Isabelle's Infant Pictures

These were taken when Isabelle was 9 days old, with the exception of the last picture - she was 3 days old.

2 Week Appointment

Last week Isabelle had her 2 week appointment.  Here were her stats:

Height: 20 inches (48th percentile)

Weight: 6 lb 13 oz (13th percentile)

Head: 34.1 cm (16th percentile)

Hats and Help

Amelia loves hats...as stated in a previous post.  This hat in particular - was made for Amelia by one of Patrick's co-workers!  She also made a couple hats for Isabelle (to be debuted in an upcoming post).  All of them are so adorable!!!   It finally became Amelia's idea to wear the hat, so here was the result.

 Amelia likes to cover her eyes with the hat and walk....then lift it up and laugh at where ever she ends up

 I love how this hat makes her eyes look so blue!

 For the past week, my mom has been helping us with the girls, meals and anything else that comes up.  She has been so helpful - thank you mom!

 Isabelle and her hat (not one of the homemade ones).  I found out that Isabelle sleeps much better at night when she is wearing a hat.  I was glad when I figured out that little golden nugget of knowledge.

Sleeping with a little tongue hanging out :)

Lil Giggles

Isabelle, it's 7:00 in the morning and you've just given me a decent night of sleep....4 hours and then another 3.5. As I am sitting here you are squeaking, adjusting, smiling and every so often you do a little giggle. You are so precious little baby.

Nana, Papa and Aunt Amber Meet Isabelle

The weekend after Isabelle was born, Nana, Papa and Aunt Amber came to visit.

 Papa and Isabelle

 Amelia walking Lucky with Papa

 Nana and Papa

 It was a beautiful weekend, so we went to the part. 

 Aunt Amber and Amelia swinging

 When Amelia wants someone to come, she will reach her hand out and open and close her hand.  She also will pull your finger in order for you to come and follow her, in which she will usually load your arms with blankies, stuffed animals, and babies.

 So smiley

 Mommy and Amelia

 Daddy was doing underdogs with Amelia and she LOVED them

 Isabelle slept the entire time at the park

 Papa with his grand daughters

 Aunt Amber with her nieces

 At the hospital, I received a water bottle and Amelia continues to love using it.

Amelia got an Elmo backpack from Nana and Papa and once she figured out how to wear it - she felt pretty special!

First Week Home

Here are a couple pictures from the first week at home.

 Daddy and Isabelle

 Amelia is very curious of Isabelle and likes to know where she is at

 Sisters!

 Isabelle getting some tummy time.  She is so strong, she can hold her head up for quite a while.

 Amelia got a chair and she was SO excited.  She has been sitting on it with her books and babies a lot!

Miss Isabelle!

Isabelle Observations

Isabelle is 8 days old - I cannot believe how fast the time has gone.  2 kids definitely makes you busier!  (Yes, I know for those of you who have 2 kids.....you are saying 'duh').   Here are some observations about Miss Isabelle:

- This girl is strong - she actually squeezed my hand between her legs one day as I changed her....she was not happy with me.

- Isabelle has some spunk/attitude.  Already I can tell she gets annoyed - particularly when I'm trying to wake her and I rub her back or chest in the open cold air.

- Isabelle is a noisy eater - she likes to voice her opinion.

- The overwhelming response is that she looks like Patrick.

- Isabelle is a smaller baby than Amelia was - even though weight wise, she isn't far behind.

- Isabelle really likes to sleep and it is very difficult to wake her when she doesn't want to be woken up.

- She is gaining weight like a champ, and fills her diapers like one too!

Hats, Hats, Hats

Amelia is fascinated with hats, especially since Isabelle has been born.  Of course, when it comes to wearing a hat - it must be her idea.  This is one of those cases, which is why her hat does not match her shirt, BUT the hat is SO cute that in case she doesn't wear it with her real outfit I had to have a picture.

Isabelle Ryne Vigneron Has Arrived!!

After a whirlwind of events Isabelle Ryne Vigneron was born at 7:18 am 4/7/2012 at Maple Grove Hospital in Maple Grove, MN. She weighed in at 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long.

Her middle name is in honor of Patrick's middle name - Ryan. Since 2 is plenty for us, I wanted to honor Patrick even if Isabelle was not a boy. 

As we were figuring out the initials and what it spelled (always a must) - we realized it spells IRV.  How incredibly special since Isabelle's late great grandpa's name was Irvin.  We knew her name was a perfect fit when we realized that.

This little lady was 10 days early.  I had a feeling she would come early, but the timing was pretty crazy.  Gramma and Grandpa came up on Friday for Easter weekend, which was the first time we would have continuous overnight coverage for Amelia if I went into labor.

As we all went to bed on Friday night, I jokingly said, "Well, I'm going to go work on some labor" - guess I that was more true than I realized.   So here was the timeline of events:

2:15 (am):  Contractions start.  I start to time them and question if they were real. 11 to 8 to 6 min apart - bounced around quite a  bit.

3:00: Wake up Patrick - I didn't want to deliver at home, but didn't want to wake him if it was fake!

3:15:  I call the doctor, Patrick wakes my parents.  To my great relief - MY doctor was on call!  She said to wait 30 min to see if the contractions were still coming.  They increased to 3 to 4 min apart.  We decide to head into the hospital since it was about 20-30 min away.

4:30: Get hooked up to monitoring and start the 1 1/2 hour wait to see if I was progressing. I was dilated to 4 at this point.  The result of 1 1/2 hours would decide whether I would get admitted or get sent home.  When the monitoring began my contractions had slowed to about 7 to 8 min.   My doctor recommended I walk around a bit.  This made my contractions start coming almost non stop, I could not stand up straight and we hobbled back. 

6:00:  I am dilated to 6 and the nurse decides to admit me.  I could barely make it to the room and was asking for an epidural.

6:20: Arrive at the room and the process of trying to find my vein begins.  Now to really make this hit home - I couldn't get an epidural or any pain relievers until they started an IV, which they could not find a vein.  This continued for quite some time.  It took 4 times before they could get an IV started. 

6:45ish:  I am dilated to 8 and options other than an epidural are being discussed.  It is decided to go with a 1 shot in the back that lasts for 3 hours.

6:55:  The shot is FINALLY administered and ever so slowly it starts to work.  Honestly, it probably was pretty fast, but was NOT an epidural.  I'm not a naturalist.  I need no stars or hero compliments.  I was literally begging the entire time NOT to go natural - the pain was so intense and I could feel pain after the shot.  Needless to say - I liked my ala-carte epidural with Amelia's induction! Enough said.

7:00 or 7:05:  I'm fully dilated and they are  telling me I can push.  After 3-4 rounds of pushing - Isabelle entered this world at 7:18!!!

What a whirlwind!  I also have to give a huge thanks to Patrick because he was so encouraging through the whole thing and I could not have done it without him.

 Isabelle and mommy.  Yes, that is relief you see on my face!

 Our little pumpkin after she has been cleaned up.

 Daddy, Mommy and Isabelle.  (Amelia was sound asleep at home - without any knowledge of how much her world had just changed)

 Daddy and Isabelle

 My awesome doctor!!!  She was technically done with her on-call shift by the time I was ready to deliver, but she wanted to be the one to deliver Isabelle so she came in anyway!  I was so incredibly relieved - especially since there was a nurse change going on at 7:15.  I love my doctor!

 Amelia's first time seeing Isabelle!  She was and has been very curious of her sister.  There has not been any negative attitude towards Isabelle at all, just curiosity. 

 Amelia wanted to hold her sister so gramma helped.

We gave Amelia one of Isabelle's diapers to play with and at one point, she laid the diaper out on the ground and walked over to me, who was holding Isabelle at the time, with her arms up as if to say, "Okay Mommy, hand Isabelle over - I have to change her diaper"  -- it was sooo sweet!

 Grandpa and Isabelle

Gramma and Isabelle

 Isabelle's first bath

 She did not like being cold at all

 Underneath the heater after her bath

Isabelle passed all of her 24 hour tests along with all of her gestational diabetes tests! Yay!

When we left the hospital she had lost 6% of her body weight and was 5 lbs 15 oz.  Today we went to her newborn appointment and she weighed in at 6 lbs 5 oz!!!  So she is gaining weight like a champ!

The doctor also mentioned that she has above average muscle tone, which means she is very strong!  When they put her on my chest after being delivered she lifted her head up - I was amazed!

 Isabelle in her little hat provided by a volunteer group of grandma's!  They were so cute.

 Easter Sunday.  Amelia was more scared and timid around me than Isabelle the first day.  This was the first time she climbed up on my lap.

 Amelia in her Easter dress. 

 Hanging out in the hospital room

 Our first new family picture! 

 Isabelle all packed up and ready to go home!   We ended up leaving much later than desired on Monday due to a severe headache caused by the shot in my back for pain meds....long story short - I had to have a procedure done to make it possible for me to even sit up without a severe headache.  Did I mention I wish I could have had an epidural???  I'm still a little bitter - I was totally not expecting that turn of events.

Isabelle at home with some pretty chubby cheeks!

The sweet new addition to our family.  Welcome baby girl!