Quite a schedule!

Just came back from our daily walk. Maya is sitting in the front pack on my tummy/chest. We always start out with Maya lying in the stroller, but about halfway she gets unconsolably unhappy, and I then carry her in the front carrier. Anyway, so she snuggles up and falls a sleep right away. A little while later, I try and put her down in the stroller once more, which lasts for about half a minute, and again she screams bloody murder. I just keep trying! It is beautiful fall weather outside, and well it was nice to get out.
Every week we have had to make a trip to the pediatricians office, sometimes even twice. Maya has been doing great, and the only problem has been that she didn't put on weight fast enough. It took a little more than a month for Maya to get up to her birth weight (they like for this to take only two weeks). From week to week the pediatrician wasn't worried about Maya's health, because she seemed to be hydrated enough etc. She wanted to keep an eye on our little girl, because of the slow weight gain. In the meantime, I did what I could to increase the milk supply... drinking mother's milk tea, taking fenugreek herbs, drinking a guiness beer now and then, (though I don't think that helped anything) and bought a brand new breastpump, so I could pump after each feeding. It has been really important for us to breastfeed (and still is), and it was heartbreaking to realize that I couldn't supply our little girl with enough milk. That was my first reaction - then of couse I was just happy that there is an alternative out there, so she would be able to get enough! After about a month, it became clear that we had to supplement with some Formula after each feeding. So this is how it would go: Maya would breastfeed for about 40 minutes (give and take a little, she is a slow eater and tends to fall a sleep a lot), then she would get a little Formula, then I would pump for about 15 minutes. Two hours from the beginning of this schedule, we would have to start all over (by the way this includes the nights, so yes we tend to nap when we can). The first few days of this was extremely stressfull, but then I found it easier to enjoy this one on one time with the little one. Anyway, now things are opening up a little. Maya had yet another trip to the pediatrician on Tuesday, and she now weights a little over 10 pounds and measures a little less than 23 inches. From then on we have stretched feedings at night from two hours in between to 3 hours (believe it or not, this makes a whole lot of difference) and we only supplement when she needs it, which amounts to about half the feedings. So a whole lot of information on the feeding schedule - not too interesting really, if you are not in the middle of it. The picture is of Maya claiming the lovely patchwork blanket she got from Mormor & Morfar.

Chris & Melanie

Chris and Melanie came over to meet Maya. Melanie was one of the only ones who predicted the baby to be a girl - I had everyone else convinced it would be a boy. I hope she cashed in on that bet!

Magnolia Plantation

We all went for an afternoon walk at Magnolia plantation the last weekend my folks were in town. The plantation is less than a mile down the road from here, and as you can see from the photos - very beautiful. We would go there more often if it wasn't so crazy expensive. Anyway love the photo of the four grandparents sitting on a bench like little school children.

Our own private helpers!

Mormor and Morfar (Dorthe's parents) came over from Denmark to stay for two weeks when Maya was almost 1 week old. It was absolutely amazing having them here. We all did a few outings together, and many times they ventured out by themselves - walked over the new bridge and scoped out downtown. Keith's parents took them on a Charleston house tour one evening, which they really enjoyed, eventhough it happened to be on a very hot and humid evening. Mostly though, we were here enjoying having extra hands to hold Maya while jumping in the shower etc. Both my mum and Poul Arne had many projects going on during their stay. Poul Arne attacked the wallpaper in the master bathroom (I'll have to show you a picture later), which turned out to be very hard work. My mum was busy doing a fall cleaning throughout the house - the fridge even got its turn. Best of all they served us a homecooked meal almost every night, which included many of my favourite recepies - such as pork meatballs in curry over rice (ris og boller i karry) - sounds good ehh? What a difference it makes when you have folks to cook for you... Speaking of which, Keith's parents have just been over and they brought excellent mexican food - yummi!

Off to Folly Beach!

The first weekend my folks were here, we went out to Folly beach for a walk. On the way there, we just had to stop by Starbucks for a frappuccino - uhm. Unfortunately, Keith had to stay behind because he had a load to prepare for for class. I think he was quite pleased with the empty house for increased concentration. Keith had a day off yesterday though, so the three of us repeated the success and I added a few of those photos. Note the cute little booties on Maya that my mum brought over. If I remember right, my mum knitted them, gave them to my brother and Anette's twim babies (who are now 1 year old toddlers), who in turn gave them to Maya. When my folks, Maya and I went to Folly beach - mind you, this was in October - quite a few people were sunbathing and a few even ventured into the water... Crazy right? Anyway since my parents left, it has gotten quite a bit cooler here. The sun is still shining but thankfully without the humidity.

Lounging!

Here's some pics of Maya getting comfy!

"0" Birthday!

When we came home from our walk on the Battery Wednesday - well a few weeks ago now - A Birthday cake for Maya had been delivered. See photos above for the purple wonder. It came from my chiopractor Dr. Evaline Delson, whom I went to see the last few weeks of my pregnancy. Initially, I went to Dr. Delson, because I was afraid that the baby was 'breached' (head up) - I was 36 weeks and, usually, after that point it gets increasingly difficult for the baby to turn, because of less and less room. Dr. Delson has an amazing 'track record' - for, as she says 'making room for the baby to turn'. It turned out that Peanut had turned by herself by the time I got to see Dr. Delson, but needless to say there was still plenty of adjustments to be done on my swollen pregnant body - so I kept seeing her a few times a week. Maya had her own first adjustment/check up thursday last week - everything was great! Back to the wonder of the cake! The following day - thursday - we had a little delayed birthday party for Maya. Tea and cake, delicious - I think we ate of the cake for an entire week. Note the pink and white '0' yr. candel.

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