9 Months of Joy

Our sweet, beautiful Elli-bug turned 9 months old last week. This blog post always feels especially significant to me because it means my child has been outside of my body for longer than he/she was in-and every single time it amazes me how quickly that post-natal time flies!
Precious Elli-Joy has definitely grown/changed so much this month! More of her personality is definitely coming through. She has developed definite preferences, but doesn't have the communication ability to match, so she definitely has some moments of extreme frustration when she wants something (or doesn't want something) and we don't give it to her. She has also developed some separation anxiety this month (very normal) and really doesn't like it if mommy walks away. She is also becoming more interested in exploring, which is fun and also slightly anxiety producing as she finds all the little things her siblings have dropped on the floor!
Things Elli loves:

• Her greatest joy in life is watching a parent (especially mom) brush their teeth! She watches as we prep to do so with this look of eager anticipation...wait for it, wait for it...and then once we start, she lights up and giggles. No idea why she likes this so much, but it is definitely a highlight for her!
• She loves food. Just about anything, though half the time she chews it up and then spits it out instead of swallowing it. But she is definitely adventurous about flavors and textures. She's not really a fan of purees (which we don't feed her often, but occasionally we will have soup or something and she doesn't enjoy that as much).
• She loves splashing in the tub! Bonus if siblings are in there with her (she sits in her baby bathtub inside the big tub.
• She is starting to crawl well and makes her way around the house. But if she gets upset (parent walking away etc.) she seems to forget how and needs someone to come get her. She is also starting to pull up on low items such as boxes. 
• She can say "Dada" with meaning.
• She LOVES her brother and sister. Ben likes to carry her around the house (impressive since she is 1/3 his weight) and she loves it too!
• She adores playing with the cat toy (a pole to bounce feathers off). She knows it's for the cat and loves to shake it at the cat and laugh when she tries to catch it. And then she tries to catch the cat...stinker!

Such a privilege to watch this little one grow...and it happens so fast! Before I know it she will be a full fledged toddler!!

7 Months of Joy

Yes it's true-Elli is 7 months old! I feel like her personality has started to emerge a lot more this month-she is incredibly sweet and usually very happy-though teeth have also emerged this month, and she does not love that process!

Things she loves:

• Her jumper, especially if one or both of her siblings jump with her!
• Daddy being clean shaven-he had surgery and didn't shave for a few days and she was NOT a fan of the weird scruffy dude. When he shaved she was so thrilled to have daddy back!
• Food. She started eating this month and my worries that she might be orally averse have proven unfounded. So far she has tried and loved Apple, avocado, peaches, black beans, watermelon, carrots, and banana. As with her siblings, we are doing baby led weaning and just taking it at her pace.
• Anything that makes a crinkly sound.
• Snuggling close in a wrap (preferably with mommys soft pillows but if those aren't available someone else will do), especially if she is sleepy.
• Soothie pacifiers.
• Outside.
• Both siblings (though sometimes Hadassah's preferences for physical proximity are a bit much for her).
• The bathtub!

Things she doesn't love:

• Being walked away from (especially by mommy), or being alone in general.
• Being down for more than about 15 minutes.
• Diaper changes.
• Having her hair done-though it is getting long enough that this may not be negotiable for long.
• She will still have absolutely nothing to do with bottles. Sigh.

New things she is doing:

• Eating, as mentioned above. Sadly she is the only child who at this age is not poop trained (on the potty). This is entirely our fault, both because we have 3 small people to tend to and because one or both of us has been injured nearly her whole life. Well, okay, to be fair she is also a ninja pooper. She will give no sign that she is going or has gone until we happen to check her diaper and there is poop in there! Keep in mind that she is held or worn most of the time-she is talented! Maybe that will change with the addition of solids. We hope.
• Pushing up on all fours and wiggle-scooting across the floor. It's about to get real...gulp!
• Acting like she might drop the third nap soon.
• Reaching for people she wants.

She is such a sweet and snuggly little girl-just melts in your arms. There are definitely lots of moments when I wish to freeze time, yet I also am so excited to watch her continue to grow!

6 months of Joy

Elli is 6 months old! You would think by the third kid I would cease to be amazed by the speed with which time flies, but not so much...

She continues to be such a delight to our family! We have had a tough month, mom and dad are both injured (my foot, his shoulder) but the smiles from this little one are lovely!

She rolls and scoots. No crawling yet, which is really okay with mommy!

She went through a brief "now I love pacifiers" phase which got mom thinking maybe bottles would be possible. Not so much!

She has become very expressive and talkative which is very fun but also means her days of coming to work with me are numbered and nearly at an end. I do so appreciate having had the ability to snuggle her in the afternoons just a little longer though!

She ninja poops! Seriously she gives no sign whatsoever and also doesn't have a specific time of day that she poops. This means we rarely catch the poop on the potty. Which may be okay as neither parent is really physically able to do that right now anyway.

She loves to nurse while holding her foot and/or sticking it in her ear.

She is not interested in solids yet. Which is fine, she is still very young! And mommy is okay with not having to deal with solid food poop in cloth just yet.

She loves to touch faces, giggle with her siblings, snuggle, and be worn. She loooovvvesss anything that crinkles.

She is getting her first tooth.

Precious girly, you are so loved! 

4 Months of Joy

Elli-ana, Elli, Elli-ana, Elliana, Elliana Joy!
We have now had our precious baby bug for 4 months! She is such a lovely little addition to our family.
I am pretty much giving up on her taking bottles. Her disposition is such that I think she  might have taken one, but she had the tongue issue and wouldn't accept plastic, and I think now it's too late. So her wonderful daddy has made the incredible sacrifice of driving her to me multiple times a day. I am also able to keep her with me a few afternoons a week and that helps.
Since she is eating during the day (unlike certain other children of mine) she actually is a pretty good sleeper at night! We are usually up 2-3 times for a quick feed (she is also a very efficient nurser and can usually eat in under 5 minutes) and she has had a few times where she has given me 4-6 hour stretches...amazing at this age! I am still tired, but that has more to do with me changing my work hours to 6-4 to try to get home sooner to see kids more during their waking hours and help Josh more. I do enjoy getting to see them more during their waking hours though, so it is worth the sleep deprivation!
Elli started rolling over this month! I have only seen her going from back to front and then she gets stuck (and frustrated!) with her arms under her...though to be fair, this little lady is a super sweet snuggler and loves being in arms so she isn't really down very much.
Things she loves: raspberries on her tummy, tickles, her big sister saying "Ah-goo!" and laughing, her brother doing just about anything, daddy dancing with her, mommy nursing (but only if she is hungry!), being worn (though she isn't crazy about the process of being wrapped!), and baby TV (the fish tank).
She is somehow able to laugh without smiling, it's kind of an odd thing, but still cute!
I look forward to seeing you continue to grow, sweet girl, though time is already going way too quickly for this mama! Ben says that we need to put another tiny baby in mommy's tummy because you are growing too fast and getting hard for him to hold.

3 months old!

Sweet Elliana Joy reached her 3rd month of life this month! She brings so much joy and love to our lives, and we are so thankful to have her in our family!
This month she:
Is smiling and giggling more and more. Things that make her smile and laugh: kisses, tickles, big brother and sister, daddy, and raspberries!
Gets very excited if she sees her daddy! Heavy breathing and bouncing up and down until he picks her up or interacts with her...so cute!
Isn't taking bottles very well since mommy went back to work. We aren't sure if she doesn't like bottles or if her tongue (she has an infection of some sort on her tongue) is bothering her so she doesn't want to latch on the plastic.
Despite that, she is growing like a weed! She still fits in some of her 3-6 month clothing, but more and more, I am having to pull out the 6-9 month clothing! She weighs a little over 15 lbs, so she is definitely getting enough milk!
She isn't really rolling over yet, but she is getting her hands to her mouth more and more. She doesn't seem to enjoy sucking on her thumb though (fine with me!).
She is by far our most relaxed/chill baby! She is pretty content in just about every situation or place we put her at least for a while! Our biggest challenge is keeping her from being loved to death by her big sister, who is enamored with her.
She is such a sweet snuggler. She comes to work with me a few afternoons a week and it's so lovely to have her snuggled against my chest in a wrap while I work on my administrative duties. She just melts into you and cuddles!
Sweet girly, you are growing up so quickly! I am so excited to see your personality continue to unfold, but it is definitely bittersweet.

2 Months Old

Elliana is 2 months old and growing fast! Ben mournfully observed that she is getting too big and strong for him to hold alone. The only possible solution? We need to get another small one! Ah, not quite the way it works bud, but I do understand what you mean!
This month, our sweet girl:

• Has started smiling in response to parents and siblings-especially Ben. I think she equally likes Hadassah, but sister has a habit of getting VERY close to her face, so I am not sure she can see to smile back!
• Will coo at us to get attention and is giggling a little bit!
• We just started working on EC (training mom and dad to recognize when she needs to poop and dangling her over the potty to do the deed). So far she seems to know what to do over the potty, and I am still learning her signals. 
• Started having a fussy period in the evening. She can usually be soothed but it's just a bit more work.
• Is okay with being down for a few minutes at a time.
• Is sleeping pretty well, waking maybe 4 times at night, I am not holding my breath for that to continue when I go back to work, but trying to enjoy it while it lasts!
• Loves snuggling! She still sleeps a lot during the day as well, and mama just adores her sweet little form cuddled close!
• Doesn't spit up nearly as much as her big siblings but when she does, boy is it spectacular!

Precious Elli-Joy, we are so glad you are part of our family, and I have enjoyed being your full time mommy the last few months. Unfortunately there is some separation trauma coming that I can't save you from before your next month update but I will be here as much as I can.

1 Month Old!

Elliana Joy is 1 month old today! The time always passes so incredibly quickly once they come out, it hardly seems fair! I blink and it is gone. Her first month of life was fairly eventful...she had only been home for less than 12 hours when she started screaming uncontrollably and was inconsolable so we were instructed to take her to the ER for evaluation. Thankfully she was just constipated and the rectal temperature taking cured her! Then at 1 week postpartum I developed delayed onset preeclampsia and had to be admitted to the hospital for 2 days. She came with, of course. Suffice it to say, as grateful as we are for our care providers and as much as I love Women's and Children's Hospital I am not wanting to be there as a patient again for a while! I think the craziness of this month makes it actually feel like less than a month has gone by.
This month:
Elliana has gone by her full name as well as several pseudonyms including Elli-Bug, Buggy, Elli, and of course terms of endearment like sweet girl.
She has 2-3 1-2 hour long periods of alert time. She definitely turns toward sounds, though it is hard to tell how well she is focusing visually.
She loves nursing. And does it frequently and with great focus! As a result, she is definitely starting to work on her chin collection. 😉
She poops so much! It's really a little ridiculous.
Her favorite place is snuggled on mommy's chest. Skin to skin time is even better!
She is starting to hold her head up more, though I think sometimes she doesn't when she could because she enjoys cuddling.
The loud noises from her siblings usually don't phase her one bit, even if she is asleep.
She sleeps better at night than either of her siblings at this point. While I know better than to expect this to last (usually 2-3 night wakings) I am enjoying it while it does!
Ben and Hadassah both adore her and frequently request to hold her. I am sure they will be even more interested in her as she gets older and more interactive.
Happy 1 month outside, sweet Elliana! I hope you know how much you are loved.

Beautiful Story, Elliana Joy

They say every pregnancy and birth is unique and that even your prior births don't necessarily give more than a clue as to how future ones will be. That certainly seems true for me! Ben was born in a 45 minute whirlwind with essentially no forewarning. Hadassah gave me very regular contractions for 3 weeks, then was born oh-so-gently over a 17 hour time span. Elliana...well, that is the point of this story!
I started contracting regularly-anywhere from every 2 minutes to every 8-at 34 weeks pregnant. I was scared by this a bit-really didn't want baby coming until his/her lungs were ready (we didn't find out gender ahead of time). However, given that the other 2 kids came well before their due dates I figured  Tiny Baby (so dubbed by Ben) would too and went ahead and packed a bag. 35, 36, 37 weeks came and went with tons of signs of labor, some convincing enough for me to arrange care for the older kids and get checked out in triage, but no baby. My cervix remained a stubborn 1/20/-3 even as week 38 came closer. We did an ultrasound to check on baby's size, as both other kids would have been quite large had they been carried to 40 weeks. The results of the scan convinced us and our Doctor that it would not be in my best interests for Tiny Baby to be allowed to grow for tooooo much longer, so we decided to induce at 39 weeks.
Side note: I fully realize that ultrasound guesstimates of size in the 3rd trimester are exactly that-very rough estimates. I also generally believe that women's bodies are able to birth larger babies without a problem most of the time. However, I sustained a 4th degree tear during Ben's birth, and while normal vaginal tissue may stretch more than we assume, scar tissue has its definite limits. And even the low end of the weight guess easily placed Tiny Baby as my largest one, and he/she seemed determined to just keep growing in there.
As the induction day grew closer I double analyzed every symptom, tried anything I could that supposedly could start labor naturally, and questioned my body in frustration. Why was the big baby the one that was determined to stay in? Why was my cervix less dilated than with the other kids at this stage...or even an earlier one-what gives, body?? I had never been pregnant this long! And all the while I kept contracting-sometimes painfully, other times just with intense pressure. Finally I decided my MO would be, assume nothing is happening until proven otherwise. If I didn't see blood, water breaking, etc I wasn't going to be impressed or interrupt my day.
Induction day came-I tried to focus on making memories and enjoying our last day as a family of 4,  but I was so uncomfortable that it was very difficult. I was halfway convinced that we would get there for the induction and they would tell me I was already in active labor. Finally the time came. We took the kids to grandmas house, then Josh and I went to get dinner at a favorite restaurant.
Upon arrival to the L&D low intervention suites I started to get excited-so many neat options to manage discomfort, and the rooms were decorated so beautifully! I still felt frustrated, as I really would have preferred that labor start on its own but I was sooo ready to meet our long awaited little one!  Our awesome doctor came in and we came up with a plan. We would administer Cytotec overnight to get my cervix (which was STILL at 1/20/-3!!) to open and begin dilating. With any luck it would do this enough for us to break my water and avoid using Pitocin but we would just  take it a step at a time.  I let our family and our doula know to go to sleep as most likely the fun wouldn't start until morning.  The Cytotec was inserted and Josh read several chapters of The Princess Bride before we went to bed.
One of the nice things about the new birthing suites is the full size comfortable beds! I think Josh appreciated not being restricted to the not so comfy couches!! I didn't sleep but that was nothing new and not the fault of the bed! After 4 hours they checked me and my cervix had gone to 2/50/-3, which they said was a great change for 1 dose and hopefully that meant just 1 more and then we could move on to the good stuff. They placed another and left.
I was checked again around 6:15 to help with decision making-3/75/-3, so for sure I wouldn't need more Cytotec! I was feeling stronger cramping so we decided to just give my body a few hours and see what it did. I send was feeling more pressure so decided to shoot my doula a text around 6:30 saying "no hurry, just whenever you are awake, I think I would like some more support."
Around 6:50 I went to the bathroom with much stronger cramping and there was bloody show! I was excited but felt like that meant things were about to pick up so I sent our doula another text saying I thought things might be happening "quickish."
Then all of a sudden I started feeling really hot and nauseous and felt like I might fall over if I stayed sitting on the birth ball, so I got on all 4s on the bed. As soon as I did, a contraction hit that I needed to moan through. I usually only make those noises at the end so that got Josh's attention! I also started shaking at this point and that got my attention! I told Josh to go find Veronica (my nurse) and tell her the contractions were starting to come on top of one another and I had a history of precipitous birth. She came in quickly and checked me at a 5; at this point it was about 7:15. Josh called Megan (doula) to make sure she was coming and  in the space of that phone call I went from "we probably have some time but not much" to "oh my goodness, this has to be the end and STOP pushing on my back here and all I can do is loudly vocalize during contractions and try to breathe in between." My doctor sat on a stool talking me through my breaths, got me a cool wash rag, and told me I was doing great. She also helped get my arms better supported-my IV was in a terrible place for wanting to be on all 4s. I thought to myself, maybe we will have a baby by lunch, but I am not sure I can take too many more of these contractions as I was going from moaning to yelling to screaming during! I noticed people moving around the room getting set up and felt comforted that someone besides me thought it would be over relatively quickly.
Megan arrived at some point during all this-Dr. Hecker told her when she checked me 10 minutes prior I was at 7/90/-3.
And then, the familiar contractions on top of each other wave hit, accompanied by the sounds of a dying rhinoceros-oh, maybe that was me. I was honestly not sure where anyone was so I forced out "I am pushing" amongst the rhino sounds. Immediately Dr. Hecker was there checking and she let me know I could push if I wanted but she might slow me down once baby got to crowning (still at -3 station so I imagine she thought it would take a while).
Baby dropped all the way to crowning on the next contraction. "Whoa! Slow down!" I was told, and I did my best. When it was ok to push again, I pushed baby through the ring of fire....except not. Instead of coming on out like normal I felt baby come part way out and then slip back in. "Oh no, turtling" I thought even as I was urgently told to lean forward (still on all 4s) and felt the doctor's skillful hands pushing and pulling baby to safety. Then, a final effort, pushing with all I had...and I collapsed forward as our bodies were separated.
We both were a bit stunned I think. Initially when announcing the birth I said active labor was in the 1.5 hour range. When I went back and looked at the time stamped text conversation with my doula, there is no possible way that was true. Active labor (starting around when I felt contractions a lot more and was checked at a 5) was no more than 30-40 minutes. Despite this and the shoulder stick age, I had no soft tissue damage-amazing!
Anyway once I could finally roll over and reach for my baby, Josh checked gender and told me with excitement, "it's our Elliana Joy!" She latched right away. We are all in love! And as upset as I was about being induced, I would have been even less enthused about delivering in the car...witb 2 toddlers in the back..:and a shoulder dystocia. All in all it was an awesome experience culminating in a beautiful daughter! So grateful for the support of the members of my birth team, and use of the beautiful new labor rooms, even though I didn't have time to try most of the equipment! Oh, and she weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz, making the ultrasound guess just about dead on and she wins biggest baby (for me) by a full pound!