Sunday, September 27, 2009

2 week and 3 week pictures

Miss Sienna is officially in her 4th week of life! Hard to believe... it has been a blur! :) One of my friends gave me the idea to take her picture every week to track her growth. I'll try to post these each week, or as often as I can so you can see how big she is getting already!!
2 weeks

3 weeks


Sienna also hit a milestone on her 3 week birthday - she found her thumb all by herself!! Now granted she really doesn't have control over her arms or hands yet, but it was still really cute! I think we have a future thumb sucker on our hands. I'll be glad when she can do this consistently because the pacifier war will be over!!



Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Pictures, pictures, pictures!!

Our photographer, Carmen Carver, has posted a sneak peak of Sienna's newborn photo session from last week. There are several great pictures... check out her latest blog posting, "Everything a Girl Needs..." at: www.ccphotodesign.blogspot.com

SO CUTE!!!! I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures! All of the proofs should be ready sometime next week, so I'll be sure to post the link for you all to view.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Bath Time

We gave Sienna her first 'real' bath this morning. She didn't fuss at all -- seems to like this type of bath a lot better than the sponge bath! Enjoy the naked baby pictures. :)










Her belly was full from breakfast!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

More pics

Finally got around to putting up Sienna's name in her room. What do you think?

10 days

Nana and her girls

Three Elaine's plus Scott


In her cute polka dot outfit from Becky! (And I thought this was going to be too small on her!)

Monday, September 14, 2009

So in love...

Below are a few more pictures of Sienna's first week. We are so in love with our little one!! She has a head full of dark hair, which she gets from her daddy. Scott and I were both born with brown hair, but Scott had more and it was very dark like Sienna's. Sienna looks most like my baby pictures at this point in time. I think she definitely has my nose and mouth. Her face shape and eyes might be more like Scott's, though. We'll see! She is changing so much every day.

We are having her picture taken tomorrow, and I am so excited! The photographer is coming to our house for a three hour session, so we should get lots of great pictures.

This week has been exhausting yet so rewarding for Scott and I. Sienna started out breast feeding fantastically, but she got derailed about mid-way through last week. We started supplementing with formula and pumping. It has been an exhausting routine, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just trying to take it day by day, which is easier said than done!

I love these socks!! They look like little mary janes!

Sienna loves her swing.


Day two of Sienna's life. The cap is courtesy of the night nurses at St. Luke's East. Love it!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Reflecting on Sienna's birthday

I thought I'd post an account of last Friday, so Sienna (and you all) will know all about the day she was born!
Scott and I left for the hospital around 6 am. I hardly slept a wink the night before because I was so anxious. (I started off in our bed, moved to our chaise lounge, then to our guest bedroom, then back to our bed. Ha!) We were apprehensive and excited for this day.... so many unknowns of how the day would play out. We said a prayer and snapped one last pic of my belly before heading out the door.
We arrived at the hospital and checked into room 2042. St. Luke's East is a single room maternity ward, so I labored, delivered and recovered in the same room. So nice. Our fabulous nurse, Janie, started my IV around 7:00 am, and hooked up the fetal and contraction monitors. I was having regular contractions spaced about 5 minutes apart. They weren't very strong, but my body was definitely ready to go.
Around 7:30 am, the nurse started a pitocin drip of 1 cc per hour - the lowest dose available. The doctor came in at 8:30 am to break my water, and that's when the contractions really started to pick up. The pitocin was turned up to 3 cc's, and I went from a 3 to a 6 by 10:30 am. The contractions were fast (about 2 minutes apart), and started to get pretty painful. I wanted to hold off getting the epidural, so I could 'experience' labor. I had no idea I would progress so quickly, though. At 11:00, the nurse anesthetist came to put in my epidural. By 11:30 am, the epidural was in and I was at a 7. The epidural was great... allowed me to rest and relax. I didn't sleep, but I did rest my eyes and body. My contractions slowed down a bit after the epidural, but they picked back up after the nurse increased the pitocin back to 3 cc's. I progressed from a 7 to a 10 by 2:30 pm. I couldn't necessarily feel the pain, but I could feel a lot of pressure. When I was fully dilated to a 10, I placed a call to my sister, who was in the waiting room, to have her order a Steak & Shake burger and vanilla malt for me to enjoy post-delivery. Ha! I had been craving Steak & Shake the last few weeks, and had never managed to get there.
From 2:30 to 3:30 pm, I labored down. A little after 3:30 pm, I started pushing. The experience of pushing was different than I expected. It wasn't painful since I had the epidural, but it sure was exhausting. I was so determined to get this little girl here, that time flew. I had a fabulous coach in Scott. He counted loud and encouraged me through every contraction. Plus he fanned me with a magazine after every push, since the hospital air conditioning decided to go out for an hour while I was pushing. Nice!!! So at 5:05 pm, Sienna arrived! Scott cut the cord, and the nurses made sure she was okay. She was crying and using her lungs! Scott went out to the waiting room to tell our family she had arrived! Then Scott & I spent an hour alone with Sienna. No nurses, no family members - just the three of us. We snuggled her, fed her, and sang to her. It was the most precious hour, and I am so glad the hospital suggested this time to us. It felt so surreal to hold her and know that we had created this perfect little girl. It was during this hour that we decided her name should be Sienna. Afterwards, all our family got to come in to meet our precious baby daughter.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Sienna Elaine Williams

We welcomed Sienna Elaine Williams to this world on Friday, September 4! She was born at 5:05 PM and weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces. She is so absolutely perfect! Her name is inspired from the Italian city, Siena, that Scott and I fell in love with a couple of years ago. Her middle name is after myself, my mom, my mother-in-law, and my grandmother.

Scott and I are settling in to life as a family of three here at home. We had a curveball thrown at us with her feeding schedule, so we've been busy trying to figure everything out. I will post more pictures as soon as I can!

Thanks to everyone for your love, support & prayers. We feel them!!











Thursday, September 03, 2009

Ready or not...

She is coming tomorrow! Seems that her stubborn streak is continuing, and she is still nice and comfy in my tummy. :) So the plan is to check into the hospital bright and early tomorrow morning to get this party started. I am SO, SO, SO excited to meet our daughter! She is going to be beautiful! I feel like my body and mind are ready for this process. I'll spare you the details, but I feel like my body is just a little push away from going into labor. So if this is the push it needs, so be it!
Today I enjoyed a sunny day with my sister. I am so glad she has been in town this week!! We went on a 3.5 mile walk to JP Coffee and then enjoyed some breakfast after our walk. Afterwards we ran some errands and bought the cutest little outfit for baby girl. It is a long-sleeve onesie with owls and a matching hat. Precious.
We are taking the computer and camera to the hospital tomorrow, so hopefully we will be able to post pictures soon after she arrives.
Grandpa Dave and Aunt Melissa's birthdays are tomorrow, so we're hoping she arrives before midnight to join them on their birthdays! We'll keep you posted!