Blowouts and spit up

I knew babies pooped and peed frequently, but it has completely surprised me how much Baby Elliott poops and pees. With that, how often the diaper does not hold everything so then we have leakage in the front, back, and even out the legs holes at times. It is shocking, disgusting, and totally inconvenient. I really don't mind changing diapers (and Kev changes them frequently), but it's a whole different ballgame when you have to change their diaper, onesie, changing pad, boppy cover, and then wipe her down or give her a bath. During special occasions we also get to clean the chair (sad day this week), carpet, dresser, my clothes, and any other object that happened to be in her poop path. Takes a little longer as you would imagine.

We felt like we figuring out preventative steps, like always change her diaper after a nap because a diaper with pee already in it is much more likely to leak. Or if she goes a lot while nursing on one side, change her diaper before proceeding to the other side. Or be in a hyper alert state as you see the tell-tell signs of pooping (such as the face or the sounds). However, even when we follow all of these measures, we still fail at times. We have considered switching diapers but we got a TON of diapers from people (most being from the hospital so we can't return them), and I'm cheap and want to use them as long as possible. I guess I can't complain when we have blowouts then.

Also, I have realized there is something extremely sad when your child spits up. I know this is normal, and it does not necessarily mean something is wrong, but it always makes me sad. When she spits up a little, I'm not concerned, but she has had two occasions where she spit up ALOT and multiple times. Of course, I automatically assume something is medically wrong (pyloric stenosis), but then I have to remind myself she does this very rarely and so as our doctor said, it is really just a "laundry problem." The other sad thing is when she spits up (a little or a lot), it almost always gives her the hiccoughs. Poor girl!

First bottle from dad-took her an hour where as nursing takes us less than 30 minutes.

First walk together on Friday. I think she liked it but she gets hot in her carseat.

Just chilling after eating.

Sleeping beauty

Elliott is so cute when she's sleeping! Even though she is so little, she's already developed sleep preferences. She actually loves sleeping on her belly, so we have one supervised naptime on her tummy (do I sound like a very anal first-time mom, because I am). She also loves her hands to be up over her head. Can't tie this girl down. We tried to swaddle her at first which basically had the opposite effect of waking her up because she fought it until she got her arms out. Now we just swaddle her arms out and she is a happy girl!

Side note: as I look at these pictures, I realize her spiky hair is getting more pronounced and she is beginning to have a mullet-like look to the back of her hair. How do you style infants hair? I guess we'll find out.

So we survived our first day alone together and it went surprisingly well! She really is a laid back baby and has already fallen into somewhat of a routine. We also made our first trip out alone. We went to dinner, and she slept through the entire thing! Oh the small things in life that make me excited now...like the fact she went almost 5 hours between her feedings last night and only woke up once between her 10pm and 7am feedings. It was marvelous! I can't get used to it though because you never know what tonight holds. She keeps me guessing.

Wake time with Mimi.

Newborn pics

Thanks for all the positive feedback! It actually made me feel much better to hear others had forgotten their wallet as well and went through similar embarassing moments too. I must admit it did make me feel like I was losing my mind (I thought you were supposed to lose brain cells during pregnancy, not after your baby was born).

When Baby Elliott was 8 days old, we had some newborn pics taken and I thought I would share a couple of the samples we have gotten so far (we haven't gotten them all back yet). I thought they turned out really well and she was such a champ during the session. She slept for about the first hour then gave us some open eye shots. After an hour and a half though, she was done. Funny moment during the shoot...we wanted to take some naked pictures and one of the pictures we had was Kev holding her on his arm. Of course she chose this moment to poop all over him and his favorite shirt. It was pretty humerous...maybe not quite as funny for him. :) It's amazing to see how much she has grown since we had these pictures taken. I feel like daily I marvel at how big she is getting. She is getting small rolls and a double chin. Breast milk does a body good.

One of the last pictures that was able to be taken. She started sucking on her hands to console herself.

Sadness

Today has been a sad day. Yes, it didn't help that Elliott had an off night and woke up several times and then refused to go back to sleep. But it was especially sad because my mom left today. She was here all last week and then she left this evening. All day, I felt teary eyed just knowing she was leaving today. I honestly think this past week brought our relationship to a whole new level. She was definitely a huge help-cleaning, changing Elliott's diapers and clothes multiple times (she has developed a not so great habit of pooping through her diaper...fabulous), running errands-but she was also great company, a wonderful sounding board, and it makes my heart so happy to see how much she loves and cares for our sweet little girl. I've always had friends say that it is a huge blessing when other people love your kids, and obviously, I would expect her to love Elliott (I mean, how could you not), but to see that love demonstrated this past week was such a tremendous blessing.

Now Miss Elliott and I get to try it on our own (since Kev went back to work Monday). Kind of a scary thought. To make the day even more sad, I had a total forgetful moment. Kev and I got to go on a lunch date, and I decided to pick up a few groceries afterwards since my mom was watching Elliott. I got my basket-full of groceries, made it to checkout, and after all my groceries were bagged, realized I left my debit card in my diaper bag, which of course was at home. That's right, I had no way to pay for my groceries. Fabulous. I let the cashier know the situation, trying to lamely explain how I'm a new mom, etc and have to run home to get my wallet. Of course I was already feeling emotional, but I nearly lost it when I made it to the car. I ran home then back to Walmart to purchase my groceries, no harm no foul, but it was an exhausting experience.

What people don't tell you about AFTER baby comes:

1) You still walk slow-Maybe I'm alone in this one, but towards the end of my pregnancy, it drove me crazy I had to walk so slow. I literally felt like I had one speed because of the heat, and because it felt like if I walked any faster, it might tear my pelvis apart. I remember thinking, "I will be so glad to be able to walk faster once I have baby girl." Unfortunately, after Baby Elliott was born, I walk just as slow (maybe slower) with different yet ever present pain. Now this is getting significantly better, but I still walk slower than I would like. :)

2) You can't sleep-Again, this may just be me, but I guess because of the drastic hormone shift combined with the constant noises a new baby makes that makes you jump out of bed, I feel like I didn't get sleep when I laid down for a good week after I delivered. I was expecting to obviously get shorter segments of sleep in between feedings, but I was not expecting to be unable to fall asleep.

3) You constantly are searching for the "right" solution-How long to feed, do you feed less if they spit up, do you swaddle them or not, tightly or loose, do you rock them to help them go to sleep, when do you change them...oh the list goes on and on and unfortunately there are endless solutions and no "right" answer. I didn't expect people to always look to me for the "right" answer for our child...does it look like I know what I'm doing?

4) People stop asking about you and just want to know about the baby-One of my pet peeves during pregnancy (which I actually blogged about), was the fact that people constantly asked, "How are you feeling?" So you go through this life-changing event (having a baby), your body feels completely turned inside out, your hormones are crazy...and no one cares about you anymore. Don't get me wrong, I want people to be concerned and care about Baby Elliott above me, but it was a weird realization that I was now second fiddle.

Well, these are some of the ones off the top of my head. I had some maternity pictures taken when I was 37 weeks so I thought I would post some of our favorites! It's so weird to see myself now with the big belly and to have now seen what was in that belly.

Happy Birthday Kev!

Today is Kev's 30th birthday, which I'm sure from today on will forever be overshadowed by Elliott's birthday...poor guy. He actually doesn't mind and would have preferred she be born on his birthdate (even though I was exceedingly thankful she decided to come a week early). We celebrated his birthday several weeks ago, but our sweet friends brought over balloons and cheesecake (his favorite) on Friday to celebrate again.

Amy, my sweet friend, who actually helped during Elliott's delivery (she is a labor and delivery nurse)

Such a cute couple!

Such a sweet face!

Sweet kiss!

We're so thankful for our friends!

1 week old

It's hard to believe our little girl is already one week! It has been a crazy week of firsts (nursing, being awake more than sleeping, changing countless diapers), but it has been absolutely wonderful! I am not a night person to say the least, but I love to see her in the middle of the night (I would however like to see her and then her fall into a deep, peaceful sleep but unfortunately that is not always the case). Here is some more pics of our little girl. Kev has really enjoyed being Mr. Photographer.

New friends!

We have had several visitors the past couple of days, including two of my best friends from college. Words cannot describe how thankful I am for their support and advice during this new season of life.

Benton is 11 weeks and is such an easy-going guy. He was totally the chill the whole time they were visiting, and is such a happy smiley guy. Jen has given me so much helpful, practical advice through pregnancy and now with an infant. I don't know if I could have done it without her. I look forward to future play dates with the kids.

Quinn just turned a year old and she is such a happy little girl and a go-getter. The whole time they were visiting she was pulling out Elliott's toys, etc and bringing them to us. Kinsey has been so excited for us and has been such a faithful prayer warrior. I was so thankful her and Quinn were in town when Elliott was born and I look forward to her visit in another month!

And another super cute picture of our sweet little baby! We love her tons!!

It isn't called LABOR for nothing...

So I thought I would take these few minutes before I have to feed Baby Elliott to tell you how it all happened.

As I said in my previous post, I started having painful contractions on Wednesday, but they weren't very consistent. By that evening, they had basically stopped so I was able to go to bed and sleep...until 1am when I woke up with even MORE painful contractions, coming about every 6-10 minutes or so. So I'm thinking, wow, this is it. I think today's the day. I got up, swept and cleaned my kitchen, played on the internet, took a shower, etc. Kev woke up at 5:30 then we went for a walk around 6. During the walk, my contractions were consistently 6 minutes apart. Kev was the official contraction timer and basically followed me around all day timing them with his iPhone app. Gotta love technology.

Throughout the day, the contractions never seemed to get any closer than 6 minutes, and when I would try to lay down to sleep, they would lengthen to 10-15 minutes, but the I would wake up with a killer contraction. I could only handle about 4 of those before I decided sleeping was for the birds. During the day, we went to lunch at Chipotles, walked around the mall, tried to do anything to make my labor progress. By late afternoon, I was getting discouraged because it didn't seem like we were making any progress, but I was uncomfortable enough that I couldn't sleep, and by this time, I was feeling my 1 am awakening. My mom had gotten here by this point, so her, me and Kev decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood, even though it was over 90 degrees outside.

During the walk, my contractions started coming every 4-6 minutes, and seemed to be progressively more painful. We decided that if this continued, we would try to make it to 8 or 9 to go to the hospital. I began my "labor project" of baking cookies around 7, and by 9, the contractions were consistently very painful and coming about every 4 minutes.

We packed up and made it to the hospital around 9. I was totally afraid they were going to tell me I was only dilated to a 2 after such a long day, but I was actually between 5 and 6! I was elated! Of course once I got to the hospital my contractions seemed to basically stop, but they got me up to a room to do all of my admitting stuff, and shortly after the doctor (obviously not my regular doctor), came to break my water. She checked me before she broke my water and told me I was a 7! They checked me about an 1 hour later and said I was a 9! Up to this point, the contractions were manageable, I was standing, focusing on my breathing and it wasn't unbearable. That however changed very quickly. Getting from a 9 to complete was unbelievably painful and the contractions kept coming right on top of each other.

Finally it was time to push! For some odd reason, I thought the pushing wouldn't be as bad, but boy was I wrong. I think epidural or not, pushing would be painful. I only pushed for around 25 or 30 minutes, but I actually contemplated in my head what they would do if I could not push her out. But it was all worth it...the pain, sweat and tears...when they laid Baby Elliott on my chest! She was covered in vernix and blood but she was absolutely beautiful! The crazy thing is she actually gets more and more beautiful and I love her more and more every time I see her! It is the most amazing thing ever and I feel so very blessed.

Sorry for the long post but I couldn't say it any more concise. Now I have to go feed my sweet baby!

She's here!!

Welcome Elliott Ava!! She was born at 12:09 am August 6th weighing 7 pounds 5 ounces and measuring 19 inches. She is absolutely beautiful and we are so in love with this sweet bundle of joy! It is completely surreal that she is here! More details to come soon.

Our happy family!

Contractions

Two words...contractions hurt. I just thought they were uncomfortable when they started but I didn't even know the meaning of discomfort. I'm sure I have a long way to go which makes me nervous...but also really excited.

Come soon sweet baby girl! We long to see your precious little face!

Progress

So, not so sure I'm going to make it to next week to take off before baby girl comes. I woke up off and on all night last night with actual painful contractions but then couldn't go back to sleep after 4am. We got out of bed at 5 and decided it was officially time to pack our bag (in our defense we had a master list, but we use the items frequently we wanted to pack). It seemed like the contractions got less, so I decided to go to work. I would have preferred to stay home, but there was a surgery scheduled that I felt like I shouldn't miss. The surgery was unbelievably long (4.5 hours) and complete misery. To add to the misery, I was having contractions and low back pain.

I was able to come home afterwards and just rest, which was really nice. I still have had painful contractions but not anything real regular so I guess we'll just wait and see. I am so excited that we seem to be making progress in the right direction, but these contractions have been a little scary...and I know they are just going to get worse!

Update

Thanks for all your sweet encouragement friends! I will definitely let Kev know you guys gave him a thumbs up on the pics. Do remember I chose the ones I like the most...there were a lot of bad ones.

I thought I would give you an update on the visit today. Good news was it was definitely more positive and I felt better after I left. My blood pressure was actually better today, no protein in the urine, good heart rate, and I measured a little bigger...yay! Mediocre news...cervix is still really posterior which means she probably won't be coming in the next couple of days, which I guess is a good thing since my doctor left for Mexico today.

He said that I can start doing squats, straddling a ball, and doing a duck walk to possibly help "open my pelvis." We were having a difficult time imagining exactly what a duck walk is, and then the thought of me doing that right now makes me laugh. I'm pretty sure my pelvis will open when it's ready...not so sure those things will really help, but don't kid yourself I might get desperate and try.

Kev got some advice from a coworker today that I thought was interesting. She recommended taking a little time off work before the baby got here to just relax and enjoy life before baby. I had always planned on just working up until when I delivered, but I thought maybe there was some truth in this. What are your thoughts? I had previously been thinking I didn't want to just be bored waiting at home, but now I'm giving the idea a little thought.

12 days and counting...

Picture time

So, we recently purchased a "good" camera. I must admit, even though I always think it would be really cool to be a good photographer, it was really Kev that wanted it. We figured it was a good investment, and that we will get lots of use out of it once Baby Girl comes.

A couple of weeks ago (36 weeks), Kev decided we should try to shoot some maternity pictures of me, so we trekked up to campus (in the blazing heat I might add), and he took some pictures of me. It was a little awkward because tours would pass while I was posing for pictures, but we got some good pictures. The only bad thing about Kev taking the pictures was he didn't get to be in them with me. I thought I would post a couple...notice I was trying to be semi-serious because it's really hard for me to take a picture without a full-out smile. I secretly envy people who are able to take serious pictures and look cool...I usually just look weird.

The following week we actually had a photographer take pictures of both of us, so I'll post those pics when I get them.

13 days and counting. Hard to believe. I have had kind of a rough week as far as feeling fearful. I went to my doctors appointment Wednesday, and of course, am still measuring small, my blood pressure was higher than it normally has been, my cervix is still very posterior, and he asked if she was moving all the time, like "10 times an hour." It made me over-analyze everything and feel completely paranoid by her movement (or lack of movement). I kind of felt like I was going crazy. I feel much more at peace now, but it is definitely a moment to moment, day to day struggle to trust God and His sovereignty.

I actually have another appointment tomorrow (since my doctor is leaving town), so we'll see how it goes.