Omi's last night

It's been a great week with Omi and we're sorry to see her go. I think she barely sat down and relaxed the whole time she was here. Check out the curtains she sewed for Bine's room....

Healthy girl

We had the 2-week check-up with our pediatrician, Dr. Newman on Tuesday and she told us that Sabine is doing great. She's now up to 9.6 lbs from her birth weight of 8 lbs, which proves that she's been eating well. She also grew almost an inch in length. She's starting to look around more and seems more alert. We also hope that she will start to sleep for longer periods of time, but for now we'd be happy with a solid 3 hours.

I'm back to work and miss Bine every day. Heather is glad that Omi is still here taking care of us and Sabine, making delicious dinners and helping out around the house - including sewing some nice new curtains for Bine's room.

I uploaded a bunch of pictures to Flickr, check them out here.

Omi's in town!

Mom (otherwise known as Omi) came in yesterday and hit it off with Sabine right away...
Omi posed us in front of someone else's house. Hmmm, I wonder if that was a hint...

Bine and mommy update

Sorry no pics but Bine got to see her first Lambeau Leap during Sunday's Packer game...go GB. She also had her first diaper blow out on Auntie Sue and then on Papa and then in the bath...she was a busy girl that day...now you can see why there are no photos to accompany this entry...it was funny if not pretty.

I went for my first follow-up doc visit today and all is well. Everyone was very sweet and supportive...i must look like i feel - exhausted and a bit overwhelmed. I was excited to learn that i already lost 30 of the 60lbs i gained, despite the enormity of my chest. i think breast feeding is the new liposuction... wonder if it will tone my tummy muscles and thighs too...probably too much to ask for.

Bine's room

Bine is our nickname for Sabine and (sort of) means bumblebee in German. So, bees are everywhere! Here are some pix of the decorations Sue did in Sabine's room, even though she's actually very allergic to bees. We were so glad to have Sue here to help out and we were sad to see her leave this morning. Coming up next, it's Omi....

Bath time

First, it's a new family portrait.

Here's some pictures of bath time, courtesy of Auntie Sue.

Sunday visits

Ken, Jodi, Casey and Jane paid a visit on Sunday morning. It was nice to hang out with the gang and introduce the girls to each other. All the girls, including Lucy. Later in the day, Ed and Dave came by with an amazing meal that we couldn't resist digging into for a very early dinner.

Ken and Jane.

Jodi and Sabine.

Casey on the rug.

Heather and Sabine.

Glamour Shots

There clearly weren't enough close-ups of Sabine in the last post, so here she is at one week old...

Our First Outing

Auntie Sue flew in from Ohio on Wednesday and has been a great help. Besides being a nurse, she's a mother of four great kids. She's been an awesome resource for all our first-timer questions and has really helped us out around the house.

On Friday we had our first outing with Sabine at neighboring Woodlawn Park. Lucy was happy to get out of the house and frolic in the fields.

Home

Well, we were discharged from the hospital today. Sabine and Heather are both doing really well. Bine got an A+ on her hearing exam, Heather is perfecting her breastfeeding game and I am becoming adept at diapers and swaddling. The nurses, doctors and staff at Legacy Emmanuel were really great. Of course, someone woke us up every time we would finally get to sleep, but that's a hospital for you.

It's nice to be home and to sleep in a real bed again. Before nap time, we carefully introduced Great Dane to great baby and Lucy seems to be quite curious about the newest addition to the family. Sabine and I watched the Browns deliver a major ass-kicking to the unbeaten Giants while Heather caught up on her sleep. Sorry, Packers fans, Bine is now a fan of the Brownies...

Some pix from Day 1

More pix from the delivery room

Meet Sabine Johanna Ficht

Sabine was born at 2:44 pm on Saturday, October 11th - her due date, believe it or not. She's a beautiful little girl, a healthy 8 lbs and 20.5 inches. Contractions started on Thursday afternoon and we went in to the hospital at 1:30 am Friday night (well, Saturday morning). Heather was amazing, a real trooper, but after 10 hours of very hard labor in the hospital and no forward progress, she got an epidural and delivered Sabine with relative ease 3 hours later. Much to my surprise. I hung in there and watched Sabine come out and then cut the cord.

Bine is a good little eater and the breastfeeding is going well. We chose her middle name to honor my maternal grandmother Johanna Hille. We got a pretty good night of sleep and are feeling great. The only downside is that Sabine won't be old enough to vote for Barack Obama on November 4th:)