Kids update

I am happy to report that Reese is an awesome baby. Our first three nights at home were rough ones but since then she has really impressed us. On the fourth night at home she showed that she had figured out the difference between her days and nights and that has made all the difference. Tom gets full nights of sleep now because I don't need to wake him up to help anymore since as soon as I feed her, she goes right back to sleep. So no more crying overnight for long periods of time! And she usually goes 3-4 hours in between feedings at night too so I usually am able to get a couple hours of sleep at a time. And the best part... she sleeps in her cradle! I can't believe what a difference it makes to have a child that will sleep somewhere other than your arms! We prop her in the boppy in the cradle in our room at night because I think the mattress is too thin for her but she sleeps like a little noisy angel. During the day she will sleep in the pack and play well for us too but she doesn't sleep as soundly as she does at night so a fair amount of the time we just hold her. Plus my parents are in town so there are several other hands that want to share holding time with her. Reese is definitely a swaddle baby. She looooooves being swaddled. When she is fussy, we swaddle her and after we get her half swaddled, she is already calming down. She sleeps best in her swaddle too and actually when I want her to wake up for feedings, all I have to do in general is unwrap her. She really is the best. We are so thankful that she is not nearly as fussy as her brother.

I do think however, that she does have some problems with reflux. Sometimes when she is eating she will start crying, while latched on still, and get this panicked look on her face. Then she unlatches and arches her back and, looks frantically to latch back on but still is crying. I feel so bad for her. She ends up taking in a lot more air when she eats when she gets like that, then she needs burping more and the cycle continues so some feedings are very frustrating and a big struggle for us. Overall though she does well with feedings, I just hope she outgrows the reflux really soon.

Donovan is doing really well as well. He is in such a fun phase right now. He is repeating lots of words and he is putting more and more sentences together. He is very interested in seeing everything that is happening around him and requests to "look" at just about everything. "Look at grandma", "look at trains", "look at buddies", "look at video (sounds like "figaro")". He goes to bed and naps so easily, although he has decided his new wake up is between 7-7:30 and I would prefer it to be at least 8 or later. He still pretty much leaves Reese alone. He gives her kisses and requests to look at her in her pack and play on occasion but that is about it. He is such a good sharer and friend. The other day a new friend Tessa came over and he had no problem sharing his blueberries with her, and his toys and also he took her by the hand and led her up the stairs. He does the same with his buddies and doesn't get too upset when they take his toys. He is just awesome. He also is starting to get opinions on things like, what shoes he wants to wear and what everyone in the room should be doing. He will tell you he wants to to get out of his chair, or that he wants a "different fok (fork)" when he is not satisfied with the one you gave him or that he needs a new bowl when the one he has is too messy or empty or just not the one he had in mind. It is so fun to watch him grow and mature before my eyes. I feel truly blessed to be able to witness his growth.

Donovan and his friend Tessa. They had a pool date last year but haven't gotten to play since then until this past week. They were so cute together.
Donovan feeding Tessa his blueberries. He is very romantic like that.
Given Tessa kisses. I am not sure if his lips actually ever touched her, but the intent was there.
This is one of my favorite jammies of Dono's ever so I had to get a picture of it for memory's sake. In case you can't tell it's a baseball outfit complete with fake shoes on his footies.
Our little papoose baby snuggling with her grammie B.
I highly recommend these muslin blankets for swaddling during the summer months, they are so light and airy. If someone you know is having a summer baby they would make great presents!
This is my picture of Reese's tummy time. I was just thinking as I went to grab the camera on Saturday how she hadn't rolled over during tummy time since the first time we attempted it and as I get the camera on and poised for a picture, thump. She rolled over again. So this was what the end of tummy time looked like, directly after she rolled over. She is getting so strong and fiesty! She tries to stand when you are burping her on your shoulder now. Such a big little girl.
Sacked out. This was supposed to be her waking up because it had been three hours between meals and it was time to eat. I unwrapped her and she didn't care at all. Sleeping hard!

Donovan and Jenna playing on the I-Pad. He probably knows how to work one of those better than I do. Both his grammies have one so he has lots of practice with the games and books they both have on there for him. Also this is a picture of Donovan's 4th haircut. Both grammies took him and they both said it was the worst haircutting experience ever, despite him having both M&Ms and a chocolate shake. He screamed and cried the entire time which we are contributing much of to him needing a nap. Looks like next haircut might be a buzz at home on the deck.

Drummer boy video

Our fans (Ian man) have been demanding a new video so this is one we took today of Donovan drumming. He is the best.

More pics

Grandpa B and Dono enjoying the new deck, playing cars.

Getting clean.


Maxing and relaxing.

Our cutie

A week ago tonight

A week ago tonight we were getting induced. I was sitting on the birthing ball, waiting for things to start happening at this exact time. It is crazy to think that I was pregnant not a week ago. In some ways it feels like it has been forever. As strange as it sounds, I miss being pregnant. Don't get me wrong, I was ready to be done at the end and I am so happy I am a mother of two children who are outside of my body, but I feel like I am not done being pregnant. I know it is early to make that statement, but that is how I feel as of now. So lets reminisce how last week became Reese's delivery week...

So last thursday I had a 4:45 doctors appointment with my OB at which point I was supposed to have the same testing done that I had with Donovan to make sure the baby was doing a.o.k. in there since I was past my due date (by one day). Well my doctor messed up because she told me just to come to my appointment that day for the testing, when in reality the doctor that works with her is apparently the only one that does the testing and she does not work on thursdays, which I didn't know until I was at my appointment. When her assistant told me this, I stopped talking, because I was pretty sure I was going to start crying if I said anything. That or hurt someone. So when my doctor came in she mentioned how there was a misunderstanding. She then listened to the baby with the doppler for an extra long time, which is when I realized she wasn't going to do the testing or try to do the testing herself. I was crushed and nervous. I see lots of happy things at work, but the sad things that you see are the things that you think about when you have worries about your own pregnancy. I was worried that since Dono didn't have much fluid at the end and that was 2 days before the gestation I was at that day, that maybe this baby didn't have much fluid either. I just wanted to be reassured there was enough fluid to keep this pregnancy going and it was clear I wasn't going to get the reassurance I needed.

So the doctor checked my cervix, and I was 3-4cm dilated, 70% effaced, which is a good start. I think she sensed my disappointment, and nervousness and she said "So do you want to be induced tomorrow?". I think it was for no other reason than she knew I was going to break down without a baby soon, or reassurance and since I was postdates, she was going to go for the induction. She also offered we could do it that night, but I said it was up to her because I didn't want to totally inconvenience her. So we called up to labor and delivery and asked if there were any induction slots open for the next day and there was. So she was scheduling me with the crazy secretary that doesn't know much and didn't recognize my name for the 4th morning induction for friday, meaning I would be the 4th person to be called in and you get called in according to how busy they are. Well somehow the charge nurse, who is a friend of mine heard the secretary scheduling my induction and she told the secretary that room 24 (one of our new big, nice rooms) was open then and had her ask Dr Shelton if I just wanted to do it that night. I really did want to do it that night because the nurse I have always wanted to take care of me at some point was working, and I wanted to try to deliver the next day as soon after midnight as I could so I could get an extra night in the hospital since last time I felt like I got robbed from one of my nights since I delivered so late (9:43pm) and then had the nurses in my room a lot that night since I was bleeding more than normal. So anyways my Doctor asked if that was ok with me, and I said it was and so it was decided we would be induced that night.

It is so funny because as nervous as I was before hand about when everything would happen, I was so calm as soon as the decision was made. I called Jenna, had her come over to watch Dono, called Tom and told him the good news and headed home so we could get our things together and pack up. We took a few belly pictures and tried to get a picture of the three of us together as a family of three for one last time but Donovan was not co-operating. So we got a shot of me and Tom and me and Dono and that was the best we could do.

Me at 40wks 1day, right before we left for the hospital.


This was what Donovan was doing instead of posing with us. Throwing a fit at the top of the stairs because he wanted Jenna to go downstairs and play with him and we were preventing that from happening (she was taking our pictures).
Last picture of me and my only child. By the looks of this we had to bribe him with a cookie to get him to comply (but I can't remember for sure, this baby sucks my memory away).

We didn't get to the hospital until right before 7pm and by the time my nurse finished admitting me, starting my IV, and talking to the Dr getting orders, we didn't start the pitocin until 8:35. I was fine with that because I was convinced that I was going to go really fast since my last induction was only 7 hours from start of pitocin to delivery, and I was only 2cm dilated to start and it was my first baby so those usually go slower. So at 9:30 I was already hurting with the contractions on only 2ml/min of pitocin, which is almost nothing. So then I was REALLY scared I was going to go too fast. So I got on the birthing ball to help with the pain, and it did so well, that I almost had no pain. We held off on the pit for a little but then when it became clear I was totally comfortable, we started going back up. Fast forward a couple hours and we are on 6 of pitocin and I am almost sleeping between contractions I am so tired. So I get off the ball to see if I can get a few minutes rest. My contractions were worse in the bed and sometime after 1am I had Sherry recheck me and I was pretty much unchanged. And annoyed. I was in enough pain that I got the epidural, but not as much pain as I was in last time when I got it so it definitely hurt and felt like it took a lot longer to administer than my last one did. Once again when it was done and had fully set up the doctor had to come and give me more pain meds because it had not totally taken the pain away like it should have (this happened last time too). And once again my blood pressure dropped, twice actually, when they gave the initial epidural and then the redose, much like last time.

So anyways I was comfortable but not relaxed. My anxiety was running very high so I spent the rest of the time until delivery resting but never really sleeping, and shaking whenever I would talk to someone or someone would be in the room. When I wasn't distracted I could control the shakes, otherwise, no way. At 2:30 Sherry checked me and broke my water because I was only 4-5 cm dilated and contracting every 2-4 minutes. I think at the highest the pit only got to 10. She checked me again at 5am when I was feeling a little pressure and I was only 6cm, 90% effaced although she said she could stretch me to 7cm. I was so annoyed. I could not believe it was taking this long! And to think, I was telling her to hold off on the pitocin at 9:30 because I thought I was going too fast!!!! So I asked her what we could do to get me delivered before she left at 7am. She said she would have me sit up pretty much all the way upright to see if the baby's head would make the cervix change faster. Then at 6am she would recheck me and if I was any more than I was then, she would have me bear down to see if I could get that cervix to go away. So it was a plan. I started to feel a little more pressure soon after, but nothing as clear as last time so I was not too optimistic. Then at 6 she checked me and I was 10cm, 100% effaced. Then she got all her stuff ready, notified the dr I was complete and had me practice push. Once, then she stopped me because she said I moved the baby really well. (After that, the pressure was very intense so I was counting the minutes that went by until the dr was there.) Then she called the doctor for delivery and by the time she got there and everyone was assembled, it was almost 7. I had to push through 2 contractions, 7 total times and then out popped Reese! And the rest is history!

Last time I had a small postpartum hemorrhage, so this time I warned everyone and had a resident assist with the delivery incase my dr needed an extra set of hands if it happened again. This time I did not have extra bleeding, that is right away. Once all the dust had settled and I was all put back together and had visitors in the room, I noticed that I was bleeding more than normal so I had my nurses all over it. I was bleeding enough that they had another resident see me, and she had to do a quick manual evacuation of my uterus (yes I know this is a lot of info, but this is the way I keep record of things for myself so I don't leave much out) and yes, it is just about as fun as it sounds (read: not fun at all), but luckily my epidural was still in effect enough that it wasn't too terrible. They also gave me another bag of pitocin and started me on an oral medication called Methergine for bleeding that I took every 8hrs for 24 hours total.

As far as recovery goes, the second time is the charm! The next day I was up, showered and in my own clothes by 9am and I felt great! Even later the same day as delivery I was up, moving and feeling good. It makes me look forward to the next time I deliver, since I know that the recovery was exponentially easier. I didn't have near the swelling or pain as last time and that was the worst part. Ok I think I have written enough of the labor story. If you are still reading this you are either 1)myself at a later date 2)my parents or 3)my cousin Ann, a labor and delivery nurse who loves these kind of details. If you are anyone else, congrats! You made it! I admire your patience.

Bottom line, I can't believe how fast a week goes and how much changes so fast. Just this time last week she was still trying to kick out one of my ribs :)I love Reese and I am so glad she is on the outside now!

Picture catch up

Friday May 13th:

Honorary "Aunt" Michelle visiting in the hospital.
Uncle Nick and his girlfriend Anna meeting Reese for the first time. Anna was nice enough to share her birthday with Reese.
Mommy and Miss Reese snuggling.
Saturday May 14th:

Pretty girl sleeping at the hospital.
This was the second time Donovan met Reese. As soon as he came in the room and saw her he started reaching for her and requested to "Hold the baby". So he did. And it was adorable. And of course he had spotters.

Auntie Zenna, Dono and Grammie B. They were checking out Grammie B's I-pad.
Sunday May 15th:

Daddy and daughter right before the hospital check out.
Dono at home with his new shirt. It was made by our family friend for his birthday. It has tattoo sleeves.
Donovan and his friend Claire. They had such a fabulous time running around and playing together. We will have to get together with them much more often after I saw how great they got along.
Donovan giving Claire a tackle hug.
Donovan showing off his big muscles with his cool tattoos.
Monday May 16th:
First bath. Obviously not a fan. She has gotten one more since and the reaction was the same. I can't wait for her belly button to fall off so we can do a real bath.

First Doctor's visit

Today's stats:

Weight: 7lbs 14 oz (back up from 7lbs 8z on sat night)- 55th%
Height: 20 and 3/4 inches- 85th%
Head circumference: 14 1/4 inches- 75th%

Reese was on her very best behavior during the visit. She had eaten right before we left and was alert, awake and happy the whole time (she did fuss a tiny bit as we were waiting to schedule our next visit). She passed all Dr Rezabeck's tests with flying colors and he said he has no concerns for her. We did however. We asked him about the sleeping and he gave us some tips on how to keep her up during the day a little more so she switches her schedule. He also said it was perfectly fine if she slept in her swing or propped in her boppy in her cradle. We also mentioned how she refuses to do tummy time. As in I put her on her tummy yesterday (at 4 days of age) and she rolled over on her back 4 times in row. She did it once, I thought it was a fluke. I set her back on her tummy, again she flips over. Then again. Then once more for good measure when my dad and Tom came back in the room. So I asked him what he thought we should do and he agreed that we should try to prop some blankets on either side of her so she was forced to do tummy time and not just roll right over. She seems to hate tummy time as much as her brother loved it, that is if yesterday was any indication on how it will go.

Donovan got to go along with us to the doctor's and he was a pretty good boy. He ran right up to the window to check in and I let him tell the ladies that we were there. He said "baby Reese". So cute. He was also a good supervisor when she was getting measured but really was more interested in reading the books they had there then paying attention to anything else. When we were in the car leaving we were driving away and he started shouting "ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM!" After his visits he usually gets ice cream from the Culvers next door. Dang kid has a memory like a steel trap. He didn't get any but then again he wasn't the one that had to see the doctor.

Overall today has been a good day. Reese spent more time sleeping in her pack and play so that was nice. She slept during dinner so we all got to eat at the same time! Now it is 10:15 and she is awake and has been for a while so we will see if she wants to play all night or go to bed soon (fingers crossed). Donovan was an awesome boy tonight. Took a huge nap, was lots of fun, ate a great dinner (a whole hotdog, lots of strawberries and some potatoes) and then was even more fun after dinner. It is nights like tonight that I get such a kick out of him. I am so thankful he had such a great day, it gives me hope he isn't going to be so messed up with this baby here. Here are a few pictures from today.

Our little ladybug in the car seat. She looks so teener in there!

Hanging with Grandpa B. She was telling him how she was ready for some dinner.
Donovan has discovered he can see his reflection in the skylight at night. Here he is hamming it up to himself tonight.
He was showing himself his new Chuggington trains, then said "Choooo, Choooo! Puff, Puff! Allllllll Aboard!" He was also doing the choo choo hand signals, which is what I caught him doing here.

Settling in

Tonight is our second night home with little miss Reese. Yesterday we came home, got to spend some quality time with my mom before she left to go back to Denver (my dad is living with us for the time being as he got a job here and started it today. Yeay for us! Now they just have to sell the house in Denver and my mom will be back too) and had some friends over to meet the little one.

Yesterday was great, Reese just slept, ate and pooped/peed. She was so great we remarked several times how it seemed like we didn't even have a second child. She would just sleep like a little angel in her pack and play and only wake when she needed to eat. Tom and I even got a little worried there might be something wrong with her because she was not crying or awake much. So I consulted my baby book and found out that this is in fact, normal. Who knew. Donovan was such a colicky, unhappy baby that we don't think he was ever happy if he wasn't in our arms, and even then, he wasn't all that happy. So we were counting our lucky stars to have a baby that seemed to be the opposite of that. And then last night came...

Reese decided that she did not want to be set down. Ever. I fought with her til 3am when I finally tagged Tom in so I could get a power nap and then I took back over at 5am. I finally got her to sleep in her cradle at 5:30am, but I had to put her in the boppy for her to agree to sleep. Then we were up at 7:45 for the day. So needless to say I was VERY sleepy today. She did much better today with sleeping on her own. She slept once for me in the crib in the boppy again, but when Donovan was napping at 1pm today, I thought, "Let's try just the cradle" and I put her down in there without the boppy after she was done eating at 1:20pm. She was asleep when I laid her down, then she woke back up after a few minutes, which is what she was doing over the night so I thought "Oh great, here we go again" but she was able to get herself back to sleep without any help and slept until 3:45, which means I slept til then too because Tom took care of Donovan when he got up at 2:45. Thank the lord for naps! It is because of that nap that I am able to sit here and type this at 11:15pm. I am also stalling because she should be getting up to eat anytime now (ate last at 9pm) and I don't want to lay down just to hear her start up crying. The good news is, she has been sleeping in her pack and play since 9:30 so hopefully this means she will not be having as horrible of a night as she did last night.

Tonight I gave her her first bath since the one she got at the hospital. I had to wake her up to do it so she screamed at me the whole time but it was 1,000% easier than I remember Donovan's sponge baths being. It is amazing how different everything is the second time around. I think it took me easily half the time Donovan's did and I did it without any help as I delegated my dad to paparazzi and Tom was putting Donovan to bed.

Reese is a fabulous breast feeder. She has not had any problem with latching and eats like a champ. She sure roots at anything close to her mouth when it is close to eating time. After the bath I put my face next to her's and claimed she was giving me "kisses" even though she was just trying to suck on my cheek and get some dinner. I love her. It amazes me how much she looks like her brother. Especially when she is awake and quiet. She looks just like him. Only she is wearing pink. I have gotten so many cute outfits from people, it is amazing how much cute stuff there is out there for little girls. I assume this is just the beginning and I will be broke with a little fashionista before I know it. Reese has very long fingers and toes, like Donovan did when he was a baby and like her father does now. And so far, it looks like she may have gotten her daddy's hair color. It is definitely darker than Donovan's was. His was darker too but I would say her's is a dark brown now and I never would have called his that.

As far as Donovan goes, he is doing pretty well considering everything. He is a little whiny and clingy to me at times but overall he is not upset or jealous that I have the baby most times. He does try to take my hand and lead me places when I am breastfeeding so that doesn't work out to his favor. He is very interested in watching Reese while I change her diaper, or rather he is interested in looking at the "yucky poopoo". He calls her Reese about half the time and "BAAAAAAAAYYY-BEEEEEEEEE" the other half, like when he hears her crying in another room and he is calling to her. He holds her every once in a while but otherwise he pretty much ignores her. He does love all the presents he has been getting from everyone that comes to visit.

I think that is most of the stuff I wanted to update about for tonight. I will try to post some more pictures tomorrow at some point since I know that is really what people want to see. We have Reese's first doctor's visit tomorrow so we will have a little update with that too.


P.S. This is Ellen writing. I spilled a cup of water on my computer during labor and effectively killed my computer. So while it is at the shop trying to be revived, I have to use Tom's computer, which is signed in under his name. So unless it is titled "dad post", realize that it is actually me doing the writing

She is here!

Reese

Reese Jacqueline was born yesterday, May 13th 2011 at 6:55am. She was 8lbs 1oz (the exact same as her big brother was when he was born), is 21 inches long and had a 14 inch head circumference.

Although we were both predicting she would be a girl, we were both shocked she actually was! Tom was so surprised/confused that when it came time to announce her sex he hesitated so long that I was the one that said "It's a girl!". We are overjoyed that she has chosen us as her parents. We could not love her more. Donovan has been a great big brother so far, he actually asked to hold her first thing today when he came to visit (he came to the hospital yesterday and met her).

Both Reese and I are doing well. This labor was longer than my last but my recovery has been much, much easier. Reese is a champion eater and pooper. Two things you definitely want your baby to be good at. She was pretty laid back until today when she is showing some of her brother's characteristic baby fussiness associated with not being a)held all the time and/or b)not having a nipple in her mouth at all times. This time we are more experienced parents so she will not be able to get away with as much as her big brother did.

Anyways, onto more pictures. These are mostly of labor and right after delivery. I just sent Tom home to be with Donovan tonight so Reese and I are on our own so more pictures from the rest of our hospital stay will have to wait for another time. Thanks for all of the prayers and well wishes!

Beginning of the induction, still feeling good.
Waiting for the doctor to come to have our baby!
Our very own little girl! You can't see it well in this picture but as soon as her head came out, she stuck out her tongue until the rest of her body delivered. Silly.

Giving Reese her first of many kisses.

Sunbathing under the warmer. So pretty and pink.
She was such an alert baby right away.
So young but already has her daddy wrapped around her finger.
What can I say? I grow them the same size :)

Our birth crew. Sherry, my nurse, was the nurse that trained me in L&D. She is the best!

Hanging out, learning to text with mommy.
Showing daddy what she was doing as she was coming out. (She also had the cord wrapped around her neck two times)
Big brother checking out his sister. So far, he likes her!
"Hold the baby"

Reese was a busy girl and managed to do some shopping on the way out the birth canal. She bought Donovan this Blues jersey which he loves! After he put it on he said and signed "More presents". Oh boy.

Mommy and her firstborn.