First doctor appointment

Today was Matthew's first check up and the results are...he is doing fabulous! Our pediatrician's name is Dr.Schessler but tells everyone to call him Dr Eric and he looks a little like Doogie Howser, so we refer to him as Doogie (not to his face though). We like him a lot and he is very patient and willing to answer all the silly questions we, as new parents, have. He was very impressed on how Matthew has been doing in his first weeks of life. Matty was born at 7 lbs 4 ozs but left the hospital at 6lbs 7 ozs, which is a loss of more than 10% of his birth weight, so was a little bit of a concern in the very beginning. We were hoping he was back up to his birth weight today at his check up and not only was he back up...he was 1 lb over! 8 lbs 4 oz today! He is in the 30th percentile for weight and head measurement and 50th percentile for length as he is up to 21 3/4 inches from 20 inches at birth. Overall, he his doing great and best of all...no shots today! We can look forward to his 2 month check up for his next shots! Here's some pictures of him at his first doctors appointment:

Waiting for Doogie to come weigh him....

Getting his heart rate checked...he didn't cry at all...

Andrew getting him dressed again, notice they are wearing matching stripes...

All done, and his eyes are open!!!!

2 weeks old!

The past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind and I can't believe April is almost over and it is Spring! Well, actually after the weather this weekend, it feels more like summer! We have been enjoying our new lives and our fantastic little boy! Matthew has been the center of attention for the past week and a half since we have been home, greeting lots of family and friends who have come over to visit and help out...and he seems to be enjoying all of it and taking it all in...hmmm...must take after his father the way as he loves to be the center of attention! I have been feeling better and slowly recovering...thank god my mom was here last week to help out when Andrew went back to work, even though she was waiting on me hand and foot...she loved every minute of it because she got lots of Matty and Grammy time!

Before yesterday I had only been out of the house twice for doctor's appointments, but yesterday Matthew's Aunts Rachel and Vicki (Andrew's sisters) came to visit from NYC and we all ventured out for lunch. Today was another big outing as we went grocery shopping, ran some errands and stopped for ice cream. Matty loves his car seat and sat in and slept the whole time. I was happy to get outside as I have been having some cabin fever but the stairs (we live on the third floor) have been difficult, so I just take it slowly and make Andrew carry all the groceries and the baby in his car seat. Andrew is off from work this week for spring break so we have lots of plans to try to get out of the house at least once a day. All in all, it has been a terrific yet tiring two weeks! Here's some of our favorite pictures...hard to pick since we have about 300 of them!

I swear he is smiling at me in this picture....

Big yawn!!!

Nap time with Daddy...

I just realized we don't have many pictures of him with his eyes open...I'll work on getting some!

Saturday Afternoon Update

The three of us have been settling in at home after 5 days in the hospital...Matthew has been wonderful and cooperative so far as we try to establish routines and figure out what works best... Sleeping has been at a minimum but we all got in a 4 hour stretch earlier this morning...

For those of you who didn't know...Denise wound up having a C-Section at 3 in the morning last sunday. She never dialated past three centimeters and because her water broke late friday night, it was time for the little guy to come out. As a result she is experiencing some discomfort due to the surgery. She is supposed to take it easy for the next few weeks as she heals. Tomorrow, her mom, Joyce is coming to spend the week with Denise and Matthew as I have to go back to work on monday...Friday is my last day of school for a week as I have my spring break.

As I type this the little peanut is having his lunch (breastmilk). Denise snapped a picture of him in his breastmilk food coma...

Matthew Ryan Bergang

Our bundle of joy arrived on April 12th, 2009 at 3:04 AM.
He was 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 20 inches long.


We spent a few days in the hospital and now are at home getting into a routine....More to come soon....

Here is getting ready for his first journey in the car from the hospital.

Peekaru...

Something fun for the baby once it gets cold....


I think I might have to order one! Peekaru

Mmmmm....fondue

The past few Saturday nights, Andrew and I have been heading out to dinner for "date nights". Knowing that our time for this will be very limited in the future, we have been picking restaurants that we know are not going to be "baby friendly". Luckily, a bunch of our favorite restaurants in Manchester should be pretty easy to bring a baby along but we know there will be a few that won't be. This past Saturday, we went to Burlington MA and had a great dinner at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant that is actually a chain. Considering I was worried that Andrew would burn himself because the hot pot and heating element is part of the table (he actually didn't), this would definitely not be a place I would bring an infant! The place was great and a lot of fun. Our hostess and waitress were so nice and kept trying to accommodate us...apparently a 9 month pregnant woman was amusing to them and they all were taking bets in the kitchen as to whether or not I was going to go into labor right there at the restaurant! It was also pretty amusing since the tables had the heating element and hot plate, they were marble and didn't move...and didn't leave a ton of room between the edge of the table and my pregnant belly...so a little uncomfortable, but like I said, they were trying to be so accommodating and kept coming over and telling me to move to the side, put my feet up, etc...it was pretty funny! As for the food...we started with the cheese course....as you can see, Andrew barely could wait for the cheese to cool down, I do think he burned his mouth...check out the string hanging from his chin...that stayed put the entire dinner!

Then the entree...this was fun as you get to cook your own meat in different flavored broths and then use all these different dipping sauces. There were a bunch of veggies too and the mushrooms were the best poached in the broth.

The finale was the chocolate fondue...we choose the Yin/Yan which was white chocolate and milk chocolate. It looked cool but tasted even better. I loved the strawberries and rice krispie treats dipped in the chocolate but the cheesecake was a little much!

All in all, a great meal...looks like we will have one more Saturday night for date night this week!