Meeting Grandpa

So Lucy has met her Grandpa Frank - they spent some time together briefly last night when he returned from the airport and they have spent a lot of time together today. Already Frank is enamored (obviously) and Lucy seems to love all her family that has come to see her. 

I think what I am going to do later on today is post some photos on kodakgallery.com for family members (and friends, of course) that would like to buy some prints of the photos we've got - I've had some requests. I'll put the link up here and send an email to some people. I think I will just weed out the better images so the slideshow isn't huge. I realize you can buy prints from picasa but I'm more familiar with the kodakgallery so we are just going to do that. More later...

B.

Photos from today

Oops!

Sorry folks. Photos from today aren't loading so in the interest of me not breaking the computer I'm going to take a break and try again later. I promise they're good!

B.

Alias: LaLa and Peaches

We have had a fairly lazy Saturday here so far, John drove up to manchester airport this morning to pick up Uncle Alex, who met the Lucy for the first time. Mom and Dad also came up for a little while to visit, and brought us a swing, which Dad took it upon himself to put together. The goal with the swing is to help put Lucy to sleep when John and I can't. We'll see how that works. John has taken it upon himself to decide that Dad (David)'s grandfather name is going to be Peaches ... for reasons that none of us truly understand. But as John said, he has made few decisions he really put his food down about concerning the baby thus far, so this one he's holding firm on. We'll see. It would make my parents "LaLa and Peaches", and Frank and Genie "Grandpa and Grandma". We'll see how that goes. 

Lucy had an amazing night last night, had to be awoken for all of her feedings because she slept so soundly otherwise. Which of course meant that all three of us got a great amount of sleep - a really nice change from the night before. 

Tonight at 8pm, Grandpa Frank's plane gets in from Europe, which means that either when he gets home tonight or first thing in the morning, he will meet his granddaughter for the first time. Frank is thrilled about this - I'm not sure Lucy notices much other than how she's slept and when breakfast/snack/lunch/snack/dinner/snacktime is, but oh well. So tomorrow I will definitely get some photos of Lucy and Frank meeting, for now I have shots of my family and their encounters with the LucyBear for today. 

B. 

One Week

Goodnight all,

Another long day, Lucy was awake for about 7 hours this morning - kind of abnormal especially with her 5 hours awake last night. We are of course hoping tonight goes slightly better. 

Anyway though, Lucy is officially one week old and I think we are all doing okay so far. 

Tomorrow Uncle Alex comes to visit from DC, I will try to get some photos of it. 

Until then - sleep well for me,

B.

Another long night

So the funny thing is when I wrote all those times you should think about us last night, I imagined we might be sleeping BETWEEN those times. I was very wrong. Lucy didn't go to sleep until almost 3, and only then because I'd fed her so often there was nothing left to do but that. We are thinking its possible she's in her 7 day growth spurt, but there is no way for us to tell. Anyway. 

Yesterday was a very long and busy day, we hung around in the morning, and then had appointments with the lactation consultant and the pediatrician in Beverly. I can tell you right now that one of Lucy's very favorite ways to fall asleep immediately is to ride in the car. From what I hear this is the case with many babies - and we may be using it in the future at 2:30 am if necessary. This first shot is a picture of Lucy and her daddy at Lucy's one-week well-baby appointment, which as John said seems kind of like a well-parent appointment - just to make sure you aren't screwing things up too badly yet. We all passed with flying colors - Lucy has gained 6oz on her discharge weight, which is excellent because of the whole losing-a-pound since birth thing. we were very excited about that. 

After the pediatrician and the lactation consultant we drove back to Salisbury, fed some more, and then LaLa and Uncle Francis came over for dinner. Lucy slept most of that time and was held by some doting relatives. 

A couple of wonderful things to have come home to after the appointments yesterday were a beautiful new rocking chair from Grandma that John will sand and varnish at some point in the next few days - Lucy loves to fall asleep while being rocked - and a GORGEOUS loaf of amazing bread from Bill and Jane. Bill and Jane own and run Annarosa's bakery, in the Tannery in downtown Newburport - across the river. It's without a question the best bakery in the universe (apologies to all others) and we are very proud to call them close family friends (and former employers to both John and myself). The loaf they baked us, as you can see in the photos - is a round loaf of bread with a topping including molded baby booties - complete with lace holes. Its truly amazing. If any of you are in the area and care to drop by, I don't mind taking a minute to tell you that Annarosa's is open Wednesday - Saturday from 9am to 6pm and you will not regret the drive. Okay, there's my Truman Show advertising break for today. 

So last night was not great, we were all awake a very long time, but we seem to be doing okay so far today - we'll see how things go. LaLa is coming back this afternoon and bringing her mother - Nana Charlotte - Lucy's great-grandmother whom she has not encountered yet. So that should be a fun visit. Other than that, the three of us here will be napping as much as possible, when we aren't feeding of course. 

:)

B

Long Day

Hi all, 

John and Lucy and I had a long and busy day today and since its 9:25 I am going to wait to show pictures and updates until the morning. Sorry! I promise a long good post full of pictures and stories in the a.m. 

Have a great night....think of us if YOU wake up at 10, 11:30, 1, 3, 4:30 and 6. 

B.

Sleepy afternoon

This is what Lucy and her father have been doing for the past hour and a half. They had a very long night. Lucy actually spent most of the morning awake today, which was nice. She hung out with us and Grandma while we ate lunch, and she sat on her daddy's lap for a while. She also had her first bath today, which thankfully was not nearly as traumatizing for her as we all thought it might be. Just sponge baths so far - I'm sure a bath in an actual tub will be just as traumatizing if not worse. More later!

B.

Grandma and baby

This morning Grandma Genie came upstairs and brought us a beautiful tray of breakfast deliciousness and scooped Lucy up out of our arms and took her away to downstairs, where they have been sleeping ever since. As excited as I am to see Lucy every minute, I have to confess that its nice to have a few hours to myself - her dad is out running errands. Plus, it gives Grandma some quality Luce time, something she hasn't really had yet. 

Today we are just going to continue taking it as easy as possible, especially me - people keep having to remind me that I had major surgery since the presence of the beautiful baby girl makes it so I don't remember it at all... tomorrow LaLa and Uncle Francis are coming up to visit for dinner, very exciting for all of us. Then on Friday, Lucy will meet her Nana - great grandmother Charlotte - for the first time. So much excitement for such a wee person. 

This afternoon I will try to take some more photos - but the slideshow on the left has been updated so click on it for all the new shots as they come. 

B.

Baby in a basket

This is Lucy's Very Special Sleeping Spot - right between mom and dad in the bed. She did okay last night, her favorite time to be awake seems to be from about midnight to 4am, a bummer for John at this point because he's the one that has to stay awake with her that whole time because I'm still recovering from the surgery. But feedings last night went well, and Lucy seems pretty happy to be home. 

We are realizing that the plus side to night-time feedings and waking up every 2-3 hours is that yes, its interrupted sleep and we are like zombies all the time, but it means we get to hang out with Lucy. Dorky as that sounds, it really makes you forget the fact that its 3am and you're STILL awake. At least it makes me forget it - I guess I wasn't the one walking around the house with her for 4 hours in the middle of the night...

Home now

Hi all, 

The three of us have made it home to Salisbury. Lucy had kind of a rough afternoon of it actually, and we are all pretty tired. John and I were both able to nap this afternoon for more or less the first time since the birth - even though mom sat with me the other day all day I have been terrible about taking naps. So all three of us are tired and out of it and I for one am just starting to realize that we are now without nurses and doctors making sure we are okay, and without a nursery to hand the baby to if she is fussy in the night. So we are going to take it easy tonight and I will take some more pictures of Lucy in her new home tomorrow and make sure I get some posted!

B.

Checking out!

This is it for us from Beverly hospital - sorry all I have is a blurry swaddle photo. We have gone through all our paperwork with the discharge nurse and we are going to start taking stuff to the car and soon we will be on our merry way up to Salisbury and home. I'll post again tonight from home with some new photos! 

B.

Goodnight

Goodnight from the three of us to all. Its our last night at Beverly Hospital and we are all excited about heading home. Tomorrow will be a busy day of paperwork and settling into home, a completely new world for Lucy. I have been very very bad about napping so I am heading to sleep early tonight in anticipation of more night-time feedings. 

Today was a good day, LaLa (Grandma Lauren) was here all day and got to hold Lucy and rock her while I tried my best to sleep and eat and just relax. John took some time off and went out to run some errands and sleep at my parents house during the afternoon. 

More tomorrow once we are settled in, I will try to take some photos of Lucy in her going-home outfit and on her first car trip. 

B

Good Morning!

Hi all, 

Not going to be a long post at the moment because mom is feeling seriously out of it from the Percoset...but things are going well here, the new feeding plan yesterday made a huge difference in everyone's happiness. Today there is going to be a lot of nice visiting with LaLa (Grandma Lauren) while John goes to sleep and takes care of some errands. 

Would love to hear from all of you! I'll post more later. 

B.

Lucy day 3

Hi everyone, 

Day 3 here at Beverly Hospital. Things are going great today, partially because of the tough night we had. No one slept very much, and Lucy was very fussy and was on and off of feeding for quite a while. The nurses eventually told us that she's lost a bit too much weight since birth, so we've all re-worked a feeding plan which is working much better today. Lucy is very happy, sleeping really well when she's not nursing, and she's spending more and more time awake without crying. 

Earlier today we had a great visit with my mom, and more friends are trickling through today. This afternoon Lucy will get to spend more time with Genie, Francis and Lauren while her globetrotting grandfathers check on her from England and Sweden. 

Please keep emailing and texting us and commenting on the photos - we LOVE to hear from everyone! 

I added more photos to the slideshow on the left, but for some reason I don't think they are showing up unless you actually click on the photos and link to the slideshow itself. I'll try to take more photos today so we can get some with Francis and Grandma Genie. 

B

Day 2

So Baby Schaeffer officially has a name - Lucy Ferris Schaeffer. Everyone is allowed one "I Love Lucy" joke and then they are cut off. 

Good day so far, there wasn't all that much sleeping for any of us, due to constant nurses (and nursing) but no one seems to mind very much so we're okay. My parents visited for a while this morning, and I think we are going to get to spend some time with Genie and Francis (John's mom and brother) this afternoon. We are all three of us just taking it easy. The photo I'm putting up is of Lucy and her grandfather....more to come I'm sure. 

Thanks for all your emails and comments - more, please!

B.

Baby Arrives!

Baby is here! After a very stressful 16 or so hours while we waited for our scheduled c-section at 6am this morning, baby came! She is a decent size lovely girl - 21 inches and 8 pounds, 8 oz born at 7:58am. The surgery was completely easy and I am feeling pretty great, albeit very sleepy. The baby is beautiful and has had lots of visits from grandparents and an uncle so far. Tomorrow she will meet some friends and get herself a name (although we have one pretty much picked out). For now I'm going to put up some photos and go back to drifting in and out of sleep. Obviously we have wireless in the room so I'd love to hear from everyone! Thanks for all your well wishes. More tomorrow. 

B.

More Updates

Okay, so I had an appointment with the midwife today. No change in dilation or effacement (which means the contractions on Tuesday were useless), and they have me scheduled to be induced on Wednesday (8/27) if there is no change before then. I have appointments scheduled every day between now and then - non-stress tests for tomorrow and Monday, ultrasound for Monday and midwife appointment on Tuesday. Of course, if I go into labor in the meantime, none of that matters - but that's where we are right now. 

A Quick Update

No real changes from here, John and I are staying with my parents in Beverly just because I have a few appointments down here this week. I had fairly painless contractions all day yesterday and most of the night, but they seem to have slowed or stopped, which may mean they were meaningless. Hopefully something real will start soon!

A Picture! (sort of)

This is all I've got so far for you for baby pics - in utero will have to suffice until that's no longer her current location... (this one is from March)

One day overdue so far, hopefully the pictures will get cuter this week.

Welcome to blog.

Hi all, 

I have no idea what I'm doing where blogs are concerned so I'm assuming this will be a complete failure, but it does seem like an easy way to disseminate baby information as it happens. Plus it means I don't have to worry about remembering to email everyone and it clears me of any responsibility where communication is concerned. 

In any case we'll post as often as we can (: when we remember) and try to put up pictures, so check back - and thanks for looking!

Becky