As I mentioned, we have been completely spoiled for the last 2 weeks. Craig's mom was here visiting and just spoiled Ellie and I rotten. It was awesome. We also spent time w/ my parents each weekend and they are spoiling us, too!
So, today is my first day w/ Ellie by myself and it has gone great so far! It's so unbelievable w/ a newborn how quickly your days go by... and you realize you have accomplished nothing of great importance. Well, except feeding and bonding w/ your gorgeous, amazing new daughter!
When Ellie was 4 days old we did a photo shoot w/ Amy Fraughton, the one who did our prego pics. We got the pics back last week and immediately ordered our announcements, which came today and will be going back out in the mail today: so check your mail later this week! The pictures are amazing and we are so proud of them. YOU CAN'T IMAGINE HOW HARD IT HAS BEEN FOR ME NOT TO EMAIL THEM OUT! But, we paid a pretty penny for our announcements and I want to wait until you have seen them there first!
Ellie is a MONTH OLD!!!!!!!! Can you believe it??? I can't. She's a great baby. She's good at eating, pooping and sleeping. All of the things
Since she is now a month old, we celebrated this weekend by actually leaving the house! She went to the mall for her first time (spending most of that time at the Apple store getting daddy's new iPhone) and by going out to eat at Roma Gardens w/ Grandpa and Grandma. She has been a little fussy in the evenings but we are chalking it up to a growth spurt and gas... Two things I'm told are pretty common.
We went to our first Breastfeeding support group meeting last week too, and are excited to go again this week. I'm telling you this because we got to weigh her and she's already almost 11 lbs!!!!
Speaking of that... someone is hungry!!!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Hey ya'll!
Quick shout out to my sister Julie, it's her 30th Birthday!!!!!
Things are going well here!!! Memaw is still spoiling us ROTTEN!
Ellie slept in her own crib last night! Mommy didn't sleep much, but Ellie slept fine, of course :) Hopefully it will get a little easier each night.
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1276162015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
We wore our IU Cheerleader outfit over to Grandma and Grandpa's on Saturday. We were saving it for football season to start but our newborn clothes are already getting small!!!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Memaw is here!
Well, we've made it over 2 weeks! Ellie is doing so great, and so are we! Daddy went back to work this morning and Memaw is here! Grandma and Grandpa came over yesterday for a nice visit and today we are relaxing.
We have to admit something: Ellie is a GREAT baby! She doesn't fuss much and is a great eater, sleeper and of course, pooper! We are so blessed and lucky.
We got her newborn pics taken 2 weeks ago and are DYING to get those back. Stay tuned. Here are some new ones:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1233669015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
And from last week (in case you didn't see them yet):
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1184406015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
We have to admit something: Ellie is a GREAT baby! She doesn't fuss much and is a great eater, sleeper and of course, pooper! We are so blessed and lucky.
We got her newborn pics taken 2 weeks ago and are DYING to get those back. Stay tuned. Here are some new ones:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1233669015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
And from last week (in case you didn't see them yet):
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1184406015/a=5766466_5766466/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The Birth Story
Short Version:
July 30, 2009
11:00 am: 40 week check up (40 week and 3 day check up, actually). Dr. stripped my membranes (for the second time) and said he was able to dilate me to 2, but went ahead and scheduled the induction for Monday morning. We were super frustrated. The end. So we thought.
8:00 pm: Started timing contractions… 8 minutes apart! Guess this is going to happen
10:30 pm: Had to wake Craig up (since he took an Ambien right before I told him I thought I was having contractions) to get me to the hospital! My contractions were coming on top of each other and were already getting to be REALLY painful.
11:30 pm: We were in triage and almost checked in… I was already dilated to 6 and contractions were beyond horrible at this point
July 31, 2009
Midnight: EPIDURAL (yay!) and around this time Craig’s nurse had to come in too, since he almost passed out! We think it was a combination of the Ambien and Rockstar energy drink--nothing gross was even going on yet J And he made it through the entire rest of the birth like a champ! Still, funny he had to have his own nurse com in.
2:00 - 4:00 am: NAP TIME! Epidurals rock.
8:00 am: Check up-- 9 ½ cm! Dr. broke my water.
8:30 am: Started pushing
10:20 am: Episiotomy
10:29 am: WELCOME ELEANOR BLANCHE MITCHEN!!!!!!!!!
Long Version
Birth Story
Thursday, July 30th was our 40+ week check up w/ Dr. Holmes (our due date was the 28th). We were hoping that we had made some progress, but we were frustrated to find out that we had not made any. We decided to have the Dr. strip my membranes again. He was able to do this and make a little progress (dilated me to 2) but he went ahead and scheduled an induction for Monday morning. Needless to say, we were pretty disappointed and frustrated.
You see… we thought for sure she would come even a little early! Everyone told me that first babies are notoriously late, but we were just SO READY to meet her! Starting at our 36 week check up, every day and every night we thought I’d go into labor. Of course, we know we were being unrealistic and impatient but it was so hard not to!
At our 39 week check up, the Dr. “stripped my membranes” (ouch!) and we were dilated to one! What great news! We thought for sure we would go that weekend… that night, we walked the mall, drank the herbal tea, ate spicy food… all of the things that we were supposed to do to help Ellie come out. That night, I was cramping really bad. The next day, same thing… and I even lost my mucus plug! But no baby. I went back to work the next week and was just miserable. By the time our 40 week check up rolled around, we were practically in disbelief that we didn‘t have a baby yet!
I was in tears by the time we left the Dr. office that day… since we had to schedule her induction for the following Monday. I really didn’t want to have to take Pitocin and we were just really, really, really (did I say really?) ready to meet her! I was down and out and basically MAD that afternoon. I guess positive thinking doesn’t always work! Since Dr. Holmes had stripped my membranes again (DOUBLE OUCH!) I was having some more cramping that evening but we knew how stubborn she was, so we prepared ourselves to have to wait until Monday. Ellie had other plans…
Around 8:00 PM, we went to bed (still frustrated), after a dinner of Pinto Beans (a Texas dish I make for Craig sometimes--beans, Rotel tomatoes & spices--ummm, bad idea?). After I laid down and relaxed, I started realizing that something was going on. Could it possible? Yes, yes, I do think I might be having contractions! We timed them and they were about 7-8 minutes apart… Uh oh! I guess this is really going to happen now J At this point, we figured I’d be in labor all night, so I sent Craig to bed in the guest room to get some rest…. SINCE HE HAD TAKEN AN AMBIEN EARLIER--previous to me mentioning that I thought I might be having contractions!
The next hour and a half are kind of a blur. I remember that I took a bath, did some laundry, finished packing, sat on my yoga ball and called my mom… However, before I knew it, my contractions were getting steadily harder, more painful and closer together. I better wake up the husband.
I woke Craig up around 10:30--this wasn’t an easy task believe me! He immediately went to the fridge and got a Rockstar energy drink to help wake him up. We were out the door in about 15 minutes. The car ride is also a blur, but I remember not being able to talk and being scared to death because my contractions were coming RIGHT ON TOP of one another. I know everyone’s labor is different… My labor pains were all in my lower abdomen/groin area shooting down the tops of my legs. By the time we got to the hospital and into triage, I couldn’t breathe, sit, lean on something or do ANYTHING during a contraction (again--most of them were right on top of one another with maybe a 30 second break after 3 or 4). I finally managed to get up on the table, the nurse checked me and I was 6 cm. She didn’t even finish the rest of the tests that they do, since it was a done deal that I was getting admitted!
In case you don’t already know this, I was planning on trying to have a “natural” childbirth experience. I learned so much throughout my pregnancy from my Yoga teacher Lisette, as well as doing my own research. I thought this was something I could do. Mind over matter right? We even had a private coaching sesison w/ Listette. We had religiously been doing our perenial massage every night, practicing breathing, doing yoga, visualization, relaxation techniques, you name it. HOWEVER, at this point, Craig and I had a quick conversation that went a little something like this:
Jennifer (picture a CRAZY look in her eyes--much like a cartoon character w/ the black and white swirlies going around): “Craig, I’m getting an epidural”
Craig (reciting the speech we had practiced): “Are you sure hunny? I think you can do it with out! You are already 6 cm! I know you can do this!”
Jennifer: “This is NOT up for discussion. I’m getting an epidural, so just drop it!”
Craig: “Um, ok!”
Later, he told me that he really wanted me to get one all along but was going along w/ my wishes to have the natural childbirth. He was really glad when I finally “gave in” and decided to have one.
Let me just say now that I am perfectly fine w/ this decision! I don’t feel bad at all. It was just a decision I had to make and am really happy that I did. I still have it in my head that IF I ever decide to have a second child, I will still try the natural route, but for this birth, this is what I had to do! I also do not judge anyone else either way for whatever they decide to do. Everyone has a different idea of how their birth should go. I am, however, REALLY grateful and happy that I did have ALL of the information at hand to make the decision I needed to. I think it would be really frustrating to someone who was “talked into” having an epidural or really hadn’t researched the entire process on their own.
Ok, so now it’s about midnight and we are getting checked into our room and the Anesthesiologist shows up immediately and gives me the epidural! I was one of those lucky folks who have to have it TWICE since the first one didn’t take properly. It’s not really a big deal at the time, but there are some side effects that can happen later. Again, luckily, I already knew that this was one of the risks and consequences of having an epidural, so it didn’t upset me too bad. It kicked in almost immediately and the pain relief was GLORIOUS!!!!!!!!! Angels were singing!!!!
The next several hours were all a blur of being frequently checked by nurses, turned from side to side to make sure the epidural was spreading evenly and the best part, NAPPING. Craig and I were both able to get a couple hours of rest! Around 8:00 am, they checked me and I was 9 ½ cm. The Dr. came in, broke my water (ask Craig some day for a graphic description of that!) and I started pushing at 8:30.
I ended up pushing for about 2 hours. Around 10:00, our progress was slowing down, so I had a quick dose of Pitocin, around 10:20 an episiotomy (the only point the Dr. told Craig NOT to look!) and it seemed as if she “popped” right out! I must admit pushing was not necessarily as hard as I thought it would be. But I had 2 awesome coaches. My nurse Brian and Craig! They both were so positive and supportive. It was so fun to watch the look on Craig’s face when her head would inch down. He was so excited.
Craig cut the umbilical cord and hung out w/ the Dr while I delivered the placenta (and the Dr. showed Craig all of the intricacies of the placenta). She came out and immediately was sucking her thumb. They weren’t able to put her on my chest immediately, since I had the risk of Strep B, so they had to check her out and went ahead and cleaned her up. They gave her to me and of course it was love at first sight! I don’t remember the next couple of hours exactly, but we were able to get her to nurse right away--she latched on and hasn’t stopped! I feel VERY blessed for this. At some point when we had 30 seconds of privacy, Craig slipped me a “Push Present”! He got me a ruby ring which is Ellie’s birthstone. He wanted to get me something I could give to her some day. It’s gorgeous and so thoughtful. Although he was SWEATING that he would have to go exchange it for the August birthstone J
They took us upstairs to the 5th floor for my recovery room and the nurses helped us get settled. She continued to eat every couple hours and Grandma and Grandpa Skinner were able to FINALLY come see us (they had been waiting patiently ALL DAY!). We will always remember the view of the mountains from our room.
Although the hospital was very nice, we did have to stay for a full 48 hours so they could make sure she didn’t have the Strep B virus and believe me: we were SO READY to come home on Sunday morning. Once we got home, we were able to start relaxing a little more (thanks to my parents coming over to help, of course!).
Overall, it was, no doubt, the most intense, wonderful, scary, painful, fun, exciting and joyous experience of my entire life…
July 30, 2009
11:00 am: 40 week check up (40 week and 3 day check up, actually). Dr. stripped my membranes (for the second time) and said he was able to dilate me to 2, but went ahead and scheduled the induction for Monday morning. We were super frustrated. The end. So we thought.
8:00 pm: Started timing contractions… 8 minutes apart! Guess this is going to happen
10:30 pm: Had to wake Craig up (since he took an Ambien right before I told him I thought I was having contractions) to get me to the hospital! My contractions were coming on top of each other and were already getting to be REALLY painful.
11:30 pm: We were in triage and almost checked in… I was already dilated to 6 and contractions were beyond horrible at this point
July 31, 2009
Midnight: EPIDURAL (yay!) and around this time Craig’s nurse had to come in too, since he almost passed out! We think it was a combination of the Ambien and Rockstar energy drink--nothing gross was even going on yet J And he made it through the entire rest of the birth like a champ! Still, funny he had to have his own nurse com in.
2:00 - 4:00 am: NAP TIME! Epidurals rock.
8:00 am: Check up-- 9 ½ cm! Dr. broke my water.
8:30 am: Started pushing
10:20 am: Episiotomy
10:29 am: WELCOME ELEANOR BLANCHE MITCHEN!!!!!!!!!
Long Version
Birth Story
Thursday, July 30th was our 40+ week check up w/ Dr. Holmes (our due date was the 28th). We were hoping that we had made some progress, but we were frustrated to find out that we had not made any. We decided to have the Dr. strip my membranes again. He was able to do this and make a little progress (dilated me to 2) but he went ahead and scheduled an induction for Monday morning. Needless to say, we were pretty disappointed and frustrated.
You see… we thought for sure she would come even a little early! Everyone told me that first babies are notoriously late, but we were just SO READY to meet her! Starting at our 36 week check up, every day and every night we thought I’d go into labor. Of course, we know we were being unrealistic and impatient but it was so hard not to!
At our 39 week check up, the Dr. “stripped my membranes” (ouch!) and we were dilated to one! What great news! We thought for sure we would go that weekend… that night, we walked the mall, drank the herbal tea, ate spicy food… all of the things that we were supposed to do to help Ellie come out. That night, I was cramping really bad. The next day, same thing… and I even lost my mucus plug! But no baby. I went back to work the next week and was just miserable. By the time our 40 week check up rolled around, we were practically in disbelief that we didn‘t have a baby yet!
I was in tears by the time we left the Dr. office that day… since we had to schedule her induction for the following Monday. I really didn’t want to have to take Pitocin and we were just really, really, really (did I say really?) ready to meet her! I was down and out and basically MAD that afternoon. I guess positive thinking doesn’t always work! Since Dr. Holmes had stripped my membranes again (DOUBLE OUCH!) I was having some more cramping that evening but we knew how stubborn she was, so we prepared ourselves to have to wait until Monday. Ellie had other plans…
Around 8:00 PM, we went to bed (still frustrated), after a dinner of Pinto Beans (a Texas dish I make for Craig sometimes--beans, Rotel tomatoes & spices--ummm, bad idea?). After I laid down and relaxed, I started realizing that something was going on. Could it possible? Yes, yes, I do think I might be having contractions! We timed them and they were about 7-8 minutes apart… Uh oh! I guess this is really going to happen now J At this point, we figured I’d be in labor all night, so I sent Craig to bed in the guest room to get some rest…. SINCE HE HAD TAKEN AN AMBIEN EARLIER--previous to me mentioning that I thought I might be having contractions!
The next hour and a half are kind of a blur. I remember that I took a bath, did some laundry, finished packing, sat on my yoga ball and called my mom… However, before I knew it, my contractions were getting steadily harder, more painful and closer together. I better wake up the husband.
I woke Craig up around 10:30--this wasn’t an easy task believe me! He immediately went to the fridge and got a Rockstar energy drink to help wake him up. We were out the door in about 15 minutes. The car ride is also a blur, but I remember not being able to talk and being scared to death because my contractions were coming RIGHT ON TOP of one another. I know everyone’s labor is different… My labor pains were all in my lower abdomen/groin area shooting down the tops of my legs. By the time we got to the hospital and into triage, I couldn’t breathe, sit, lean on something or do ANYTHING during a contraction (again--most of them were right on top of one another with maybe a 30 second break after 3 or 4). I finally managed to get up on the table, the nurse checked me and I was 6 cm. She didn’t even finish the rest of the tests that they do, since it was a done deal that I was getting admitted!
In case you don’t already know this, I was planning on trying to have a “natural” childbirth experience. I learned so much throughout my pregnancy from my Yoga teacher Lisette, as well as doing my own research. I thought this was something I could do. Mind over matter right? We even had a private coaching sesison w/ Listette. We had religiously been doing our perenial massage every night, practicing breathing, doing yoga, visualization, relaxation techniques, you name it. HOWEVER, at this point, Craig and I had a quick conversation that went a little something like this:
Jennifer (picture a CRAZY look in her eyes--much like a cartoon character w/ the black and white swirlies going around): “Craig, I’m getting an epidural”
Craig (reciting the speech we had practiced): “Are you sure hunny? I think you can do it with out! You are already 6 cm! I know you can do this!”
Jennifer: “This is NOT up for discussion. I’m getting an epidural, so just drop it!”
Craig: “Um, ok!”
Later, he told me that he really wanted me to get one all along but was going along w/ my wishes to have the natural childbirth. He was really glad when I finally “gave in” and decided to have one.
Let me just say now that I am perfectly fine w/ this decision! I don’t feel bad at all. It was just a decision I had to make and am really happy that I did. I still have it in my head that IF I ever decide to have a second child, I will still try the natural route, but for this birth, this is what I had to do! I also do not judge anyone else either way for whatever they decide to do. Everyone has a different idea of how their birth should go. I am, however, REALLY grateful and happy that I did have ALL of the information at hand to make the decision I needed to. I think it would be really frustrating to someone who was “talked into” having an epidural or really hadn’t researched the entire process on their own.
Ok, so now it’s about midnight and we are getting checked into our room and the Anesthesiologist shows up immediately and gives me the epidural! I was one of those lucky folks who have to have it TWICE since the first one didn’t take properly. It’s not really a big deal at the time, but there are some side effects that can happen later. Again, luckily, I already knew that this was one of the risks and consequences of having an epidural, so it didn’t upset me too bad. It kicked in almost immediately and the pain relief was GLORIOUS!!!!!!!!! Angels were singing!!!!
The next several hours were all a blur of being frequently checked by nurses, turned from side to side to make sure the epidural was spreading evenly and the best part, NAPPING. Craig and I were both able to get a couple hours of rest! Around 8:00 am, they checked me and I was 9 ½ cm. The Dr. came in, broke my water (ask Craig some day for a graphic description of that!) and I started pushing at 8:30.
I ended up pushing for about 2 hours. Around 10:00, our progress was slowing down, so I had a quick dose of Pitocin, around 10:20 an episiotomy (the only point the Dr. told Craig NOT to look!) and it seemed as if she “popped” right out! I must admit pushing was not necessarily as hard as I thought it would be. But I had 2 awesome coaches. My nurse Brian and Craig! They both were so positive and supportive. It was so fun to watch the look on Craig’s face when her head would inch down. He was so excited.
Craig cut the umbilical cord and hung out w/ the Dr while I delivered the placenta (and the Dr. showed Craig all of the intricacies of the placenta). She came out and immediately was sucking her thumb. They weren’t able to put her on my chest immediately, since I had the risk of Strep B, so they had to check her out and went ahead and cleaned her up. They gave her to me and of course it was love at first sight! I don’t remember the next couple of hours exactly, but we were able to get her to nurse right away--she latched on and hasn’t stopped! I feel VERY blessed for this. At some point when we had 30 seconds of privacy, Craig slipped me a “Push Present”! He got me a ruby ring which is Ellie’s birthstone. He wanted to get me something I could give to her some day. It’s gorgeous and so thoughtful. Although he was SWEATING that he would have to go exchange it for the August birthstone J
They took us upstairs to the 5th floor for my recovery room and the nurses helped us get settled. She continued to eat every couple hours and Grandma and Grandpa Skinner were able to FINALLY come see us (they had been waiting patiently ALL DAY!). We will always remember the view of the mountains from our room.
Although the hospital was very nice, we did have to stay for a full 48 hours so they could make sure she didn’t have the Strep B virus and believe me: we were SO READY to come home on Sunday morning. Once we got home, we were able to start relaxing a little more (thanks to my parents coming over to help, of course!).
Overall, it was, no doubt, the most intense, wonderful, scary, painful, fun, exciting and joyous experience of my entire life…
Monday, August 3, 2009
Welcome Eleanor Blanche!
Please welcome Eleanor Blanche Mitchen!
Ellie was born on 7/31/09, 10:29 AM. 8 lbs 7 oz, 21 in. All her fingers and toes in place!
We are doing great...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
