5 weeks old! Time is flying by...:(

Well, Faith turned 5 weeks old yesterday, on my 24th Birthday, and she FINALLY reached birthweight!! :) Faith was 7 lbs 11 oz yesterday...with the help of a little supplementing. I was really upset about having to give her a little formula. I cried for over an hour when we gave her first bottle. I know it's not my fault, and sometimes things like this happen, but it doesn't make it any easier. It just makes me feel like a failure that I couldn't give my baby what she needed most. We are still breastfeeding fulltime, but we're giving her an ounce if she doesn't seem satisfied. She had been feeding for over two hours at a time, and still not getting satisfied. Now, she feeds for 45 minutes or so, and if she still wants more, then we give her a bottle, and it seems to work. Plus, she's finally gaining the weight she needs, which makes us happy! Hopefully we won't have to supplement forever....I started taking Fenugreek extract and Blessed Thistle to help with my milk production, so hopefully things get better in the next week! :)

Faith has been getting so strong! She lifts her head up all the time and is now beginning to use her arms to lift herself up. She's so strong for someone so tiny!! She's also getting into that "cooing" stage and tries to "talk" to us all the time, which is absolutely adorable!! Her Aunt Le-Le (my sister Leslie) and her Aunt Meg both sent her boxes full of cute clothes that will hopefully fit her this summer! We are in the process of finding her first Easter gown...and the whole family is on the lookout! :) Aunt Leslie and Uncle James also came down over Spring Break this past week and she really enjoyed spending time with them! She loves all the attention, and LOVES being held. I know that's going to haunt us later, but we can't help it! We can't put her down, and she loves it. She's such a sweet baby, and I dont' know what I'm going to do next week when I have to go back to work. It's going to be so hard! :(

Hope everybody is having a great week....we'll update next week after her 6 week dr's appointment!

Love,

Sean, Liz & Faith :)

4 weeks old! :)

Well, time has definately flown by, and Faith turned 4 weeks old yesterday! I can't believe it's already been a month....it literally seems like yesterday! We went to the doctor to check her weight, and she's up to 7 lbs 4 oz. Not quite birth weight (7 lbs 7 oz) but we're getting there. She's just a little slow to gain the weight back! She's such a dainty little thing, absolutely beautiful!! She's so alert lately...which we love! She's also beginning to use her voice more lately...other than screaming and crying! She makes these cute little noises...and it sounds like she's trying to talk to us :) She's doing so well! We went to our first breastfeeding support group today, which went great. I really enjoyed it, and will definately be going back next month. It's nice to be able to talk to other mothers about my concerns and have my questions addressed. Even though I'm a nurse, there's so much I don't know about newborns! It's definately nice to compare notes and hear stories from other mom's that have gone through the same things we're going through.

We head back to the doctor next Wednesday just to check her weight and see how things are progressing. Other than her weight being low, she's healthy and happy! We're having so much fun with her and Sean and I are loving parenthood!! Hope you guys have a great week! ::)

Love,

Sean, Liz & Faith :)

A few pictures of Miss Faith

Miss Faith...sleeping peacefully!
Mommy & Faith in her room...just home from the hospital!

Mommy and Faith in the hospital....so sweet!

Daddy & Faith right after she was born!

Mommy & Daddy meeting Faith for the first time!

Our first family blog!

Well, this is our first family blog! I have been wanting to start one for awhile now, but never got around to it! Better late than never!! I will do my best to keep this updated, especially for our family!

We would like to start off by announcing that Sean & I welcomed our beautiful baby girl into our family on February 10th 2010 at 5:21 p.m. It was the most amazing moment in our lives, and we are so excited and blessed to finally have her here with us!! I'll sum up the labor/delivery, then fill you in on how she is doing with each blog!

Miss Faith Elizabeth Jeanes came to us a little earlier than we had anticipated. On Monday, Feb. 8th, I went in for my routine weekly appointment with my OB, Dr. Owen. Faith's heartrate was elevated, sustained in the 170-180s. Dr. Owen decided that with all of the complications I had already been having with this pregnancy, the best thing for Faith would be to deliver this week. My induction wasn't scheduled until Feb. 18th (My original due date was Feb. 24th) but it was too risky to let her stay any longer. So I was sent to Covenant for a nonstress test on the antepartum unit and to have a biophysical profile done to see how she was doing. My maternal-fetal specialist, Dr. Hales, was on vacation, so Dr. Atkinson came to see me. They decided to go ahead with an amniocentesis to check her lung maturity. Thankfully her lungs were developed enough, and they decided to stop my Lovenox injections and schedule the delivery for Wednesday Feb. 10th. I was admitted to the hospital Monday morning...Dr. Atkinson didn't feel comfortable letting me leave the hospital. So we stayed Monday night on the antepartum unit, then we were admitted to the labor/delivery unit Tuesday evening to begin the Cervedil induction. Wednesday morning, Dr. Owen came in to break my water and the Pitocin induction began. I was nervous but extremely ready for her to be here! Unfortunately, my body was not ready, and after more complications and 9 hours of labor, I was only dilated to a 4 and was not progressing. So they sent me to the OR for a C-Section, and Miss Faith joined us at 5:21 p.m. 2/10/10 weighing in at 7 lbs 7 oz and 20 1/2 inches long! She is the most beautiful little girl imaginable!! Sean and I are so extremely blessed to have her finally here!

Fortunately, my mom was able to fly in from Arkansas that night to meet her first granddaughter, and was able to stay with me for a couple of weeks. Sean's mom is also here to help us. James and Leslie, Sean's brother and sister-in-law, came up to meet their new niece for the first time that weekend. It was such a great time. We were able to go home from the hospital on Friday, Feb. 12th. Faith was a little jaundiced and had lost some weight in the hospital, down to 6 lbs. 15 oz...so we had a Dr's appointment with her pediatrician on Monday Feb. 15th to follow up on her weight and color. Unfortunately, she lost even more weight, down to 6 lbs 8 oz! She was sooo extremely tiny, but she was eating well, and otherwise healthy, so we are just watching her weight as of now. We think she'll just be a tiny little girl! She has such delicate little features! At her 2 week appt she weighed in at 6 lbs 14 oz, and at her 3 week appointment this past Wednesday, she weighed 7 lbs 1 oz.....we're gaining, slowly but surely! We are still breastfeeding, and Faith's pediatrician doesn't think we'll have to supplement. We're keeping our fingers crossed, because we really want to exclusively breastfeed! But of course, we'll do whatever is needed to keep our little girl as healthy as possible!

Faith is such a gorgeous little girl, and so alert! She can raise her head and look around at you, and if Sean or I walk into the room she'll perk up and try to find us. We are just absolutely smitten with her!! She is definately daddy's little girl...she looks so much like Sean! Sean is just head over heels in love with her...and Faith already has daddy wrapped around her tiny little finger. He hates leaving her in the mornings to go to work, and he rushes home every evening and spends every little minute he can with her! It is the sweetest thing! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and perfect little girl!

I'll do my best to update this blog every week and let you know how Faith is developing and progressing! I'll update with a few pictures, but you can see more on my facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=217200253

Hope everybody has a wonderful week!!

Love,
Sean, Elizabeth & Faith :)