1 Week Old!

Rylee Dawn is 1 Week old already! I can't believe how fast that week went...it was all kind of a whirl wind. She is doing great! She is such a happy baby - we are so lucky! For only being a week old she is so alert too. She loves to lift her head up when you are holding her and look around and loves to look at you when you talk to her. She acts like she is listening so intently to every single word you say. I love to tell her stories. I sing to her too and I am a terrible singer and she doesn't even seem to mind. She is a very good eater too. Although she does fall asleep a lot while I am feeding her so I just have to keep playing with her cheeks or her hands. She wakes up to eat during the night every 3 to 3 1/2 hours. I've actually had to wake her up a few times to feed her but now the Dr. said I can let her sleep til around 4 hours and then wake her up if she hasn't woke up on her own. As she gets bigger she might want to eat more often but right now it is a pretty decent schedule. My body is just starting to adjust to only getting a little over 2 hours of sleep at a time. Oh and another good thing is that she sleeps right through all the noise and commotion in the house. That's nice so we don't have to tippy toe around her while she is sleeping. Overall, she is just so precious and all I want to do is keep kissing her!

She had her 1 week Dr.'s appointment yesterday. Here's her stats from the check-up:

Weight: 8lbs (50th percentile)

Height: 20 5/8 in. (75th percentile)

Head: 35.5 cm. (50th percentile)

We were so glad to see that her weight went up past her birth weight already. Sometimes that takes around 2 weeks. Because her weight is good the Dr. said she doesn't have to come back until her 1 month check-up. She also said her bruise on her head has went down a little. She thinks it will take 4-5 weeks to go down but the more gradual the better. Her Dr. also wanted her to get blood work done to check for jaundice. This was her 3rd time getting her blood taken and I feel so bad for her when they do it. She was sleeping yesterday and when they pricked her she let out a scream of pain (Brad and I felt terrible) but when they stopped she went right back to sleep. The results from the blood test were great and her billiruben levels have went down even more so she's still not jaundice so we don't have to worry about taking her for any treatments. Yeah!

I also wanted to mention a little something about why we chose her name. We knew we wanted to name our first child after my Grandpa Don so if we were to have a boy his middle name would have been Donald but since it was a girl we went with Dawn as her middle name. My mom and Vanessa are also named after my Grandpa and their middle name is Dawn too. We had loved the name Rylee from the start and we decided to spell it this way because mine and my dad's middle name is Lee so that is after us as well. A lot of you already knew all the family history behind her name but I thought I would fill everyone in because it was important to us when choosing her name.

My family is all leaving tomorrow to go home. That makes me sad. It has been so great having them down here and I don't know what we would have done without them. They have helped with everything: Rylee, dinners, shopping, cleaning, pictures, baths, etc. It is going to be another huge adjustment for us once they leave and we don't have all of that help. It's going to be so hard for them to leave too. They keep saying that they want to take Rylee with them so we better watch out. This is when it is really hard living 10 hours away from home. Hopefully someday we will be closer. Brad took Monday and Tuesday off of work last week and then is also taking this coming Monday and Tuesday off. That way after my family leaves he will be around to help for the first few days. Then after that it is just Rylee and I. And we'll make it okay it is just going to be different without everyone else around. We have a lot of family coming back down for Labor Day weekend because Northern plays University of Indy for their first game. That works out perfect that we'll get to see them again so soon! Brad's parents are also coming down Labor Day weekend so they'll get to meet her for the first time then.

So that's the 1 week update. Here's more pics of our babe. After Vanessa leaves I won't have nearly as many pictures to post so I figured I would post a lot now. To us she seems like she is changing daily so it is good to have a lot of pictures now.

Bath Time!

We gave Rylee her first sponge bath the other day. She absolutley loved it! She didn't even cry at all. The nurses at the hospital told us that she had loved it there too, especially when you scrubbed her head - and they were right. She is so content when we wash her hair, even when we dump the water over her head. It will be a nice bed time routine to get into because after her bath she is so relaxed. Hopefully she will continue to love bath time!

Rylee Meets Beau

Our friends Ryan, Abby, and Beau came over the other night and Rylee got to meet her boyfriend Beau for the first time. It was so cute to see them together. He is only 3 months old but as you can see 3 months makes a big difference in size, plus Beau is pretty big for his age. They will have so much fun playing together as they grow up.

First Few Days Home

Vanessa has been taking hundreds of pictures these first few days and I thought I would share some of them with everyone. I don't know what I am going to do when my in home photographer leaves us.

What a doll - I can't stop kissing those soft cheeks!

So far she loves being in her carseat and traveling in the car - let's hope that lasts!

Auntie Ness took this one and I thought it was adorable

She looks so tiny in her play yard

I layed her down on her back and when I checked on her she had rolled over to her side for the first time...now she loves to lay on her side.

All curled up and cozy on Grandma

Sleeping in Auntie Nessa's arms

She loves to look at you in the eyes when you talk to her. It is so special and one of my favorite things to do with her.

Wide awake and looking around

Her little toesies

Going Home!

Sunday afternoon we were released from the hospital and got to bring Rylee home. We had to stay a little later than planned because the doctors wanted to do some extra blood testing. She has a bump (swelling) on her head from both/either her position in my pelvis and the labor and they wanted to take some tests before she left. It seemed like the longest hour ever waiting for the results but fortunately she passed all of the tests- what a relief. So we left the hospital around 5:00 on Sunday afternoon and came home to my Mom, Grandma, Vanessa, and Bailey waiting for us. They had balloons, flowers, and pictures - it was such a nice welcoming home for our family. Here are some pictures of us leaving the hospital and also getting home.

Welcome Home Rylee!

At The Hospital

Wide awake and only a few hours old

Back to sleep

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYLEE!!!

Meeting The Family

We called my family at 3:00 in the morning while we were on our way to the hospital to tell them what was going on. They had been waiting anxiously for this call. My mom, my dad, Vanessa, Bailey, and my Grandma Sally were on their way by 6:00 and they got here a few hours after Rylee was born. They were so excited to meet her! Friday happened to be the very last day I could have her and have my dad still be able to make it down because he started football practice on Sunday. I am so glad that he was able to make it - it means so much to me. My brother Brad was not able to come with my family because he had a Dr.'s appt. that morning that he had to go to in order to be cleared for football practice on Sunday. He called me after she was born and said how much he wished he could be there. A few hours later he walked into the hospital room and surprised us all. He had drove down all 10 hours by himself after his Dr.'s appt. just to see us and to meet his niece. Talk about a great brother (and Uncle)...we will never forget that. My brother Ben wasn't able to make it cause his football had started the week before (freshman football...can you believe it?) otherwise he would have been here too. Uncle Ben will have to wait til Labor Day to meet her. Here are some pictures of Rylee and her family.

Only Minutes Old

Her very first picture: it was so wonderful to hear her cry for the first time!

Our first Family picture!!

Daddy and his lil' girl

A very proud Mom!!

Rylee Dawn Spindler

Our Blessing From Above

Rylee Dawn Spindler

August 10, 2007

7 lbs. 11 oz. , 20.5 in.

Thursday (August 9th) Brad and I went to bed like it was any other night. By midnight I was up and started to feel some cramping but I wasn't sure if they were contractions or not. I tried to go back to sleep but by 2 AM they were a lot worse so I decided to wake Brad up. Surprisingly we both stayed calm and timed the contractions for the next hour. They were consistently 2 minutes apart so we decided it was time to call the Dr.'s office. Of course he told us to come on in. So we showered (again - it surprises me how calm we were) and packed up the car. By the time we got to the hospital my contractions were a lot worse! They had me skip the Triage and put me right in the Labor and Delivery room. For the next 3 hours I walked around and sat on the birthing ball while my contractions continued to get worse and worse. Rylee was posterior so I was mostly feeling everything in my back...which hurt more than I had imagined. At 6:30 in the morning I was 6 cm. dilated and decided it was time to have the epidural. I just didn't want to deal with that back pain anymore! I continued to dilate how I was suppose to so I didn't need pitosin (which I was happy about) and by 10:30 I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. I pushed from 11 til 11:57 and then our baby girl was born! It was the most exciting and emotional moment in our lives! We are so thankful for our precious miracle from God - Rylee Dawn.