Tummy Time

Now that Jillian has gotten to liking "floor time" on her back, we have started introducing "tummy time". Her first go at it lasted about 15 seconds ... she held her head up for a only a couple of those seconds before getting mad. Her second try today lasted a little longer, with about 10 seconds of holding her head up ... and then she got mad again.

Wake-up

This is Jillian after just getting woken up for a diaper change / feeding.

After being put on the changing table, she'll gyrate her arms and legs, and make all kinds of faces ... like this one.

Floor Time

Something that Jillian has been spending more and more time doing lately is laying on the floor, what we call her "Floor Time".

She tried it a week or so ago, and liked it ... for a few minutes; then she let us know it was time for something different. But over the past week, she has been on the floor for up to a 1/2-hour! We think her favorite thing is having the freedom to move her arms and legs around as much as she wants ... and boy, do they move (hmmm, what will it be like when she's crawling?!). She has even been doing a good job of moving her head from side-to-side, depending upon where the action is.

And just like on the changing table, Jillian's floor time is when she likes to practice her talking. She's always trying, and when something comes out, watch out! Her arms and legs really start flailing with excitement, and she tries even harder to talk. But if nothing comes out, then she gets frustrated and mad ... which leads to the boo-boo lip!

1-month Photo

Here's Jillian at 1-month old!

Can you believe that it's been 1 month already? Like everyone has said, when you have a baby, the time just flies by. But we've enjoyed every minute of it!

Her Room

Here's a photo of Jillian's room.

Many family and friends helped create this room, including: Mommy, who came up with the color and design ideas; Grannie Woodruff, who made the crib sheets, bumpers, blanket and cushion, and donated the rocking chair; Aunt Charolette, who painted the wood dresser; Cindy Stephenson, who made the matching window drapes (behind the picture); Aunt Sheryl, who gave the changing table as a shower gift; and Steve & Irma Bates, who provided the maple wood crib. It all turned out very nicely ... Jillian will love being in her room!

Easter Sunday

Here's a photo of Jillian wearing her Easter Sunday dress, a gift from her Aunt Sheryl.

It was a busy day for Jillian! In the morning, we took her to Grace Lutheran Church for the first time. Heather and I were a little unsure about how she'd do, since she was screaming in the car all the way there ... but when she got inside and heard the music, she went right to sleep and then slept through nearly the entire service (no offense, Pastor Donnan!) Unfortunately, when it was over, she woke up hungry, so an emergency feeding was in order.

We then headed up to Grannie & Papa's house for the Piercy family Easter. Jillian slept on the way there, and continued sleeping for about an hour more before we woke her for a feeding. Lots of Aunts and Cousins got the chance to see and hold her for the first time. Jillian will be looking forward to mixing it up with all the cousins next year during the annual egg hunt!

We finished our day at Uncle Dave & Aunt Charolette's house for the Peterson family Easter dinner. Jillian started out hungry, and stayed hungry for most of the evening, so Heather logged some major minutes in feeding her. Meanwhile, the adults had a most excellent meal. Eventually, Jillian would catch some zzz's ... but it was a struggle. All in all, a fun and exhausting day!

Hunny-Bunny

Here's a photo of Jillian getting a little crazy with her new bunny friend.

Since Sunday was going to be a busy day, we celebrated Easter a little early with our new family of three. Jillian's basket contained a chocolate bunny (for Mommy to eat) and this pink stuffed bunny ... I guess that just reflects the fact that Mommy & Daddy like to call her both "Sweetie" and "Hunny-Bunny".

Visitors Plus

Jillian is a lucky little girl to have so many people coming to visit her. In the last couple weeks, there have been several more visitors.

Family includes Aunt Sheryl, Aunt Denise, Cousin Andy, Uncle Dave (Dolan), Aunt Laury, Cousin Emmy and Cousin Auna.

Friends include Laura Nelson, Laura Sparks, Mike Dixon, Dave & Chris Mendenhall, Don Fulton, Steve & Irma & Bailey Bates, Pete & Carol Gorley, and Mike & Cori & Jack & Samuel Miller.

Shhhhh!

Lately, Jillian has started fighting her sleep time.

Heather will feed her until she is full, and normally that sends her into "food coma". But sometimes, she is still awake ... and if she stays awake long enough, she starts crying. So, we typically use the old standby of slowly walking and bouncing around the house to help her doze off. The other method that we've found works pretty good is to rock and sway in the utility room ... especially when the heat pump is running which makes some white noise. If we're really lucky, the clothes dryer might be running, too. And to head off the crying, we'll do a "shhh, shhh, shhh" in her ear. Once Jillian zonks out (in her deep sleep), she's usually going to be out for at least a couple hours.

Sighting No. 2

Here's a small photo of Jillian, after just waking up. She is posing in her signature move (hands up).

She may only be 3 weeks old, but we are amazed at how much she is changing since she was born. Our little girl is growing up so fast!

Even Bigger

Heather and Jillian went to the breastfeeding support class again today at the Family Birth Center. This time when they weighed her, she was up to 8 lbs 8 ounces, another big gain of 8 ounces from last week. Then the staff performed the weight measurement for before-and-after feeding, and found that Jillian was getting about 3 ounces of milk from Heather. Very good news! The instructor said that the breastfeeding was going great, and that the class had nothing more to teach Heather ... but she could still come back to socialize!

3-week Photo

Here's a photo of Jillian at 3-weeks old.

This was a tough one to get today, because she was kind of a crankypants from not being able to get any solid naps all day long. It wasn't helped by the fact that we were in the car a lot, and had to make several emergency feeding stops. Plus, Daddy tried out a new diaper brand, which didn't work out so well, leading to some wet clothes.

Chatter

Something new that Jillian just started doing today was talking, and not just crying, which she is pretty good at already! It has been happening when she has just woken up and is in a good-humored and playful mood ... she has occasionally been making a "coo"-ing sound. And every now and then, she throws in a short and loud "Aaah", almost like a little yell.

Paddy's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here's Jillian celebrating the holiday in her green clover Paddy's Day outfit that she received as a gift.

Night Eye

One of the gifts that we have found frequent use for has been the Q-See Baby Monitor. This photo is an example of after we had just put her down for the night .... Jillian has one eye open looking at the little camera mounted on her bassinet, though this is right before she is about to fall asleep. We can watch her from anywhere, since the monitor is battery-operated. Even if Jillian is just sleeping, she is more fun to watch than anything on TV!

Sighting No. 1

Here's a quick little photo of Jillian, from this past weekend.

Note that hand near the face ... she likes one or both up there. Heather thinks that's how she held her hands in the womb, and would explain why Jillian was always punching her bladder.

Check-up

Today was Jillian's two-week check-up appointment with Dr. Zawacki, to see how things were going with her. The appointment started, of course, with a messy diaper that needed to be changed ... but we had left the diaper bag out in the car (typical "first-time parents"). Fortunately, the nurse had a supply of diapers and wipes for us.

The nurse measured Jillian's weight, length and head size. She is continuing to grow, coming in at an even 8 lbs now (!), which is at the 50th percentile. There was a slight increase in length to 21-1/4 inches, though this is in the 75th percentile ... this just confirmed our thinking that she is a long and wirey child. And her head measurement was up there at 15", which is in the 90th percentile! I guess that was to be expected considering who her parents are.

Dr. Zawacki then came in and performed a couple quick assessments, and declared Jillian to be in great health.

The appointment wasn't over, though. We had to take Jillian to the lab, and she had to get her heel pricked for a blood draw once again. She actually took it pretty well, but after too many squeezes of her heel, she got really mad. To top it off, she had another messy diaper, so we finished the afternoon with a diaper change in the back of the car (this time with our own diaper and wipes!)

Big Gainer

Here's Jillian in her car seat, heading to SWMC so that her Mommy can attend the Thursday breastfeeding support class ... and boy, has this been great!

The staff has provided Heather with help on how to get Jillian to feed better, including techniques and schedules. After following their advice this past week, we've already seen a difference. Today, when they measured Jillian's weight, it was 7 lbs 14 ounces ... a gain of 10 ounces in just a week. She now weighs more than her birth weight. They also found out that Jillian is getting about 2 ounces per feeding from Mommy. So now, we are going to Mommy's milk only, which should (hopefully) help with the gas problems that we believe the formula was causing.

2-week Photo

Here's a photo of Jillian at 2-weeks old.

And if you're wondering why we're using the green dot background again, it's because that's what is on the changing table ... and photos of Jillian are usually taken after diaper changes, when she's the happiest / most mellow.

Breakthrough

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Jillian has been eating more and more, which means that she was also relieving herself more and more ... we have been calling this "leaving gifts for Daddy". It's easy to tell when this was happening, either by hearing or seeing (when her face turns a shade of red). This evening, while I was holding her on my lap, she turned a little red and made a little noise ... and then I said to Heather, "Hey, I'm feeling kind of warm." Well, thats because her Newborn-sized diaper had reached its full capacity, and was overflowing, right onto my lap. It's was Jillian's first breakthrough ... not a huge mess, but maybe a sign of things to come.

Bad Powder

Since being in the hospital, Jillian has been fed pre-mixed liquid formula (Similac) as a supplement to Mommy's milk. She seems to like it alright, and she keeps it all down, though we think it might be causing some gas. She hadn't reached large volumes yet, but considering that it could happen soon as she gets bigger, and that liquid is about 2x the cost of powder, we figured it would be better to start buying some powder formula and mix it up ourselves at home. Well, the first time we tried feeding Jillian the powder mix, she didn't really want much to do with it ... she would usually just suck a bit in, and then spit it back out. Later on, when she was pretty hungry, we fed the powder mix to her again, and she drank about 1 ounce of it. Unfortunately, after setting her down in her bouncy seat, every ounce of it came back up, landing on her and the seat. So, it looks like powder is out, and pre-mixed liquid is back in!

So Sleepy

Both Jillian and Mommy & Daddy were very tired this morning ... after a total of 3 hours of sleep. Last night was one of the more intense meltdowns by Jillian. It started about 11:00 pm, and lasted until 4:00 am, with only a few breaks here and there. Whereas we usually hear the "I'm hungry" or "I'm wet / poopy" cries throughout the day, this particular night it was the "I'm really, really mad." We are guessing now that it was probably a stubborn case of gas. Poor Jillian!

Volleyball

Jillian made her first trip to a volleyball tournament on Saturday, March 8. We went to watch her cousins (left to right) Meagan, Tierney and Macee play on their Cowlitz 14 Red team down in Vancouver, Washington. It looks like volleyball tournaments are going to be a great place to take her, since she was in good spirits the whole time we were there ... she was fascinated with all the activity and the loud noise in the gym. Plus, there were lots of people who were willing to hold her, which she loves. Apparently, Jillian was also a good luck charm, since the girls' team ended up winning the tournament!

Bulking Up

Little Jillian may have been born at 7 lbs 11 ounces, but within a couple days, she had dropped to 7 lbs 4 ounces, which the doctors said was normal. She would eventually end up losing about 7% of her original body weight, dropping to 7 lbs 1 ounce, but she has since bounced back up, with the most recent measurement coming in at 7 lbs 3 ounces. That reading was taken almost a week ago, and we've really seen a big difference in her weight gain the past few days just by looking at her. Her cheeks are getting chubbier, her belly is getting rounder, and her arms and legs are filling out. A lot of this change is due to both Heather's milk finally coming in, and a better feeding plan that we received from the lactation nurse at SWMC during a breastfeeding support class that Heather attended on Thursday. Now, Jillian is getting full on mostly breastmilk, and she is taking less and less Similac formula as a supplement. This all adds up to a much happier baby!

Meltdown

Well, we had been saying that Jillian was a good traveller, but a quick shopping trip today changed that thinking. Maybe she was just having a bad day, but as soon as we got her into the carseat, the crying began. Starting the car helped, but going across Longview with all of the stop lights did not. Pretty soon, the crying turned to wailing, and then snorting, and then hyperventilating, and then growling (as Heather described it), etc ... We eventually pulled over for an emergency feeding just to regain some composure. It helped some, but the trip back was more of the same. We've found that when it gets bad, it takes a while for it to get good again.

1-week Photo

Here's a photo of Jillian at 1-week old.

Jillian's personality is becoming a little more evident now. She is pretty easy-going during waking times, but at the same time she can be very active, moving her arms and legs every which way, and turning her head to get the full picture. She can also express her feelings pretty well, such as when she gets mad ... she let's you know it!

More Visitors

Something else that Jillian loves is ... other people! She seems to be fascinated by the sight and sound of someone other than Mommy and Daddy. Even if Jillian is crying, if a visitor stops by, she will stop and listen intently to this new person. It has a great calming effect (even if it eventually wears off, given enough time).

The list of visitors since Jillian came home ...

Family includes Aunt Julie, Uncle Kevin, Cousin Cale, Cousin Ty, Cousin Brock, Aunt Charolette, Cousin Michelle (Horn), and Cousin Macee.

Friends include Scott Stephenson, Jason Paul, Lindsey Paul, Susan Regel, and Bob & JJ.

Crying Times

In this first week, we have found that there are definitely certain things that make Jillian cry with some ear-piercing screams, such as ...

HUNGER : The longest and loudest cries happen when Jillian is hungry, sometimes after waking up from a nap, and sometimes after a feeding when she didn't get enough. If she's really mad, she'll start doing what we call the "piggy snorts". And once she's mad, it takes a while for her to settle down enough to start feeding.

DIAPER CHANGE : Daddy has had the misfortune of being the bad guy and doing most of the diaper changes, which oftentimes sets Jillian off on a temper tantrum. This doesn't make changing easy when her arms and legs are flailing around. But, at least when the change is over, she usually is pretty happy about it.

GAS : This has been a tough one to figure out. Just when you think most of the gas has been burped out of her after a feeding, there's just a little more left that is causing her discomfort.

First Bath

Heather decided that Sunday was the time for Jillian to take her first bath, to clean up from all the milk and formula spills. We set up the portable bathtub, and used a little ducky thermometer to test the water. Then, Heather slid Jillian into the nice warm water ... and she liked it! She gave a look like "Ooh, this feels good." Mommy washed her up real good, and Jillian was content throughout the bathing. Though, the wiggleworm she is, it was a test to keep her from sliding all over inside.

Sleeping In

We had always hoped that Jillian would be a good sleeper, but we had no idea it would be this soon.

On Saturday night, we were planning on getting up at 7:00 a.m. to go to a post-partum checkup at the hospital. From just the first few nights with Jillian, we found that she woke up about every 2 hours wanting to be fed ... so we figured that would be the case again. So, we set the alarm for 7:00 a.m., and went to bed at about 1:00 a.m., expecting her to wake up in a couple hours.

The next thing we knew, the alarm was going off. Heather woke up in a bit of a panic, and immediately rocked the bassinet. Jillian stirred a bit, helping her to relax. We were in shock that Jillian could have slept for 6 hours straight. But, it is becoming very obvious that when it comes to sleeping, she is very much like her Mommy.

So now, we are having to set the alarm for every 2 hours, and even then, waking up Jillian can be quite a chore ... though we've found that the best way to do that is to change her diaper (definitely not one of her favorite activities).

Banged Up

Jillian got to take home some good-sized scratches on her head from during her time at the hospital. First, in order to better measure her heartbeat while she was in Heather's tummy, they hooked up a fetal scalp monitor to the top of her head ... it had a small hook that went under the skin to keep it attached throughout the birth. That accounted for several of the larger marks on her head. Second, there were several attempts by several doctors to break Heather's water, which involved using a plastic hook to scrape and pull on the sac ... this is evident by many long scratches on her head (which are a little more difficult to see here). Jillian probably didn't appreciate all the prodding and poking, but she seems to have dealt with it OK.

Coming Home

When the hospital staff suggested that Heather and Jillian could be discharged on Friday, we jumped at the chance to go home. We packed up all of our gear, and left the Family Birth Center at about 4:30 pm. Unfortunately, we ran into stop-and-go rush hour traffic on Mill Plain Blvd, which led to Jillian having a fit whenever the car stopped. So, we took a longer route home, but it at least gave us the constant motion that put Jillian right to sleep.

As soon as we arrived at the house, the first order of business was to feed Jillian, who had already built up an appetite. Then, we all relaxed and went to bed early. As we lay in bed with Jillian in her bassinet nearby, Heather remarked that "there are 3 people breathing in this room right now" ... what an awesome change with the addition of baby Jillian!

Walk and Rock

If there's one thing that Jillian loves, it is constant motion. Many hours were spent with Daddy, roaming the halls of the hospital, hoping she would settle down. The hospital room we were in also had a rocking chair, which Daddy put to frequent use in rocking Jillian to sleep. It hasn't always been 100% effective, but the best we have right now.

2-day Photo

Here's Jillian posing for her 2-day photo on her final day at SWMC. This was taken by a photo contractor who went from door-to-door taking pictures of newborns ... they shot 4 photos, but we ended up choosing this one as our favorite, since it really shows the resemblance between Jillian and her Mommy.

Visitors

Not only did Jillian have family and friends such as Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Greta, Dany Paul, Grannie Woodruff and Cindy Stephenson present for her birth, but many who visited her afterwards at the hospital as well, including.

Family included Grandpa Peterson, Uncle Clark, Cousin Meagan, Cousin Adam, Papa Woodruff, Uncle Dan (Uhlenkott), Aunt Robin, Cousin Ainsley, Cousin Tierney, Uncle Dan (Peterson), Aunt Lee, Cousin Lyn (Halvorson).

Friends included Helen Harding, McKenna Paul, Michelle Catt, Missy Catt, Cheri Hill, Julie Sly, Danielle and Heather.

And of course, there were so many wonderful nurses and doctors at SWMC who took care of baby Jillian throughout the stay!

1-day Photo

Here's Jillian at just 1-day old. She is swaddled in a receiving blanket, which usually kept her relaxed ... though given enough time, she managed to break free with and arm or two. We found out that our little girl is very strong!

First Meeting

The birth of Jillian was through a C-section, since Heather was not dilating beyond 7 cm, and there had been some episodes of baby's heartrate decelerating. The doctors decided that it would be in the best interests of both mother and child to perform the surgery.

After Jillian was delivered, she was transferred to the nursery for monitoring, while Heather had to stay in the operating room to complete the surgery. After about 2 hours, Heather was wheeled into the nursery on her bed, to hold newborn Jillian for the first time. Jillian was very happy to finally meet mommy!

0-day Photo

Here's the first photo of Jillian after she was born, taken within about 1-minute of her birth.

The respiratory nurses are holding Jillian after they had cleaned her off. They had asked Daddy if he could tell what sex the baby was. After correctly figuring it out, he told Heather that the baby was a girl, and that she looked just like Mommy!

Birth-day

Jillian Catherine Woodruff was born on February 27, 2008 at 6:11 a.m., at the Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, Washinton. She weighed 7 lbs 11 ounces, and was 21 inches long.

Her happy parents are Rick and Heather Woodruff, and the proud grandparents are Kenneth Peterson and the late Karlene Peterson, and Robert and Catherine Woodruff. She also enters into a large family of aunts, uncles and cousins, who have excitedly welcomed her.

Jillian looks very much like her mother, with the same lips, chin and nose, while her mother thinks that she has her father's eyes. She was born with long black hair, and everyone noticed that she has long fingers and toes.