All in a Week at our House

 With all the rain we've had, it was time to get creative. Creative at keeping Ellie busy, that is.

Once the sun came out, the clothes came off. Well, it was Jim's version of a bath after playing with the water & sand table we have outside.

About 3-4 times a week, we make our way to the park to get out the wiggles. Ellie loves the sandbox and hanging with daddy.

Tanglewood Miniature Animal Farm
We are always looking for things to do with Ellie. A few mothers in my ward mentioned this place and it is only 10 minutes away. Ellie loves all things small, but was a little scared at first. I love when she wants to hold our hands. I know this time is fleeting, so I try to enjoy every moment.

Welcoming Baby Hannah

I would like to say that these last nine months of pregnancy flew bye, but NO. We were prepared for a rough pregnancy since our last was brutal. This one was equally challenging. Lost of nausea, vomiting, and contractions up to the end.

We were incredibly grateful my parents were able to come out for the birth. They arrived the day before and stayed on for a week. Thankfully, my mom was able to stay a total of three weeks to help with my post op recovery.


The Story...

We arrived at Forsythe Hospital at 7 am for my scheduled c-section. Jim and my dad followed a few hours behind after they dropped Ellie of at the sitter's. Even though I was delivering four days before my due date, I was having contractions every few minutes. I had been having contractions for weeks, which was the same case with Ellie. I were excited to be in a new hospital, but a little scared to go through another c-section. The maternity wing was not super busy, but the place was packed by mid day.  I had to wait an extra hour for my operation since a few women were close to delivering. My mom made an excellent lamaze couch since we had to wait a while through some strong contractions. She was also my partner in the OR.  Jim didn't mind since she is a nurse and it gave me peace of mind to have her in there. After having a spinal block for Ellie's birth and an epidural for Hannah's, I would recommend a spinal to anyone that has a scheduled c-section. The epidural is not as strong and they have to keep pushing more medication during the surgery since it does not last a long.

Hannah was my heavy weight, at 7 lbs. 13 oz.  I know some people have larger babies, but for me she was huge. We were so grateful that she arrived with no complications.  Jim and I got to enjoy holding her as soon as I was in recovery.  I wish I could remember more from that time together in the hospital, but I was pretty loopy and starting to feel the pain from the surgery.

After a few weeks of recovery, we scheduled some newborn pictures. It was a lot of fun, and something we had not done before. These were some of my favorites.

Here are some of all of us and the girls.