Eliza's First Week

Ready to go home!!

Sister time!

My first car ride...made me sleepy!

Ahhhh...she's home!

We went for a walk the other night and kev and

I looked down and ella was holding eliza's hand!

So sweet!

Sponge bath

My sweet big girl!


Ella wanted Eliza to wear her necklace!

Eliza's first doc. appt.

Feeling better!

I am feeling so much better and I am so glad. I feel like we are settling in to our new life with another child and to be honest it is going better than I anticipated. I am not sure what next week will be like when Kevin is back to work...more challenging I am sure. I have so enjoyed him being at home with me. Eliza has been a wonderful baby so far. She is so so sweet and tiny! We love her so much and feels like she has always been a part of our family! She eats, sleeps a lot right now, and is going with the flow of our family. So far at night I have been waking her to feed her every 2 1/2 to 3 hours and she eats and is going right back to sleep! Amen, praise the Lord. I will be glad when I can stop waking her to eat in the night, but until she grows a little bigger I will continue to. I know we have some rough nights ahead, but so far I am so thankful.

Eliza had her first check-up on Monday and she was only 2 oz. from being back to her birth weight. Woo Hoo! Her cord also fell off on Sunday night which I thought was really fast! She got her first bath that night and screamed through the whole thing!

Ella is being such a sweet big sis. She is so funny talking to Eliza. Today she was saying, "Come on, Titus...hi five!" Yes she is still calling her Titus. I find myself getting all mixed up with her name now too. Isn't that terrible. My sister Jess who is Titus' mom suggested we call her Elizas...that is what my brain keeps getting stuck on. Yesterday in the car ella said, "Hi Titus, how are you? Yous sheepin? Waked up! Share!" All in one sentence! As you can tell sharing is talked about a lot in our house right now.

I think the thing that has been the hardest for her so far has been the change in our morning routine. She used to get in our bed and "snuggle" with me while daddy got ready for work. This usually meant her watching Mickey while mommy drifted in and out of sleep. Now when she comes into the room I am normally up nursing and she keeps saying, "Mommy my turn, snuggle!" Today she waited patiently and when I put Eliza back in her bassinet she said so excitedly, "Mommy, my snuggle!" I think we are beginning to get into a routine.

I have tons of pics of Eliza's first week and I plan to upload them today. Have a great day! I am loving this cooler weather and as much as I loathe being pregnant in the summer, I sure love having a fall baby!

Reflections on my first postpartum days

Good thing a women "glows" so they say when pregnant because there aint no glowing in the first few postpartum days. This has been my roughest go of it yet. This being my 3rd delivery, I felt as though I was well prepared for what the first few days after having a baby is like. I am not someone who like to lay around, knocked up on pain meds. I like to get up and try to get ready for the day! It always makes me feel better.

Well, if you saw me today you'd see my in pjs, no make-up, hair pulled back, and just hoping tom. I will feel better. I nursed ella and had to let my milk dry up with Samuel which was pure torture. I am familiar with nursing and engorgement and how rough the process can be. However, I was not prepared for this. Mastitis on postpartum days 4&5. My milk came in with a vengeance and sweet little eliza is trying her best and cannot keep up. I have tried everything! Last night I began running a fever, chills, aching all over and couldn't function. I called the doc. on call and they called me in a prescription at 12am. My sweet hubby ventured out with all the crazies in the middle of the night to pick it up for me. I am still feeling pretty rough today. There is really no way to prepare for cracked and bleeding nipples, swollen breasts, pain and nursing every 2-3 hours. I really am committed to nursing for many reasons and I am praying I will make it through this stretch! Nursing is hard in the beginning and I know the rewards both financially and practically speaking of continuing! Don't ever let any tell you it is a piece of cake. Maybe this is why so many women are so passionate about it!

ella and eliza are doing great! They are sleeping well and adjusting great! Thank goodness. Ella seems to really love eliza now, although she is still being called Titus. We are still working on it. I am so thankful to be a new mommy, but I really cannot wait to feel like myself again. I this frump stage will pass...and the mastitis will hopefully clear up soon. Can't wait to get on with life!

Things I'd forgotten about having a newborn!

1. How teeny tiny they are...esp. when compared with an older sibling. Ella looks huge now!
2. How hard it is to function in the middle of the night when you are exhausted.
3. How sweet they smell....even sweet little newborn poop!
4. How nursing is so not fun in the beginning...not sure it is ever fun but so worth it....let's just say the milk factory has arrived!
5. How careful and protective my husband is over our babies. He is a complete germaphobe and uses tons and tons of purell everyday. I love him for that!
6. How frumpy the frump stage is!
7. How you can feel skinny after having a baby until you try on an normal piece of clothing!
8. How newborns make all kinds of funny sounds and faces. Ella used to scare me with her eye rolls and whimpers.
9. How great it is to leave the hospital with a baby it tow. There is so much pride in being wheeled out holding your baby!
10. How newborns poop so much! Oh my goodness....we have used almost 24 diapers in two days!
11. How much you can love something so small!

She's Here!

Most of my friends know by now that little Eliza Anne is here. We had a great delivery and she was bigger than we expected! She weighed 5lbs 15 oz. and is 18 inches long. She is a peanut and is so cute. We are still not totally sure what color her hair will be, but right now it is actually looking a little more brown than Samuel and Ella's looked at birth. She is doing great and is eating well. This is such an answer to prayer because Ella had such a difficult time nursing in the beginning. We are just so thankful to the Lord for another child to love and take home!

I had another fast delivery. Actually it was going slower than we expected and eliza was having some dips in her heart rate. My doctor was trying to keep me from getting worried but I could tell that she was worrying. I think after being my doctor through my pregnancy with Samuel, she always feels an added burden of getting my babies here safely. At 2:00 she checked me and I was at 6cm and still about 80%. Not bad but just not as fast as I went with ella. Around 2:25 my doc. and nurse came in to move me to my other side and I told her that on my last cont. I felt a little pressure. She said that would be the best news of the day! She checked me again and I was complete and eliza was coming. It became another mad panic to get the nursery people there and all the delivery stuff ready and I was trying not to push or scream. Yeah this was my most painful delivery for sure. My doc. said it was because she was coming so fast that my epi. wasn't able to block the pain. I don't know but it was not a fun few minutes. I was so thankful it was fast. She was born at 2:32...and was pink and crying. I cannot tell you what a blessing it is to have another healthy child.

Ella came to visit us last night and meet her sis. She thinks she is her cousin Titus. (Titus, please don't be offended...you def. don't look girly!) Maybe she is in denial that eliza is really here. She was very scared of mommy. My IV line was still in and I had some bandages on my arm. I think she was also scared of the hospital bed. She wouldn't even let me hold her. It did make me sad but I know she is so confused over all that has happened these past few days. She came by this morning and was better. She let me love on her some and still thinks that eliza is Titus. We have lots of adjusting to do in the next few weeks.

Thank you to all my friends and family who have been praying for us and for eliza. The Lord has once again been faithful and answered our prayers! Thank you for your sweet comments on facebook and my blog. It has meant so much to kevin and I. :)

Letters to my Girls

Dear Ella,
Tonight mommy's heart feels a mix of emotions! I didn't want to put you in bed tonight and can't imagine not being with you for a few days. We have never spent a night apart! You are my girl...my pickles, my lovey dovey, my sweet pea. I love you so much! Tomorrow you will become a big sister! You are gonna be an awesome big sister! Eliza is going to love watching you and learning from you. I know you will be a great helper and will take good care of her. I know you might feel sad sometimes when mommy is busy taking care of her. We will figure it out. I know you might wish you were a baby again sometimes and that is okay too. I will miss you tomorrow and I can't wait to see you at the hospital.
Love,
Mommy

Dear Eliza,
Tomorrow is a big day for the both of us! We both have lots of work to do. I feel nervous and yet so excited about tomorrow. I cannot imagine you yet...what you will look like...act like...who you will be. I know one thing is for sure, from the moment my eyes see you, my heart will love you forever. You will be my little girl. You get to be our baby. I cannot wait to watch you steal your daddy's heart just as your sister ella has done. Mommy is praying that you will come out healthy and strong tomorrow! I am praying that you are hungry and are a great eater! So nestle close inside for one more long night little one. Tomorrow is your Birthday!
Love,
Mommy

Count down to Baby!

I think Kev and I have to keep pinching ourselves that we are really almost at delivery day! I seriously feel like I have been pregnant for forever! I am not exaggerating when I say it has almost been an entire year! I know you are confused. We got pregnant early last October and then miscarried at 10 weeks! By the grace of God we pregnant again two weeks later with eliza so all in all it has been almost a full year. Can I just tell you how ready I am to not be wearing these maternity clothes. I may not fit in a single thing next week but I can assure you that I will not be wearing these same clothes. I will settle for anything else. I am just at that point that I think God created where you are so ready to not be pregnant that you don't care what has to happen to your body in order to get the baby out. Let's just say that I am no longer glowing!

Friday was another intersting appointment and eliza wasn't moving and reactive enough on the NST. So I got another ultrasound. With ella I had like 11 ultrasounds and I thought that I was back to being normal,but due to these past two and a half weeks I think I may have had more with eliza. I am thankful that she decided to wake up from her nap in time for the ultrasound and get back to moving! The bp through the cord has continued to improve and she was practicing her breathing like a little champ. So everything is set for early Tuesday morning.

We (I mean kev) has some big house cleaning to do tonight and tom. and I am gonna try to reach my toes one last time. We got ella a big sister present today...a new baby, her own baby wipes and baby doll diapers. Poor thing! This is gonna be a big week for her! I cannot wait to see her reaction to eliza and to finally see them together.

Thanks for your prayers and concern over my pregnancy and bed rest time. It was the longest 2 1/2 weeks of my life but I am thankful that we have almost made it. Please pray that eliza will be larger than expected and will be healthy and ready to come home with us. Thanks!