A tearful goodbye

Goodbyes are so hard to say when it's someone you love.  My mom left today, after a months visit.  During her visit she was such a great help to us as we figured out the whole parenthood thing.  She helped us by cleaning, cooking, giving us advice, answering questions, being great company,  doing lots of babysitting(Brian and I got to go on a lot of dates while she was here), and many other things.  So, as you can see I was very sad to see her go.

As I drove my mom to the airport shuttle, she mentioned that of all of her children, I am the most like her.  I take this as a great compliment.  My mom is a wonderful woman!  She is kind, creative, always thinking of others, among many other amazing attributes.  I am truly grateful to be able to call her Mom!

While she was here we worked on some projects together, for Elizabeth.  We made a bracelet, a hair bow, and finished her quilt.  We also got things for me to make some other things for Elizabeth.  I am looking forward to make these other projects.  It has been fun getting our creative juices going.

Here are some pictures of Elizabeth from the last week of her visit.

We discovered that Elizabeth loves to sleep on her stomach.  Now this is a Safe-sleep no-no, but I feel that as long as it is only during the day when someone is checking on her, it is okay.

 

One morning I had put Elizabeth in the Boppy, and went to get ready for the day.   Soon after I left she cried out, so I quickly came back to find that she had slipped down.  Her head was where her bottom should have been.  I learned not to use the silky blankets with the Boppy.

 

On Sunday morning Brian took Elizabeth for a walk while I finished preparing for the primary lesson.  They were gone for almost an hour, and when they got back they had a surprise for me.   Aren't the flowers beautiful!  Elizabeth is learning early that her mommy loves flowers.

 

Just playing in the Boppy

 

Elizabeth is enjoying the soft quilt that my mom made for her(I helped a tiny bit)

 

This was truly a wonderful gift to have my mom come out.  She said that she rarely gets an opportunity like this to be able to leave home for this long.  I am so glad that things worked out so that she could come!

Elizabeth's one month doctor visit

Today was a crazy day with doctor visits for both Elizabeth and me.  We went to Elizabeth's doctor first.  She was weighed and measured before we met with the doctor.  Elizabeth weighed 9 pounds and 13 1/4 ounces, almost three pounds more then she was when she was born.  She is now a little over two inches longer then when she was born, at 22 1/2 inches long.

After Elizabeth was measured the doctor came in to check Elizabeth.  He first pulled out the growth chart and showed me how Elizabeth's measurements were looking like.  It was neat to have a visual for how Elizabeth is growing.  She was in the 50 percentile for each of the measurements, except for her length.  For her length she is taking after my side of the family by being in the 90 percentile!  She is growing way to fast!  The doctor and I then talked about a few things, and then he checked her out.  After he checked Elizabeth he pronounced her perfect, and I agree completely.

We then drove over to my doctor's.  I left Elizabeth out in the car with my mom, while I ran in.  This visit was one of the fastest ones that I have been to, and that is really saying something.  I was pronounced fine, and I was happy to finally go home.

Here is Elizabeth in her cute outfit, from Grandma Baldus, with her matching fleece blanket with the crocheted border that my mom did, and the Boppy that also matched Elizabeth today.  She is such a cutie!!!

 

 

Elizabeth Adelaide is one month old!

Today Elizabeth turned a month old.  I cannot believe how time flies!  We went to a park today and had my mom take pictures of Elizabeth and our little family.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the things that Elizabeth can do now include(but not limited to):

~Smile and laugh
~Grab onto things, like hair(including her own)
~Click her tongue
~Focus on faces and objects
~Follow moving things
~Wakes up only once during the night
~Doesn't really spit up
~Only tolerates her pacifier
~Does amazing things with her long tongue
~Mimics faces, and tongues
~Loves to be cuddled
~Neck is getting to be pretty strong
~Loves looking out the windows

Elizabeth's growth:

~Weight: 9 pounds 13 1/4 ounces (50 percentile)
~Length: 22 1/2 inches (90 percentile)
~Head: 37 1/2 centimeters (50 percentile)
~Clothing: Newborn
~Diapers: Size 1

Elizabeth Snapshots (September 8-17)

Elizabeth is constantly growing and developing each day.  I can't believe how much she has changed since she was first born.  It has been fun to see her personality show through.  She is a very happy, and playful baby.

Elizabeth likes to get her diaper changed.  She will often smile, laugh, and play as we change her.  Here she is playing on the changing table by grabbing onto the back.

 

Elizabeth loves to snuggle, and we love to hold her so she is often in someones arms, especially Grandma Holly's.  She doesn't particularly like pacifiers, but she tolerates the Soothie every once in a while.  I think that it's cute that she is holding it in this picture.

 

Elizabeth trying out the bottle for the first time.  She wasn't sure about it at first, but she ate it all, then later spit it all up onto me.  Elizabeth does not spit up so we decided that she wasn't ready for bottles yet.

 

Elizabeth loves to hold onto hair, whether it is mine or even her own.  Here she is after eating from the bottle, and just before spitting it all up on me.

 

My mom, or Grandma Holly, made the cover for this Boppy, and gave it to me.  We found that Elizabeth likes to lay in it, and I sometimes put the Boppy in the play yard for her to nap in during the day.  I think that it makes her feel like she is being held.

 

Sometimes I will have Elizabeth come and snuggle with me in my bed in the mornings before getting up for the day.  She is really happy in the morning, and I love to see her smiles and hear her laughter.  It makes me want to never turn away from her.

 

The Best Birthday Gift

I was given my best birthday gift a couple weeks early.

If she enchants you from the moments
that her tiny life begins,

If she amuses you for hours
with her giggles and her grins...

If she's the center of attention
anywhere that you may go,

If she still looks like an angel
even when she's saying "no"...

If she's the cutest sweetest baby
that you've sure you've ever seen,

If she knows just what she likes
and rules you household like a queen...

If she's the laughter and the joy
that always gives your heart a lift,

Then you surely know a baby girl
is life's most precious gift.

And Elizabeth Adelaide truly is!!!

 

 

Grandma's Here!!! (August 31-September 5, 2009)

My mom, or Grandma Holly, finally arrived on the 31st of August.  She had been trying for days to get out here to Michigan, but the flights kept filling up.  I was so happy that she finally made it here.  It has been a real gift that she could even come out.  Now we can do the many projects that we have been talking about, and just enjoy each others company.

After picking my mom up from the airport shuttle, we took Elizabeth to the doctors for another check up.  She weighed 7 pounds and 9 1/4 ounces.  The doctor said that he looks for Elizabeth gaining about an ounce a day, and when he calculated it she had gained about 2 ounces a day.  We are definitely not worried anymore about how well she is eating because she is obviously getting plenty of food.

Elizabeth's first night sleeping in the play yard that is in the living room so that Grandma Holly can sleep in her room

A couple of cute pictures of Elizabeth with her Grandma Holly

(Notice Elizabeth's tongue in the second picture, it is long and always moving)

 

 

Grandma Holly playing with Elizabeth's adorable feet.  When she put Elizabeth's feet together she curled her toes.

 

Two wonderful years, and the promise of forever

Two years ago today Brian and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple.  It was a beautiful day that I have many beautiful memories of.  Looking back I can't believe all that has happened in such a short time.  I never would have imagined that my life would have changed so much since our wedding day.  Not only are we many miles away from either of our parents, but we now have a beautiful little girl.

Brian has proved to me time and time again that he is the perfect man for me, and that I made the right choice when I married him.  He has stuck by me through the hard times, and laughed with me through the good times.  And now he has become an amazing daddy to our Elizabeth.

I love you Brian!
Always and Forever!

The first little bit at Home (August 21-30)

It was so nice to be able to come home from the hospital with Elizabeth.  Brian and I have loved having Elizabeth as a part of our lives.  She has brought such a brightness, and joy to our days.  It has been quite the adventure figuring out how to care for our little girl, and we are learning something new all the time.

Elizabeth is finally home!

A few pictures of Brian feeding Elizabeth

 

Some adorable little toes

Trying out the thumb

Such a beautiful, smiley baby!

First ride in the stroller

 

A few of my favorite snapshots of Elizabeth

 

 

The hospital stay (August 20 & 21)

The stay at the hospital was both good and annoying.  The doctors and nurses were all wonderful.  Brian and I learned a lot about how to take care of our new Elizabeth.  We are especially indebted to Deb, the Lactation Consultant, that found out why Elizabeth wasn't doing very well the second night, and taught us what to do to help her get enough food.

On the other hand, I could not get a good nights sleep while we were at the hospital.  I didn't sleep the night before Elizabeth was born because I was in labor, and then the first night at the hospital I couldn't sleep with all of the sounds of the hospital, then Elizabeth wasn't happy the second night because she wasn't getting enough food, so no one slept.  So, I looked forward to going back to my own bed.

Here are some of the pictures of Elizabeth while we where at the hospital after she was born.

 Elizabeth loves having her tongue sticking out

Showing off all of her beautiful dark hair

 

Here is Elizabeth spending her last moments in her first bed
before we got ready to go home from the hospital on Friday

Elizabeth's arrival

On Tuesday morning I started out th day with a few contractions, but they were more than an hour apart so I didn't think to much about them. As the day went on the contractions continued, but still far apart. We had some friends come over to visit and bring a gift, and then I ran to get one of my massages. After I got home that evening(completely relaxed), I started to have contractions more often and harder(there goes the relaxation from the massage). I then knew that this was the real deal.

Brian put everything together for the hospital, and did some cleaning while I tried to work though the contractions(Brian helping me out since they were getting painful). With things all ready to go we went to bed. Well, let me just say that waking up to a contraction is really awful, I do not recommend it. After a couple of hours of trying and failing to get some sleep, I went into the nursery.

I spent the rest of the night reading, and working through one contraction at a time. I decided to let Brian sleep because I knew that a long day was ahead of us, and that I would need him more later. It was a long night, and I was so glad when Brian woke up the next morning, he did a great job helping me through the next hours of contractions.

I had a doctors appointment set up for the afternoon, so when it got close to the time for it Brian called and asked them if they wanted me to come in(my contractions were not regular, and my water hadn't broken so I wasn't sure if I should go to the hospital yet). After explaining what had been going on they told him to take me to Labor and Delivery. Brian packed up the car while I got dressed and we headed to the hospital.

At the hospital we waited a bit for them to check me, but after they did things got moving pretty fast for a little while. I was already dilated to a six, and they said that I could have come in sooner. This was also the time that they would have me decide if I wanted an epidural or not. I was not planning on having one before, but I was so tired because of no sleep the night before, and I knew that I had a lot more to go through before it was over, and I need some rest, so I decided to get one.

Before they could give me the epidural they need to do some blood work, so they gave me some medication in my IV, and a shot to help me while I waited. They had to stick me about three times to get the IV in, and then three or four times to draw my blood. It was not fun. After getting the medication through the IV I quickly felt it's effects. And I still felt it's effects after Elizabeth was born. It didn't wear off until after about eight hours(the nurses could tell that I am not one that takes medication very often).

They finally gave me the epidural, but it didn't work all of the way. The inside of my right thigh would feel every single contraction that I had. They said to fix it they would have to redo the whole thing, and so it was left as it was.

I don't remember a lot of details of what happened afterward, so I am mainly going off of what Brian told me. After they gave me the medication in the IV Elizabeth's heart rate had dropped just a little bit, but nothing to concerning. After a while they had turned me over to one side, and her heart rate dropped significantly, and didn't come back up so they had me switch sides again(to the side that hurt whenever I had a contraction), and put me on oxygen. Thankfully, this was what Elizabeth needed and her heart rate went back up.

At about seven o'clock that night Elizabeth was getting ready to be born. I started pushing just after seven. This was really hard for me because the drug was still making me extremely drowsy and I just wanted to be able to sleep it off.

Elizabeth Adelaide was born thirty-seven minutes later, at 7:40 PM(everyone said that for a first baby I pushed her out really fast). She decided that she didn't want to come out the usual way, and came out looking straight up(posterior). She had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck(like her mommy, but only once instead of twice), and probably around her arm too.

Elizabeth was born healthy and strong. Brian and I love her completely and are grateful she is finally here. She has already brought us such happiness.