The Hills

"Dad...You make a better door then a window!"

2009-05-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

(Paul here) I have created a monster. She is getting so smiley and giggly now, but if you want to see it, wait for the commercials! Grandpa PD would be proud.

11 weeks old

2009-04-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

Today Daphne is 11 weeks old. It has been the best 11 weeks of our lives. Every day is something new and exciting even if it's just a new face she makes. At Daphne's two month check up we had the much dreaded first round of vaccines. It actually went much better than I thought, but it helps that I think she's super cute and just want to cuddle her when she cries. I thought for sure I wouldn't make it through without crying myself, but I did. The doctor says that she's doing well. She is in the 50% range in weight and head size, but only 10% in weight. Since then she has started eating so much more. We nurse and then finish off with a bottle of 2 to 4 ounces. At the appointment she weighed in at 9 pounds 1 ounce (her birth weight was 7 pounds 3 ounces), but I'm sure we're up around 10 pounds by now. She is sleeping through the night almost every night now. We get to bed around 10 or 11 and she sleeps until dad gets up for work most mornings - which is at seven. Then the girls get to sleep again until around noon. I feel much better these days getting as much sleep as we are.

Today we just had a reunion of our baby class and Daphne was by far the cutest there (and the smallest). We sure have been blessed by this little angel of ours.

Paul has put together a website full of pictures of our little family. Please visit http://hillfamilypictures.com.

6 weeks

2009-03-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

Here we are just 6 weeks into this journey of parenthood and I feel like we're pros. Ok, so there are times when neither one of us can calm her down for what seems like an eternity, but we are learning what she likes from day to day. She is starting to show off her voice more and more in a good way. She has learned she can make noises when she's not crying. I love listening to her as she has tummy and back time on the floor. I am also impressed that when she does cry she actually says "waaaa". When we get a good video of it we'll show you how her mouth actually moves when she says the "w" and how it really does sound like she's crying "waaa". Sometimes mommy giggles at her a bit too long, but we always recover well. She has started to settle into a pattern that allows sleep in chunks growing closer and closer to 5 hours at a time at night. It's amazing how much that helps me feel like a human again.

Bruno and Daphne continue to be great friends as you can see in the picture below. For those of you who know Bruno well, you know one of his favorite games is to take off our socks and throw them around the room. Well, he has discovered that Daphne also wears socks (and when she has footie p.j.s on he thinks she has socks on), and that sometimes she has socks on her hands (her mittens). He tries a little to take them off, and she just keeps kicking and waving around which of course only provokes him. We cherish these moments, but can't wait until she can really play with him.

(thanks to the Brock family for this outfit)

(thanks to "auntie" lori for her new dress)

(best friends)

One Month Old!

2009-03-08T17:18:00.001-07:00

Today is Daphne's one month birthday. Things are going well for the Hill family. Tina is learning how to function on very little sleep (something she never learned to do during school) and Paul has transitioned back to work fairly well. Most nights we get at least one stretch of 4 hours if not two chunks. Daphne has a great appetite and so far the supply is there for her. She tends to be a bit more of a mama's girl these days, which I guess can be expected due to the amount of time we spend together - and the fact that I have the milk. I don't mind the middle of the night feedings, but the three hour awake time between 2 and 5 kind of wears at me. It sure helps that she captivates me with every little grunt and smirk she makes. One thing that Paul won't have to teach her is how to grunt out her farts and poops. She is a pro. She even makes the best little grimace face when she's working one out. It makes me laugh every time. We have discovered that she loves hanging out in the swing which helps mom out a lot. It allows me to get some stuff done around the house or catch a nap on the couch while she just watches the world around her.

Of course I have lots of other great little stories I would love to tell, in addition to her birth story. However, I'm sure that not everyone wants to hear them. So, if you want more details please call me or stop by. I welcome the company.

Bruno & Daphne

2009-02-16T23:44:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to take a minute to post a quick video. One of the common questions we have been getting is "How is Bruno taking this transition?". I was watching Chuck, and Daphne and Bruno decided to cuddle with me a little.

It's a Girl!!

2009-02-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

Daphne Grace Hill was born on February 8th.

I have finally caught up on some sleep (Paul posting again), and figured it would be time to give another update. We came home on Wednesday, our bed has never felt so good. Daphne's bilirubin was a little high and so the doctors had Tina on a pretty strict feeding schedule while we try to get that number to come down. As of Friday the pediatrician told us that Daphne was very healthy and we could start feeding her when she is hungry rather then having to wake her up all the time. Tina is an Amazing Mom, I have no idea how she is still functioning on as little sleep as she is, but she is doing it wonderfully. Her recovery from the C-section is going well and she is a pro at feeding our baby, Daphne has already gained more weight then she lost the first couple days.

I think thats enough updating for now, how about some pictures.

Hospital Couches are Comfy.....

2009-02-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

(Paul here with an Update)

Tina's water broke today at about 1:00pm, we called her doctor who told us to go ahead and come in. We took our time packing up the car an getting the dog ready for us to leave. Around 1:45 we arrived at the nurses station at labor and delivery where they confirmed Tina's water was indeed punctured and that we won't be leaving until we have the baby. So far it's been a pretty calm adventure, we have taken quite a few walks around the floor here and Tina has been able to get some good rest and eaten her last meal for a while. Its now about 8:30pm, our doctor checked in and let us know that if we haven't began natural labor they will start some sort of inducing. That's where we are for now, I'm sure once we have the baby most of you will hear from us, just wanted to give an update of where we are at right now.

38 weeks and 4 cm down!

2009-02-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in the updates, but there really hasn't been anything to say other than we are still here and everything is going well. Today, however, we have something to report. I went in for my weekly check up and had a suprise. I'm dialated 4cm and 65% efaced. We still have 12 days to the due date, but we're not expecting to make it that long. I've been having a smattering of contractions, ranging from unnoticable unless touching the rock hard abs to actually having to stop and breathe through it. Luckily the harder ones aren't happening at work (except one that totally freaked out some of my coworkers and made me laugh). My doctor is currently on a trip to Hawaii for a medical conference for 2 weeks, so I got to meet the other doctor in the office today. She's just as wonderful and personable. I told my regular doctor last week that I was getting more and more comfortable with someone else delivering the baby, and that really may happen. I am thrilled that I have gotten this far without any significant pain, but I'm not too proud to think the rest of it won't kick my butt. Our goal is still to go without drugs as long as we can, but we'll see if/when our code word comes out.

So stand gaurd everyone, you are officially on call. My dad says I can't have her tonight (friday), but tomorrow is ok. I told him I would bear that in mind and do what I can. So, pray for safe delivery of both the baby and those traveling full of emotions for their little girl to have her own little girl.

Thanks so much for your support and encouraging words during our journey. We will update the blog as we have more news.

32 weeks down, 8 weeks to go...

2008-12-24T17:05:00.000-08:00

We have hit the home stretch folks! The baby will be here before we know it. Everything is going well with baby and mommy's health. We had a bit of a scare of gestational diabetes, but after the three hour test we came back normal. Thank goodness too since it happened at the peak of the holiday season. Paul is very excited that we only have 8 weeks left, and of course I am getting nervous again about this whole birth process. We have decided (after much education and discussion) to go as long as we can without drugs. Partly of course, so I can show Paul that I am one tough chica. ;) I have gotten to the point of pregnancy where there is no hiding the "pregnancy waddle" and Paul likes to giggle at me every now and then. I kind of laugh at how much I grunt to get out of the car or recliner. It's just one more part of the beautiful miracle that we women get to participate in.

I'm sure you all have heard, if you aren't living it locally, that we have had lots of snow here in Portland. It has been fairly dangerous out there on the roads, but also just getting out of our drive way. Paul and I both stayed home from work on Monday, but Paul went drove to work and our neighbors drove me later. It was nice to get out of the house, and make some money, but I sure do like staying home and hanging out with the husband and doggy. Speaking of Bruno, he is no fan of the weather either. It takes a lot of convincing to get him to go outside to do his business, but he's done pretty well. We shoveled the sidewalk and he finds a nice spot under the bushes next to the house with limited amount of snow to use, then runs inside and sits in front of his little heater. Also, due to the weather we will be celebrating our Christmas in our little house just us since my folks have more snow on their end than we do. We are actually looking forward to celebrating just the two of us one last time before our world changes (for the better).

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas holiday and are blessed by your loved ones as much as we have been.

Snow!

2008-12-15T12:21:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post some pictures of our baby's first snow. I do realize she doesn't know that she had a first snow, but it was fun for me. Plus we got some really cute pictures of our little Bruno dressed up as Santa.

It's a GIRL!

2008-11-22T22:36:00.000-08:00

Friday morning I had my 27 week appointment. Everything is going great. The baby is just the right size, my blood pressure has been fantastic, all blood work has looked wonderful, and the doctor is pleased with my weight (it has been a battle for the first time ever to actually gain weight). The only thing that was missing was knowing the baby's gender. So, when the doctor realized we really did want to know what we were having, she offered to run over to her ultrasound room for a peak. A refresher of the last ultrasound is that the baby was too shy and had legs crossed and tucked in so we couldn't see much at all. This time, the baby was VERY cooperative. SHE bore it all. There is essentially no question at all as to what gender our baby is now. Of course, the natural thing to do when we found out...we went shopping! We (including Paul) were very excited to go buy "little pink things". As you see in the picture, we have a nice little starting point for our baby's wardrobe. We have, obviously, put up the crib since we last blogged on here.

We have also started taking our baby classes. We are attending a 6 week course that we are 4 weeks into already. It has been a lot of fun for the both of us. The teacher is very intentional at pointing out the things that Daddy's need to know and involving them in the course as much as possible. We have learned a lot, and I'm sure we have so much more to learn. I have really started to embrace the process of child birth instead of being so scared about it. I know that with Paul by my side I will go much farther without pain control than I ever thought before. It really is a complete miracle what our female bodies can do people!

Other than that, we have been enjoying this time together as much as we can. We love spending our Saturdays and Sundays together with the puppy watching football. We are looking forward to next year when we have a little cheerleader sitting in daddy's arms watching the games.

I hope all of you are enjoying the change in seasons and have a fantastic love filled Thanksgiving.

It's not easy being Green

2008-10-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

Tina is now 22 weeks along and really starting to show. We have finished painting the nursery a nice shade of green that isn't at all bright,and can now start putting in furniture and decorations. I foresee the Hill family doing our part to help the world financial crisis by stimulating the Swedish economy in the next few months, through multiple trips to IKEA.

On the cultural front, Tina has already started the corruption of our child. She and her mother went to a Celine Dion concert on Thursday. Tina told me she could tell the baby was enjoying the show because of all the motion she could feel, I like to think that my baby was showing some taste and trying to get out of there.

Baby movements

2008-10-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. There is a baby in there moving all around. It is the coolest thing to watch and feel. It didn't take long after I started feeling it before Paul could join in on the fun. Last night we had quite the rodeo and Paul got to feel a lot of it. This morning after Paul went to work, I could watch the belly move. I'm starting to think that the 5 months of morning sickness just might be worth it. Maybe I do like this pregnancy thing after all. :)

Who are you little baby?

2008-10-03T22:17:00.001-07:00

We have successfully entered into our fifth month. The doctor says the baby is growing well and developing everything that should be developing right now. At the ultrasound we saw femurs, toes, fingers, kidneys, a heart, brain, eyeballs. Yup, we saw a lot. However, when it came time to see the goods...baby was shy. Baby had legs crossed and tucked in hiding what it has every right to cover. It's silly how we are asking the baby to show us what we will later require the baby to keep covered. So, here we are with a white room, no baby clothes, and trying to figure out how much gender neutral stuff to buy.

On another note, I have been promoted at my job! I am now the head of reception and "nurses" at the animal hospital that I work at. So far the job has been fairly manageable. I have hired two new employees, and trained one that was hired at the same time as my promotion. I am very excited for the team that I have and feel like we are on a great path for success. Paul has been plugging along at his job, not much has changed there. Bruno (our puppy) is almost a year old and can't wait for the baby.

That's all for now. I promise there are pictures to come.

The three of us...

2008-08-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

We wanted to start a blog because everyone else has too. We figured now that we are pregnant, what better time to do it? That's right folks, we're pregnant. We are due Feb 18th, give or take two weeks. We are very excited, over whelmed, and anxious about it all. We hope to use this blog to keep everyone posted on the progress where ever you might be. We hope you enjoy!