Happy Labor Day!

Kristin over at We Are THAT Family does a Labor (the hardest work she's ever done) Day post every year and I love it!

Baby #1- In the hospital for a scheduled induction at 40 weeks and 4 days. After 4+ hours of PItocin my wonderful midwife broke my water. She left for lunch only to return with a frightened look on her face. She got in bed with me, did an internal exam and didn’t remove her hand/arm until my baby was removed during a crash c-section. I missed her birth because they had to knock me out. We had undiagnosed Vasa Previa, Velamentous Cord Insertion and a succentriate lobed placenta.

Baby #2- In the hospital for a scheduled induction (39 weeks, 6 days)because we moved an hour away exactly one week before. The same awesome midwife was in attendance. I was induced with Pitocin on day one and after 8 hours they stopped my labor. It was started again the next morning and after 15 hours of labor and over 3 HOURS of pushing I had a successful VBAC. Turns out baby wanted to be facing up instead of down and got a little stuck. I’m thankful for vacuums.

Two

It's so hard to believe that we welcomed Ellie two years ago. I think back to her birth just as much as I do Maggie's and that is such a blessing.

We have been so blessed to have Ellie and she has brought so much joy to her Mommy, Daddy and "Sissy".
The only thing better than having one, really is having two!

These days...

Ellie loves "Goodnight Moon" and "The ABC Library" book. She also loves "Once Upon A Potty" and "The Potty Train", but they are both library books.

Her vocabulary is finally growing...by leaps and bounds. There are still some thing that only I understand, but I sort of like that.

Ellie's favorite phrase is "Hollllme" a.k.a hold me. She says it All. The. Time. And I hold her a whole lot.

Ellie LOVES Barney. I'm not even sure how it happened, but she loves him. She asks to watch him at least ten times everyday. I usually let the girls watch a Barney DVD while I cook dinner. Ellie always cries when it goes off.

She loves anything that belongs to "Sissy".

Ellie always calls Maggie "Sissy". I love to hear it, but I also like to hear her say Maggie.
She's dramatic. If she gets mad, she runs to her room and then closes the door and gets in her bed. If I don't check on her soon, she'll come back into the room and act like it never happened.

Ellie loves her "Papa' and she's the only grandchild that doesn't call him "Pawpaw". It's always about Papa, all the time. She likes Nana, Braxton, Auntie Charles and Uncle Duh Duh too.

Ellie adores church and loves to pray which currently consists of folding her hands and saying "God" over and over and then "Amen".

She sings and hums while she's playing. (My mom and I hum all the time.)

Ellie's favorite songs are "You Are My Sunshine" and "Jesus Loves Me'. She also LOVES Kindermusik CD's.

Ellie loves real babies and baby dolls.

She currently sleeps in her daybed (converted from her crib) with her head on her Boppy pillow. She has been sleeping with a baby that my friend Ms. A gave her for Christmas for months and this past week has started sleeping with "Llammy"- the Llama from "Llama, Llama Red Pajama" which she'll be getting for her birthday.

It's funny how you feel complete until you welcome someone new into your life and you just know that they were meant for you and are the perfect match for your daughter and Maggie's sister.
That's our Ellie.

I'll have a full post up sometime tomorrow (maybe) of how we spent Ellie's birthday.

Today You Are 5!!!

April 25, 2006
12:28 pm
8 pounds, 8 ounces and 21.5 inches long

We weren't sure that you would make it or that we would be able to celebrate your birth.

Here we are five years later celebrating the anniversary of the day that you were born...

and remembering all of the Vasa Previa babies that haven't had this chance.

M-Miracle
A-Amazing
G-Girly
G-Giggly
I-Independent
E-Endearing

L-Loving
O-Over dramatic
U-Under estimated
I-In love with your sister
S-Sweet, Sensitive, Strong-Willed
E-Easy to love

And that's why I call him Big Daddy

April 25, 2006~The Day he officially became Big Daddy

Big Daddy and I met in 1995 and started dating in March of 1996. We picked out names for our kids that summer and then became in engaged that fall. Of course, we didn't actually name our kids the names that we had picked out, but we knew that we wanted kids...two of them...a boy and a girl to be exact.

From the beginning of our relationship there were always kids involved. All of the kids in my preschool class knew Big Daddy. He would come to the preschool to meet me after work on Fridays and he often came early. He knew all of the kids in my class by name. And then there was also my nephew who loved Big Daddy from the start.

After we were married and I started teaching again, there were new kids. We had one of the kids in my class, Christopher and his little sister Alex every once in a while. We took them places when we were off work, kept them so that their parents could have a night out and just practiced parenting on them.

When Callie was born in 2001, we had a baby to play with. Big Daddy is crazy about babies and he was nuts over Baby Callie. Unfortunately, she didn't like him very much...at first. When Callie was about 8 months old, she fell in love with Big Daddy. All it took was sharing yogurt and ice cream, reading lots of books, making animal noises and a whole week in the same beach house with him!

Fast forward to 2005 and of course, we found out that we were going to have a baby of our own. Our pregnancy came rather unexpectedly after nearly a year of (not really) trying. Big Daddy was in total shock and very stressed. He had been looking at jobs out of state and it suddenly became very important to be in the same state as my family. On August 29, he fell in love. That was the day of our first ultrasound! We found out that our pregnancy was viable (the doctor wasn't so sure because of other issues at my appointment on August 15) and we saw Baby Maggie and heard her heartbeat for the first time.

Big Daddy wasn't all that involved in my pregnancy, but he was so excited about meeting our baby. I remember the excitement in his voice when he asked Peg if he could "catch" the baby himself. She looked at his hands and told him he could try! Of course, things didn't go as planned and Big Daddy wasn't even allowed in the room when Maggie was born by crash c-section. He was able to hold her very soon after she was born. He was the first one to call her by her name which was the name that he picked out. He was the first person to rock her. He was the first person to change her poopy diaper. (He'll never let me forget that I wasn't able to do that!) After we were home he was the first to give her a bottle and the first person to walk her and bounce her to sleep. (I'll never let him forget this because we then had to walk and bounce her for the next 10+ months!!) He was also the first person that gave her all of the things that babies aren't supposed to have...like Dr. Pepper.

When we found out that we were expecting Baby Ellie, he was pleasantly surprised. We had picked out the time that would work best for a due date and we timed it all just right. Big Daddy went to a few more of my midwife appointments with me and he once again asked Peg if he could catch the baby. He didn't get to exactly catch Ellie, but he was able to see her (giant) head first (WAY before she was out) and he was able to cut the umbilical cord this time. It was a dream come true for both of us to be completely present for the birth! He was right there the ENTIRE time that I was in labor on day 1 and day 2 and I could not have pushed Ellie out without his support.

So...some may call him by his real name, or by "Uncle _____" or da-da or Daddy, but I just call him Big Daddy.

Baby Ellie, It's Your Birthday!

It's so hard to believe that you are one year old!

One year ago, we met you, our sweet Baby Ellie. Eight pounds and eight ounces of little sister.
Maggie thought you were worth the long wait from September all the way until June.

Daddy and I thought you were worth the labor and the delivery...and the recovery with that horrible infection.

I will always wish that things had been a little different around the time of your birth. We wanted you to live in our old house and you were only able to visit it (outside of my belly) once. We weren't able to bring you home to our new house and we had to live in that tiny apartment for your first 7 weeks.

None of that really mattered to you. All you needed and wanted was to be loved, cuddled and worn. I will never forget putting you in the sling for the first time on the day that we brought you home from the hospital. You were so fussy and I had so much stuff to put away. Your Daddy took your sister to the playground and I put you in the pouch sling with the hopes of getting our bags unpacked. You went to sleep within seconds and I thanked God that you liked the sling!
I'm still thankful that you like to be worn and that you like the stroller for a few minutes at a time too.

You now walk more than you crawl and you are into everything.
You say mama and dada all the time and you like to bark like a dog and hoot like an owl.
You always go to sleep on your own after I put you in your bed. I am SO thankful for this.
You love to play outside and you cry when you know that it's time to go inside. You are a little drama queen, just like your sister.

You are a delight.
And now, you are one.

And Ellie, I'm sorry that you have a blog as a baby book.

Happy Birthday, Maggie

Today you are four years old!!

On the day you were born we went to the hospital early in the morning.

We waited and waited.

And then Peggy said it was time to move things along.

Something went wrong and your heart started to beat too slow.

She said that they had to get you out very quick or you might die.

I prayed and prayed that you would be safe and they took me to surgery really fast.

Daddy and Nana and Sharalee and Callie and Bubba all waited.

Ms. Theresa took pictures of everyone getting you out of my belly.
Daddy couldn't be in the room with us because they put me to sleep, so it was a few minutes before they opened the blinds to the little room where he was waiting with Nana.

Daddy could hear you crying and they only let him see you for a second before they closed the blinds again.

And then magic happened and...

Daddy carried you into the nursery and held your finger for a long time while you cried because you wanted back inside of my warm, cozy belly. Then the nurses wrapped you in a blanket and he sat in the rocking chair and held you.

I woke up in a little room and the nurse told me that you were okay. I had to ask if you were a boy or a girl because I didn't even know. Ms. Theresa came in and said that there was a hungry baby that wanted her mommy and I wanted to get to you so bad.

The next day, Peggy told me all about what had happened and I found out about Vasa Previa and Velamentous Cord Insertion for the first time.

You can go here to read the whole story.

THANKS!!!

Thanks so much to those of you that left kind comments on my last post. We are hanging in there. Having Baby Ellie in the middle of all of the moving chaos has been so hard. Of course, we knew that having two children would be harder than one, but The Muffin has had so much going on in her life. Luckily, she's absolutely in love with Baby Ellie and doesn't seem jealous (yet) at all. Now if we could just get her to not be jealous of her cousin Callie!
And, for those of you that say three is easier than two, we aren't planning to find out about that. I think Big Daddy and I are completely comfortable saying that Baby Ellie completes our little family. I guess there's always a chance that God will have other plans or that we could change our minds, but we are comfortable with this decision for now. We'll give it a while to all sink in and then we'll make a" permanent" decision.
As for my recovery, I think I'm starting to get better. My second UTI isn't causing me too much discomfort. It was mild in comparison to the other one. Now that I seem to be over that pain, I can say that I feel almost normal "down there". I still say that my c-section recovery was easier than this VBAC with a long labor and an episiotomy, but I'd gladly chose to have a vaginal delivery over another c-section any day. Since I had back labor and Baby Ellie was positioned the wrong way for my "great" pelvis (that's what my midwife Peg called it) and got stuck and probably should have been born via c-section, my tailbone may take a few more weeks to heal. Peg had one of her four children under the same circumstances and she promised a long recovery for my tailbone. At least, the private area is healing nicely!

Anyway, The Muffin and Baby Ellie are asleep and I'm recharging my batteries for the rest of the evening.

Because they're BOTH asleep!!!

The Muffin woke up super-early this morning and put herself in the bed for a nap a few minutes ago. Baby Ellie is a sleepy head and has been napping for a couple of hours. She'll be up soon to eat and maybe play, but probably sleep some more. I thought I'd take another minute to tell you all about our lives right now.

We are living in this little apartment and it's getting to all of us. Our new house will seem megaginormous after living here. I cannot wait to get into a nice, roomy kitchen again. It seems I'm not the only one that is excited about the new kitchen!

Big Daddy decided to go back to work last Wednesday. I didn't really need him anymore, but I wanted him. I had my crazy-lady post partum days on Sat, Sun & Mon, so I was feeling pretty stable by Wednesday. My sweet Mommy-friend April called everyday to check on me and the girls. My Mommy-friend Kristin also called. Their support meant so much!! For the most part, I have things under control when I'm alone with both girls. Cooking dinner seems to be the biggest challenge and the tiny apartment kitchen only makes matters worse.

Our house should be complete in 6 weeks or so. I managed to pick out the light fixtures last Monday. I begged the store employees to do it for me, but they wouldn't. Baby E stayed with Nana and The Muffin and her daddy played with doorbells in the store while I pondered over silver, brushed nickel and oil rubbed bronze finishes. (I'll post pictures of the inside after things are finished)

I was in serious pain after a couple of hours walking the floors trying to pick things out. I thought I had tried to do too much, but I had bad pain again for the next few days. I decided that I had some dreadful, rare complication from the episiotomy and decided to call my midwife on Thursday night. I was told to go to the office on Friday morning. Big Daddy took the day off work, The Muffin went to Nana's (AGAIN!) and Baby E camped out in her carseat. Long story made short, I had a UTI.

Baby Ellie sleeps a lot. She was diagnosed with classic "sleepy baby" syndrome in the hospital. Just kidding, but everyone would say, "She's just a sleepy baby.". She grunts and laughs and smiles and frowns so sweetly while she sleeps. On the rare occasion that she's grumbly, I can put her in the sling and she goes right to sleep. I enjoy wearing her (I think she likes it too-see picture below!) so much more than wrestling with a stroller and The Muffin. The sling also keeps strangers and their germs at bay. She "lost" her umbilical cord this morning and was so excited that she stayed awake to play a while! Her belly button is SO cute!

The Muffin seems to be adjusting to things pretty well. (She has been having huge temper tantrums, but she is three!)She wants to go to her "old room" and her "old house" and she misses her friends and our old neighbors. Big Daddy and I do too. I didn't know it would be so hard for us to move. I thought this town would just feel like home since it's where I grew up, but it doesn't. I miss my Mommy-friends and I miss the things that Muff and I used to do that Baby E will miss. Big Daddy is desperate to find a fountain that the girls can play in. We spent lots of time in the fountain at The Depot Park in Sanford. We are hoping that this will feel like home once we move into the new house and The Muffin gets her VERY pink room.

Big Daddy & I are fairly certain that Baby Ellie is our last little blessing. Neither of us can really commit to saying that there's not another baby in our future. My recovery from this VBAC was not nearly as wonderful as I'd thought it would be. I actually think that my c-section recovery was a lot easier. That being said, the VBAC was worth all of this and I'm so glad that I tried (and tried and tried) it and that my midwives were so supportive of my wishes.

We're back...sort of

Here's The Muffin (with Nana) meeting her baby sister for the first time.

We have an internet connection, but I'm still working out all of the bugs. Thought I'd take a minute to post a couple of pictures from the night of Baby Ellie's birth.
And of course, they are in reverse order!!!

Me, getting my first good look at baby Ellie.

Big Daddy, cutting the cord. And yes, this is the picture that I took!

My beloved midwife, Peg.

Yes...I'm Still Alive

Boy, it's been a long time since I've been on a computer! We still aren't Internet-ready at our little apartment, but we should be the first part of next week. I've been keeping busy with my *two* girls and Big Daddy and I have been taking care of new house business. (Big Daddy took care of paint colors while we were in the hospital and we picked out light fixtures on Monday)
The Muffin & "Baby Ellie" (we always add the baby to the first of her name!) are at Nana's house while I'm next door at my sister's trying to look up a few things on the computer. I'm anxious to blog a little about our birth experience, since this blog acts as our family scrapbook.

Real quick, I'll give you a run down on our birth experience.

-Baby Ellie was delivered by VBAC...barely. She wasn't facing the right way which gave me back labor and caused her to get stuck...and bounce back and forth with every contraction...for a long time.
-My midwife, Peg, literally gave me 15 minutes to "move her" before she called the OB in. Everyone was so sure that we were going to have a c-section. My sister even left the L&D room so that they could prep me. I cried and prayed and Big Daddy and I kept pushing through my contractions while everyone else left the room so that I could come to terms with having to have another c-section. Peg convinced the doctor to give me a fair chance at moving her because she knew how important a VBAC was to me.
-I was determined and managed to do 7 pushes with each contraction in stead of the four pushes that my midwife suggested.
-Everyone was so surprised when Baby Ellie moved! The doctor actually said "You're doing it!". Peg told me on Sunday morning that no one thought it was possible and that hey were thisclose to getting me prepped for a c-section. She said my determination and pushing capabilities were amazing...and that I had a nice pelvis.
-It was fabulous...and long...and quite painful over the course of the 15 hours of labor on Saturday.
-Yes, I gave in and had an epidural...and it was a blessing. I will never regret it. I was able to be with The Muffin up until I started pushing around 7:30 pm. I still experienced quite a bit of pain.
-My favorite part of labor was pushing and seeing the silly grin on Big Daddy's face when Baby Ellie's head was visible.
-My favorite part of the birth was hearing Baby Ellie's first cry.
-My favorite part of after the birth was seeing how excited The Muffin was about her new sister.
-My least favorite part would have to be the whole placenta-thing. Of course, mine refused to come out and the OB had to get it out. ( I saw it and it was beautifully normal!!) This cause me lots of blood loss and made me pass out once right after the birth and again the next day. I was going to receive two units of blood, but because I managed to perk up they didn't give it to me. Therefore, I still look like a ghost.
-I love my midwives, Peg, Wesley & Rita.

Hopefully, I'll have the time to post a few pictures of the birth next week. I managed to snap a couple of pictures of Big Daddy cutting the umbilical cord. (The cord was also fabulously normal!!)
Until then... I'll be busy with The Muffin and wearing Baby Ellie in her sling as much as possible!