our friend jaime is a teacher and she reached out to me and pam on when we could get together before she started school again. we finally settled on a date but it was not without obstacles. one, we wanted to go the arboretum but there was rain in the forecast. two, pam and i had the worst nights before our scheduled get together.
pam was up all night with chase as i was with ellie. plus, i wasn’t feeling well at all. i had the shivers and my breast were feeling unbelievably painful. i was worried it was possible mastitis but it ended up fading away the next day…phew! we struggled through and ended up at my house for our date {we threw out options like kid town and lunch somewhere but pam and i felt best if our get together was low key and easy}.
i ordered lunch, the kids played, and pam, j, and i chit chatted about life. i was pleasantly surprised by olive. she really took to the boys…wild and all. hmmmmm, she really took to liam. she really loved his wild side. they ran around, screamed, jumped their way throughout the house. it was really cute to see. i love watching her grow, mature, and become more socially open to others! it’s the best thing to see as a parent…seeing your kids developing certain skills is really heartwarming.
pam and jaime were amusing. they were so worried about the boys destroying the house but i was not. they are such good parents and they didn’t let them go crazy in our house and it was too cute to see them interact with one another when it came to food, toys, and personal space. after a few hours…i think jaime and pam had enough…they packed up their belongings and we said our goodbyes. they kept apologizing for their kids tearing up the place but it was too easy and quick to clean up, i was not worried. i was just super happy to have had them over and they were able to see ellie and i was able to see chase!
although our playdate was short, it was a very good time! i had a blast with my girls and olive had a grand ol’ time with boys! it was great seeing everyone and hopefully we can make it to the arboretum on our next meeting and enjoy the great outdoors!
time is precious. time is a blessing and an enemy. i love my time with my friends and family. the moments where you get to make and create wonderful memories. the moments where you love where you are, what you’re doing, and savor the minutes, seconds that pass because life is so good. ya know what i mean? like when you are out to dinner somewhere in the city and the food is delicious, the libations are flowing, the conversations are fabulous and you are surrounded by such great people. those are joyous moments in time.
then there are the moments when you wish time would stand still. you look at your children and want them to stay little forever because they are so darn cute, innocent, and sweet. you want to preserve those interactions that are so full of love. when your daughter reaches for you to hold your hand, leans in for unsolicited amounts of kisses, and insists that you cuddle her on the couch.
or…and yes, i will go there; when you want time to freeze because you are getting older. you see your face with a few more wrinkles, lines, and spots. you notice a few more grey hairs. you notice your elbows are a bit more aged and your hands are not so smooth. that is when you want time to slow down and not take such a toll on your physic!
on a glass half full outlook {which i prefer}, time can be against us but really, it is giving us a life full of memories, children who will grow and continue a legacy, time gives you grandchildren whom you will love more than anything, time gives you more of life that you will appreciate and cherish. that’s what i love about the time given to us. what do we do with it and how to do we make the most of it? it’s precious, short, and i appreciate every second i am given.
what evokes these thoughts stem from my awesome new watch from JORD watches. timepieces can be beautiful, beautifully made, and are powerful symbols. i believe those descriptive words fit my gorgeous watch…the wood, the coloring, the craftsmanship. i am so excited to wear this pretty little piece on my wrist and have it remind me of life’s special moments every time i look at it!
when i discovered JORD watches…i thought about how all these beautiful timepieces would also make great gifts! a very unique gift for that special someone. i know, i know…it’s only august, almost september, but christmas will be here before you know it and we all know what it is like to try to buy for someone in your life where you feel like they have everything! JORD has women and men’s watches {click on the links to see!}…so you will find something special and unique for anyone on your list!
i love my watch for many reasons…it’s aesthetically pleasing through the color, the face, and the design. it’s such a unique women’s wooden watch and i love that it runs on automatic movement! i am excited to have discovered this brand because i now have unique gift ideas for upcoming special occasions or gifts for this holiday season…especially for those who you think might have everything! these watches will be a perfect gift!
so here’s even better news!! i have partnered with JORD watches to give away some shop credits {contest runs from 8.23.16 – 9.18.16}! a $75 voucher and $20 e-gift cards that expire 1/1/17…plenty of time to use to either treat yourself or someone special in your life! it’s simple and easy, just click on the link below!
i was super excited for our zoo date with kim, brady, and brooklyn. it had been awhile since i have gone with olive and she is now at an age where she would really enjoy it!
it was a really tough morning…ellie was suuuuuper fussy {very unlike her} and i was having a rough morning getting things done with a crying baby. she was not happy. i was a bit stressed and i was running behind. kim said i could cancel but that would sooo be unlike me to do such a thing! i just told her i would be 15 minutes later than expected.
we finally arrived and it was buuuusy! kim and i had no idea it was a kid’s free admission day…oy! there were droves of people there! i was secretly hoping kids were in school and it would be quiet and easy for us to navigate around. ha! not the case that day!
well, our morning started off right. the animals were out and olive and brady were warming up to each other and having fun looking at the animals. we walked around and it was great. kim and i did our best to watch our kids and catch up with one another. brady was too cute…he so wanted to hold olive’s hand but she was not having it! hahaha! it was too cute.
we were able to see the lions, cheetahs, gorillas, giraffes, sea lions, walruses, and more! we were walking around for a couple hours and during that span, we sat down for a quick lunch. it was after lunch when everything spiraled down hill for me. ugh. and i mean UGH. i won the worst mom of the year award for being so absolutely unprepared! welcome to the world of having two kids and learning a few big lesson along the way!
like i said, it had been awhile since i had been to the zoo and when i did go to the zoo with olive, she was just a baby in a stroller. well, now she is a walking toddler and i didn’t think about how long we would be walking and how tired she would get, on top of how hot it was! i didn’t think it was going to be that hot, so the heat factor killed us!
so, not only was it steaming hot, olive was exhausted and i didn’t have a wagon or a double stroller to put her in. she had to walk and i felt like the worst mom in the world. she cried for me to pick her up but i could only do that for a minute or two before i had to put her down. i mean, carry a toddler and try to push a stroller with one hand?! i was not super women! olive would cry out of frustration that i couldn’t carry her. i felt soooooo bad because she was so tired.
here’s another reason why i win worst mom of the year award, i ran out of the house in a rush and i forgot her water bottle…so she didn’t have water. yes, i bought a bottle of water for her to drink but there was not straw so she didn’t gulp as much as she usually does and of course, i felt terrible! i also didn’t bring enough snacks. yes…who am i?! this behavior is sooooo unlike me!!!
then ellie needed a feeding but i couldn’t bring myself to feed her…it was too hot! i couldn’t fathom putting my baby under a hot cover and feeding her in this heat! i was stressed about that and to top it all off…ellie started to turn into a tomato. yes, it was so hot outside, she started to overheat. argh! i freaked out.
i told kim i had to leave. i needed to get both my girls out of the heat! i felt bad and told her she could stay but she insisted on leaving as well. it was the worst walk back to the car…olive wanted me to hold her the whole way back and i couldn’t. she had mini meltdowns along the way and a few times ellie cried out in hunger. this mama was sweating. we finally made it back to the car and i loaded my girls in and blasted the air. phew! we drove through a starbucks, got drinks for everyone and i fed my little ellie and we were all happy campers! woo hoo!
after this crazy escapade, hc purchased an attachment to our stroller that allows olive to sit down or stand up on it! woo hoo! so, next time we hit up the zoo, {after learning some valuable lessons} i will totally be ready and prepared to be there for a few hours and really enjoy our total experience!!
[me and my girl]
[these two cuties!]
[all the animals were out!]
[cutie brooklyn]
[beautiful kim and handsome brady]
[our little monkeys]
[look at that chunk! she was dancing to the music…she is so cute!]
our friends andrea and jamie just recently closed on their beautiful house in chicago. andrea had contacted me about seeing the baby and i told her i wanted to see her new house, so to kill two birds with one stone, we settled on us coming out there with the girls. we get to see their new house and they get to see ellie! win win!
we pulled up and easily found a parking spot right in front of their house. we rang the door bell and andrea answered & greeted us. we walked into such a gorgeous home! oh my! it is so lovely, spacious, and fabulous! i was obsessed! the dark wood, the crown moulding…swoon! it’s so darn big! the house boasts 5 bedrooms and, i am probably wrong with this number, but it something like 4300 square feet in size. wow! plus, their backyard is amazing as well. they have a small back patio and an additional patio up above their garage. loooooove it!
they invited us over with jamie’s intention to cook. um, i never knew jamie was such a fantastic cook! he made the most delicious shrimp, risotto, salad, pulled pork, so many good eats and everything was so darn savory and good! i ate so much…i couldn’t stop because it was so tasty! they had also the most perfect cheese plate as an appetizer and plenty of libations to go around.
andrea and jamie’s neighbor stopped by, their real estate agent, kathryn, rebecca and her son julian, beth and patrik with their cute little baby boy, and few other folks stopped by to hang out. i loved meeting some new faces and catching up with the familiar ones. it was a great, great evening. olive had a blast playing downstairs in the play room and ellie pretty much slept most of the time there.
we ate, drank, and really enjoyed each other’s company. it was cozy, relaxing, and always so fun visiting with some really good people. i absolutely enjoyed my time there but alas, we had to get going. it was getting a bit late and olive didn’t have a nap that day and that, typical, resulted in a meltdown. poor girl. she didn’t want to leave all the wonderful toys downstairs in the playroom. she was soooooo stinkin’ upset. a bit hysterical, delirious, and in toddler fashion, made no sense in her rage whatsoever. hahaha! we finally pried her away, not without a lot of screaming, and got her to the car. whew!
anyhoo, thank you jamie and andrea for being the hostess with the mostess! it was fabulous to see you both and annabelle, and all your wonderful friends. we love, love your beautiful house and again, congrats on the new home!
[hi cutie!]
[cutest little baby gift for ellie]
[delicious cheese plate]
[love these babes]
[beth and her babe colin]
[look at that drool!]
[dinner alfresco]
[the happy toddler moments before her meltdown due to not napping. eep!]
oh my goodness! i can’t believe ellie is one month old. whaaaaaa! it’s already flying by too fast! i am so sad…really i am. i want to savor every single moment with this precious babe. i love looking at her, smelling her, holding her, and thinking about her future. it’s all so overwhelming for me because she is our last babe and so i am highly emotional over everything.
well, she’s an eater! i am doing much better this time around with nursing and producing milk. i know so much more and i am more comfortable…so it is more relaxing for me! i loooooove her chubby cheeks…they have gotten chubbier by the week so she is gaining weight quite nicely. ellie eats every 2-3 hours but unlike olive, ellie is a spit-er! she has reflux and vomits everywhere, all day long. this girl is very gassy! she toots and spits like it’s her full time job. olive rarely spit up or vomited {therefore we didn’t do a ton of laundry with olive like we do loads with ellie!}, ellie acts like linda blair from the exorcist! hahaha! i pretty much do laundry every other day.
ellie is a great sleeper. she is pretty solid. she’s pretty calm and docile until she needs a diaper change, a feeding, or is struggling to fall asleep {since babies can’t fall asleep on their own…it’s a learned behavior!}. otherwise, she will sit around and look cute! she is still waking up one or twice in a night for a feeding…it depends on last feeding and her sleep pattern before we hit the sack. when she wakes up to feed, she usually will go back to sleep. there are certain nights where i have to rock her back to sleep but that is usually an hour or less…although i absolutely dread it when i am beyond exhausted. overall, this babe will sleep for 2-4 hours, be awake for an hour or two, then fall back asleep. that is pretty much her routine…eat, sleep, poop, throw up and repeat.
let me also say that she is such a noisy sleeper! holy cow! it’s like a noisy train laying by our side. she loves to grunt, holler, cry, snore, you name it…ellie does it! it’s soooo funny to listen and watch her. she is so stinkin’ loud.
just in the last week, ellie has become very alert. you can see it in her eyes. instead of a glazed over look, you can tell that she notices you and becomes attentive to what she is looking at. she is starting to mimic my facial expressions and is slightly, just slightly cooing. so that is a great sign that she is wanting to ‘talk’!
you can already tell that she is becoming mesmerized by her big sister. whenever olive is around, ellie is fixated on her and loves to watch her big sister, olive, do the crazy things she loves to do! it’s so sweet to watch! i can’t wait until they can really interact!
happy one month baby girl! we are so excited to see you grow and can’t wait to see what millstones you will hit next month!
oh my goodness! i am in love with ellie’s newborn pics! tricia always does the best job!
tricia has been our photographer since olive has been in my womb. we love her work and we love her! she is so easy going and fun to work with, plus she captures our family in the most delightful way.
we got to tricia’s house bright and early. we were given instructions on how to prep ellie for her photos…um, better read then done! a 45 minute car ride with a newborn and trying to keep her awake was almost impossible! you want a baby to be sleepy for her photos because you get those cute pics that way! so, i tried my best to keep her awake {fail} but ellie was a pro regardless!
the day was so darn hot and humid. very humid. tricia keeps her studio warm because it keeps the baby sleepy but combined with the humidity, we were dying. i, honestly, never really sweat and i was sweating! the first part of the session, tricia likes to get the sibling and family photos done {so the parents and kids can relax after that and she goes full force into the newborn pics}.
of course, olive was resistant and uncooperative. she didn’t want to lay down with ellie and take pics. she didn’t want to do anything. gahhhhhhhhh, i was like, really olive?! c’mon! after a bit of coaxing, tricia actually won her over! i was shocked! olive cooperated, giggled, and did what tricia wanted her to do! oh my goodness! i couldn’t believe it!
the photo session just flew by after that {even though it was three hours long and add in that we got there 15 minutes late, and i fed ellie when we got there, so we were there for over three hours}. it didn’t feel long at all! hc, olive, and i just relaxed and had a great time hanging out in tricia’s awesome child friendly wait room while she did her magic with ellie. plus, we love tricia…i love talking with her and she is a great person and easy to get along with. i highly recommend her if you are in the chicago area…she is so great at what she does!
as you can see, ellie’s pics turned out fantastic! we are always so, so, so pleased with her work! she captured us, olive, and ellie so wonderfully! thank you tricia for always producing the most wonderful pictures of our family.
[this…is.my.favorite.]
[i love this one…but i will say that about every pic during this session]
fresh48: it’s something i thought about doing with olive but didn’t but i decided to do this with ellie. i love the idea of capturing the baby right after she was born, hence the name fresh48! our photographer, tricia, used to offer fresh48 sessions but decided to drop that option due to her kids and schedule.
i decided to book our fresh48 with lemonade stand photography, a photographer i was originally interested in when i was pregnant with olive. i had researched several photographers for Olive’s newborn pics and couldn’t decided on who to go with…a friend recommended stephanie and another friend recommended tricia. i loved both their work but it only made sense to book with tricia with her being in chicago and us being in chicago {stephanie’s studio was too far away}!
anyhoo, with tricia not doing fresh48 sessions anymore, i contacted stephanie and she was available! i was very excited! i couldn’t wait to work with her. well, the day had come. i went into labor and contacted both my photographers…one for the fresh48 and the other for the newborn pics, i get so darn excited over pics!
stephanie confirmed she would be out to the hospital on sunday {36 hours after ellie was born} to capture the sweet pictures of our newest baby girl. i was so excited and nervous…again, over olive cooperating! who knows how this babe reacts in these situations. usually she becomes very stubborn and fussy…
well, stephanie arrived right at 10am. the rain and darkness had cleared and it became a much brighter, sunny day! phew! just in time for pictures! of course, as i had thought, olive was soooooo fussy. she was not having it.at.all. she didn’t cooperate, screamed, fussed, and didn’t want to take any pictures with ellie. ugh. i was sweating. she has been this way since her freakin’ newborn pics! she still holds the record for being the longest newborn session with tricia!
anyhoo, stephanie was so patient and great to work with {no surprise, since they deal with kids as their profession}. she was calm and tried her best with olive, although olive totally gave her a run for her money, i was so incredibly pleased with our pics! she captured so many great moments between all of us and managed to snap some sweet pics of olive and ellie.
i absolutely loved that we were able to document our newest addition to our family, sweet little ellie, just being 36 hours new! memories captured that we will cherish forever. welcome to our world beautiful baby girl!
we had a blast celebrating her first birthday! we did our best heading over to kim and mikey’s house early, i wanted to help kim out in any way with the party set up but she had everything down pat. it looked fantastic!
i loved all the details kim did with the mermaid theme. her invite was color coordinated and it had the cutest gold mermaid stamped on the outside. she had the same colors running throughout the decor, from the paper tassels, balloons, and the mermaid sangria bar. everything was way too cute! you know me…i am a girl about the details and it was adorable!
we just hung out and visited with everyone. slowly everyone trickled in and we said our hello’s. it was so great to see everyone, from her mom and dad, sister and brother in law, friends, and of course mikey, kim, brady, and brooklyn! i had a great time seeing a lot of people i hadn’t seen in a long time, so it was fantastic to catch up.
we, unfortunately, could not stay for the entire party because {our basement had flooded from the heavy rains the night before} we had to get back home to clean up downstairs. i was super bummed i was going to miss brooklyn’s smash cake! that is always the highlight of any kid’s first birthday! nevertheless, i was so happy to have made it with miss ellie {with her being only two weeks young!} and we were able to partake in some of the celebration.
happy birthday miss brooklyn! your party was beautiful and put together with much love from your mom! we wish you many years of happiness, laughter, and love!
[how adorable is her outfit? little ladies boutique romper and fancy free finery flower crown]
we were so blessed to have our friends and family visit little baby ellie!
first off, in the hospital, we had my family come say hi. kim, terry, and the boys stopped by to see miss ellie {although the boys couldn’t come in}, terry and kim said hi to the new babe! they brought little miss olive with them {they watched her all weekend while we were in the hospital} and she got to say hello for the first time to her new baby sister! it was the sweetest thing to watch! it totally melted my heart to see her intrigued, excited, & shy about the whole thing! you can see it in her face. my favorite picture is of her holding miss ellie! too precious!
we then had dana and scott {fresh from their honeymoon!} come to the hospital and visit us! we were so excited to see them. they stayed for awhile and brought the cutest gift for the girls. i laughed because it was so dana to get me a balloon that said ‘you did it!’…she seriously cracks me up with her quirky humor. she bought olive a cute little teddy bear, one for ellie, and flowers for me! how sweet are they?! love these two so much!
while dana and scott were visiting us, my sister thuy showed up! we all hung out in the hospital room together, talking about the baby, their honeymoon, the wedding, future vacation spots, etc. it was pretty awesome to have them all there.
once we got home on sunday, my family came over and reagan and bennett were able to meet their new cousin ellie. it was so sweet to see them excited to hold her! my parents were over, along with my sisters and terry.
the following day, we had rich’s parents, dick and jane along with grace come say hi. grace brought me flowers and dick and jane brought ellie a cute little gift. it was so sweet to see them with ellie! their new granddaughter and grace’s new sister!
we then had rich’s sister missy, nephew daniel, and rich’s aunt wendy come say hello! missy always brings the best gifts, especially for olive! she brought her a peppa pig set and she absolutely loved it! or loves it…because she still loves playing with it! well, if anyone knows olive, they know that her most prized possession in this world is her bunny blankie. a gift from her aunt missy. well, missy found another one and gifted it to miss ellie! i really hope she loves it just as much as olive does!
we also had lan, pete, and avery come visit! i really didn’t get a good pic of them holding ellie but nevertheless, it was pretty awesome to have them come by to say hello. they were over along with my family, again, and my brother dan finally made it over to see ellie. thank you so much for the awesome gift you gave olive! we call her dr. olive now! she absolutely looooooooves it!!!!
we then were blessed to have kim come visit us. we were so excited to see her! i love catching up with this lovely lady. she is just the sweetest and it always feels like there is never enough time between us! we always have so much to talk about and before we know it, it’s time to do something else, get somewhere, or time is just plain up! she also brought the cutest gift for ellie’s room. thank you so much for such thoughtfulness!
well, there ya have it. ellie’s first week and a half of visitors. we were so happy to have so many special people come by and say hello to our new baby girl in this world. thank you to our friends and family who were able to make the trip out to us!
[she wasn’t sure what was going on]
[look at her cheeky look]
[how precious is this? my heart is melting!]
[how beautiful, my sister kim with her niece ellie]
[dana {and scott in the background} and ellie]
[cutie pie on her way home]
[having fun with the presents]
[dying over the balloon dana and scott got me…plus flowers and a gift for olive, so thoughtful!]
[olive loves the song, ‘the wheels on the bus’ so naturally she said, ‘shhhhh, shhhhh, shhhhh’ to baby ellie as she cried!]
[cousin reagan and ellie]
[sweet bennett really wanted to hold ellie]
[grace and baby ellie]
[love the laughter and love shared between these two]
[papa and gramma loving ellie]
[flowers from grace]
[as usual…the baby is crying in auntie missy’s arms]
[vera bradley bunny lovie…hoping ellie loves hers just as much as olive does!]
[she was totally into the peppa gift from aunt missy]
[a gift from aunt wendy]
[cousin daniel with ellie]
[lan, pete, dan, and family visiting ellie & each other!]
it was early in the morning. not as early as olive’s journey {4:45am} but it was right before 7am. i was feeling very strong braxton hicks all morning but i couldn’t tell if they were actually contractions or really strong braxton hicks {my braxton hicks had gotten progressively stronger the last couple weeks}. hc kissed me goodbye right before 7am before he left for work. shortly thereafter, i felt a really strong contraction. again, it felt different but i wasn’t sure! i text hc to let him know that i had a feeling and he insisted on working from home, so he turned around to head back.
while i was lying in bed…i wasn’t sure if my water had broken or something else was going on! let me just preface this by saying i never experienced my water breaking with olive or anything else. her contractions were very, very, very consistent though! olive’s labor was very different than ellie’s!
well, for those of you faint of heart…my mucus plug had left it’s premises, that was the ‘water’ i was feeling between my legs {or aka the bloody show}. i got up to get ready for the day and waited for hc to come back home. i finished packing my hospital bag, grabbed olive’s suitcase, and waited. the contractions were soooooo inconsistent. 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 16 minutes, 12 minutes. i remembered olive’s contraction being very consistent and continuously dropping in time whereas ellie’s was all over the board.
i contacted my sisters to let them know and called my obyn’s office to let them know that i was possibly in labor. they wanted me to come in just to make sure i wasn’t leaking any amniotic fluids and just to double check that everything was ok. mine and hc’s plan has always been to head into the city if i started to feel any labor pains and that is exactly what we did. although we joked non stop that we were hoping it wasn’t on a friday at 3:00 in the afternoon! well, it was a friday…but at least it was in the morning!
we headed down, traffic was light, and made it to our appointment on time. the head nurse didn’t detect any amniotic fluids and told us just to track and gauge how i was feeling throughout the day {i was dilated 3.5 cm}. hc and walked around a bit and decided to eat breakfast. the contractions were there but not in any timely fashion. i would have them here or there so, we just decided to eat and then walk around until i felt it was time.
we checked into the hotel right next door to prentice and decided to wait it out in the hotel room. the contractions were getting stronger and i didn’t want to walk around anymore…i was so tired! the front desk lady was so kind, she upgraded us to a really nice suite and gave us a discount! fabulous! the room was great although we weren’t in there for long! we checked in around noon? i can’t remember and only stayed til about 4:30 pm. my contractions got progressively worse. they were so incredibly painful but i am so stubborn and have a high threshold for pain…i waited way too long again {i did the same with olive}. i told hc it was time and we walked the half block over to the hospital. on the way there, i went through a contraction and had to stop in the middle of the sidewalk to bear down the pain. i am sure people and cars going by were like, whoa! that women is in labor!
we checked into triage and while we were in there, i went through two more contractions. they checked us in and told us we could get checked in to the delivery room anytime {i was over 4 cm dilated by then}. well, things are so slow and it took over an hour for us to finally get scooted upstairs {it was near 6 o’clock by then}. my contractions were ridiculous. so darn painful. i cried, shook, and sweated through each one. they wheel chaired me up and i thought i was going to break the wheelchair going through such awful contractions.
once i got into the delivery room, it was smooth sailing and the nurses were great! they had to iv me but it was awful going through a contraction while they were poking a hole in my vein. i was trying hard not to look but blood was seriously squirting a half foot into the air as i clenched my fists going through the pain! so bananas! they had the anethesiologist on the way and i couldn’t wait! omg…my contractions were absolutely numbing. the anesthesiologist was hilarious. he looked barely 30 and was so funny! they made it so much more bearable as i had to sit still during the whole process and going through body shaking contractions isn’t easy when they want to put a foot long needle into your spine! once the epidural was administered {that was around 7pm…12 hours after the first contractions}, life was fantastic. i was relaxed, i couldn’t feel the contractions anymore {hallelujah}, and now it was just a waiting game.
i settled in, thinking i might nap but everything went faster than i thought it would. while i was waiting around to get dilated, one contraction i felt was really, really strong. i, obviously, didn’t feel the pain but the pressure was absolutely uncomfortable. i said something to the nurse and she came over to analyze the monitors. they all seem to become very concerned. they thought maybe i had already hit 10cm and the baby needed to come out. i was like whaaaaaa?! it had only been 45 minutes or so since the epidural was given. the nurse checked me and i was only a bit over 5 cm so that wasn’t the case. she then said to me, “the baby’s heartbeat has dropped and i am going to press a button, once i do…there will be a dozen people in the room within the next minute, so don’t get worried, they are here to help”. i started crying. all i could think about was the baby ok, was the baby ok.
she was right. within a minute, a dozen people filled the room. i was crying and kept mumbling if the baby was going to be ok. they asked me to get on all fours…holy cow, are you kidding me?! i am flippin’ numb from the the waist down! and not only that, i had wires and plugs attached everywhere on my body {epidural, blood pressure arm band, catheter, iv}. i needed the nurses to help me flip my body over to get on my knees and elbows. they wanted me in that position so oxygen could circulate better for the babe. they threw a cap on my head {for possible emergency c-section}, threw a pill in my mouth, and then an oxygen mask on my face {all the while i am still crying, worried about the baby being ok}. there was a nurse who had her hand up me to see how far i had dilated while i was on all fours and a dozen people standing around waiting to react. it was the worst few minutes of my life. i was scared the baby wasn’t breathing, i was scared that i would have to have an emergency c-section, and i was just scared because i wanted everything to be ok.
after 10 minutes or so, the baby’s heart rate climbed back up and everything was ok. they took off the mask, the hair cap, and let me lay back down on my back. every time i went through a contraction, i strained to see where the baby’s heart rate was at. i could not relax after that! i was so worried every contraction would cause the baby to freak out. they explained to me that the really strong contraction i had caused the baby to become disoriented. they gave me an example as if you were dunked in cold water and weren’t sure what was going on…the baby got confused {shocked} and was ‘gasping’ for air and that is why her heart rate had dropped.
so, after that i just waited and everything was just fine. it was near 9 o’clock when i felt immense pressure with every contraction. like intense pressure. it was constant. i paged the nurse and told her about it. she came in and checked my stats to analyze my situation. within minutes, both nurses were back in and said i was 10 cm dilated. it was so fast! just a little over an hour ago, i was just a smidge over 5! they said the doctor {auger} was paged and that the baby was coming! i didn’t expect it to be so fast! one, my labor was still a long time…everyone said it would be so quick, nope, still a loooooong labor but once ellie decided to come, it was super speedy!
dr. auger came to the delivery room and we were ready to go. legs were up and i was ready to push. i went through 3 contractions, 9 pushes, just a little over 10 minutes, and ellie made her debut!! omg. i can’t believe how fast it was! 14 hours of labor and less than 13 minutes of pushing and here she was! she came out just staring…maybe for 5-10 seconds and then she started crying.
i was sooooooo happy! there was my healthy girl! she was incredibly beautiful. they placed her on me right away. oh, i was so elated to see her. she was finally here. after a very long, tough pregnancy, ellie was finally by our side. words can’t describe the joy and love you feel meeting your baby for the first time. my heart was beyond full…i now have two beautiful girls to call my own. i was relieved, joyous, in love, happy, and content to finally have her in our world.
welcome ellie harlow heintz | 7.15.16 | 9:13pm | 7 lbs. 9 oz. | 20.5 inches and a beautiful head of hair just like her sister olive. our family is now complete. we are truly blessed.
[baby chase]
