Thank You! And update!

I'm online! OK - I've been online a bit before this, but haven't felt up to the task of blog update.

First, I want to thank everyone who kept an eye on the birth proceedings. Cal read me your comments between contractions and I can't express how good it was to hear your words of encouragement and to enjoy your speculations about Cleo's dimensions. It helped brighten the mood and keep us focused on the end goal - meeting our sweet baby girl!

As for Cleo, she's gorgeous, wonderful and she smells way better than Dan. She has a precious smile and shiny newborn blue eyes. As you've already seen in pictures, she looks just like her daddy. On occasion, she wrinkles her forehead and in those moments I can see a bit of myself. She's very calm and loves to cuddle, but can sleep on her own. As I understand it, this makes me very lucky, and much cleaner/well fed than many new mothers. She thinks her fingers are delicious and finds them frequently to calm herself. She lost a bit more weight at first than the pediatrician likes, but is on her way back to fighting weight. We have a dr. appointment this afternoon to confirm that all is well.

Firsts: She shed her first tears today. Wow, I don't think I was prepared for that. It was cute, sad and sweet all at the same time. I took a picture, but it is nsf-blog after review. Instead I've given you a very sweet sleeping photo taken just now as she naps beside me on the couch.

Grandma Chris is still with us and has been a great help and support. We can't thank her enough!

As for me, I feel pretty good - certainly much better than I expected. Really, I'm just tired. I'm really looking forward to full recovery so I'll have the strength to shop. Cal and I are very excited to indulge our desire for frilly girl clothes for Cleo.

For those of you who will continue to read the blog, I'll do my best to have regular updates of our favorite lady!

Thanks again to everyone!

Much Love!
-Stacia