey Boopers likes him the best.

Uncle Brandon has also not made the picture gallery. I guess we don't document Uncles very well around here.

Bailey loved her Grandma Pam. Can you tell by her face? She was studying her every move.
As the first grand-daughter on both sides little Bailey has a lot of family members to love her; and by how much she seems to like being held and cuddled, we doubt she will have any troubles playing the part of a little princess.

Welcome Home Bailey!

We spent two days in the hospital after Bailey Boo was born. Sam definitely got the short end of the stick: the uncomfortable cot, listening to all my whining, calling the nurse and cafeteria for me because I didn't want to, etc...

As a reward I did let him hold little Boopers every once in awhile
But mostly I held her, except when it came time to change her diapers. Lucky Sam got to tackle all the icky black tar poops and you would not believe how grossed out he was.
Boopers sucking on her bink...
Not sure what we would do without that.

And then, just like that they let us take her home.
So we bundled her up in her way too big outfit, and buckled her into her way too big car seat on that rainy morning and drove the 1 mile home so slowly, all the while complaining about how crazy the people in Utah drive.

The first two days at home were wonderful. Our slightly jaundice baby was so sleepy. She slept for six hour stretches at night and we both decided we had the perfect baby and this whole parenting thing was going to be a piece of cake.
Love this little bug
Who needs a puppy when you have a Bailey?
Our lives have been turned upside down. The house is a disaster, the laundry keeps piling up, we have already gone through a million diapers, been peed and pooped on, have to schedule out all errands in three hour increments based on her feedings, and yet, we are loving every second of it.

And That is When Everything Changed...

So I definitely had myself convinced that it was impossible to get any larger and little Bailey was going to make her entrance early. Unfortunately, May 4 came and went and then I decided I would probably be the first person to be pregnant forever.

This was probably taken a few days before May 8, but is the last presentable shot of me pregnant. Why? Because those nasty contractions started late Friday night and then there was no living with me. Poor Sam.
I made it through all of Saturday day (with a lot of whimpering and complaining) and by 10:30 that evening I was done being tough (and by tough I mean this could not go on any longer without drugs) and I decided to go in even though the contractions were only ten minutes apart. I told Sam he was not allowed to tell anyone because I was pretty confident we were going to get sent home, but we took the risk anyway.

At the hospital I got hooked up and lucky for me the machine decided to measure my blood pressure during a bad contraction which sky rocketed the numbers and set off alarms resulting in a call to my doctor and an official admittance to the hospital. Hooray to that!

Soon after I got my epidural which was a blessing for the first hour or so, and then unfortunately it wore off. The little button was not my friend, as it did nothing for the pain when I pushed it so, we called the anesthetist back to give me the good stuff. Again it lasted for like an hour or two with no relief so we called him in the third time, and unfortunately the same thing happened. Except now it was time to push. Lucky me. Over a thousand dollars of pain medication and I still got to feel the whole delivery. Boo to that.

My travels from an eight to a ten went super fast. Only problem was the contractions were pretty intense making me almost cry and Bailey's heart rate drop. The doctor and nurses seemed to be getting a little nervous and wanted to get her out asap. Good news: I only had to push through three contractions before little Bailey Boo was plopped onto my stomach. Bad news: forceps did a number on me and the poor babies head.

Our little smurf. The umbilical chord was wrapped around her little neck twice which caused the low heart rate and blue coloring. Luckily she pinked up pretty quickly.
I could not believe how big she was. Eight pounds had never felt so big.

First bath. Sam said she was trying to eat all the bubbles. Probably a small explanation for all that weight (she still tries to eat everything).
No crying......what a blessing. And fast asleep. We both had a pretty rough day.
Too bad giving birth is quite the ordeal. As of now, I am pretty sure I don't want to do that ever again.

We just love our little Bailey Boo.

Mother's Day Gift

Bailey Hiroko finally came, a fashionable five days late.

Weight: a whopping 8 lbs even.
(I could not believe something that large came out of me.)

Length: 20 inches

Time: 9:50 am

I got a baby on mother's day, but I wouldn't exactly classify the process of her coming out a very nice gift.

She is lucky she is so cute that now I won't mind sharing my special day with her every seven years.