First Sunday

On Ayla's 1st Sunday she got to wear a very special dress.  It was hand crocheted by her Great Aunt Linda.   Great Aunt Linda made this special dress as a surprise gift and little Ayla looked absolutely beautiful in it.  Good thing we didn't wait to long to take Ayla to church because the way she is eating and growing she will be out of it soon.

Everyone was very excited to meet and see Ayla at church.  She did pretty good and slept through all of sacrament in her carseat.  She woke up in the beginning of Sunday School and we went out to nurse, then she needed to be changed and by this point Relief society was 1/2 way over.  Ayla was still being kind of fussy and needed to finish eating so we decided it would be best to go home.  

I have a feeling church will never be the same again. 

 After church, lunch, and naps we got a few family shots together.

Do you think I should be worried Ayla has already learned how to flip off the camera? 

Newborn Photo Shoot Part 2

Uh oh, she's found her thumb.

Zuri loves Ayla and tries to lick her when she cries.  Ayla isn't so sure what she thinks of Zuri yet.  

Newborn Photo Shoot

I have had a few people say they have been missing my blog posts.  So here are a few more pictures of our little sweetheart to curb that appetite.  

Can I just say that I love having my mom here?!  Because I do!  This is what we do all day, dress up Ayla and take pictures of her.  

It is pretty much the funnest thing ever!

Sunbathing

Even though Ayla's jaundice levels were back to normal when we left the hospital the doctor recommended we take Ayla out in the early morning sun before it gets to hot for 10-15 mins of daily sunbathing.

This is the only time Ayla seems to enjoy being naked. 

One Week Old

On Saturday we took Ayla to Spotts Beach for her 1 week photo shoot.  It was a little crazy, we had taken Zuri with us and she is still a little bit in heat.  There were two other bigger dogs there and they would not leave her alone.  So Zuri had to wait in the car while we did Ayla's photo shoot.  She was a good sport for the most part, half way through she got pretty fussy so we had to take a break and let her nurse on the beach.  It was actually really nice.  Then we took a few more shots watched the sunset and came home. 

Ayla is wearing a cute green pokadot dress from Grandma M and a headband made by Mommy.  

The following Monday (Feb. 13) Ayla saw the pediatrition for her one week check up.  She is doing great. She weighed 8lbs, and has gained one whole pound since we left the hospital.  This is awesome and means mommies milk is very nutritious.  She certainly is a great eater and wants to be fed all the time.  She is in the 75% for weight, height, and head circumference.  She is evenly proportioned just like her mommy was.  Ayla had developed a little bit of eye goopies, so the doctor gave us some eye drops and it has already cleared right up. 

We are loving life with a newborn and enjoy being parents. 

 Ayla peed on Daddies shirt for the first time and he took it like a champ, held her close till mommy could change her and then quickly went to change his own clothes.  Ayla has countless poopy diapers a day and loves to wait till you are in the middle of changing her to pee all over everything.  Needless to say we are constantly doing laundry around here.  Ayla is a jerky sleeper, kicking her legs and flailing her arms so she loves to be swaddled tight in her blanket to keep her from waking herself up.  She hates to be naked unless she is sunbathing, so bath time is not very fun for anyone.  She loves to suck and the pacifier is quickly becoming a  mutual best friend.  Overall we really can't complain.  Ayla is a great baby, she eats and sleeps great and her signals are easy to read so when she is unhappy we usually know why and it is easily remedied.  Words can't describe how much we both love her.   I wish I could freeze time to keep her from growing up just a little while longer.   I can't believe she is already one week old. 

Valentines Day

His three ladies.  

Valentines Day pictures we e-mailed to Chris while he was at work.  These were taken on our walk today.

First car ride

Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 8), we were finally released from the hospital.  They tested Ayla's jaundice level in the morning and it was back down to an acceptable level.  We had to wait another four hours so they could test her again and make sure the jaundice didn't rebound and was really under control.  At least we got to have her in our room and she didn't have to be under that light anymore.  The second test came back normal and we were out of there!

Ayla did great on the car ride home and loves her snazzy red carseat. 

These are the first photos of her taken at home in her bassinet.

  

I can't get over her adorable little face and all of her fun facial expressions!

She truly is the joy of our life.  

Proud Grandpa

These photos were taken the day we were released from the hospital. It was also the day my Dad had to fly back to Idaho.  This was his last time holding Ayla before he left.

More Hospital

Sunday morning Ayla was brought to me for breast feeding.  Apparently they had tried to give her formula but she wouldn't take it.  I was upset that they tried to give her formula without consulting me first, but grateful that she wouldn't drink it so it forced them to bring her to me and allow us to breastfeed.  Ayla latched on within seconds.  It was amazing.  I was worried we would have a difficult time breast feeding since we weren't able to do that initial bond right after her birth and were forced to wait till the following day.  She is a great eater and I love that we have that special connection.  She had to stay in the NICU all day Sunday and through the night. They had to give her an IV to make sure she was getting enough fluid.  It was sad to see her with that big IV on her tiny delicate little hand.  They hooked her up to a monitor to watch her respiratory system.  She was breathing faster than they like for a newborn.  So she needed to stay in the NICU to be monitored till her breathing was back to a normal rate. 

Monday morning Ayla's breathing was at a normal rate so they took her out of the NICU and she got to stay with us in my room all day and through the night. 

Tuesday morning Ayla was looking fairly yellow.  I thought these photos of her sleeping were so precious even though her skin is yellow.  The pediatrition came in to check her and tested her blood for jaundice.

 While we waited for the test results we got to bath Ayla for the first time.   She didn't like it very much. 

 Happy and clean again.

After her bath, we got the test results back and sure enough Ayla had jaundice and had to go under the light for photo therapy treatment.  This was extremely hard for me.  They would only let us take her out for breastfeeding and even then they wanted to keep it short to only 20 mins. 

They didn't want Ayla to get dehydrated and she needed extra fluids to compensate for the lights.  My milk hadn't come in yet so we had to supplement formula.  I wasn't to excited about that.  We had her drink out of a cup instead of a bottle and that made it feel a little bit easier to deal with.  It was amazing to see a newborn only 3 days old drink from a cup.  She did so good.  

This day was an emotional one.  If all had been well we would have been discharged from the hospital.  I was so ready to go home.  I had been in the hospital for 5 days and now I had to stay a 6th night and I couldn't even have my baby with me.  We were having to supplement formula and were limited on breastfeeding and it was one more thing that didn't go as I would have preferred.  The hardest part was when Ayla would cry and we couldn't pick her up to console her, we did our best to talk to her through the glass and reach our hands in the holes to hold her hand and rub her back.  It was heart breaking.  Luckily, Ayla is comforted easily and that was usually enough to calm her down. 

Right when I was having the most difficult time we received some very uplifting news.  We have insurance through Chris's work, but they only cover maternity if you have been insured by them for at least 10 months prior to pregnancy.  Since we were already pregnant before we even came to Grand Cayman we knew we would be paying for the pregnancy and delivery on our own.  Given everything that had happened the last few days Chris and I were both scared to see what this hospital bill was going to be.  It was one of those things that you try not to think/stress about but is always in the back of your mind.  Well, the Lord has truly blessed us.  Corrine from the financial service office came to tell us that she had just confirmed with two people that our insurance was going to cover the delivery.   Such a huge blessing, something totally unexpected, that we hadn't even thought to pray for.   Our prayers had been focused on Ayla and getting her healthy so we could all go home.  I was immediately comforted when hearing this and knew the lord was watching over us and everything was going to be fine.   This will forever be an added strength to my testimony that the Lord knows us, he is aware of our needs, and he wants to bless us.  If we strive to live our life the best we can he will always be there to help us through any trial or hardship and the blessings will be abundant. 
My heart is full of gratitude! 
And remember to always pay your tithing!