Nelia - 3 weeks!

Nelia is doing great! We are still enjoying and loving every second with our little girl, even the challenging ones.

We went to the pediatrician on Monday and she weighed 6lbs, 15oz - so she is probably a little bit over 7lbs now. Such a little peanut! She still can't fit into most of her clothes, lol:)

This week was pretty busy for us! We spent quite a bit of time in my classroom cleaning and packing up. We went to Brysann's house (thanks again for the cute sign!), met Sarah at Starbucks, met Julie at school, and had several visitors (Brent, Erin, Martha, Ethan, Grandpa Roy).

Nelia got her first piece of mail this week - her Social Security card. That was exciting:)

Anyways, here are some pictures from week 3 of our little lovebug!




Listening to her daddy play guitar:) She loves listening to him sing too. Every night Patrick dances and sings her to sleep. Isn't that so cute?!

This is what we like to call being in a milk coma:) She had just finished eating and was having a very happy dream.

Oh, and check out the hair! It's wild! Believe it or not, it just keeps growing. She definitely has Patrick's hair - very thick and unruly. I try to slick it down in the morning, but it just spikes back up, lol:) Do you think you can use gel on a newborn's hair?? Just kidding!

Can you see Nelia? She is soooo comfy nestled down in there. That pink thing, called the Moby Wrap, is the best $40.00 we have ever spent! This almost always calms her down when she is fussy. It is nice being able to have our hands free too.

Look at our long and skinny girl! She was sprawled out for naptime, probably on the one of the hot days we have been having lately. It is rare for her to sleep like this - she is either swaddled, in the Moby, or in her car seat.

Okay, every once in awhile she will sleep in her swing too. Doesn't she look so cute with her little hands resting on her belly?

Tummy time! We put her on her tummy at least once a day in order for her to gain head/neck control and eventually turn from her tummy to her back. Depending on her mood sometimes she loves it, other times not so much:) On this particular day I thought she was for sure going to turn over on her back. She was so determined as you can see in the picture.


Chilling in the bathtub:) Since her umbilical cord fell off we have been able to give her real baths and she loves them! She just sits there and sometimes she even starts to fall asleep, lol:) However, she still doesn't really like having her hair shampooed. I love this picture because it looks like she is just contemplating life, lol:)

Sleeping with daddy...so cute! I love when she sleeps on us like this. Every morning before we officially wake up I put her on my chest and she will either fall asleep or just hang out for a little bit. One of my favorite times with her!

Hanging out in the Moby with Uncle Brent. Not only does he come over weekly to hang out with Nelia, but he is also willing to wear the pink Moby:) Seriously though, Uncle Brent comes over at least twice a week to hang out with his niece, which is much appreciated! I know she loves it too:)

Hanging with Auntie Sarah! Again, someone else who comes over at least weekly to hang out and play with Nelia. On this particular day we met Sarah at Starbucks, which was a first for Nelia and I. She was a little bit fussy, but we hung out for about a 1/2 hour before heading home.

Stay tuned for pictures from Nelia's one-month-old photo shoot, plus a few pictures from a friend who came over and took pictures of her!

Nelia - 2 weeks!

We are so in love with our little girl! Being parents has been the most amazing and incredible experience. There are not enough words to describe how I feel about Nelia. It has also been one of the most challenging experiences, but we are learning so much everyday.

Nelia loves to sleep on our chests in the morning, which of course we absolutely love. She loves to listen to her daddy play guitar and sing her silly songs. She is very active and loves to kick her legs and move her arms all over the place. She likes riding in the car, most of the time:) She likes her swing, but only for short amounts of time. She loves to look around, but especially loves looking at her mom and dad:) She makes the funniest faces and sounds, especially when she sleeps (she is quite the little dreamer). Nelia loves, loves, loves to eat! If she could, I think she would eat 24/7!


Sleeping has been a struggle, but I suppose that is to be expected with a two week old. We have had a few great nights where she sleeps anywhere from 2-4 hours at a time and then other nights where she wakes up every hour. Right now we are working on establishing some type of routine, especially at night.


She is definitely a little spitfire!:) She lets us know when she is upset with small screams, which seem to be intensifying in volume as her lungs become more developed:) She spends a fair amount of time each day crying, which is so hard, but we realize that this is her only way of communicating. We have discovered that she has really bad gas, which can be the source of some of her tears.

Nelia is definitely gaining weight, which makes sense since she eats a billion times a day, lol:) We really notice it in her face. However, she is still a little girl - she still can't fit into most of her newborn clothes! Tonight during her bath (which she hates!) we noticed that she lost most of her umbilical cord, yippee!

Patrick went back to work today after having almost three weeks off. We both really, really, really missed him! It will definitely be a big adjustment being just the two of us, but I am really looking forward to spending my days with Nelia. Auntie Sarah was here for most of the day though, which made our first day at home go pretty well (thanks Sarah!). I actually ate two meals and even took a shower! Woohoooo!

Here are some pictures that have been taken over the last week, enjoy!

Nelia's birth story plus a few more pictures:)

Tuesday, June 23rd

After being put on bed rest for the last few days of school, my doctor gave me permission to say goodbye to my students on the way to my appointment that afternoon. We knew that there was the possiblity that I would be induced, depending on whether or not my fluid levels had increased or decreased. Patrick was convinced that my fluid levels were fine and that we would be sent home. However, I was convinced that the next time we came home we would have a little one:)

My appointment was at 11:30. The ultrasound showed that my fluid levels had again decreased (from about a 7.5 to a 6). After the ultrasound they monitored the baby and contractions for about an hour. Shortly after, my doctor came in and said that she would give us choices - we could either be induced or come back the next day and each day thereafter and be monitored, etc. I asked her what she would do if she were in my position and she said she would opt for the induction - the fact that my levels had decreased after being on bed rest for several days wasn't a great sign. The chances of the level increasing were pretty slim. We thought about it for a few minutes and when she came back I said, 'well, it looks like we are going to have a baby today!' I was so nervous and excited! She checked my cervix and determined that it was still hard and I was about 1 cm dialated. She was the on-call doctor for the night (from my OB clinic) so I excited about the possibility of her delivering the baby. Little did I know that it would be a long road before that would happen.

We arrived at the Birth Center around 3pm, got checked in, and were led to our birthing suite. Around 5:00pm they inserted the Cervidal suppository (which was really painful), which is used in order to soften the cervix. It almost always takes the full 12 hours to see results, if not more. So we spent the evening just hanging out, watching TV, updating our friends and family. My OB came in a few times to check up on us and she kept emphasizing that we go to bed early and get plenty of rest. So we tried to fall asleep at 10, despite our excitement and nerves. I was having some cramping and small contractions at this point, but nothing that I couldn't sleep through. Of course we didn't get a ton of sleep because the nurse kept having to come in and re-adjust the monitors because the baby or I would move around too much and they would lose the heartbeat on their monitors.

Wednesday, June 24th

At 5am my OB came to check my progress on the Cervadil since it had been 12 hours. I had made no progress - I was still only 1 cm dialated and my cervix was still hard. So I received my second dose of Cervadil at 5:30am. I was a bit frustrated, but my OB had already told me that the chances of a second dose were pretty big - so I guess I was somewhat prepared. We spent the day hanging out in our suite. My OB had me on bed rest so I wasn't allowed to leave the bed except to use the bathroom, which was challenging especially since those beds are so uncomfortable!

Throughout the day the cramping was getting a bit worse and the contractions a bit more noticeable, but still totally manageable. At 5:30pm the OB on-call (Dr. Hanlon) came to remove the Cervadil and to check my progress. At this point I was about 3cm dialated and my cervix had softened. I was excited to move forward to the next step - Pitocen. Before they administered the Pitocen I was able to finally leave my bed and walk around the Birthing Center (yay!), take a shower, and eat dinner. Around 8pm they started the Pitocen. The nurse (Jessica) said that it could take anywhere from 8-12 hours to become fully dialated. Again, we tried to get some sleep.

Thursday, June 25th

I remember waking up at some point to the discomfort of a contraction, but fell back asleep. This happened several times until about 12am. The nurse came in to check my progress and I was still about 3cm dialated. She finished the internal exam and all of a sudden I felt this weird gush. I mentioned it to her and she said it was probably the lubricant from the exam. But it kept gushing! She looked and sure enough my water had broke. And it just kept gushing! It was so weird. After my water broke, the contractions got a lot worse. I was still able to breathe through them, but at about 2am they were pretty intense so I asked for an epidural. During my pregnancy I was most afraid of the epidural, but the few contractions before the epidural were so intense and painful that I was excited for the epidural. I think the contractions were by far more uncomfortable and painful than the epidural. I think Patrick was more nervous than I was, lol:) Almost immediately I started to feel the epidural take effect, but I was feeling pretty great! Of course my legs felt extremely heavy and weird, but it was so nice to not be in pain anymore. At 4am the nurse came in to check my progress and I was fully dialated! At about 4:30am I started pushing. Jessica, the nurse, was amazing!!!! Along with Patrick, they did such a wonderful job coaching me through the pushing and breathing. I was making great progress for quite awhile. At one point Jessica said that she could feel the baby and a full head of hair! This motivated me to push even harder! I don't remember how long I had been pushing, but it got to the point where I just needed to push the baby past my pubic bone - and this wasn't happening as hard as I was pushing. The OB was getting a bit concerned because the baby's heartbeat had dipped a few times so they inserted the internal heartbeat monitor. Patrick had said prior to going into labor that he wasn't going to look down there, but he ended up watching the entire thing (which he said was pretty incredible). They could see the head and I could feel the pressure of it - I was so determined to get this baby out! The OB "threatened" to use the vacuum at one point and that motivated me even more. I remember hearing the OB tell the nurse to call the NICU to have a NICU nurse in the room, just in case, since the heartbeat had dipped a few times. This scared me, but I just kept pushing. I will never forget the feeling or the moment when I knew that she was about to come out. It was the most incredible feeling I have ever felt. I will never forget looking at her for the first time. She was absolutely perfect and beautiful! She arrived at 7:03am. She didn't cry right away - the NICU nurse took her before I had a chance to hold her, but within seconds we heard a great big cry. They quickly cleaned her up, checked her out, and handed her over. She was completely healthy! I will never forget holding her for the first time:)

I tried nursing her right away and she had a pretty good latch from the beginning. My nurse at this point, Marcia, was so helpful. We had our families come in pretty quickly and meet her. They had all been in the waiting room since about 5am and were all so anxious to meet her. Throughout the day we had many visitors and just spent time getting to know our daughter. We stayed the night at the hospital on Thursday and spent most of the next day (Friday, June 26th) at the hospital before bringing her home.

Although the whole process was long it was such a positive, wonderful experience! We had amazing nurses and just felt like we were in good hands. Unfortunately my OB didn't get to deliver Nelia (she missed it by an hour), but she came in right away to meet her. Hopefully she will be able to deliver our next one:) But, don't worry, that won't be for a few more years!

Hanging out and waiting for the Cervadil to take effect!

Her first picture:)

Holding Nelia for the first time!

Our first family picture, after 38 hours of labor

Nelia's first trip to the pediatrician

I am so bummed that we forgot the camera:( The only picture I have was taken with my cell phone. Boo!

Anyways, our little girl is doing great! She is already back up to her birth weight and she is only 8 days old! The pediatrician said that they don't expect babies to be up to their birth weight until about two weeks. Go us! That means that breastfeeding has been a success so far! I didn't want to introduce the pacifier until I felt confident that we had figured out breastfeeding - we gave it to her for the car ride home and she LOVED it!:)

So at 8 days Nelia weights 6 lbs, 6oz and is 20 1/4" long (she grew a 1/4"). The ped did a wonderful job answering my list of questions (and yes, I took a list with me, lol). He said that she looks wonderful! She had to get her blood drawn from her heel, which was awful, but she did a pretty good job (it was probably harder for me, lol).

Here is a super cute picture of her taken yesterday by her daddy. She is much more alert and spends time each day looking around and taking in the world around her.

Nelia Update:)

It is hard to believe that Nelia (which by the way is pronounced Nel-i-a) is a week old tomorrow! Time has flown by! We have loved getting to know her - she is truly amazing! She is such a sweet baby who makes us smile soooooo much:) We just love her!!!!

She has had so many visitors and we have been lucky enough to have many helpers. Sarah is over here right now, which is giving me some time to update the blog (thanks Auntie Sarah!).



So peaceful:) Our sweet little girl taking a nap. Speaking of sleep, the first few nights were pretty challenging, but we have figured out a few things that work. We have been able to get at least 5-6 hours of sleep a night. Of course it is completely broken up, but it is still sleep! Throughout the day she takes many naps and is quite the little dreamer - she makes all kinds of cute faces and smiles.

Nelia spends lots and lots of time sleeping, but we are able to enjoy moments throughout the day where she is really alert. She is such a strong girl and loves to kick her legs and move her arms around like crazy. She makes lots of cute grunting sounds. We like to call her our little monkey:)

Right now her eyes are blue and we are anxiously awaiting to see what color they will turn.

This was her first bath. It was actually a sponge bath because she can't have a real bath until the umbilical cord falls off. She liked having her hair washed, but wasn't a fan of being unwrapped fron the towel and having her body washed.

Even though this is an icky picture of me I love that she is looking up at me:)

I will be back soon with more pictures! She has her first pediatrician appointment on Friday. Wish us luck!