Our day

I think I got 2 hours of sleep last night. I was spoiled the previous 2 nights by getting 6 hours/night (broken up, of course), so last night was kind of tough. I think she had a bad night because we did so much yesterday - we went to the pediatrician and also had pictures made. The pediatrician's appointment went well and she now weighs 7 lbs 4 oz, which is over her birth weight. (In case you didn't know, babies always lose weight right after birth and the goal is for them to get back to their birth weight by 2 weeks. Eleanor was 8 days old yesterday.) The pictures were done by a lady at my church who has her own studio but has never done newborn pictures before. She wanted me to be her guinea pig, and some of them turned out pretty well. Anyway, all of this made for a long day for Eleanor and she didn't get to eat/sleep exactly when she wanted to, so I think that just threw her off for the evening.

Today we just stayed at home. I read Host by Stephanie Meyer out loud to her for a while - I'm sure she enjoyed the story about aliens taking over people's bodies. We also listened to Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me while she ate - it's important to introduce her to quality radio programming early on in life. We did have a rough point this afternoon when I changed her diaper - just as I was putting the clean diaper on (the only clean one within reach, I might add...), Eleanor peed again and had some major projectile poop. This is not her first time doing that by far, and you think I would learn to keep her covered, but I don't. It went all over the clean diaper, the changing pad, my dresser, my shirt, and our bedroom floor. That was not fun, especially since she hates having her diaper changed and almost always screams while I do it. She's usually very calm, but she does cry whenever you change her diaper/clothes, whenever she's hungry, and especially whenever she gets a bath.

The day got better though. Hunter came home and read to her some more (actual children's books this time, instead of his preferred Science News), and this evening we've actually been able to enjoy some time together. His mom and stepdad were here for a few days, and then my mom and sister were here but they left this morning. We've enjoyed having our family visit and they've been very helpful, but it's also nice to start settling into life as a new little family.

As I write this, Eleanor is sleeping on my chest. It's amazing how even when I get stressed out by the lack of sleep or the poop all over my room, I never get frustrated with her. I love her so much, and she's definitely worth it all.

Eleanor is ready for football season!

More pictures

We're home!

Eleanor and I were discharged from the hospital just after lunch today. It is so nice to be home! Hunter and a friend of ours surprised Eleanor and I with beautiful balloons on the mailbox to welcome us home, and later in the day Hunter's mom and step-father arrived. They'll be staying with us for several days and they certainly enjoyed meeting Eleanor.

Eleanor passed both her hearing and jaundice tests with no problem. The pediatrician said she is perfectly healthy but of course we need to work on bringing her weight up. I am feeling great - I actually feel better physically than I have for a month or two! I'm barely sore at all, but I am trying to make sure I take it easy and drink plenty of water. Feeding Eleanor every two hours (during the day) can be quite consuming! It's definitely worth it though.

The first days

Eleanor is having her hearing test done, so I have a few minutes.

Tonight we had our "celebration meal" that the hospital provides. It was so nice with rolls, salad, dinner, and dessert. For dinner I had the Surf N Turf (lobster and a tiny piece of filet mignon) and Hunter had New York Sirloin. Dinner also came with a bottle of sparkling apple juice and plastic flutes...very nice for a hospital. Eleanor got hungry in the middle of the meal, but we didn't mind.

Feeding has been a little bit of an issue. I'm nursing and it's just been pretty painful. A lactation consultant has been working with me and I think things are getting better, but it's been frustrating at times. Apparently I have a great supply though, but we've had latching problems and I'm just not sure if she's getting enough. The nurse told us something different than what we had heard about how many wet diapers she should have, and now Hunter is stressed out. I found a couple of sites online supporting what we thought (2 or 3 wet diapers on day 2 is great....the nurse said she should have 6-8), so I'm satisfied. My husband the scientist, on the other hand, says, "I need empirical research" and he's searching all kinds of journals. He won't be satisfied until he finds it there.

Overall we are just loving this baby! She is so, so cute and so sweet! She loves to be rocked or held close. She's only really gotten upset and cried once (besides the brief crying all babies do when you change their diaper or their clothes) and I would say she's a pretty happy baby. We go home from the hospital tomorrow, so that's when the big adventure begins!

A few more pictures

Admiring her daddy in the middle of the night

Pictures!!!

Meeting Eleanor!

She had to stay in the warmer for a little while because her temp was low.

Our sweet Eleanor

Mom and baby

Dad admiring his new daughter - and no, he wasn't as afraid to touch her as it looks here!

Eleanor meeting her cousins and Aunt Monica

Aunt Monica and Eleanor

Eleanor meeting her Uncle Japheth

Julie got to hold her new little cousin

Eleanor is HERE!!!

Eleanor was born at 9:30am on Wednesday, July 22nd. She weighs 7lbs. 3oz. and is 21in. long. Everything went well, and VERY quickly! She looks just like me (poor thing, this is Hunter writing). Beth will post more when she's done hogging Eleanor.

My water broke!

I didn't actually get any sleep last night except for maybe two hours or so, but thanks to the drugs I was able to rest all night. I don't know why, but I just couldn't quite fall asleep until after 2:00. I woke up around 4:15 to some uncomfortable contractions. I don't know that I'd call them painful - they're like pretty strong cramps. I was also feeling some pressure and felt like my water was about to break. Then the nurse came in at 5:00 and removed the cervadil. She did another exam and lo and behold, my water broke. It may have actually broken sometime during the night, but neither of us are sure. I am now dilated 2-3 cm, so not much difference there, and I went from being 60% to 80% effaced.

I got to take a shower and now I'm waiting for Hunter to come back and for the pitocin to start. There's no turning back now! :)

Good night!

Well, nothing has changed over the last two hours. There are still very mild contractions, but the nurse explained that they're just from the cervadil and it's the cervix softening. The real ones will start tomorrow with the pitocin! They're going to give me a shot soon to make me sleep, and then around 5:00 or 6:00 AM they'll take out the cervadil, give me an hour to shower and rest, and then start the pitocin around 7:00.

Hunter and I walked around a little bit and it felt good to get up for a while. We are in a different room than last year (I made sure to request that) but we are next door to the room where Ada was born. It was a little sad to walk by there, but overall we've had a good evening. We've pretty much just sat here and watched Gilmore Girls DVD's and the contraction monitor.

The nurses here are so nice. The one who was with me when Ada was actually born stopped by earlier to say hi - she remembered us. Then the nurse who's here overnight came in to explain everything that's happening and she even asked me questions about Ada. I'm glad to be at this hospital again.

Hunter just left for the night - I wanted him to. The fold out chair they have here for guests to sleep in is awful and he could never sleep in it last year. I want him with me overnight tomorrow, so I figured it was important that he get good sleep tonight since I'll be drugged anyway. He's only a phone call and a 20 minute drive away if anything happens.

So, I guess that's it for the night unless anything changes! I'll write more in the morning.

7:00 pm

I got the cervadil about 30 minutes ago (and dinner!) and so far nothing's changed. They did an exam when they gave me the medicine and I'm already 2 cm dilated! I'm having contractions about every 2-3 minutes, but they do not hurt at all so I'm not sure if they're "real"! I guess that's it for now!

We're here!

Well, I am all set up at the hospital! I still haven't gotten the cervadil, but everything else is in place. The contraction monitor shows that I'm already having mild contractions every few minutes. I can feel them but they don't hurt at all - I didn't even realize I was having them! This makes me wonder if things will progress more quickly than we anticipated, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. The cervadil is not supposed to make you go into labor, but it does happen sometimes if you're far enough along. Anyway, so right now I am waiting for dinner and medicine and everything looks good!

It's been 20 months!

After more than 20 months of being pregnant or trying to be, I can't believe it's almost over. More than anything I am looking forward to meeting Eleanor, but for the past few days I've been thinking about what other things I'm looking forward to as well. Most of these really only apply to the last couple of months, but I've been doing several of them (like avoiding caffeine) the entire time. Of course, everything is 100% worth it in the end!!! So, here's what I'm looking forward to:

1. Not worrying about the baby inside of me! The rest of this list is in random order, but this is definitely at the top. Yes, I know I will still worry, but at least I will be able to see her.
2. Being able to sleep on my back!
3. Chocolate and Diet Coke! I'm planning to nurse so I'm still going to cut out pretty much all caffeine, but at least I can have a little bit now and then.
4. Not having my husband laugh at me when I try to get up off the couch because I look so ridiculous!
5. Fitting back into my shoes! For the last two months my feet have been so swollen that there are only 2 pairs of flip flops I can wear, and only one of those is comfortable. And they're orange. I love my Clemson Tigers, but orange doesn't exactly go with everything.
6. Along those same lines, being able to wear my wedding and engagement rings again!
7. Wearing my old clothes! I realize it might take a while, but I'm starting to get really tired of some of these maternity clothes.
8. Being able to go to the grocery store without having to go to the bathroom halfway through the shopping trip.
9. Not being asked, "How are you feeling?" by every person I come into contact with. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the concern and it's definitely a nice thing for people to ask, but it just gets a little old.
10. Being able to relax in a hot bath.
11. Not needing the air conditioning up so high that even Hunter complains that it's cold. If you know us well, you know how crazy that is.
12. Not eating Tums as a midnight snack.
13. Being able to hug my husband without a watermelon in the way!

While I am looking forward to all of these things, I also don't want to spend the rest of Eleanor's life looking forward to the next stage instead of just enjoying the moment. So, here are some of the things I know I'm going to miss:

1. Watching my belly move! This has definitely been my favorite part. Whenever she's active I just sit and stare at her moving around. Sometimes I can even distinguish what is a foot, back, etc. It always makes me smile.
2. Always knowing where Eleanor is.
3. Having an excuse to eat how much/whatever I want! I'm mostly joking here because I really did try to eat healthy and not overeat, but I have to admit that this happened a few times... :)
4. Smiles and kind words from strangers.
5. Feeling her little hiccups.

1 more day!

37 weeks, 5 days

2 more days!

I'm done with NST's!

Today I had my 14th and final non-stress test. It went really well and Eleanor was moving all over the place. I made my next appointment and I'm so excited that it's not until September! I don't mind all of the trips I've made to the OB because their purpose has been to make sure Eleanor is okay, but the 20 minute drive one way does get a little old. I've been going twice a week for the last 6 weeks...that's a lot of appointments! Anyway, we're all set for me to go in on Tuesday afternoon. Eleanor should be arriving on Wednesday if everything goes smoothly!

Two more projects

I made a sling wrap and it was so easy! I used this great video from youtube, and now I can't find it! I'll update this post if I find it later. I think this wrap is my favorite because it's so easy to put on and use. Penny didn't seem to enjoy it too much though.

This is a sudoku quilt that I made for my sister. There are 9 fabrics, just like the numbers 1-9 in Sudoku, and they work just like the puzzle.

Slight change in plans

My doctor asked me today if I was okay with moving the induction back one day, and I said sure. Apparently there was going to be a scheduling conflict. So anyway, I am now going in on Tuesday afternoon and the real induction begins early the next morning. It looks like Eleanor will arrive on July 22! (I hope!) I'm a little disappointed that I have to wait one more day, but I keep reminding myself that this brings her one day closer to her due date which is better for her.

Delayed launch

The shuttle was supposed to launch last night, but a lightning storm on Friday night delayed the launch while NASA determines whether or not the lightning strikes did any damage to the electrical systems. I just wanted to share these pictures though - very cool. Go to this website to see more!

Sea Turtle Walk

Last night we went on a sea turtle walk - or at least, we attempted to. We showed up at the Barrier Island Center at 9:00 and listened to a 45 minute presentation on the turtles. It was actually a lot more interesting and informative than I expected, and the guide did a great job making it interesting for both adults and older kids. While we were in the presentation, volunteer scouts started walking up and down the beach a mile in either direction, looking for a nesting turtle. They didn't find any before the presentation was over, so we all moved out to the boardwalk and waited for them to radio in. I started to lose hope at about 10:15, but the guide said that the scouts would keep looking until midnight because you never know when the turtles will come up. We waited on the boardwalk until midnight but sadly the scouts never found any nesting turtles. Still, I'm glad we did it because I did learn a lot and at least I know we tried. We'll have to do this again some other year. Our guide said this was her 12th or 13th walk of the summer, and this was only the second night that they didn't see any turtles. In fact, sometimes the tour groups even get to see more than one turtle laying her eggs.

If you're near Melbourne Beach and you think you might be interested, they do the walks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in June and July. They start taking reservations on May 1, and they fill up FAST! You pay $10/person when you make the reservation, and if you don't show up then that money stays as a donation for the center. Make sure you take bug spray with you - there were TONS of mosquitoes and other things that bite on those dunes. I'd also recommend long pants and sleeves because the bug spray doesn't keep everything away. We actually ended up sitting in our car for part of that wait until midnight because we were getting eaten alive! Still, I'd recommend this and I plan to try again.

This is what we had hoped to see!

Last ultrasound!

I had my final ultrasound today! I am 36 weeks today and Eleanor now weighs 7lb, 2 oz - that's the 85th percentile. She should be somewhere around 8 lbs when I'm induced in just less than 2 weeks. Everything looks healthy, and we got to see her little face again. It's hard to see much at this point though because she's running out of room. Anyway, that's the update!

A visit with my mom

My mom came down to visit me for several days this week. Normally I go spend several days with her in the summer (we're both teachers), but this year traveling is sort of out of the question for me. Anyway, we had a great visit! We worked on some quilting projects, saw a movie, went to the zoo, went to Orlando to eat Peruvian food and explore IKEA, and enjoyed lots of time with my brother's family that also lives near us. She's coming back about a week after Eleanor is born, but it was nice to have this quiet visit together now before everything changes!

Here's Buela reading to Julie, my niece

Evan, my nephew, and Monica

At one point Julie decided that it was time to go home. She packed her bag and was ready to go!

My summer job

I've decided that my summer job is going to the doctor. Yesterday I spent over 4 hours at two different doctors! Part of it was yet another non-stress test (Eleanor did great), and the much longer visit was my family doctor because I've been having some ear problems that are totally not pregnancy related. Everything's fine now, but what a way to spend your day! I feel like I've read every waiting room magazine that's out there!

Anyway, to top it all off today, I think I broke my toe! It's my next to little one on my left foot. I'm just so clumsy and I didn't look where I was going so I ran into the hard plastic wheel on a suitcase. It's fine, but it hurts! It's also very purple. I'm not sure whether it's broken or not, but it doesn't really matter either way. The funny thing is that we were joking that you can't really tell if it's swollen or not because my feet are so swollen in the first place! Hunter has said that my feet look like something that washed up on the beach, and yesterday my brother told me that my ankle was so swollen that it looks like I should be wearing a cast. I feel so loved. :)

I am enjoying every minute of my pregnancy and I really don't mind the swollen feet, the back pain, or all of the OB visits, but I am kind of ready for it to be over so that I can meet Eleanor! I want her to take her time though, and wait 2 1/2 more weeks. She is totally worth any discomfort.

35 weeks