4 weeks

Erin is four weeks old today and it's amazing to realize how quickly these last four weeks have passed. Days have become much more routine and we have accomplished an incredible number of firsts. It is now becoming clear why our parents lament how quickly we all grow up.

Last night Erin showed pity on me and reverted back to her normal nighttime schedule. She went down very easily at 11pm and was up at 2 and 5:30. She was like a different child. She had no trouble getting back to sleep either time she was up and she slept soundly. I'm not sure what makes the difference, but I'm crossing my fingers that tonight goes just as nicely.

This weekend is going to be busy for me and Erin. We are driving about 90 minutes to a baby shower for a great friend from residency on Saturday and then there is a shower being thrown for the two of us on Sunday by the rest of the residency girls. It should be lots of fun and I'm excited to show Erin off. I'm hoping that she handles all of the excitement well and that she saves the poopy blowouts and screaming meltdowns for home.

Matt had today off and life is so much easier with two adults around the house. I actually got a great nap today and managed to spend a few hours today without Erin in my arms. It was a really nice break for me and it was great for Matt to get this time to spend with Erin.

My brother Andy flew in yesterday and stayed with us last night. He headed down to his college reunion this weekend and then stays with us a few more days next week before we fly out to Portland. Andy changed his flight so that he could help me with Erin on our flight out there. I think this is fantastic, but neither one of us can figure out a way to prevent people from thinking that Andy is Erin's daddy. Suggestions?

The good, the bad and the sleepy

The good news is that Erin took a bottle like a champ yesterday. I found a better nipple that has really slow flow and we warmed up the breastmilk to exactly body temperature and she took down almost 2 ounces without any hesitation. Matt was on call yesterday so Laura got to be the lucky lady. I was anticipating a huge mess again and pulled out my camera in prep, but it just turned out to be really cute. I feel much better knowing that it went so well. So now I get to start pumping daily so that we have something to give her. I'm also trying to figure out how to deal with supply while we're in Portland next week.

The bad news is that sleep has been a real stinker the last two nights. Erin slept a ton on Monday until she woke up at 7pm and was WIDE awake and cranky until 1am with just short periods of dozing. It was a tad stressful, but she managed to sleep well the rest of the night and took a morning nap which helped me out. I figured that we had been due a bad night and that she'd revert back to her good sleep. How foolish I was. She had a normal day yesterday with good periods of time awake and no real fussy periods. She went down for the night at about 11pm, which is fairly typical for her, but she woke up 15-20 minutes after I put her down each time until 3:30am!! When she finally fell deeply asleep I figured we'd be good for a few hours of sleep, but she was up at 5:30 and 7:30. What's the deal?!? I'm not sure what's changed and what I can do. I'm hoping this is just a little bump in the road because I'm not sure how many more nights of this I can happily make it through.

The sleepy would be me. Erin seems fine with this schedule, but I could really use a little bit more than 10-15 minutes here or there. I did get a nap this morning while she slept, but come on kiddo, work with me!

The other new Prekker girl

Auntie Laura sent us pictures today of her new puppy! The puppy doesn't have a name yet, but Matt, Erin and I understand that sometimes you just have to spend a few days together before the right name seems obvious. We are all really excited to meet the puppy when she gets home in a few weeks. Poor Oscar is going to have to deal with another puppy spoiling his golden years!

Our other news is that Erin got her first bottle today. What a mess! Erin seemed a little distressed by the whole experience. Since she happily takes a pacifier, she took the nipple with no hesitation, but was startled and angry that milk came out of it. I think that we are going to try a slower nipple and see if she is happier with that. It was pretty cute, though, to see Matt feeding her with milk streaming down her face.

A few more pictures

Matt said that I didn't include his favorite pictures from Erin's latest bath so here are a few more photos:



This is Erin showing off her favorite position. While have dozens of pictures of her lounging on any number of people, she is particularly fond of her daddy's chest.


This is Erin enjoying tummy time. Not the greatest picture, but it shows off her giant baby bottom and her cute shoes from Jeannette and Papa Joe. She gets to wear them when we go on walks in the baby bjorn because it's the only way to keep her socks on.

Three weeks

I figure that I'd give an update now that we have a few more days under our belts:

Erin is now just over 3 weeks old and thriving. I'm sure that she's continuing to gain weight an an astounding pace because she's starting to get little dimples on her hands and she's getting chubby wrists. I guess I'd never considered getting fat wrists, but she's managing it. She continues to eat like a champ and I love the fact that she is a very efficient eater. She gets down to business and generally finishes nursing in less than 10 minutes. I'd like to think that this comes from the Lee genes as Papa Joe is perhaps the fastest eater ever.

We have now accomplished 4 nights with Erin sleeping in the crib. I'm so proud of my little lady for letting me get a little bit more sound sleep. She's going 2.5 to 3.5 hours between feedings at night and generally settles back to sleep after eating fairly quickly. It takes a little bit more work to get her into good sleep at bedtime, but goes quicker in the middle of the night. I guess this is better than the other way around. I consider myself very lucky for this. I'm not sure what Matt and I did to deserve this, but I sure hope that it continues.

I think that I'm sleeping better at night because Erin's in her crib in the nursery, I'm getting used to sleeping through her noises and due to our latest iTunes purchase. On the recommendation of our pediatrician, we downloaded "white noise" and "brown noise" and burned them to CD. What a great use of $1.98. I'm not sure if it helps Erin or me more, but I love it. I've been starting the CD of white noise when I nurse her at bedtime and at night and letting it play as she sleeps. I think that I'll keep this going until she looks at me someday and says "man do I hate that awful noise."

Erin is also gaining better control of her limbs, her eyes and her head. She likes tummy time until her neck gets tired and she is stuck staring straight down at the blanket with her face squished. She seems to be growing out of her hiccups. Instead of endless hiccups she's down to 1-2 short episodes a day. Our little girl is growing up.

I'm still trying to find a laundry detergent that I like. I've rejected seventh generation and dreft and now am on to Charlie's soap. We'll see. I'm still also working on the best way to keep all the diaper covers unstained. Who knew that baby poop was like permanent ink. Luckily it's summer and they whiten nicely in the sun. We're going to keep the diaper service for at least another month before we try cloth all on our own.

I went with some friends yesterday to the farmer's market. Erin slept in her stroller while we looked at plants. I got some tomatoes, basil and asparagus plants with high aspirations for planting, but come on, what are the chances that I'm actually going to get out to work in the garden anytime soon. Hopefully Matt will have some time to get the beds ready and the plants in the ground.

Auntie Laura spent the weekend up north and got to pick out her new puppy. This next new addition to the Prekker clan isn't due home for a little bit longer, but we are all eagerly awaiting meeting Laura's little girl.

On our own...

Matt and I now have the distinction of being parents without the assistance of Gramma Beth. She stuck around a few days longer than planned so that I didn’t have my first day all alone with Erin on one of Matt’s call days. It was much appreciated. With much trepidation, I drove Gramma Beth to the train station on Tuesday night and prepared to face our first night alone in a while. It could have gone smoother. I think that Erin missed sleeping with her Gramma and I just didn’t cut it. Yeah I’m good for the feeding, but apparently I’m a poor bedmate. I’m sure it’s ironic coming from someone who snores as loudly as I do, but man Erin is a noisy sleeper! I don’t think that the arrangement was ideal for either of us and I certainly didn’t get any sleep. So after a meltdown at 5AM (mine, not Erin’s), Matt tried putting her down in her crib and she slept for almost 3 hours alone in the crib.

With 3 hours of decent sleep, I began my first day alone as a parent. I have to say that things went really well. I managed to get several loads of laundry done, straighten up the house, take a shower and get Erin to her clinic appointment. Yea me. I would never have been able to manage this without my sling and it is now right up with my favorite pieces of baby gear (maybe tied with the swaddle blanket, our stroller and the pacifier). Erin loves being squished into a little Erin ball in the sling and will sit in there contently for a long time.

Erin’s check up went well. As Matt and I had guessed by the number of sleepers that Erin is outgrowing and her frequently voluminous poopy diapers, Erin is getting lots of calories and is growing like crazy. Even our very experienced pediatrician was surprised and kept commenting on her “excellent weight gain.” Our little girl is now 9lbs 8oz. If she keeps up this close to a pound weight gain much longer and we can expect a 52lb toddler. At that weight she might give Duncan a run for his money. The doctor confirmed that Erin is the picture of health and Erin and I got kudos for great breastfeeding. We also stuck around and showed Erin off to some of the staff and resident friends. It was funny how a simple outing can be the highlight of a day, but it was fun to get out of the house and talk to people who talk back.

Last night went much better. After realizing at this point I am unable to co sleep with Erin, we decided to give the crib another shot. Erin did great. She had a little trouble settling when we went to bed around 10, but settled herself great after feedings at midnight, 3AM and 6AM. So we are definitely feeding her more frequently with this arrangement, but I was actually able to sleep some between feedings which is an improvement. I hope that her ability to settle herself sticks around because it is fantastic. I can still hear Erin snuffle, snort, sigh, coo and grunt from our room, but I’m hoping that I learn to sleep through her noises once I’m really convinced that she’s not going to need me to help her fall back asleep.

Matt had today off which was terrific. We treated ourselves to a dinner out last night and spent the day on walks, running errands and we both managed to catch a nap. My accomplishment today was managing to take the stroller and both dogs on a walk by myself this AM.

So, things are going well and Matt and I may just make it as parents after all.

Two weeks

There's not too much new to report from here. Erin has continued to be a mellow baby even after the infamous two week mark. She does have a restless period in the evening, but nothing that could really be called fussy.

Erin did have her first bath last week after her cord fell off and we have since repeated a bath a little bit more successfully. Erin dislikes getting all naked, but she seems to enjoy the warm water until we rinse her hair. That's when she decides that she's had enough and is done cooperating.


Auntie Muggy is in town to meet Erin this weekend. Between Muggy, Gramma Beth, Gramma and Grampa Prekker and Matt, Erin hasn't been set down all weekend. She doesn't seem to mind a whole lot and woos everyone with her sly accidental smiles and other funny faces. I think that she's going to take after me with her range of facial expressions. That means at this point we think that she takes after me with her expressions, her long fingers and funny toes. I'm so proud.


We're going to try our first trip to the dog park today with Muggy and Paul and the dogs. Hopefully the boys will be well behaved and Erin won't have a blow out diaper in the middle of the walk. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. Erin did manage to break her own personal record yesterday by pooping on me and Gramma Beth. What a day.

Here is a picture that gives you an idea of her feet. They are incredibly long and skinny with nice gripper toes. I think that they look like Charlie Brown feet because her heel manages to stick out behind her ankle. I'm also convinced that she looks like Darth Vader when she's burped and her hands look a little bit like Mr. Burn's. Gramma Beth seems disturbed by these rather unflattering comparisons. I really do think that she is beautiful, but come on, babies look funny sometimes.

My turn

I figured since Daddy's done most of the posting lately, I would chime in from Mama's point of view.

I agree, things are going really well. We've had some rough patches, but things really have gone remarkably smoothly. I think that we have a relatively easy-going baby (at least for now) and lots of help to thank for this. Gramma Beth is still here helping out a ton, especially at night, and Gramma and Grampa Prekker and Auntie Laura are also eager to hold and cuddle Erin for hours on end. Life is pretty good for this little peanut.

We were at the clinic again today. I had a few concerns about breastfeeding and figured that if I took her in I could stop worrying. Little Erin is growing like a weed and I was assured that things are going really well. In fact, she's gaining weight so well that the lactation consultant told me that I could end feedings a little bit more promptly and didn't need to let her half-heartedly nurse and doze at the end of each feeding. Great. Erin's weight was 8lbs 1oz at birth, 7lbs 13oz when we went home from the hospital, 7lbs 15oz at 5 days and now 8lbs 12oz at day 13. This is fantastic and explains why she seems to be growing out of some of her clothes already. Indeed she is getting bigger. I think at this rate she's gonna beat the peas at this growing thing.

We're still working on sleeping, but all in all it's going well. Gramma Beth is taking her, keeping her happy and doing diaper changes most nights and I have the luxury of only being responsible for feedings. This has been great for helping me catch up on sleep, but will probably lead to a rather rude awakening when Gramma Beth leaves next week. The last few nights Erin has gone 5 hours or so between going to bed and her first night time feeding. Maybe Erin has inherited my love of sleep after all.

Erin has been spending more and more time awake during the day. She is now spending several hours wide awake and content during the morning and early afternoon. She loves laying on her changing table and watching the faces bending down to entertain her during her diaper changes. She enjoys listening to us talk and coo at her and has rewarded us with some completely unintentional smiles. She's just giving us a sneak peak at what is to come.

It's been hard to have Matt back at work this week, but things seem to be going fairly smoothly for him and he enjoys his time in the ICU. Most nights Erin's been welcoming him home with a stinky diaper or two.Tonight is his first call night back so this will be the first time he probably won't see her awake today.

My 30th birthday passed yesterday without too much of a fuss. We went over to Jan and Dean's for some Holy Land food and dessert. Erin entertained the group by pooping each time Dean got to hold her. What a girl.

He's Back...

We spent a quiet Mother's Day at Dean & Jan's house with waffles, fruit, and a side of Duncan! Like Oscar, he was curious and somewhat nervous in his first encounter with Erin. She didn't seem to mind the sniffing and staring, and he is amazed by the gurgling, snorting, and squeaking. So far so good.

The other big news around here: Erin's cord fell off today. She was 'the stinky kid' for a couple days for sure. Now tonight we'll give her a bath and she will be back to a sweet smelling one-week-old.

I planted pole beans and sugar snap peas in our new raised bed in the backyard on the evening before we went to the hospital. I'm proud to say the peas are poking up, no sign of bean sprouts yet. We'll see who grows faster, Erin or the veggies.

One Week

Erin is one week old today. Fran and I agreed that we're officially settled back in at home, but we also are now strong believers in sleep debt! Things are going really well. We've gone on walks in the neighborhood and introduced her to many friends and family. She seems to really like the Baby Bjorn and Fran's sling, and we no longer take for granted having our arms free. Duncan, our political prisoner, remains in exile-- we're thinking of bringing him home on Mother's Day.



Erin seems to localize to our voices much better over the last couple days. We also get a kick out of her cute grin when she finishes feeding. I'm back to work Monday, so I'm turning over the blog duties to Frances...

Lazy Days

We've been home for two days with Erin, and I think we're getting the hang of being parents. Beth has been a huge help with day-to-day tasks and company. Dean, Jan, and Laura have been bringing us food and spending some quality time with Erin. We're looking forward to meeting up with friends later this week.

Erin is definitely a night owl. She is awake and ready to go from around midnight to 4 a.m. , so lately we are too. Oscar is a natural with her-- each time we're up to change or hold her during the night he plops down in the nursery with a curious look. Erin can go from crying to calm in a hurry. She responds especially well to the combination of Fran, the nursing pillow, and the rocking chair . The dirty diapers have been coming fast and furious lately too.

More pictures below. We know Erin is not the first baby to hiccup, but this movie has entertained us several times already. Enjoy!

The Artist Formerly Known as Baby Girl

With excitement (and some relief), we've decided on a name... Erin Josephine. In the end we think she really looks like an Erin, and who knows, she may grow into a Jo or Josie. We enjoyed the last minute e-mail suggestions (Roberta, Juliana, Banjo Kazooie... or why not stick with Oprah?) but in the end the decision was easy.

We got home earlier today. It's strangely quiet-- Laura is still dog-sitting and Erin has shown mainly indifference to her new surroundings by falling asleep during the car ride and staying that way. It's been fun getting to know her. She likes normal baby stuff (the pacifier, a nice tight swaddle, and a clean diaper) but also told us last night that if the weather cooperates this week she'd like to learn to ride a bike, and she plans on starting her residency at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in 2030 (we insisted she at least see HCMC first!).

It's great to finally have her home (outside of Fran's belly). Fran's mom Beth arrives tomorrow morning. The weather is perfect for early May, maybe a walk later today. Enjoy the pictures from the end of our hospital stay!

Baby Girl Prekker

Fran and I are thrilled to announce that our little girl was born May 2, 2008 at 7:06 p.m. She weighs 8 lbs 1 oz and is 21 inches long.

We decided to get to know her for a day or two before picking out her name! Baby and Fran (who was incredible yesterday!) are doing great and we're all looking forward to heading home tomorrow. Of course, Duncan and Oscar are blissfully unaware what's coming thru the door!

Thank you to all for the well wishes, we can't wait to introduce you to her soon, she's even cuter in person.