Who Couldn't Love This

Grandma Reifenberger is on her way to visit as I'm typing. We are very excited for her to meet her first grandchild.

Anne has been going great.   She even slept for 4 hours this morning.  What a champ!  Definitely makes mommy feel more refreshed in the morning.

It's raining here yet again.  Can't believe how much rain we've had, doesn't really feel like summer.  That's for sure.

Firsts

Dad and Jeff tried to move the center piece of the sectional into the basement. It was a no-go.

Anne's first trip out in the stroller.

Daddy is always so happy to see Anne when he comes home.

Anne had her first trip to the doctor yesterday. She's back up to 8lbs 3oz, making progress. She did great. I was very proud of her.

She also had her first dinner out last night. She really enjoyed it, I'm sure. She actually slept through the whole thing, as planned.





Our house has been transformed to baby central. I love it though.

Mom and Dad Farrey are leaving tomorrow, which is a super big bummer. Dad has been a regular handy-man. Fixed our garage door, put a lock on it and fashioned a sliding side door so that we could securely store our bikes out there. He also changed out all the door handles in the house. We had about 8 different keys to the four doors into our house and filed down all the doors upstairs so that eveyone in the house wouldn't have to hear every move and bathroom trip of the others staying here. He's assembled 2 shelving units, a play mat and the swing...AND gone biking 3 times. I'm so glad he was able to come! It's an old house, so lots of things need tinkering with. It also allowed Jeff to work most of the week and keep up-to-date on his work projects. He'll also be able to take off a little of time then when his parents are here next week.



Mom has been my first hand lady, at my beck and call. I can't thank her enough for all that she's done for me. I'm feeling pretty good, but definitely wear out easily and my incision gets sore if I do too much.




Anne's first bath at home.

More Pictures

The Blog only shows a small fraction of the photos taken of Anne. More photos can be viewed on Jeff Reifenberger's Picasa Web Album. There is a link on the right hand panel, Reifenberger Web Addresses, that will take you to the Web Album.

Smitten

I love you daddy!

Meow

Tycho has been great! For the most part he seems to pay no attention to Anne other than the occasional curious sniff. To the relief of the parents, Tycho does not seem to mind Anne's crying either.

The Cavalry Arrive!

Mommy and Daddy were starting to run dangerously low on energy on Monday June 22nd wondering if reinforcements were ever going to arrive when just in the nick of time Grandpa and Grandma arrived from Belvidere IL. They left Belvidere early Sunday morning and pushed on late into the night so that they could arrive by Monday morning. Braving Boston traffic they rushed into the hospital surprising the tired parents... yeah the cavalry has arrived!!

Anne Comes Home

Anne came home on Monday June 22nd. Before the trip home in the rain, Anne put on her new outfit (with help from daddy) and pose for a couple of pictures. She was getting kind of tired of the hospital gowns and was excited to try something "cute" and "fun". However the snaps were very small and it took Daddy a long time with his big pudgy fingers to put Anne in her cute purple shirt and flowery pants. Anne gently informed Daddy that in the future he should speed it up.

Then she was placed in the big car seat and promptly fell asleep. She slept the whole way home and upon arriving expressed great pleasure in her new room. She wants to give a shout out to "Auntie" Jenny for putting her room together. Thanks Jenny!

She clearly has a lot of room to grow in her crib.

Anne Gets the Hiccups

While this video will certainly not become viral, daddy thinks it is really cute and hopes that the die hard fans of the J Squared Blog will enjoy it as well.

Sleep Over!!

Daddy was able to spend the night with Anne and Jody last night. There was a fold out bed that was about 6 feet long and 2 feet wide from the chair, just big enough to hold daddy without letting him get a good nights sleep. No need to worry though, Annie prevented Daddy from having a restful night more than the narrow bed.

Mommy I will save you!

Our old Illinois Basketball Friends (Paul, Paula, Catherine, and Daniel) came to visit Jody and Anne in the hospital yesterday (Saturday June 21st). They were kind enough to bring a pink boppy pillow for Jody and Anne to aide in nursing, daddy was secretly hoping for a cool baseball boppy pillow.

Paul and Paula handed Anne back and forth between them as they chatted with Jody and Jeff while the two kids, Catherine and Daniel, played with their toy cars. After awhile Anne became a little fussy while Paula was holding her. Paula, the experienced mother of two, nonchalantly inserted her finger into Anne's mouth to calm her, which immediately worked. Several minutes later, Daniel and Catherine took a brief pause in their car games to observe Anne for a quick photo opportunity at which point Paula informed Daniel that Anne was sucking on her finger. Without a moments hesitation Daniel reached down and pulled Paula's finger out of Anne's mouth. The moment was captured by the photographer as he attempted to capture a cute moment of a 5 and 3 year old observing a newborn.

Shhh....

Shhh... don't wake the sleeping baby. Anne takes a brief nap between nursing and crying.

Daddy Learns a New Skill

With Anne asleep in one arm, Dad works on the all important one handed typing skill that will surely be perfected in the coming months.

Surprise!

Funny Story.

After a short night at home Friday evening "Auntie" Jen and Jeff went on several errands to get flowers, a pink balloon (its a girl!), and donuts for the mother Saturday morning before returning to the hospital. After stepping on the elevator and pressing "6", Jen and Jeff quickly exited the elevator, signed in at the nurses station, and made a B-line to Jody's room for a big surprise! Just as we were about to burst into the room Jeff noticed that the room number began with a 5 and not a 6. Upon closer inspection all the rooms began with a 5 and not a 6. Strange... Jen checked the chart next to the door that was suppose to be Jody's room... it did not say Jody.

It all sank in like a ton in a nanosecond, Jeff and Jen had exited the elevator on the wrong floor and almost surprised the wrong mother! The error had gone unnoticed because the post delivery part of the hospital which is on floors 5 and 6 are identical in layout, style, color, etc. After much discussion and reflection on how they had arrived on the wrong floor, Jeff and Jen realized that the elevator had stopped to let someone on and they had quickly exited without realizing they were on the 5th and NOT the 6th floor.

After arriving at the correct room Jody was happy to have the flowers, balloon, and donuts. Jeff and Jen were happy to have narrowly escaped a catastrophe of immense proportions.

"Auntie" Jenny Meets New Arrival

Jen meets Anne for the first time after catching the first available bus from New York.

Reifenbergers Plus One

A tired mom, a cute baby, and a very nervous father. Welcome Anne!

Anne Heather Reifenberger Arrives

After much anticipation and excitement, Anne arrived Friday June 19th at 11:21am.

It was a dramatic morning as Jody's water broke quite suddenly at ~7am and dad was forced to navigate morning rush hour traffic in the pouring rain (an anxious father is never shy about using the horn). Anne was breach and was delivered via c-section within two hours of reaching the hospital.

Upon delivery no one was more surprised than the father upon discovering that Anne was a girl. Not many called it (roughly 90% polled thought it was a boy), but if you were one of the few who thought the Reifenbergers were having a girl serious kudos.

Mother and baby are doing well. For those of you who like to hold babies, you are in luck! Anne really likes to snuggle and cuddle with anyone who is willing to hold her. Mother and father are happy to take all who ask so please don't hesitate.

We were blessed to have Jody's friend Jennifer, the famous ER doctor from New York, catch a bus and make her own mad dash to Boston to visit the new arrival within hours of her delivery. Jen arrived around 9pm on June 19th after staying up all night working at the hospital, scrabbling to find someone to cover her next shift, and bribing a college student for their seat on the MegaBus. After meeting Anne, Jen returned with the tired father to 845 Concord Turnpike and helped cook a frozen pizza and clean many dirty dishes.

The Reifenbaby's Room

Here I am hard at work supervising Jen.



The room is all set, just needs some accessories and we'll call it good! Now we just need a baby.

Fun and Games at the Hospital

Here are my support people. Don't they look qualified and serious?

Jeff and Jen were both with me Wednesday at the hospital when they tried to turn the Reifenbaby. It was a no-go. The baby's butt is wedged in my pelvis and wasn't budging.

Thankfully the procedure was not horrible. Uncomfortable, but not horrible. It was worth a try. I'm scheduled for a c-section June 30th when my OB returns from her vacation. Hopefully I'll go before then. I could have scheduled something sooner, but would rather wait until the baby is ready to come.

Besides there are lives that need to be saved and diseases that need to be stamped out at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center. They need me...right?

I'll be 39 weeks on Sunday.

We've Moved

The starting crew. Jeff, David and Ellen.

So, Ellen arrived last Wednesday and stayed for the week to help us both pack up and get settled. David arrived on Thursday night and was a sherpa for a good three straight days. We couldn't have done it without you both. Thanks!

The rest of the crew, including Paul and Katherine Welander. What a big help!

We've slowly been getting settled into our new digs. Most of the day today was spent cleaning out the apartment and patching a hole in the wall. Tomorrow, all that's left to do is paint the wall and clean the kitchen floor. We'll be very sad to leave Raymond Street for good. We've really enjoyed the neighborhood and the apartment.

My friend, Paula, threw me a baby shower today. It was such a fun time and we have received some wonderful gifts for the Reifenbaby!

Last week my work threw me a surprise baby shower as well. It was really fun as it was a combined shower with another nurse practitioner who is due the day after me!

Hopefully, if I can get things straightened out soon in the baby's room I'll take a picture, but right now, it's a bit of a mess. Thankfully, the crib, changing table and glider are all set to go.

The baby is still breech. Here are the various scenarios as I currently know them, in order of my preference...ha! Like we have a choice.

A: The baby turns and I proceed to natural labor over the next few weeks.
B: I go Wednesday to the hospital for the version and the baby is successfully turned. We go home and wait for natural labor to ensue.
C: I go Wednesday to the hospital, they can't turn the baby. I go home and the baby turns on it's own and we wait for natural labor.
D: They can't turn the baby, I go home and go into labor without my water breaking and they turn the baby just before birth.
E: They can't turn the baby on Wednesday, I go home and my water breaks. I'll then have a c-section.
F: They can't turn the baby on Wednesday, I go home and wait for labor to start which doesn't happen. My doctor returns from vacation and I have a scheduled c-section for June 30th of July 1st.
G: The baby is in some sort of distress on Wednesday when they attempt the version and I have c-section on Wednesday.

So, the possibilities are just about endless. We pray that the outcome will be the same in all events, for a healthy Reifenbaby.

Jen is coming on Tuesday night and will be at the hospital with us for the version. It will be nice to have another medical personnel available.

Here's the latest belly shot.
I'm still feeling pretty good, but definitely noticing more Braxton Hixs today and getting a bit more uncomfortable.