Pictures from the Hospital and Coming Home

 Alright here are a few more pictures from the hospital...

Here's a rare picture with Eli's eyes open.

And guess what, I think he's gonna have blue eyes like Sean and Lexi.

We got so many compliments on this BYU shirt.

We never put him in the generic hospital shirt that newborns usually wear.

We decided to dress him in his own clothes.

And I loved it!

And here he is all red faced after nursing.

And now some pictures of Sean and his son.

It's always special to see Sean and our children together in the hospital.

He instantly just adores them and I love watching him with them.

And some pictures of me and Eli.

I just loved being with him in the hospital.

Sean left us one night and it was nice just being me and my little man.

Oh, one thing I wanted to share with the women readers out there - the power of black tea!

My nipples were really tender and sore at first (I know TMI for some people) anyway, I put black tea bags on them for 20 minutes at a time several times while I was in the hospital and it helped out tons.
(FYI, you first put the tea bags in water and let them soak.
Then you cool them and put them on a nursing pad and then on your breast.)

Sean later informed me that that's why they used to toughen up leather. So I guess, it makes sense.

The girls never came to visit Eli in the hospital.

I was really disappointed. 

I wanted to get family pictures there and just had all these ideas in my head 

of what it would be like when they came to meet their brother.

But Michelle's family all got sick the day I went into labor with some sort of stomach bug.

And since my girls were staying with them I didn't want to risk Eli getting sick.

We got home and then Michelle's brought the girls home.

They each had a rose for me.

And Eli had "big sister presents" for them.

It was so fun to see them with Eli.

They both were so excited to hold him.

Avery was actually the most excited.

She just kept kissing him and pointing out all his little features.

I had three kids!

Our first family picture with all FIVE of us!

We're a family of FIVE! 

Avery really was the most excited.

(Lexi was excited too but busy with her present.)

She just couldn't get enough of her brother which was adorable but

not so great when she started throwing up less than three hours after we got home!

So our first night home was STRESSFUL!!!

I instantly quarantined Eli and me in my bedroom.

Avery couldn't keep ANYTHING down that first night.

She just kept throwing up and then begging us for a drink.

Sean couldn't even leave Avery with me to go to the store.

I just felt like bawling and asking, "Why us?"

Eventually Sean went and bought Avery some 7up, Vitamin C for himself, 

hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes and face masks. 

It was very hard for the girls not being able to see me or Eli. 

I felt so guilty not being their with them and for not comforting Avery while she was sick.

Sean really missed Eli and just wanted to hold him.

So needless to say coming home wasn't so great.

But I'm happy to report that Avery is better and 

Sean and I haven't gotten sick so hopefully we'll all just be healthy.

Because even though we're all healthy things are still stressful around here.

I'm not sure how we will survive until my mom comes on the 1st.

Pictures from Eli's Birthday

 Alright, here's pictures from our first day in the hospital, Eli's Birthday.

Here I am after getting admitted and getting my IV and epidural.

I was brave and so glad to have that over with!

 And here's Sean just waiting. 

He's used to that by now after the two marathon labors we had with the girls.

This pictures is from kind of a wierd angle but here I am holding Eli for the first time.

This gives you a good sense of what babies' coloring is like when they're born.

And here's me with Eli after he was all check out and cleaned up.

 

Proud parents.

Here's me with Teresa my AMAZING midwife.

I want her to delivery my next baby.

And with me in this next picture is Tammy on the left, she's a student nurse and 

then Claudia on the right, my fantastic nurse.

I was glad to have them both there.

And here's Sean, happy as can be with his new son.

And here I am with Eli up in our room.

All I wanted to do was hold him and kiss him and just look at him.

And, of course, I wanted to take some pictures of him on his birthday...

 

And here's his wrinkly old man foot.

Reminds me of Avery's dry little feet when she was born.

Eli's Birth

This is the detailed story of Eli's birth.

If you aren't into details then just know that I was in labor for 10 1/2 hours and Eli was 8 lbs 8 Oz

and just wait for my next post with all the pictures...

...

...

...

 Friday, the 12th, I had my last prenatal check-up.

I was dilated 2.5 cm already and feeling really excited.

They stripped my membranes.

For the rest of Friday and all of Saturday I was sore, bleeding and had cramps.

...

I felt okay on Sunday.

...

Monday, the 15th, my due date, I was so uncomfortable.

The thought of being pregnant any longer made me want to cry.

I seriously felt like I was going to explode!

...

Tuesday morning, the girls both woke up at 7 am. I was not ready to get up.

So I let them watch Sleeping Beauty for an hour while I laid in bed and slept.

I finally got up at 8 am and was feeling miserable!

I was having some cramps. So I worked on getting some cleaning done to distract myself.

At 8:30, I sent Sean a text and told me that I couldn't do this any longer and that I hoped he was 

being super productive at work because I was praying I'd have Eli the next day.

Around 10 am I started timing my "cramps."

They were coming every 5 1/2 minutes and lasting for about 45 seconds.

So Sean left work at 11 am.

We dropped the girls off at Michelle's at noon and headed to the hospital.

First, I went up to see the midwives.

I got checked  at 1 pm and found out I was dilated 4 1/2 cm, 90% effaced and he was at stage 0.

So, we quickly went to the cafeteria and got some lunch (a turkey and cheese sandwich).

...

I checked into Labor and Delivery at 2 pm and found out that I was already at 6 cm.

Sean and I were both amazed by how quickly I was progressing.

I'll admit it, I was a little freaked out.

I thought I'd have more time and had planned on laboring in the tub (I had packed our swimsuits).

But I decided that I wanted my IV and epidural ASAP!

Those are the two things that I dread the most.

I cried when I got the epidural. It hurt and is stressful for me.

...

At 3 pm I had digressed and was only 5 cm. I was heartbroken when my nurse told me that.

So they gave me a catheter because we realized that

we might be there a little longer than we originally thought.

Eli's heart rate keep decelerating so by 4 pm I was put on oxygen for the remainder of my labor.

(The same thing happen when I was in labor with Avery.)

At 4:40 pm they broke my water. 

I also got checked at that time.

Teresa my midwife checked me during a contraction and told me that

Eli's head was really low at that I was dilated 8 cm.

But as soon as my contraction ended, Eli wasn't as low anymore therefor 

not putting as much pressure on my cervix and I was only dilated to 6 cm again. 

I was so frustrated! Things had been progressing so fast before and now progression seemed to stop!

...

Since things were going slow, I told Sean to go get some dinner.

At 5:00 my nurse, Claudia told me to do some nipple stimulation.

I massaged one nipple for 2 minutes then stopped for 5 then the other nipple for 2 minutes. And so on.

By 5:30 I had made it to 10 cm!!! 

I was still just at stage 0 (that's referring to how low the baby's head is, I think stage +3 is the lowest, I can't remember, the point is I wasn't there yet.)

But I was feeling tons of pressure.

At this point Sean made it back.

At 5:40 I had decided that my epidural was wearing off so I asked to get a little extra dosage.

By this point my nurse had pushed the little button on my epidural tube twice 

so the anesthesiologist came and gave me another dosage.

I later regretted this.

I was so numb! And lot just my lower half but my entire right side. 

I kept raising and shaking my right arm like you do 

when your arm falls asleep and you want to get the feeling back.

...

Around 6:10 it was time to start pushing.

I asked for the mirror and watched the entire time. It was so surreal.

Eli was born at 6:24 pm.

Immediately he was laid on my chest and I just couldn't believe that there was my baby.

Sean cut the cord and we wiped him off a little and I just held him.

...

Eventually the nurses checked him out.

His birth stats: 8 lbs 8 Oz and 20.5 inches

...

I asked Teresa to show me my placenta.

It was so cool. Seriously, our bodies are amazing! 

...

Then I nursed Eli.

He didn't want to stop.

Eventually I made him stop so we could go to our new room.

And once we got there, I nursed him again.

...

I just have to say that I had amazing nurses both in Labor & Delivery and in the Mother & Baby Unit.

Also, I'm so grateful that I decided to see the midwives.

My midwife was AMAZING!!!

She was with me way more than my MD's ever were and she took time to talk with me.

I have to say that is was my best birthing experience by far 

and Sean and I are already to see how the next birth goes.

Lexi's Second Birthday

I'm a week late with this post but better late than never. Last Tuesday our little Lexi turned TWO! Sean was so excited for Lexi's birthday. The night before he bought streamers and balloons and decorated the living room all by himself. We woke Lexi up before Sean left for work so we could wish her a Happy Birthday and show her the decorations. She was so excited! We had been talking about her birthday for weeks to get her ready.

I let Lexi start off the day by taking a bath (one of her absolute favorite things).

I also let her watch Curious George and Elmo's World (her two favorite shows). And then I made her Mac-N-Cheese for lunch. Lexi loves noodles!

The balloons entertained Lexi all day! Good for her and me.

I tried to get Lexi to hold still AND smile for a picture. She didn't want to cooperate. Here are of a few of the pictures I took...

Wouldn't you agree that Lexi looks like a little girl now? What happened to my little round faced baby girl?

For dinner I made Lexi crepes.

Lexi was so excited for her cake and candles. She especially loved the frosting. Here she is eating some while we sang to her.

I felt bad that we didn't have a party for her, especially after last year's party. But Lexi was just so excited for the toys she didn't care. Lexi got a Mr. Potato Head.

And Lego's (Sean was really excited about this gift).

A really loud and annoying Elmo doll. She loves it though. Here she is kissing it.

And here Lexi is modeling the new dress she got. She HAD to put it on the second she opened it.

And here are a few video's from the day...