Ella Rose

It took me about a week to write this blog. I had lots of "help" from Jack :) It was written in installments and it's amazing how much you can forget about a birth story in two weeks!

Our little princess arrived a few days ahead of schedule. She wasn't due until 3/20 but made her debut on 3/11 at 12:49am. We are in love! I wanted to steal a second to share the story. I have a moment of quiet while Jack is taking his afternoon nap and with baby girl in my lap.

The week before Ella came, I wasn't feeling well. Not sick, just not well. A little crummy, nauseated, weak, yucky. I shared this with my OB and she said that's often a prodrome to delivery. I got excited. Until she checked me and I had no progress. Bummer...I was only 1 cm and 60% effaced. "I am going to be induced," I thought.

Then, on Saturday, 3/8/14, we took Jack to the zoo. It would our "big brother" gift to him. It was so much fun. I bought him a zoo book around a month ago and we'd been practicing identifying animals in preparation for the trip. Jack has done so well learning his animals and doing his best to mimic the sounds. He knows everything from elephants and monkeys to snakes, iguanas, and a urial. What the heck is that? A ram :) Anywho, the trip was a blast, Aunt Katie, Kristi and her group, and Granna and Papa all came! I hope zoo trips become a several-times-a-year-tradition. 

Well, that started the party so to speak. We got back and I was having contractions. Not regular, not super uncomfortable, but definitely contractions. I told Justin and he went into full cleaning and laundry and packing for the hospital mode. I joked that I should have faked labor weeks ago. By midnight, the house was spotless and I decided to take a bath and go to bed. Through the night, the contractions subsided and that was it. On Sunday, much the same, didn't feel well, was hormonal, tired, and had occasional contractions. This could go on for weeks...

Then...Monday. I'm heading into work and feel what I recall to be the feeling of menstral cramps. It has been years since my last experience with those ;) Only, they can't be cramps, there's only one thing that could be. I call my mom, as I do every morning, and mention it to her as we're chatting. She said, "you could be in labor." And I think just having someone validate my suspicions made me think, "you're right, I think I am." I got to work and decided to do clinic that morning and maybe visit my doctor that afternoon. By 8:30 or 9:00, there was no doubt in my mind. I called my doctor, they got me in for a check at 10. I was really excited. Dr. Savage said I was still 1 cm. Bummer. But, she said, "you're almost 100% effaced, so that tells me this is something." She sent me home to walk and get busy with errands and hopefully kickstart me into active labor. If I wasn't sure if I was in active labor by 2pm, I was to come back. I call Justin, who was very excited and rushed home to help get ready. 

Around 3pm, I was still contracting, still not very consistent, ranging from 6-20 minutes...still latent labor. So back we went for a check. Only 2 cm. Dang. The one thing that had changed, was Ella's heart beat. It had gone down. Dr. Savage said that was part of the baby getting ready to transition to a neonatal heart rate. She was convinced Ella was on her way. Dr. Savage told me she was on call that night and to come in if anything progressed. Well progress it did! By the time we pulled into the driveway, contractions were 5 minutes apart and difficult to talk through. I think that last check really got things moving. Justin wanted to go to the hospital immediately, but I'm stubborn, and wanted to give it at least an hour. By 5:30pm, we were headed to the hospital with our "go bags." It was time!

Dr. Savage smiled when she saw us coming down the hallway. A brief check, baby had dropped, I was 100% effaced and I forget how dilated, but not much more than before. Either way, I wasn't going home. She decided to admit me, break my water, and let things happen. Around 9pm, I got my epidural. By 10 or so, I was only 5 cm so they gave me a "whiff" of Pitocin, which was killer and started contractions about every minute! It was intense so the nurse stopped that. Within two hours, I was going through transition, a little nauseated, and 45 minutes after midnight it was go time! After four pushes, literally four, she was here. My dad said he had gone to the waiting room and found a show to watch and they called him before he could get interested in it :)

My mom and Justin were in the room for the delivery.

Dad and Justin's parents came to visit shortly after...

Poor Granna and Papa didn't get to come to the hospital until 4am! They were taking care of Jack until Mom and Dad could relieve them. Thank goodness for Granna and Papa! They were exhausted :)

A few more pictures of Daddy and his girl!

 The first night in the hospital was exhausting! Visitors left around 5am and the day shift came on around 6, we had someone in the room checking on us or the baby every hour! That's good MUSC care ;) Below, Ella is getting her first bath.

She didn't much care for it...

The only outfits we had for this tiny girl were newborn and they still swallowed her up! Mommy made sure to order a few premie outfits when we got home!

Big brother Jack came to visit the next day too. As soon as he heard my voice, he ran around the curtain and into the room. He was very excited to meet his baby sister. Ella was so thoughtful she bought him balloons, a toy truck, more balloons and a stuffed puppy dog (thanks Aunt Susan!).

We were officially a family of four! Life is good!

Jack is learning body parts right now and was incredibly interested in Ella's nose.

It was good to snuggle my boy. He was too excited to nap though :)

Then, we finally got to go home. Jack didn't feel like having his picture made that day...

His first day back to daycare, Jack wore his big brother shirt and brought pink cupcakes for everyone in his class.

Of course, he only went to daycare once thought. We enjoyed having him around too much to send him. And Granna wanted to take him to the Children's Museum!

Ella was and still is an absolute doll! We love our girl so much. I can't keep the blog updated with all the pictures we've taken of her and Jack since her arrival. She is a great eater (which is SO much easier this time around) and a pretty good sleeper. We usually get a four to four and a half hour stretch at night from 10 or 11 to 2:30 or 3:00. Then she's up an hour! Daddy says that's because she was born at 1 am so her internal clock is set that way. :)

 Jack was interested in giving Ella her paci...nope! Justin kidding! He wanted it instead :) Ella's not much of a paci girl. I'm pretty pleased with that. I may wish she were later when she gets fussy and won't take it but for now, it's been good and we've been able to transition Jack away from his a good bit.

Well, I hope to post more very soon! Jack is off at daycare today, his first day back since the one day we took him with cupcakes! That's probably the only way I've been able to finish this post :) It only took three weeks and five attempts. That's the life of this happy mommy of two! I truly think this is the best time of our lives and I'm loving every sleepless second! Hope everyone can meet our precious angel and visit with proud big brother soon!

Sister's Nursery

Over my birthday a few weeks ago, we went to Charlotte and stayed with Cliff and Sherry. We were able to visit with Jojo and Pawpaw and had a birthday party for all the January birthday folks (Sherry,  Whit, and me) and they threw me an impromptu baby shower! It was so thoughtful and Ella got lots of great gifts! Unfortunately, I didn't think to use my camera phone for pictures! Below are colors for Ella's nursery.

That weekend is also that weekend that we spent almost entirely in Ikea. It's quite the place. Two stories and at least a hundred thousand gagillion square foot of STUFF! We bought furniture for Ella's room, decorations for the house, rugs, a new desk, a sofa table, picture frames, a huge mirror, book shelves and more...whew! We got a little carried away. So much so that we didn't even consider where or how we were going to get all that stuff back to Charleston.

Thankfully, Sherry, a saint among women, was willing to drive it down with us. I have to say, the drive seemed much shorter having her to chat with. Justin will talk but Sherry and I can go nonstop! Jack did pretty well until the last twenty minutes of the ride too. Below, Jack is practicing with his baby. He's a big helper, and, as you can see in the first picture, very interested in body parts, particularly eyes and belly buttons :)

The week, Justin went to town assembling the goodies. Jack helped! He stayed busy for quite some time helping dad do important things like put an alan wrench through a random hole, and jumble up all the bolts, screws, and wooden dowels, and climb all over the unopened boxes. :)

We picked out paint too so hopefully we can get that one the walls soon. I'm seriously considering hiring a painter though. I'd love to get it knocked out in one afternoon. And I ordered her rocker for the room. Looked several places and kept an eye on Craigslist but nothing came up so the expensive, uber comfy one it is! Should be in in a few weeks! Will post more pictures soon!

Snow day!

A week or so ago, we got "SNOW!" Snow with bunny ears "", of course, because it was more like a few flakes that shut down Charleston for an entire week, but SNOW none the less!

Daycare was cancelled, schools were cancelled, even MUSC's clinics were cancelled! End of days, I tell ya! So what were we to do? Sit around with the fire place on, making cookies and hot chocolate and wait out the blizzard.

When the flakes finally came, we bundled up and ran outside. At first, Jack didn't know what to think but, then, he started smiling and pointing at the falling snow. Nothing stuck really, but we did get some pretty cool icicles.

If you strain your eyes, you can see a few flakes in the pics below...

Jack, warming up to the idea of snow. It actually was pretty. I forgot what snowflakes sound like when they hit the frosty ground, I hadn't heard it in so long...sort of like rice krispies. It's neat.

Poor palm trees didn't know what to think! While I did enjoy what little snow we got, and it would be nice to get more when we DO get snow...I'm so thankful that we don't live in an area that gets it regularly. I much prefer the 70 degree days in January, which we've had plenty of! Hope everyone stays warm out there!