Well, I have gotten really behind on all of my on-line addictions but with good reason :)
Ella arrived on April 15th! As I laid in the prep room awaiting surgery, I watched our president refer to my little lady's birthday as a day dreaded by all of America. Dan and I finally both disagreed with something Obama said (usually Dan is the one that disagrees)! She was 7lbs and 18 3/4 - tiny, but perfect! Everything went well and there were no complications with her or I.
We have been busy since, settling in and finding our new routine. I must say it's been incredibly easy so far. I almost feel guilty admitting this and know that it won't last forever, but so far she's the perfect baby! She hasn't cried for more than five minutes at a time and is already sleeping for at least a four hour stretch every night. Now that I have fessed up to that, I am sure she will be awake all night!
Ethan has adjusted remarkably well and seems to like having a new sister. Dan brought him to the hospital on our second day and he went straight to the kissing and hugging of his new sister. He likes 'helping' with taking care of his sister. Gabrielle won't let her out of her sight, and has currently been holding her for over an hour. Ms. Ella will certainly be spoiled.
We have managed to get out and about and even made a quick trip to the store today as a family of 5 with no problems to report! Again, soon enough I am sure things will get more difficult.
Dan has taken the whole week off and it's been so lovely having him home to spoil us and not having to think about work at all. He's more than fallen in love with Ella and I am convinced she will definitely be a Daddy's girl. I am not looking forward to next week when he goes back to work!!
I am going to be lazy and not post any pictures now, because honestly I don't feel like walking in the kitchen to get the camera - but I promise the camera has been busy and I will post pics of the little lady soon. For now, you will just have to trust that she's beautiful. I am going to go back to hanging out with my beautiful family now :)
Friday, April 24, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
She's coming!
Ella will be here by this time tomorrow! I was due yesterday and had my weekly checkup this morning. I finally got to see Dr. Stewart today (she seems to be a popular doctor) and as usual, she was very straightforward with us - which I tend to like. My blood pressure was considerably up and according to her I am not making much progress naturally. She thought I could still be two weeks away from going in to labor! After spending the day at the hospital waiting on test results to decide if I would have her today or we could wait until tomorrow it was decided that she and I were well enough to wait one more day. While I was hopeful about a 'natural' delivery, I am surprisingly okay with the thought of another C-Section. It probably doesn't hurt that the idea of remaining pregnant for two more weeks is not at all exciting.
I guess my biggest fears with having a C-Section aren't really as much of a factor this time which is calming. After Ethan was born, I felt so weary and so miserable - largely because I was sick in addition to the surgery. Though my platelet count is down, it's not horrible and I don't have HELLP syndrome so I am thinking it won't be as tough physically.
My other fear was that I didn't feel that woo hoo bond with Ethan right away. I think this was partially because of the C-Section and partially because he was so early that I was in shock. I was thinking about this earlier this afternoon and was reading some information about bonding with your baby. I came across this: http://baby.families.com/blog/bonding-with-baby
This made so much sense to me! While I didn't bond with Ethan the way I wish I had right away, I am certainly bonded to him now. I can't imagine my life without him and am so amazed and blessed by him everyday. So it really doesn't matter that the sun wasn't instantly brighter right after I held him, it matters that it happened. Eventually I connected with my little man and that connection and is stronger than I ever imagined.
It also hasn't hurt to have gone through Gabrielle's health problems so recently. Dan was saying earlier that this week has really been a rough week for everyone and this fit right into that picture. I quickly reminded myself and him that it hasn't been rough, it's been easy. We have a wonderful, healthy and largely happy family. Everything might not always go the way we wish it would, but at the end of the day, we have everything we could ever want or need. We have each other and plenty of friends and family with whom we can share our lives. That's what's important, even if it doesn't always go the way we would prefer.
So... tomorrow we go and do it again and I am excited :) I'm nervous, but excited. Ethan is with MeMe and Dan and I are enjoying a quite evening at home and hoping for plenty of sleep - something I am sure we won't see again for quite a while. I can't wait to see what she looks like and what kind of person she is going to be :)
I guess my biggest fears with having a C-Section aren't really as much of a factor this time which is calming. After Ethan was born, I felt so weary and so miserable - largely because I was sick in addition to the surgery. Though my platelet count is down, it's not horrible and I don't have HELLP syndrome so I am thinking it won't be as tough physically.
My other fear was that I didn't feel that woo hoo bond with Ethan right away. I think this was partially because of the C-Section and partially because he was so early that I was in shock. I was thinking about this earlier this afternoon and was reading some information about bonding with your baby. I came across this: http://baby.families.com/blog/bonding-with-baby
This made so much sense to me! While I didn't bond with Ethan the way I wish I had right away, I am certainly bonded to him now. I can't imagine my life without him and am so amazed and blessed by him everyday. So it really doesn't matter that the sun wasn't instantly brighter right after I held him, it matters that it happened. Eventually I connected with my little man and that connection and is stronger than I ever imagined.
It also hasn't hurt to have gone through Gabrielle's health problems so recently. Dan was saying earlier that this week has really been a rough week for everyone and this fit right into that picture. I quickly reminded myself and him that it hasn't been rough, it's been easy. We have a wonderful, healthy and largely happy family. Everything might not always go the way we wish it would, but at the end of the day, we have everything we could ever want or need. We have each other and plenty of friends and family with whom we can share our lives. That's what's important, even if it doesn't always go the way we would prefer.
So... tomorrow we go and do it again and I am excited :) I'm nervous, but excited. Ethan is with MeMe and Dan and I are enjoying a quite evening at home and hoping for plenty of sleep - something I am sure we won't see again for quite a while. I can't wait to see what she looks like and what kind of person she is going to be :)
Friday, April 3, 2009
The waiting game
Well, still on bed rest - but everyone is healthy so that's okay. Only 10 more days until my due date and it looks like I will make it until then without needing any kind of intervention - yay! I am dilated, but only slightly. The plus? I am hoping all this rest will come in handy after she arrives and the sleep deprivation arrives. So we'll just wait and I will continue to resist my urges to clean (for the most part anyway).
Ethan... still too cute. Last night he was standing in the bay window looking at the birds and pretending to fly away with them. This appears to be one of his new favorite hobbies. He flaps his arms, screams 'tweet tweet' and thinks he can go! Last week I went to pick him up from my parents and he saw some birds in the yard. We stopped to look at them and before I knew it he had ran off towards them screaming, "Wait, I come with you!! Tweet tweet!". I had to chase him through two yards before I could catch my little bird. Sooner or later, I am determined to capture this on video, but he always gets too interested in the camera and stops playing!
I am starting to worry that I might miss out on some of these moments with a new baby in the house, but am working with Dan to ensure we get time with both of the little ones. Parents all over the world seem to work this out, so I am sure we will as well.
Ethan... still too cute. Last night he was standing in the bay window looking at the birds and pretending to fly away with them. This appears to be one of his new favorite hobbies. He flaps his arms, screams 'tweet tweet' and thinks he can go! Last week I went to pick him up from my parents and he saw some birds in the yard. We stopped to look at them and before I knew it he had ran off towards them screaming, "Wait, I come with you!! Tweet tweet!". I had to chase him through two yards before I could catch my little bird. Sooner or later, I am determined to capture this on video, but he always gets too interested in the camera and stops playing!
I am starting to worry that I might miss out on some of these moments with a new baby in the house, but am working with Dan to ensure we get time with both of the little ones. Parents all over the world seem to work this out, so I am sure we will as well.
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