The New Normal

So we are beginning to settle into our routine as a family of four. Brian actually took his first out of town trip for work and we survived! Caidyn was at school on time every day, we were dressed and showered, and we even made it to a tennis lesson and dance class on time!

We've definitely had our ups and downs. On the plus side - Ellie has settled into a nighttime routine we enjoy. For the most part she falls asleep around 10pm every day, sleeps until about 2, then again until 5-6ish. I try and wake up for the day at that point and get ready. I've found that if I don't I never get ready for the remainder of the day. The down (ish - that term is relative, as it by far isn't the worst) is that Ellie wants to be held all day. I've found that if I think she has fallen asleep and I wait any less than 10 minutes with her sound asleep - not even a stir - and try to put her down she wakes up. She'll give me about 5 minutes - just long enough to think I've done it and start a task -only for her sad cry to start again. She's just too little for me to try to let her cry it out. Plus, I know I should enjoy this extra cuddle time and I am trying to do just that. They are only little once, right?

More fun photos from our first couple weeks settling into our routines! We visited a pop-up petting zoo at the library, finally getting back to running - this time with our double jogger! And celebrating fake holidays like National Ice Cream Day! 

Ellie's First Fourth of July!

Ellie's first holiday was perfectly relaxing. We spent the three day weekend at home as a family and enjoyed lots of pool time and matching of course. Caidyn had her first sparkler experience and we made lots of memories!

And then there were four

After a week and a half home with two I can safely say it is harder and easier than everyone said two would be. Last week we got home early Wednesday (we were home from the hospital by 11am!) and unpacked and relaxed. We both went to pick Caidyn up from school after some naps from everyone and I think we maybe had Chinese food brought to us for dinner. Thursday was another relaxing day at home - Caidyn went to school and we took turns holding Ellie, sleeping, and watching some Suits on AmazonPrime. We also started our summer of matching pajamas!

Friday was Ellie's first doctors appointment. I remember getting ready for Caidyn's first appointment and it taking us like 2 1/2 hours to leave the house. I think we were still 5 minutes late and looked a total frazzled mess. This time we dropped Caidyn off at school, went to a leisurely breakfast with our one tiny newborn where I was able to feed her while sitting at our table, and arrived a couple minutes early. She was almost back at birth weight (7lb) at her appointment so we were told "see ya in a month!" and headed out. Ellie wore the same dress Caidyn wore (a gift from Caidyn's godmother, Jeanne) to her first doctor appointment!

We actually went to Costco because we needed some groceries. It was two weeks before we ran errands with Caidyn, and we took Ellie to breakfast and Costco on her first trip out of the house. Such a second child. 

That weekend we welcomed lots of visitors and began to rejoin the world on Sunday going to our typical Sunday morning brunch with Brian's parents. 

The following week Caidyn's school was closed. They are always closed the last week of June so we had been preparing for this for a while. I went back to camp for two days with both girls. (Ellie and I actually worked camp the rest of the summer which I enjoyed a lot! Even though I was exhausted it was great to be able to keep my little girl with me and mother her while being able to exercise my brain and have adult conversation on a regular basis.) On Monday I actually ventured out with both girls by myself. We visited Whiz Kids for the first time and had fun with our cousins! It was just for a few hours in the morning while Daddy worked from home for a little bit. 

We also went to story time at the library that week and then to a fun park afterwards. It was shady, had shaded seating near the playground, and our friends joined us to keep Caidyn and I entertained. 

Later that week we also went to the children's museum with some friends of Caidyn's from school. I don't have any photos because it was the exact perfect playdate. The moms were able to sit in one area and chat and the kids were well enough behaved to always stay together (literally - they held hands if they moved from one area to another - it was the sweetest to watch!) and ask permission if they were moving to a new area. 

It has definitely been a challenge with some routines changing - bedtime is an entire other beast now -  but for the most part adding Ellie has been pretty seamless. She is a fairly content baby and is still really young and on the eat sleep eat sleep schedule. I know that things will become much more hectic as Ellie is awake more, needs more entertaining, and begins to move. But for now we are loving this time of calmness in Ellie and craziness in Caidyn <3

Ellie's Birth Story

I feel almost like Ellie's birth story begins on May 21 when I first went into preterm labor... but since I've already recapped that PLUS reading about a month's worth of contractions would be lame, I'll focus this on June 19 and 20.

We were scheduled for an induction at 6am on June 20. The doctor told us that we were great candidates for the induction, and after how uncomfortable I was it almost seemed irrelevant how the baby came out, just that she did. 

June 19 was Father's day so we celebrated Brian and my dad. I actually woke up on June 19 pretty early and went and helped my dad mow his lawn (much to this dislike of all involved but I figured the worst that could happen was that I went into labor from sitting on the rider mower plus it was a surprisingly cool morning and I was literally only sitting on the rider mower).  I came home, we had a wonderful breakfast and spent some time relaxing as a family. We had my family over for an early steak dinner and finalized all preparations for the next day. The photographer was set, Caidyn's rides to school and to the hospital were set, bags packed. There was one project left - a banner welcoming Eleanor Rose. I took the ambien the doctor gave me at 9:30 and began what was supposed to be a 10 minute craft before bed. 

An hour and half and 2 banners later I was annoyed I couldn't sleep through these annoying contractions. Brian and I watched the end of the NBA finals as the contractions got more and more intense. We called the hospital and they told us the usual - come in for a check. I felt like we had done that too many times I would just will these contractions away and fall asleep. As that didn't work and it was after midnight at this point I decided to take a shower and blow dry my hair, since I had planned to do that before we went for our induction. I took the longest shower I could - I think we ran out of hot water - and very painfully blow dried my hair. I had to stop at least 4 times because the pain from the contractions was too bad but I still didn't believe I was in labor. I got back into bed and continued to be unable to sleep. I went to the bathroom so as not to disturb Brian and just kind of stood there walking around and bending over when necessary. Eventually it was about 4am and I had been shaking from the pain for a little bit. I flung open the bathroom door with the intention of slowly and gently waking Brian up only to see him on his cell phone (I guess I wasn't as quiet as I thought I was being). I proclaimed, "its time to go! Are you ready?" and he quickly got dressed while I put my contacts in. I was in so much pain at that point that we didn't even wake my mom who was downstairs we just left and I texted her. 

I'll never forget that drive and how different it was than the other times we had driven to the hospital in "labor". I am annoying when I am not driving and usually very picky about which route I think it fastest. Its a bad habit, but whatever, I have much better traffic "luck" (I think its strategy) than Brian and I had pinpointed the perfect route. But that early morning I genuinely did not care. I think I might even have told him to run a red light or two - my biggest concern was getting to that hospital. 

I did comment that we should park in a shady spot since our car would be staying there for a while. He had tried to drop me off at the front but I didn't want to walk in by myself. While he grabbed a bag from the car I started the walk to the front of the hospital. It was maybe 50ft. My contractions were so close together at that point that I had to stop twice before we were inside because of the pain. 

We checked in at the front desk and were quickly escorted back by Ellie, a nurse we had during our preterm stay. We bypassed triage and went straight to a room! After stopping for a contraction in the hallway twice... She double checked I wanted an epidural and rushed the blood tests and IV, got me right in my gown, and settled enough to check me. I could hardly believe when she said I was dilated at 7 1/2cm! I could hardly believe it! With Caidyn I attempted a natural delivery and stalled for hours at 6cm and wanted so badly to make it to that third stage of labor at 7cm. If I hadn't been waiting a month for it I might have attempted a non-medicated delivery again, but instead I looked forward to that epidural. 

We had left the house around 4am, and had the epidural in shortly after 4:30. Time for a few commemorative photos and an adorable video of Brian pacing dealing with the emotions and excitement of the situation!

I was definitely looking rough after no sleep with an ambien in me - but we were definitely quite excited to meet our little girl!

Around 5:30 I was checked to be 10cm dilated and ready to go! The nurse called the doctor and asked her to please be on her way and we began. I started pushing and was actually told to stop while we waited for the doctor to get into the room since she was so close. That was a moment I was very glad to have the epidural. The doctor arrived and soon after Ellie did, too! It was so peaceful and so focused on Ellie. I can't even recall if there was just the one nurse with the doctor or possibly two people? Ellie arrived, was placed on my chest for some skin to skin time, and we just instantly began bonding with our little girl. Brian was able to cut her umbilical cord like he did for Caidyn and it was so relaxing. It was 6:01am, two minutes after our induction appointment was scheduled for. She chose her own birthday and I love knowing that. She was 7lb 2oz and 20" long. She had dark hair, but not as dark as her sister and not as much of it. Her little face had higher cheeks like her mama and she had these big beautiful eyes. She was beautiful and perfect. 

About an hour and half after she arrived they cleaned her up and Brian got to finally hold her. He is such a wonderful father and you can truly see the love he has for his little girls. We began to slowly share the news with immediate family first, then as the day went on close friends. Our messages were always the same though - that we would share the news with the world and welcome additional visitors after big sister got to meet her. We did of course invite our parents and siblings to come meet sweet Ellie Rose. Our mother's came first - arriving within minutes of each other and both taking longer than we thought they would! 

Anita and Ronni came by later that afternoon to help me get ready for pictures as I was quite sore and tired. I had dreamed of having photographs done to capture the moments when Caidyn was able to meet Eleanor and so happy the timing worked out perfectly. Niamh picked Caidyn up from school and brought her to us dressed in her special big sister outfit. I could not have been more excited for Caidyn's arrival and probably cried through the whole meeting. 

Eleanor "got" Caidyn a Doc McStuffin's doctor kit as a big sister gift and she put it to use right away giving Ellie a check up. The love she has for her little sister was so obvious that day as all she wanted to do was play with her and hug her. The little smiles and squeezes make me tear up every time I look at these photos!

Before long our family began to arrive to sing Happy Birthday to our sweet girl with a pink cupcake and the same outfit her old sister wore on her birth day. 

Welcome to the world, Eleanor Rose! Your birth day was one I will never forget and each day with you has been such a gift. Your father, sister, whole family, so many of our friends, and I all love you so very much! 

The Final Count Down -- The Last 9 Week of Ellie's Pregnancy

Week 30

Last drive to Orlando, last Disney visit as a family of three, and last time I could squeeze into those non-maternity capris! 

Week 31

I had been waiting for this week with a pineapple shirt for so long. I actually had 3 shirts to choose from. I love pineapples.

Week 32

Old Navy has been on point with their matching mama and mini outfits. This was supposed to be our Thanksgiving outfits but hat dress was not even close to fitting me in November.

Week 33

Happy Mother's Day!

Week 34

We had our family maternity pictures done this week. I also went into labor at 34 weeks 5 days, which we were fortunately able to stop. 

Week 35

This was my first week on "maternity" leave. A lot of short bursts of sleeping, a random interview I had contractions during, and floating in the pool to cool off and rest my achy body every afternoon. 

Week 36

Such a busy week! Our floors were being refinished so we spent a lot of time at my in-laws house. Caidyn had a graduation ceremony from her preschool. And I think we only went to the hospital once with a labor "scare". After having contractions for 12 hours 2-4 minutes apart we were sent home and told to return when my water broke or "the pain became so intense I wanted to scream". Also known as the moment my morale really began to sink. 

Week 37

At this point it was game on. All I had to do was return to the hospital at least 3cm dilated and they would help the process along. I began going for daily 2-3 mile walks with whoever I could convince to brave the heat and accompany me. I also return to work"ish" at camp. This was the orientation week and I VERY much needed the distraction from my days of twiddling my thumbs wondering if today would be the day. 

Week 38

I don't want to say the last 5 days of week 38 were the best of my pregnancy, but they were the best of the last month. On Wednesday of that week we were officially scheduled for our induction and it was exactly what I needed to accomplish the last few things I needed to and finally re-enjoy being pregnant. Brian surprised me with an afternoon date while Niamh, our wonderful friend and god-mother to Ellie Rose, took Caidyn on a special park picnic and ice cream date.