Home Sweet Home

Being at home has definitely been interesting.  Today (Monday) is the first day since last Tuesday that I got dressed....I even went the extra step and put in contacts and brushed my hair!  Welcome to the land of the living!  Watch out Nick--You're not even going to recognize this same girl you've been living with all week!

It's so wonderful to finally get to meet Eli and have him on the outside.  8 lbs. 8 oz. sure is a lot to be carrying around with you 24/7.  He is so sweet and looks so much like his big sister.  (Although this one definitely takes after me.  I'm putting a strong claim on the lips and chin already!)

Eli's first bath



Ella-notice the lips-they are SO mine!

 I was really surprised at how much easier the whole delivery went this time.  I was also surprised at how much more pain I'm in now afterwards than I was the first time.  The cramping after nursing alone is enough to have me practically begging for another epidural!

Ella has definitely had some adjustments to make.  She is doing really great with this--much better than I had expected in fact.  However: warning to any potential visitors....You should ask Ella's permission before holding Eli.  Should you neglect to do this, it will result in a fit full of tears and betrayl, as I have witnessed several times already.

Overall, she's doing great though.  Feedings seem to be a really hard time for her, as I'm sure it looks to her like I'm just hugging and cuddling with Eli instead of her.  Last night though, it was ADORABLE.  Eli was hungry and crying, while I was struggling getting him to latch on.  You know, the typical frustration that accompanies learning how to nurse again.  Ella climed up next to me and said, "Okay mom, but you need to be careful with my Eli.  You need to be easy with him because he's just a baby." [patting my leg] "Okay, so you'll be careful, right?"  Seriously, you can't get any cuter than that.  HER Eli?  I love it.  Especially since most of the time, she won't let his blankets or boppy pillow anywhere close to her. :)  It melted my heart. <3

I don't have any pictures of us at home though, so despite the title of today's blog, here are some hospital pictures.

Apparently just like her mother, give Ella treats, and you will make her happy.  She was really excited about her "Big Sister Popsicles" that the hospital had JUST for her.

A gentle kiss for her baby brother- a bribe for a few bites of mommy's chocolate cake

Our family of FOUR- I can hardly believe it

The gifts Eli brought for Ella each month I think really played a big role in her accepting him.  So far, he's given her a Cinderella dress (hated it), a hooded frog towel (ignored it), a baby doll set including stroller, crib, diaper bag, pumpkin seat, and swing (knocked the box down, kicked it, and said, "I don't want that), [break from the gifts for awhile until she began asking my belly for specific gifts], sidewalk chalk (so excited), and catapiller sprinkler (LOVED IT!).  Notice the transformation of acceptance. :)

Okay, as Nick has reminded me twice now as I type that I should really be napping while both of the kids are.  This afternoon promises at least an hour of fun outside playing in the sprinkler that Ella loves so much.  I love being a mom. :D

Boy oh Boy--for real this time!

Yesterday Dr. Puckett practically promised me that I'd have Eli within the next 24 hours.  (Okay, he didn't really "promise" at all, as much as say that he felt like that's what would happen.  What I heard, "Carla, I promise you that 24 hours from now, this baby will be born."  I was so confident once I heard that.

So as you can imagine, it was more than a little disheartening when 23 hours later, not only was I not in active labor, but I didn't feel like I was headed there either.  And so I called Dr. Puckett practically demanding an explanation.  (At this point with nearly 48 hours of labor, I was more than willing to be a bit unreasonable.)

Knowing that he couldn't induce me until the 31st, I didn't even know exactly why I was calling, except maybe to schedule an appointment for the 31st at least.  The nurse told me to go ahead and come.  Of course, I'd have to get dressed, since I was in jammies all day (with hair and makeup already done as you may recall), but I'd be right there.  Guess what--he told me to go ahead and go to the hospital--even after I'd told him contractions were slower all day!  Are you kidding me?  AWESOME!!!!

We dashed back to Nick's parents' to grab our bag and give Ella kisses and left for the hospital.  Even a tornado warning didn't stop us--seriously, nothing was going to stop me once Dr. Puckett had reassured me that the hospital wouldn't kick me out this time.  Thanks to recent tornadoes in Joplin that decimated St. John's hospital, everyone is a bit on edge.  Patients were in the hallway and I'm imagining delivering this baby, legs up, for everyone to see.  Friends, visitors, come on by and get a great show.  What's that?  You have children around?  Sorry, get ready for an educational experience kids!  Luckily, nurses reassured me that on the crazy chance that the weather was still a factor in my delivery, they would definitely take me to a room, not the hallway.  Hallelujah, then let's get this show on the road!

So here we are.  At the hospital for good this time.  IV is in, epidural is fully in effect and we're just waiting for more progress.  Eli-we can't wait to meet you.  More updates to follow I'm sure. :)

Baby oh Baby? Still no.....

For whatever reason, blogspot has been hard for me to access for the last 2 days, so I've been unable to blog about all of this. 

Contractions started on Monday afternoon/evening and were relatively regular, every 10 minutes.  I went to bed that night, and woke up in the middle of the night with them 7 minutes apart.  I finished packing and doing everything that I thought HAD to get done, then tried to get more rest.  The next time I work up, contractions were moving to 4-6 minutes apart.  Great news, right?!  No, not really. 

See, apparently, the rule of thumb is 5-1-1, contractions are 5 minutes apart, last about 1 minute, for 1 hour.  I met all of that criteria, so okay, let's get things going and go to the hospital.  I mean, I do NOT want to be that woman that gets there too late to receive an epidural or something!

We took Ella to Danielle and went to the hospital.  Apparently, my uterus got stage fright and contractions slowed to only every ten minutes again.  (Really, I mean, they put me in a stuffy, hot box of a room where I was a sweaty mess, questioning if my water had broken, and laid me down, letting me not move around.  Of course they slowed down!)  The hospital kicked me out not long later, making me feel a little bit on the crazy side, despite how nice, friendly, and understanding they were.  Apparently, they are uninterested in 51, they want you to not be able to speak through a contraction.  Well, why didn't you just say that?

I had a dr appt in the afternoon, went to that basically only to schedule an induction since I'd been checked just 3 hours before.  In that time though, I'd dialated 2 more cm!  Dr. Puckett wouldn't even schedule with me b/c he said that he felt confident I'd have the baby in the next 24 hours.  Great news, right?  Sort of.

We ran home and did some mad cleaning that we thought we'd had another 2 weeks to do.  We went out to a light dinner at Red Lobster, and stayed the night at Nick's parents'.  We thought a middle of the night run to the hospital would be easier without having to get Ella and Scout up and ready, and we'd be even closer to the hospital rather than 30 minutes away.  Contractions were picking up in frequency and intensity.  Awesome!  I thought it would happen that evening or overnight.  NOT TRUE! 

I woke up at 12:30 with a major contraction....wanted to cry.  They were about every 7 minutes at that time.  Really?  Over 24 hours later, and I'd only picked up a few minutes?  Whatever.  Within 30 minutes, they were about 4 minutes apart.  I got up, fixed my hair and make up, and they slowed down again....back to bed for me.  So here I am at nearly 10 AM, not at work for the 2nd day in a row, keeping Nick home from a big work meeting with the Carnahans, and we're still a no-go.  This is driving me crazy!!

Eli-36 hours of labor is making Mommy crabby.  Please evacuate immediately!  Love, Mommy

Maternity Pics

Hooray!  My maternity pictures and family pictures are finished.  Here are a few of my favorites:

This picture doesn't emphasize the actual size of my belly, but trust me....it's big.

These pics were taken around 36 weeks I believe.  My friend Rob with Hunter Photography was the photographer. 

I've had contractions about 10 minutes apart for the last two hours, so this is exciting.  I'm sure that once again, it's just a false alarm though.  That seems to be Eli's M.O.  I get all excited about it, then NOTHING, just a cruel, cruel joke.  If it's the real thing, I'll be sure to post more later. :)

Baby Shower update

As promised, here are the pictures that I was able to gather from the showers of love that friends, family, and coworkers gave for Eli. 

April 6th-Nick's family put together a shower with family and friends.  I've tried really hard to get more pictures, but apparently nearly everyone forgot their cameras.  Kristin got a few on her phone, but had to go to Brady's first soccer game (where he was basically the MVP on the team b/c he scored, not once, but TWICE!). 



Look closely-the top left pane has an E (which someone is pointing out for me) and the bottom right has a J.
Kristin is SO crafty!

 Here are the receiving blankets she made too:

Ella helped me open gifts and we all had a good time.  I thought it was so sweet, definitely SUCH a surprise.  (I was told I was going to Maycee's 1st birthday party, which was really later that day.)  Looking back, I really should've seen that I was being duped; there were many times that I should've seen it.  Walking in, "Are you here for the baby shower?" "No, first birthday party."  huh.....walking through the room fully decorated so we could enter behind all the guests, who had to turn around and yell surprise.  Or my mom, messing it up and giving it away, but me just chalking it up to mom being confused....which often happens, so it was believable....

May 5th-"School Crisis Meeting" Lewis & Clark's Covert Opp for Sprinkle for Susan Shields and me-I tried to sneak in the back, seriously only one minute late, embarrassed to be late for yet another meeting, only have everyone again turn and yell surprise at me--the opposite of being hidden.  Here are the pics that I have from that:

Again, this was taken as I rushed in saying, "Sorry I'm late!" and then was speechless.

Look at all that swag!



I thought it was so sweet that even all the guys came to our baby shower!
Left to Right: Gene Gibson, Josh Blattner, Charlie Henke (back), Rick Massey (front)



Charlie Henke's wife, Heather, made burp cloths and a diaper cover for part of the gift.  I LOVE them!



Susan & Me



Yesterday's Dr. Appt

I promised myself that I would not be "That Girl" this time around.  I swore to myself that I would not let it happen.  I refused to be the one who left the dr's office in tears after a disheartening dr. appt.  And yet....it happened.

Here's how yesterday unfolded:

1.   "Carla?"
      "Yes?"
      "Go ahead and put down your things and we'll weigh you."
      "Okay."  It's worth mentioning that although this is never a pleasant moment, it also doesn't typically bother me.  However when I glanced down to see my current weight, I honestly thought the nurse was mistaken.  4 lbs in 7 days?  How is that possible considering I'd say my appetite has decreased over the last few weeks?  Don't get me wrong, my weight gain for the overall pregnancy is still nothing to worry about (up to 15 lbs now) and I'm not one of those people who even worries about weight AT ALL when I'm pregnant, but 4 lbs in 7 days?!

2.  The exam--another unpleasant moment.  I'll skip the details, but basically not much is different than last week despite the increase in frequency and intensity of contractions.  Grrrr....

I think at this point, I still would have kept my promise of not being That Girl.  However, disheartening moment #3 was just too much.

3.  Dr. Puckett went to listen to Eli's heartbeat and couldn't find it at first.  I want to take a second and stress that everything is fine.  However, I'm working on 38 weeks pregnant here.  In the 30 or so prenatal appointments that I've with Dr. Puckett (between Ella and Eli both), he's NEVER had a problem finding the heartbeat.  It's almost immediate every single time.  I would say this was probably 45-60 seconds of looking.  I know that doesn't sound like much, but those moments are absolutely terrifying.  Admist logical reassurances from my brain, "You just felt him moving this afternoon.  Everything is fine.  Puckett will find it," doubt still creeps in -- "It doesn't matter that I felt him moving this afternoon.  Why can't we hear a heartbeat now?"  Next comes the flood of panic, "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, help!"

Even though everything is fine, I'm going to blame the tears on those paniced moments.  On the bright side, Puckett said that if Eli doesn't make his big debut this week, at next week's appt, we'll schedule an induction.  That makes me happy. :)  I believe that May 31 is the first day that I'd be able to be induced.  I'm aware that it's still 2 weeks away, but it sounds closer when I think, "Next week we'll set it up though." :D  Eli-You still have two weeks, but I'd really appreciate a little bit of a hustle here...

CRAFTY! (well, a little.....)

Okay, so it's crafty for me, a person who hasn't sewn since senior year of high school (an astonishing TEN YEARS AGO already!).....Here's the project that my MIL* and I worked on last night. 

Honestly, she did most of the sewing, but I did pin things in place and sew some of the fat ribbons on. 

We did one more, but I must have not taken a picture of it before I left this morning......

Today is 3 weeks until Eli's due date.  We still have SO MUCH left to do!  We're getting closer, but everyday I'm reminded of how little time we have left.  As Danielle pointed out yesterday, "His room isn't even started, but you're making rags for him to throw up on?!"  Okay, well when you put it like that....I've started doing his laundry though and Nick pulled up everything from the basement, so we went through that and will start cleaning it soon.  I'm hesitant to work on his room though because Nick will begin drywalling the basement soon, and I'm picturing drywall dust all over my baby's newly cleaned room.  What's the point?  Plus, after Ella's crib was recalled for being a practical deathtrap (yeah, Ella, I know....sorry babe.  Drop-down sides seemed convenient at the time.....), we ordered the replacement part to fix the crib.  Wherever we put it, Nick and I both thought that it was logical and that we would remember where it was and it'd be easy to find.  Apparently, we have both lost our minds since then because we can't find it anywhere!  (Although I can't rule out me finding it sometime in between, not knowing what it was, and throwing it away whilst I "decluttered" my home......)  So we can't put the bed together.....My vote is to buy all new furniture, despite HATING that idea.  But what are we going to do?!  Nick's comment, "Well, really.....I mean, Ella's fine.  Nothing happened to her...."  The Are-You-Crazy?-I-Can't-Believe-I-Married-a-Man-Who-Would-Say-Such-a-Thing look on my face must've shut that down immediately because he dropped it and didn't try to bring that up again.

In addition to the room, our bag has YET to be packed!  I have Ella's clothes ready to go, but only a few things set out for me, and nothing for Nick or Eli.  I don't even know what I should bring; it seems like last time I was very aware of what I needed or might want, yet now I seem to have no clue.  Maybe I should start reading books again.

It's lunchtime, so I guess I should go eat.  Roast sandwiches and a golden baked potato.....yummmmm....

Oh, dr. appt. this afternoon!  Updates to follow....

*Years from now, I will probably not remember what MIL means.  MIL=Mother-in-law.  I was going to write "mom" since that's what I call her, but I could also see me (and others) being confused about that years down the line, as my mom is even less crafty than I am!

Sprinkle

My work threw me a shower yesterday.  It was SO sweet and thoughtful.  I am so blessed to work with such a great group of people.  All the guys were even there!  I thought it was awesome.

It was a joint shower for me and our SRO, who is due in August, also pregnant with a boy.  This is the only picture I got from the event:

Yummmm....cake. :)  If I get more pics, I'll try to update them.

Ugh.....

I was on my feet a lot today AND didn't get enough water to drink.  This is the result:

Ugh....I see a definite resemblance to the Michelin Man.....not cute.  I have sausages for feet now....awesome.

Blog Debut

I am finally doing it....after dragging my feet for over a year, procrastinating, and then saying that I would (but procrastinating some more), I am actually starting a blog.  I owe all the credit to Lindsay Wiebye, my bff.  She has been on me to get a blog going, more as a diary than anything else so my kids will be able to look back on our life as a family and see that we really did stuff.  It's an interesting concept, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's today's headlines of what's going on in the world and in my life:

*Today's date is May 2, 2011, the day after Osama Bin Laden was killed by the US Navy Seals.  I have very mixed feelings on this.  Of course, I feel relief that my children will never grow up in a world where he exists.  I feel excitement and pride, and a certain victory for our country.  Then I feel a little bit of shame for feeling excited at the loss of a human life, made by the same Creator as me.  More than that though, I feel fear of waiting for what will happen next, what retaliation will come as a backlash against us.  That's just how I am though....a worrier.  Even the sermon in church this week seemed directed directly at me (about being anxious in nothing, but trusting in God), and yet here we are on Monday and I still worry.

*As I write, I'm 35 weeks pregnant and anxiously anticipating the arrival of our second kiddo, Elijah Reed (or Reid....yet to be determined).  I was so much more prepared for Ella's big arrival.  It seems now like I have so much less energy though.  Most of the energy I have goes to work, school, grocery shopping, cooking dinner, and playing with Ella.  At the end of the day, I just don't have the energy to get a nursery together or pack a bag for the hospital!  I can't complain though.  Nick has been working his tail off with his 2 jobs and finishing the basement (I'm sure there'll be more updates on the basement to come later).  He's tired a lot too.

*Lindsay had her baby today.  (http://www.ybstl.blogspot.com/ for her story.)  Piper Cheyenne made her grand entrance 9 days early.  I can't help but be a little jealous that Lindsay gets to meet her baby already (although in all fairness, her due date was May 11 in comparison to my June 7).  I am so excited that we'll have kids who get to grow up together.  :)

Okay, my first post is complete and I'll be honest, it is a complete bor-a-thon.  I'll try to become wittier over time. :)  Until next time.....