Monday, July 28

Baby E's 2-Week Checkup

Baby E had her 2-week appointment today, even though she's technically 2½ weeks old already. Isn't she cute?! {And finally fitting into her outfit we took her home from the hospital in!}


Some things about her:
  • Weight: She is up to 7.7 lbs! At her 2-day-old bilirubin checkup, she had dropped down to 6.2 lbs. In 2 weeks, she's gained more than a pound! She's such a good eater and it's great to see she's gaining weight so well.
  • Height: She is 20" tall. She's grown an inch in just two weeks!
  • Diaper Size: Newborn. And they are finally starting to fit well enough that she's not leaking out the sides of them constantly!
  • Clothing Size: Newborn. She's always been too tall for premie clothes, but newborn clothes still seemed to drown her. She always curls her legs up but is finally getting tall enough that when she stretches her legs out, they are fitting all the way to the bottom of her jammies!
  • Likes: Being held, eating, sleeping, staring at lights, eating more, constantly dirtying diapers, going for rides in the car, being held, sleeping more, and eating again.
  • Dislikes: Having her diaper changed, being cold, having to sleep in her bed instead of someone's arms, and spitting up.

Wednesday, July 23

So Much Love

One of my biggest fears about having a second kid was that I didn't know if I could love Baby E as much as I love A. He is my whole world and tons of fun. He makes my heart so full of love—and I was afraid there wasn't enough room in my heart to love my baby girl as much as I love my little man.

It was amazing to me that as soon as I held her in my arms at the hospital, I felt so much love for her. And I felt all that love so immediately. I guess my itty bitty heart grew twice its size that day because now both of these little ones are my whole world and my heart is stuffed clear full of love.

Not only has my heart grown full of love for Baby E, but my love for A has also grown even more as I've watched him with his sister. Even though he's struggling to adjust to life with a new sibling, he has such a sweet concern for her. He says "uh oh!" and rushes to her side any time she cries or needs something.

My love for A has also deepened as I understand even more how he views our relationship. I have felt that his relationship with his dad was the special one because the two of them have so much fun together and A always gets so excited anytime M walks in the door. It wasn't until I saw how much A was struggling to cope when I would snuggle and spend time with Baby E that I realized how much my little A loves his mommy—even when he has his dad there too. It just really confirmed to me how important it is for children to have BOTH a mom and a dad.

So all in all, bringing a new baby home from the hospital has taught me so much about love and our capabilities to feel more love than we ever knew was possible.


Thursday, July 17

Baby E Is One Week Old!

I can't believe how fast this first week has gone! Some of my favorite things about Baby E already are:
  • She loves eating so much that when her food {or even a pacifier} comes close to her mouth, she thrashes her head back and forth like a wild animal shaking the life out of a recent catch.
  • She always wants her hands up by her face. Even in ultrasounds, she had been like this! Needless to say, she hates being swaddled and just starts bawling because it locks her arms down.
  • She has the cutest smile... even if at this point she only smiles after filling her diaper.
  • She sleeps about 18 hours a day but is extremely alert during her awake times and has been like that since the day she was born.
  • She loves having her hair played with... to the point that she'll cry all through the rest of her bath but calms down as soon as we start rubbing the shampoo in her hair.

Wednesday, July 16

Baby E's Due Date

For the last 9 months, today is the day we had been looking forward to in anticipation of Baby E coming! Things have been a bit chaotic here around our house but I've finally found a couple minutes and today seems like a fitting day to tell the rest of her story.

So I went into labor naturally and finally decided it was time to go to the hospital. It was 11 am when they checked me in and I was dilated to a 5. With A, I had been terrified of labor and delivery; this time was a lot less scary because I had an idea of what to expect. But this time also hurt a lot more because I had actually labored at home for seven hours first, whereas my first delivery had been entirely in the hospital! So as soon as I was checked in, I was asking for my epidural. Unfortunately the anesthesiologist was in an emergency c-section, so they told me it would be about half an hour before he'd be able to come.

The contractions started to get strong enough that I had to grip onto something and gasp "ow ow ow" over and over again until they passed. M was so sweet to hold my hands and let me squeeze them through the pain and cry. Finally the anesthesiologist arrived and brought magical pain relief with him. By the time the epidural kicked in, it was 12:30 pm. We had been at the hospital for 1½ hours and I was dilated to a 9.

My fear was that Baby Girl would come before the epidural was working, so I was thrilled that both of my legs were wonderfully numb by the time my doctor had everything ready for the delivery and said it was time to push. I didn't think to look at the clock, but I think the total pushing time was only 15-20 minutes and suddenly our beautiful baby girl was here!

Over the past 9 months, I had wondered over and over how I could possibly ever love this little girl as much as I love A. But the moment the doctor put her in my arms and I held her close to my chest, my heart felt so full! Once again, it was kind of surreal how instantly I fell in love with my brand new baby.

Her face was simply beautiful! Her features reminded me of A but with a gorgeous femininity. Although we had a little list of names we were choosing from, once we saw her we knew this was our Baby E that we had been waiting to meet! I wish I had words to express what an amazing moment that was for me and just how much love I felt for her. Laying in my hospital bed with M sitting in the chair right next to me and holding our little girl was truly amazing.

When they took her to clean and weigh, she grabbed the edge of the scale and tried to pull herself up! I loved watching M there at her side because he is the sweetest dad. He brought Baby E back to me after the doctor got him cleaned up and we all cuddled together. It was really nice because at this point all of the nurses and doctors left the room and let us have our time alone.


We were then moved from Labor & Delivery to the Maternity wing, where we would be allowed to stay for the next 48 hours but we were pretty much begging to be let go after 24! We had dropped A off at my sister-in-law's house when we headed to the hospital; then, after a few hours, my mother-in-law came to help watch him too. So by the time we were moved into our room and could have visitors, I was missing A like crazy and so excited to see him—and have him meet his new sister.

We wanted A to meet his Baby E before any other visitors and allow him some time to understand what was going on, so M left to go pick him up. They spent some time together before coming to the hospital. When they got to the room, I made sure to have Baby E in her little crib so that I could spend a few minutes with A too. Once he had lots of hugs, kisses, and attention from us, we had him look around and find his baby! He seemed partially fascinated but partially terrified of her. We knew it would take him longer than a few minutes to love having a sibling, but we made sure to capture some of the first moments—both the smiles and the tears! But overall, he has been sweet and gentle with her.



My parents had jumped in the car as soon as I told them I was in labor and M's parents live here in the area, so Baby E was able to meet all her grandparents, as well as her Auntie Kiera, on her first day in the big world. I was so grateful for our great families and their love and support.

Finally our 24 hours were up and we got to come home. I was so glad to be leaving because it meant we wouldn't have nurses and doctors waking us all up constantly. M loaded up the car while I got Baby E dressed in her cute "going home" outfit. We buckled her into her carseat and she just looked so tiny! She loved the car ride home and slept soundly to the movement of the car. A was at home with my parents and I was so happy to have my little family of 4 reunited in our own home.



Overall, I had been nervous of several aspects of this experience. But I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly it all went and what an amazing and special experience it was for me to welcome this beautiful little girl into our family.

Thursday, July 10

Today Is The Day!

I have been feeling great {well, as great as a 9-month pregnant blimp in the summertime heat can feel...} and was 99.9% certain that I wouldn't be going into labor before the evening of the 15th, which is when the hospital had already so kindly booked a room for me to be induced.

But this morning, I woke up at 4 am with some discomfort. I assumed it must be Braxton Hicks contractions and kept trying to fall back asleep before another one would wake me up about twenty minutes later. Because I had been induced with A and got my epidural fairly early on, I realized that I don't really know what labor feels like! So I started getting nervous and told M when he left for work to keep his phone on, just in case.

Thanks to Google, I found some pretty good descriptions of what to watch for with labor and how to know if it was false labor or the real deal... but I was still so unsure and didn't want to drag M out of work and get A a babysitter just to be told it was a false alarm and have the hospital send me home. So I kept trying to wait it out.

Around 8:30 am, the contractions were 10 minutes apart like clockwork. Near tears, I called my sister-in-law and my mom to ask what they thought I should do... they both told me I should go to the hospital!

I kept debating and finally at 9:30 am, I put A down for a morning nap and called M to tell him I was probably in labor and that he should come home.

He rushed home and we grabbed a few things for us at the hospital and for A with babysitters, got A up from his nap and dropped him off at my sister-in-law's house, and then rushed off to the hospital.


We got here just before 11:00 am and I tried to act really calm when I checked into Labor and Delivery {but I'm pretty sure I looked like a total wimp trying to act nonchalant even though I couldn't breathe very well during the contractions...} and they brought me into the room and hooked up monitors to check the contractions and heart rates.

And guess what?! They didn't send me home. I reckon that means now it's time to have a baby!

Friday, July 4

Happy 4th of July!

We started out our Independence Day festivities by going to a cute little local parade that goes right in front of a family friend's front yard. We met M's family there and had VIP seats to enjoy the show!


A had a blast! He was fascinated by everything going past and especially loved that candy kept getting thrown at him. I have never been to a parade with so much candy! It was perfect for A's first parade!

Then in the afternoon, we met up with our friends Ammon and Lauren because A loves hanging out with their 3-year-old son, Logan. Older kids fascinate A and he always seems enamored when he gets to hang out with big kids. So he was in heaven!

We went to the Natural Curiosity Museum and the two boys played and explored until they were both exhausted. It was so cute to watch them {and their dads, who also tend to act like kids...}







After the museum, we stuck with tradition and had a delicious BBQ in our backyard.

Because he had been so terrified by them last year, I was curious to try fireworks with A this year... but he was so exhausted that he went to bed early instead.

I was really tired too... and fell asleep by 9 pm! {Poor M! Being roommates with a pregnant wife and a toddler doesn't really make for an exciting late night party!} But I woke up around 10 when I heard fireworks outside, so we went outside to watch the fireworks throughout the valley.

It was a great holiday! I'm so grateful to live in this country and for my cute little family!!