Puryear Family: One Week Old

What an exciting week Olivia had. Everything was such a new experience for her, Dan, and I!

She successfully made it home from the hospital on Tuesday! She looked so innocent and little in her car seat! She also met Hurley. He did well when we brought her home by smelling her and then barking a few times when she wined and moved her little feet! So far he has been quite the protector of Olivia. When visitors come to meet her he has to smell the person to make sure they are okay holding her! It is awfully cute. The other morning Dan was making breakfast, and she was in her bouncer seat making some noise. Dan told Hurley to go and check on her, so he laid down in front of the bouncer! It was pretty funny!

The first night home was a culture shock for Dan and I! Thank goodness my family brought over dinner so we did not have to worry about that! In addition, Tyler was finally able to meet Olivia. Because of the H1N1 virus, he was not allowed to visit in the hospital. On the way home from our house he told my mom, "she is a keeper" What a great cousin!

It was later in the evening when Dan and I were tested. Olivia had her days and nights reversed and slept most of Tuesday. That night she was awake for most of the night and at one point we looked at each other and said, "what should we do?" I finally got the bouncy seat and put her in that, which finally allowed her to calm down and she slept! We made it through and I read in one of the baby books that it is important to keep things light and loud during the day and at night keep the lights low and the noise to a minimum. We realized we had all the lights on and the radio was kinda loud too. So Wednesday day was much better and little Olivia slept for at least 3 uninterrupted hours in two segments that night. Since then we are making sure she is more awake during the day and quite at night! She does continue to sleep in her bouncer. Our plan is to use the bassinet again tonight! We will see! So far so good and since I go to bed around 7:30/8:30 we are doing pretty well on the sleeping front. Although I feel like every night will be just like the first...we will keep you updated!

Olivia has also had many visitors and has enjoyed her many new toys. Her favorites include her swing and her bouncy seat! She will sit and stare at the things around her for a few minutes! It is very cute and funny looking because she is so small in the swing. Her most exciting visitor this week-well they are all exciting-was her Great Grandma aka Greatest! My Uncle Ken traveled down with Greatest on Thursday to meet Olivia! It was very special treat for her to see her newest great-grandchild and for me to introduce her to Olivia. Though it was a quick trip we appreciated that Uncle Ken make the trip!

On Friday Olivia had a doctor's appointment with her pediatrician. She was weighted and measured. Dan and I had a list of questions about all sort of things. Dr. Lancaster was patience with us and made us feel like we were doing the right thing! We have kinda figured out that we have no idea what we are doing but a lot is common sense. At least that is what we think! Olivia did gain back most of her birth weight! She is only in the 19th percentile though for weight! I guess she has some growing to do!

We did have some struggles feeding on Friday night and I was very frustrated. Olivia was starving and crying, but would not latch on for the feed. We struggled for about an hour and she finally was able to latch on for some feeding. I called Dan's sister in law, Jill, for advice and she made a good suggestion that we are implementing to make nursing easier. Nursing has been much better...thanks to Jill for the advice and to Carol for picking it up!

Saturday was a busy day meeting her other cousin Brayden and her Aunt Carol and Uncle Scott. Brayden loved the baby and even posed for a cute picture! Finally, that night, parents to be, Carolyn and Rick Hogg brought over dinner! They practiced their parenting skills by hold Olivia! Rick did a great job, even though he was nervous! We loved the yummy lasagna!

Finally, on her one week brithday we took advantage of the warm day and took a walk outside! She met our neighbors and then cheered on the Ravens. Well they played horrible but she showed her support with the Ravens outfit!

We look ahead to our next week. It seems like everyday there is some sort of curve ball thrown at us to adjust! We enjoy the challenge and look forward to moments when she opens her big blue eyes!

Here are some other pictures of her visitors!